Friday, March 15, 2024

Spinning Pearls

 














It’s been a roller coaster ride again as usual. I have been dyeing and blending and spinning lots of fibres and oh wait til you see what is in store tonight  !!! 

The teaser label for the March club has been released but just in case you haven’t seen it yet, here it is: 

I just love this painting from  1559 which apparently has about 140plus proverbs hidden in it. The more you look, the more you see. Can you find the woman holding the distaff and the woman spindling? What are they whispering to each other I wonder? 

The March clubs will be ready to ship later next week.

The next quarter starts in April and sign ups for the 2nd Quarter of teh art journey clubs will be closing at the end of this month, so if you haven’t signed up yet, hop to the club section of the shop to secure your spot! If you’d like a combo of two or three different clubs email or message me so you can save on shipping big time! Also, for those of you overseas: there is an option to have all three months shipped at once at the end of the 2nd quarter which can save you lots on shipping cost as well. Just email me if you have any questions.

So if you don’t want to miss out on a monthly parcel of fun and excitement, please go to the club section on the website here

For this blog update I have something very special for you:
Pearl Bunny Tops ! lots of new colourways too like "Cherry Blossoms" , "Lotus Flowers", "Green Fairy” and "Botticelli".
You can find all the new colourways and this fab blend here: 


I am especially enthusiastic about this blend that has an amazing new and strange fibre: Chitin. That is pronounced KAI-tin btw, not Shit-in (yes...i am 5...lol)

 Anyhoo, Chitin is one of those elements that I always am on the look out for , just like the stainless steel blend from years ago that I unleashed on all of you. I am always looking outside of the box to combine either technology, science, bizarness, call it what you like, into my special blends. 
This one took a bit of doing and literally years of combining science with the craft of blending different fibres together. But, let me start by explaining what exactly brought me to add shitin ..eh..i mean..Chitin... to my fibre blends ready for handspinning :

Chitin was discovered by the French chemist and pharmacist Henri Braconnot in 1811 and, after cellulose, it's the most important biopolymer in nature.
In fact, it is made of the exoskeleton of insects, shellfish and Shells. Chitin is a polysaccharide. Chemically speaking it looks like a long-chain in which pearls are molecules of N-acetylglucosamine.
The N-glucosamine is a very important substance for the human organism, in fact, it is the precursor of hyaluronic acid and it is used in therapies for the functional recovery of the joints.

Chitin is also widely used in the medical world to make suture wires because it can be degraded by enzymes present in human tissue. It is also used as wound dressing, enormously important to treat burn victims.
 Chitin has a remarkable strength and it accelerates the healing of wounds. (want to delve deeper into some research?

Here are some publications in the international journal of Niological Macromolecules:

 www.brommarin.com/blog-en/blog-posts/publications%20chitin%20scaffolds%20tissue%20engineering.php
As a medical anthropologist, the medical application of a fibre always peaks my interest and so I did some more research. So wait , there is more !

Obviously I will not tell you to eat the Pearl bunny tops, but Chitin has many other applications than medical suture wires and wound dressing.

It is also extensively used in food and pharmaceutical products. It is often used as a food thickener and stabilizer, and it can also form edible films.

Chitin is also used in supplements to manage healthy cholesterol levels and body weight. Additional uses of chitin include the support of kidney function.
Some early research shows that Chitin supports the body’s natural ability to heal skin damage and nerve regrowth.



Now something that really alerted me to the oddity of this fibre is based on , well, is it a protein or cellulose fibre? The chemical answer to that question is , well, interesting to say the least.

Chitin, being derived from shells, made me think it was more like a protein than a cellulose fibre since there is obviously no cellulose in a crab. So I looked deeper into the chemical structure of Chitin and here it is: 


Chitin is a “polymerized N-acetylglucosamine.” The only thing you need to remember from that extremely long a word is “glucos”  and “Amine” which opens a whole other box of contradictions, because Glucose is a cellulose and Amine is a Protein. Could it be the best of both worlds then? And the short answer of it is : YES! 

In my top notch dye laboratory (please note the sarcasm) I tested this odd fibre with both fibre reactive and acid dyes ! Bingo ! The fibre  takes both acid dyes and fibre reactive dyes! Very odd isn’t it? 

In the chemical structure of the Chitin you can see the OH (hydroxide) Highlighted in pink , which is helpful in reactive dyeing , and the NH and NH2 , which are necessary for acid dyeing.

So there you go: chitin is one of those bizarre fibres that will bind with both acid and reactive dyes. However, when you closely look at the structure you can see that there are way more hydroxide “binding sites” (just look at how many OH’s there are for short ). So after all that research I have to admit it’s like a cellulose/plant fibre that loves acting like a protein/animal fibre… I hope I satisfied your inner bio chemist and can't wait to do some of your own research..eh .. spinning.. 
The blend spins up like a dream! It is a bit cool to the touch, has a gorgeous drape, feels very silky. Totally different from any blend with bamboo or soy or seacell (seaweed) or even tencel. I love working with it and it will make an excellent jumper as well (or socks) since the tensile strength is huge and it also has excellent anti bacterial properties (read that as : it is great for combating sweaty feet and armpits). 

So, here they are: Pearl Bunny Tops (I thought that was a better name than calling it Bunny Crabs....let's not go there LOL) 

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable.

Have a wonderful weekend !


Big Fluffy Hugs
Charly

Friday, March 8, 2024

Get your dopamine fibre fix !



It’s official: I have officially lost track of all time… people tell me it’s March and the second week of March at that, but somehow my mind (and body) thinks it’s almost Christmas already…I know, right?! What a year…lol

i have been going non stop, not really taking a break over the holidays last year so maybe that’s it? I dunno.. also, it’s hectic: I feel like for some inexplicable reason there are less than 24 hours in a day, maybe because I keep on stuffing them with lots and lots of things to do. I should keep reminding myself that no matter what, there will always be more things to do, more things to go on my endless list of to do stuff and less time to do them in before my next big market is on (the handknitters yarn market at the Merribek aka Coburg town hall on june 1st and 2nd). I have never been one to say to myself…it is what it is, whatever I have will just have to do, always pushing myself to do it all and more. I’m not quite at the stage of total anxiety ..yet..but I am definitely at a point where my exhaustion shows signs of exhaustion…lol

as this little cartoon from last month tells it all…

Not to worry: I think I may have a day off tomorrow doing nothing else but spinning and reading while the temperatures are said to rise to about 40degrees Celsius (way too hot to hang over the dye pots..lol)

Therevis exciting news though: more possum merino silk cashmere batts are in stock again after some major carding and blending sessions

PLUS fabulous new colour ways of Magic Tops, freshly dyed are available in the shop now as well! I love spinning these magic tops: soft and an amazingly nice sparkle of rainbow in every bit of fluff. 

It’s really hard to see the rainbow sparkle, but just get it outside and you will light up a room!



IxCHeL art journey club news: The March Clubs are getting their dye bath now and I will be revealing the teaser label on my social media pages over the weekend. It is going to be a very special one with a fun and fabulous back story as well! 

wishing everybody a fun weekend and happy crafting !

big fluffy hugs

Charly

Friday, March 1, 2024

New colourways, a freshly dyed blend and much more !

 

Romanov Sheep With Quadruplets 


Happy Friday ! 

It’s always super hectic..well, even more busy and hectic as usual I should say, because Friday is reserved to get everything organised on the shop with the freshly dyed tops and new products. And oh wow are there a lot of new products for you to feast your eyes on ! 

Apart from a re stock of some colours on cashmere fling and cashmerino silk tops, there is a new product line of merino tops in solid colours. I have been asked many times to offer some solid dyed merino tops for spinning and feating, so here they are! I will be offering more colours as time goes by, but I started off with the most requested: Fluro colours, deep dark blackest of black, silvers, purples and reds!


Also Niddy noddies are back in stock: yay! You can find them in the Yarn Tool section!

Do you ever find yourself totally in love with a new colour? Mine at the moment is a fabulous moss, lime, greens colour which is hard to define. These mossy and lime greens combine so well with browns! I think they’re my favourite new colourways at the moment. Maybe it’s because I am craving “calm”…who knows.lol

oh, and before I forget: it’s March and that means a new 20th anniversary celebration Sale product with 20% off ! This month it’s the awesome Flower Power. These merino/alpaca tops with their heathered look are amazing to spin, soft and fabulous to felt with as well !


Now on with info about this amazing rare sheep breed : 
Romanov sheep sourced from Ukraine ! As you can imagine it has taken quite a bit of doing to get my hands on this fibre to make this very special blend but it is so worth it. Not only to handle this fibre blend but also to support the small farms who are lovingly raising and caring for these animals in the middle of harsh war time conditions.







The Romanov Sheep originally hail from the Upper Volga area of Russia and were named after a town in the region. The breed first came to prominence in the 18th century.  Mature male rams reach up to 80kgs in weight, with ewes averaging 40-50kgs. 

The Romanov sheep are a very early maturing breed, the Romanov can reach full sexual maturity as early as 3-4 months old! 
They can also breed at any time of the year and ewes are very prolific, sometimes having up to six lambs per birth. Multiple births are extremely common in this short-tailed breed.  

They are very hardy and very strong and are well adapted to harsh cold climates. They are generally black in colour when born, though this changes to grey as they mature. Their face and legs are usually black in colour as well, with large white markings common on the top of their heads. 

Their wool is famed for being very strong and resourceful and is double-coated. Their undercoat is about 16-22 microns and their outercoat is 40-150 microns. 
The average fleece shorn from a Romanov weighs 4.5kgs in total. 

From sourcing to dehairing and blending it took me about two years for me to get this blend to you. Lot sof sourcing, lots of forms and administrative rules and regulations !  And, The wool needs a lot of creativity in preparation! 

Unlike most double coated breeds where the outercoat is significantly longer than the undercoat, the Romanov’s two coats are of similar length. This complicates the job of separating the coarse fibres from the fine undercoat! The right set of wool combs have done the trick but it takes a loooooong time. 
 You may know I love to dye over a base that is grey or brown: it makes the dye so much more interesting and deep. The colour of the Romanov is grey and absolutely amazing to dye and spin There are no guard hairs in the blend at all and because I have blended it with Silk, Cashmere, Angora and the softness is out of this world. I wanted to incorporate a bit of that shine and shimmer that you see when a fresh coat of snow has fallen and the sun shines on it, so I added mulberry silk for that lustre and shine effect. As you can imagine I only have a very limited amount available: some natural and some dyed. 

Here are tonight’s exciting new offers !

 

Romanov Sheep Blend Tops  

Romanov Sheep, Mulberry Silk, Cashmere, Angora Bunny  
100+ gram tops

You can find all the new colourways on the IxCHeL shop here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/romanov-tops



IxCHeL club sign ups for the 2nd quarter 2024

(APRIL, May and June)  are open !

If you want to receive a fibre, yarn or batt club  surprise parcel every month then join the IXCHEL art journey clubs 2nd quarter now. 
Numbers are strictly limited !

Visit the IxCHeL shop here for all the details: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs

Note to all International club members: All international club parcels are  shipped with tracking.   There is an option of having all three of your clubs shipped together to save on shipping cost:  Just ask me for a postage quote  

Better get back to the dye pots! Something very special is brewing for next weeks shop update and the clubs are getting their dyebath as well ! I will post teaser photos of the March clubs early next week so keep an eye out on the IxCHeL posts on Instagram, threads and Facebook.

Have a fun weekend !!! 


Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? : Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.


To shop the new update and all things new on the IxCHeL website click here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new


To see what I am up to on a day to day bases, please follow me on Instagram where I am @ixchelbunny 


 RABBIT ON !
 ((hugs))
 Charly

Friday, February 23, 2024

Last week of the rare sheep breed month!

 

Can you believe this is the last Friday of the month already?! Which means: last super special sheep breed shop update !




This week is all about a super rare sheep breed, which lived on a sinking island. This is their story:

 What I am offering you tonight is one of those special stories that just grabbed my imagination. This blog is about ancient peoples, lands left by all and left to be roamed by once domesticated animals…. a story about rescue and …some very nice sheep.

During the 16th century, explorers from Europe found a rich new continent, which had plentiful supplies of fish, lumber, furs and other goods: the Americas. People like Giovanni da Verrazano (1524) first met the Lenape people off the coast of , what is now called Virginia, but didn’t stay long. He did create the way to this new part of the world for a lot of European fishermen, whalers but also ..yes..slavers.

The ancient life of the Lenape people changed forever. 

The Lenape people had no immunity against the diseases the Europeans brought in. By the time settlers came to find new homes and start their future farming a new land, 90% of the Lenape people had died. 

The ones that remained were forced to “sell” the lands they had lived on for centuries..and moved to Canada and Oklahoma.

One of the lands sold to the new settlers was a little island off the coast of Virgiania called Hog Island and with the settlers came their animals ofcourse. Before the settlers came to the Americas there were no horses and no sheep to be found there at all. The weaving and spinning that was done by the Lenape was done with plant fibres not animal fibres. They wore beaver furs and deer skin to protect them against the icy cold and the sticky heat in summer.

Of course the settlers brought a whole different set of “dresscodes” and way of surviving with them, so, sheep were part of the survival plan.

The settlers that came to the barrier island off the coast of Virginia, Hog Island, brought a British sheep breed with them. I have not been able to find which particular breed or breeds they could have been, but judging by the way the fibre behaves I think it may have been Hampshire Downs or Shropshire or Southdown. Anyway, I digress, I was still in the 1700s… 

It was in 1672 that a group of 22 colonists and their families went to live on Machipongo (Hog) Island, just a few miles above the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. What became of them is an impenetrable mystery. They disappeared so completely that no descendants are known. Despite their fate, it remained the consensus that living on the island was good.

The sea, the inlets and the marshes teemed with fish and fowl. As for flesh, the natural pastures were ideal for livestock, particularly hogs (hence the name Hog Island). There must have been an impressive number of these at one time to cause the romantic-sounding name Machipongo to be dropped in their favour. 

It wasn’t til the Civil War times that a second colonization began. The sheep ascendants from back in 1672 were still there and were thriving.

he people lived truly on the fat of the land. Oysters, clams, crabs and fish or a superiority unchallenged in the rest of the United States were staples. Vegetable gardens yielded two crops a year. Aside from a few necessities like clothing and shelter, nothing required cash.

The hardy, self-reliant folk laughed at insurance agents. Their total taxes were a few cents a year paid on their real estate to the Northampton county treasurer. They did not even have to license their automobiles. They made their own roads. They enjoyed such health that a doctor would have starved. Though many of them were laid low by the flu epidemic of 1918, no one died.

Every man kept his money in his home, and in some cases this meant considerable cash. But no one ever reported it missing. There was one store operated by Sam Kelly. Like everything else on Hog Island, this store was different from what you would expect: No one ever was permitted in it. Every morning Mr. Kelly made the rounds taking orders. Every afternoon, after loading up in his forbidden precincts, he delivered. He kept this up until he was over 80. No one ever knew him to buy anything except to sell it. He was the secret topic of conversation: how much money did he have and where was it hidden? After he died in lonely squalor, his quarters were searched. Thousands of dollars were hidden away in nooks and crannies. But it was calculated that the amount should have been much greater. It was decided that he had buried most of it. It was never found….

Slowly but surely the island was being swallowed by the sea. In the 1930s the sea started to move in…so the people moved out.

Whole houses were detached from their moorings and brought to the mainland. The whole community left but some of their heritage 1672 sheep remained. In 1933 a string of hurricanes and “nor’easter” storms washed across the island and discouraged the residents from continuing life in their island community. By 1945 all of the residents of Hog Island had migrated to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and had taken most of their livestock with them. Many sheep remained on Hog Island and continued to thrive as they had for centuries. The annual shearing and notching in the spring was generally the only contact between the owners and their sheep. The sheep roamed freely upon their “floating” pasture foraging for marsh grass  and drinking fresh water from small pools that had been dug ankle deep into the sandy soil.

The last sheep were removed from Hog Island in 1974 when the Nature Conservancy purchased the island. But, surprise!!! : Four years later, Virginia Coast Reserve agents found, to their surprise, a thriving flock of sheep on the island. This is a testament to the extreme hardiness of these animals.

 

The Nature Conservancy removed the last of the sheep in late August 1978, to return them to full domestication. Ten rams and twenty ewes travelled to Virginia Tech for research into the breed’s parasite resistance.

The year-long study indicated that isolation, not resistance, had kept the sheep virtually parasite free on the island.

 

Following their stay at the University, the remnant flock found a new home at George Washington’s Birthplace National Monument. 

While private breeders hold some flocks, many Hog Island sheep remain part of the heritage landscapes of living history museums, including Plymouth Plantation, the Museum of American Frontier Culture, Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, George Mason’s Gunston Hall, George Washington’s Birthplace, and the National Colonial Farm in Williamsburg. 

The Hog Island sheep look right at home at the Colonial Farm in Williamsburg considering they descend from and resemble historic sheep that existed in the New World during and after the colonial period.

 Hog island sheep sure can stand the very harsh conditions because of their extremely high lanolin content in their fleece.

It is the most water repellent fibre I have ever worked with. Even with almost all the lanolin removed, it has this strange quality of soaking the water up and then spitting it out again almost immediately, which means getting dry after a heavy storm would have been a lot easier than being soaked to the bone for those sheep. I found their fibre extremely nice to work with: it traps the air beautifully, it is slightly crisp but very, very bouncy.

The Locks are  downy and the staple length is medium to short, like that of a down sheep like Southdown and Hampshire down sheep. Professional mill processing of Hog Island sheep is hardly ever done because it can result in a lot of nepps. 

 

I found spinning the fibres, that the singles “ask” to be spun reasonably fine. It sets the short fibres in the twist. That said, I think an art yarn which asks for core spun fluffiness can also be amazing !

 

The micron count as with all critical or endangered breeds vary a lot. This lot was around the 22-25 micron. I think it is perfectly suitable to make socks, shawls and scarves . 

Just like the Hog Island sheep it can withstand quite a lot. It also depends what you “tolerate” close to skin. Everybody is different.

 

The fibre is not lustrous and I was told that because it has such a matte appearance that when you dye it, you can get a very muted colour. It asks for a very slow dyeing process. To create a bright and saturated colour and I am very happy to say that I got very saturated bright and not muted colours by just letting the tops soak all the colour up slowly, heat them up for about 0minutes and then let them slowly cool down over night. The rinse water will be clear then and all the colour is absolutely glorious! 

 

Most of the Hog Island sheep are white. Only 10% are black. The lambs have cute black spots on their body and their fleece but the sport disappear when they get older. The face and legs of these sheep can be speckled brown, white, and black, or have black faces and legs.

 

Wool from this breed is of medium weight with fleece yields ranging from one to 4 kilos. The sheep will naturally shed their wool slowly each year, but most owners choose to shear them in order to collect wool and create a more even looking coat on their sheep. The ewes make excellent mothers and most often give birth to twins. Hog Island sheep are fabulous foragers and prefer to browse rather than graze. They stay in very tight flocks and are extremely alert in nature.

In general, wool is composed of long, flexible molecular chains. The outside of a strand of wool is covered by cuticle cells, more commonly called scales. The scales will vary according to breed group (down, longwool, etc.) and determine how well the wool will felt or full. The interior of the strand, the wool’s cortex, contains a spring-like structure in the very center that gives wool its flexibility, elasticity, and resiliency. The down breeds, some of the fine wool breeds, and a few of the breeds that don’t fit neatly in groups have extra stretchy springs. They are also helped along fibre density and natural crimp present in their locks. Hog Island wool is quite dense – each staple containing hundreds of strands of wool – and has a fairly disorganized crimp. This causes the fibres to move away from each other into an airy jumble instead of lying against each other in even ripples. The result is a warm and lofty woolen yarn with plenty of bounce and spring.

Yarn made from Hog Island wool – and several other breeds on the Livestock Conservancy’s conservation list – has plenty of stretch and resiliency. Elasticity also ties in to textile strength in general. Wool can stretch an average of 25-30% of its length before breaking under the strain. Adding twist to wool by spinning adds even more tensile strength.

There’s another quality that goes hand in hand with elasticity, and that is moisture management. Wool is excellent at repelling moisture and also absorbing it. The cuticle scales on each wool shaft have a waxy covering that helps them repel water while still allowing the absorption of water vapor. The cortical cells that surround the small flexible spring contain sulfur proteins that attract and absorb water molecules. According to Clara Parkes on page 20 of The Knitter’s Book of Socks, “Even when the wool fibre is pulled taut, its molecules still have room to stretch out further – which is what gives wool its exceptional elasticity. Such an arrangement tends to allow more moisture to penetrate and reside within the fibre without our feeling it.”

Wool has the ability to absorb 30% of its own weight in moisture before we begin to feel any wetness. This means wearing wool helps wick away sweat as well as keeping you dry from light rain or fog. That’s a great quality for socks and outerwear garments. 

In short, I love this down like fibre to spin yarn with and I hope you do too! If you have never tried Hog island wool, this is your chance! You may need to change your way of drafting and spinning woolllen instead of worsted, but it is so worthwhile. Plus! There are lots of new colourways to explore as well to add some extra fun to the adventure!

 

 

You can find all these rare sheep breed hog island tops and more on the IxCHeL shop right here: www.ixchel.com.au

have lots of fun !

hugs

Charly

Friday, February 16, 2024

Happy 3rd rare sheep breed week!

 Gra Trøender sheep in a winter landscape

It’s not as cold as in the photo above, with these cute rare sheep from Norway, but the Australian weather is definitely having some problems: heatwaves mingled with sassy storms, hail and then a scorcher again, only to drop down again…We were immensely lucky that we were only out of power one day, but there are still people who have not gotten their electricity back since the big scary storm on Tuesday. Oh and we had a wee earthquake before that! I almost forgot..lol

I’m going to repeat myself again and say it’s been super busy here again. Extra busy now because all the rare sheep breed updates I want to do for this short month of February had to be organised and dyed before I start dyeing the February club. It takes me about a week and a half to dye and card and pack the club so that means that for all the updates , that work has to fit in a very small time frame. In itself that is okay, because I have been doing this for 20 years now..lol, but it helps when either the weather is nice and warm OR the fire is on in the house so everything can get nice and dry in a shortish period of time. Having weather that doesn’t know it is actually supposed to be summer and acts like it is, is not as good to get things done. Great news though: the February club is going to be shipped on Monday! Here’s a teaser label and can I say: the colours on the fibre and the yarn look absolutely amazing! I think it’s one of my favourite colourways! 

I thought Is would be great to showcase the super rare sheep breed Grå Trøender !

The Norwegian Gra Troender is a very rare breed of domesticated sheep that originated from crossbreeding the native Landrace sheep with the now extinct Tautra sheep in the late 19th century. 

In 1998, the Committee on Farm Animal Genetic Resources established a project for collecting and freezing semen from Grey Troender sheep rams in an effort to revive the breed. There are currently around 150 breeding Gra Trondersau ewes remaining today, and only 25 breeding rams; all happily grazing in Norway. Yes, they are super cute as well , with their distinctive “teardrop” markings underneath their eyes.

When you are lucky enough to be able to travel: there is a wonderful wool museum on Munkholmen, a small island in the Trondheimfjord, just a ten minute boat ride from the city center. The island has lived many lives, including being a monastery, a prison, and a fortress at different points in history, but these days it’s mostly a nice place for an outing, with plenty of green grass for a picnic, a little beach for swimming/bathing, and a few facilities on site like a cafe and a shop.

The shop (called Munkholmen Galleri) which featured all kinds of things from local artists and makers, and also has a corner dedicated to the Gra troender sheep with sheepskins and handspun yarns in three natural colours.

Here are some photos of this amazing rare sheep breed:

Close up of grå Trøender sheep

A grå Trøender sheep peeking out of the barn door

Originally bred in the Trøndelag region of Norway, from where the sheep derives its name, the Gra Troender are most commonly varying shades of grey and white in colour with distinctive white markings under the eyes. The wool of the sheep is uniform with mean fibre diameter of about 22-28 micron and 2–3 kgs greasy fleece weight. 

The wool was traditionally used for yarns and felting and the pelts were used for woolskin rugs. The adult live weight of ewes is between 70 and 80 kg. The mean litter size is 1.8 lambs born per year. The present population numbers only around 100 sheep but it’s increasing. In 1998, the Committee on Farm Animal Genetic Resources established a project for collecting and freezing semen from GrÃ¥ Troender sheep rams in an effort to revive the breed. 

The fibre is very lofty and resembles the Shetland wool but with a bit more weight to it. It has a wonderful spring and vibrancy and luster to it and it spins up beautifully. I only have a very limited supply for obvious reasons, so if you would like to try and get a taste of spinning this very rare breed , please email or message me on facebook or instagram. There is only a very limited quantity of handdyed tops and natural tops available and you can find them all on https://ixchel.com.au/collections/rare-breeds at 8pm aedt tonight !

Paul has also been busy in his shed, creating some pretty stone inlay Scottish Dealgan mini spindles  here : https://ixchel.com.au/products/mini-dealgan

This is the first time he has done inlay with lapis lazuli and I absolutely love it!

There are some exquisite malachite and turquoise inlay spindles as well. 


Have a fabulous weekend and please do share your creations on social media : can’t wait to see what you are creating! Don’t forget to add #ixchelbunny or #ixchelfibres or #ixchelyarns so I can see it pop up ♥️♥️

big hugs

charly

Friday, February 9, 2024

North Ronaldsay sheep and seaweed!

 

New colourway "Baby Lochness" on North Ronaldsay blend tops

What an exciting week : lots and lots of dyeing, new blends, spinning and making stitchmarkers plus the February club! It’s all happening !

This weekend I will be posting all the info and the teaser label of the February club..should have done that sooner, but as usual I’m running out of time…all the time…lol

Btw, The Club sign ups are open on the IxCHeL shop. The New Art Journey clubs are starting up again in April 2024 with loads and loads more inspirational art works translated onto yarn and fibres. Please let me know if you have any questions about the clubs or if you would like to have a combination of either yarn and fibre or all three types of the clubs: yarn, batt and fibre club or if you would like all three month’s clubs sent together to save you on shipping, especially when you are overseas so you save on shipping costs.

Now, what is NEW this week? A freshly blended and dyed Rare Sheep Breed blend !

 

Today's update is all about a very special rare breed sheep on the Scottish Isle of North Ronaldsay.  

 

 

 

 

The North Ronaldsay Sheep are the only animals in the world, aside from a certain Galapagos lizard, to be able to subsist entirely on seaweed, leading to its nickname ‘seaweed sheep’.  The breed is thought to be over 5000 years old. The breed is farmed within the Northern Ronaldsay Islands, Orkney and kept nearby the seashore for most of the year. In 1832 the Laird of North Ronaldsay decided that his pastureland should not be wasted on native sheep and a dyke was built round the island to keep them on the shore and off the land. It was most probably this separation that resulted in the preservation of the North Ronaldsay, as it prevented cross breeding which had been the downfall of other Orkney sheep.  

 

The North Ronaldsay is one of the Northern Short tailed primitive group of breeds that also includes the Manx Loghtan, Soay, Shetland and Icelandic .  The North Ronaldsay is still mainly found on its native island, the northernmost of the Orkneys. The sheep keeping system on North Ronaldsay is unique and involves a stone wall which keeps the sheep on the seashore and away from the cultivated land for most of the year. This wall was built in 1832 and since then the breed has evolved to survive primarily on seaweed. The sheep live on the seashore most of the year around and are only  brought onto the better land for lambing.

 

The North Ronaldsay is one of group of primitive Northern Short-tailed sheep and represents a very early stage in the evolution of domestic sheep. DNA studies have shown a close relationship to sheep found in the Stone Age village of Skara Brae on mainland Orkney, which dates from 3000 BC. In 1832 a wall was built around their native island to confine the animals to the foreshore for most of the year in order to conserve the inland grazing. Since then the breed has developed its distinctive metabolism due to its diet of seaweed, which also renders it susceptible to copper poisoning under standard sheep management systems. North Ronaldsays are very sensitive to copper and will die of copper toxicity if put on the wrong type of grazing. This is due to their seaweed diet and the unique metabolism they have evolved.  They should not be fed commercial sheep mixes as despite the label saying “No Added Copper” the normal ingredients used will often have a background level high enough to be toxic (ten parts per million is too high). The North Ronaldsay is capable of  surviving on less than larger breeds and is an active browser, used to ranging over long distances in search of food.

 

 

Colours of their fleece are variable: including white, various shades of grey, black and moorit (deep brown). The double fleece has coarse outer guard hairs and a fine soft inner coat. I have never ever felt and dyed something as extraordinary as this sheeps fleece. It is springy, almost feels moist even after its scouring and washing. It almost feels like it resists the dye when you pour the pigments on and everything immediately flows to the bottom, leaving the top layer of the fibre springy and almost without dye. At least, that is what appears to happen…it takes the dye beautifully and retains its springy texture and openness.

Before dyeing and  spinning though was the rather painful process of getting rid of the guardhairs !  Here’s a view of the raw fleece :

 

 

After all of the cleaning and carding and blending you get what I am offering you today !

 It is a dream to spin and work with. You can make a yarn that is strong and still soft to wear. It is very very special !  There are only about 600 of these seaweed sheep left in the world. Only through our effort of conservation of the environment and conservation through appreciation of this rare breed by spinning and knitting its fleece, can we hold on to one of the oldest and most special breeds in the world alive today.

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Have a fantastic weekend filled with lots of creative fibre fun !

Big hugs,

Charly