woolgathering
where I daydream about wool and sheep and gather information to share
Sheep to Shirt Reading in an issue of Wild Fibers magazine, I discovered Appalatch, a new company that is creating wool garments all in the U.S.A. They source their wool in Montana, mill it in the Carolinas, and knit custom-fit t-shirts and sweaters! From their website: "Appalatch is an ethically driven outdoor apparel company with a rebellious spirit to upend the clothing industry for the good. Guiding us are our ideals to make high quality, affordable, honest clothing in America. Appalatch’s aesthetic is rooted in time-honored designs with a nod towards purposeful, enduring & eclectic American style." |
Dyeing to share I am enthralled when I come across new resources that have been lurking in my shadows for years. I just discovered Turkey Red Journal, an online newsletter about natural dyes and dyeing. The newsletter has been around for 14 years! The current issue has marvelous articles about Laotian textiles/dyeing processes and fungi dyeing (mushrooms). |
Nature's Palette An extraordinary woman, India Flint, lives and breathes the wild color creative path. |
Natural clothing As I explore the ecology and politics of textiles, I keep coming across amazing people who are on the same journey. Leafcutter Designs of Berkeley promotes awareness through Changing Clothes, an ongoing project that explores the everday world of producing, wearing, and discarding clothes. |
I am continually amazed by the diversity of fiber arts and the extraordinary talents out there. Susan Barrett Merrill is a zati mask maker. Zati is an Urdu word, meaning "from the inside" or "from an inner place." Condensed from the chapter "The Mask: Identity" in Zati The Art of Weaving a Life: The mask which I have come to call the Zati mask came to me in a dream on August 13, 1989. In the dream, I was living near Barcelona, Spain, attending a university. Later in the dream I saw a wooden wagon, filled with extraordinary woven masks. A woman gave me a mask and explained in detail how she had woven mine. She said, "This mask will teach you something very important about yourself. When you find out what that is, share it with others." That was the gift of the mask. |
I had a student in one of my spindle spinning classes awhile back who worked with wool insulation and was just curious about how wool could be turned into yarn. Turns out that wool is a better insulator for homes than synthetics. Surprised? Check this site out.
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Read some quotes from Gandhi on khadi, homespun cloth.
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I was exceptionally fortunate to be an exchange student to India in high school in 1971. I did not yet have the knowledge of or exposure to spinning, but there I developed a deep love and appreciation of the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi, and later came to study on my own his connection with the spinning wheel.
I have a picture of him at his charkha in my studio, for personal inspiration, and his politics of spinning was the inspiration for "Whorl Peace"--what I call my spindle spinning class and kit. I have also been contemplating for quite some time writing a book about mindful spinning; the spiritual side of the craft. |
Fibershed’s 2013 Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium
Climate and the Clothes We Wear A sold-out crowd was in attendance November 16, 2013, at the Dance Palace in Point Reyes Station, for the Second Annual Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium which featured a fascinating series of talks about the carbon cycle and how we can help reverse climate change through the management of our farmlands and rangelands, about modern day shepherding, about natural medicine for our animals, and about Fibershed’s research on the California Wool Mill Project and our findings on the six-month-long Fibershed wool inventory project. The lectures at the 2013 Symposium were videotaped, and are available for viewing here. |
Why wool? Many have asked me, “Why not raise exotic animals, like alpaca?” Although exotic animals have beautiful fibers, and I do enjoy spinning them, the unique properties of wool and the relationship of sheep and humans since prehistoric times compels me more. Read more about wool here. |