Showing posts with label camelid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camelid. Show all posts

Wool, Wool, or Wool? That Is the Question...

by : Freaky Knitter


Angora Goat

I have been studying wool, sheep and other fibers ever since I started knitting and one thing seems to come up all the time: What is wool? I see the term wool in relationship to those fantastic Camelids, Alpacas, Camels, Llamas and sometimes even Mohair which comes from an adorable goat called an Angora Goat. The Angora Goat has no relation to the sweet little Angora rabbit, nor do their fibers resemble each other, but we love them, don't we??

English Angora Rabbit
Let me cut to the chase here. The only animals with a wool coat are sheep!!! I am sorry, but it is the truth...really! As far as I know (please correct me if I am wrong) there is no other fiber that can match wool in it's many amazing qualities. Not even a man made fiber can match wool in it's insulating abilities.

Wool will stay warm even when wet (of course it may smell like wet sheep/dog :) ), and has a 'memory' that no other fiber can boast of with a resiliency and bounce-back factor that is positively woolie!! You may wonder what I mean by memory since we are not talking about something with a brain (hmmm, or are we?). When working with wool, you may notice that it can be very stretchy and yet hold your stitches well. When you wash it, it comes right back into the shape it was in originally before you got it wet. How cool is that?

 So, you may wonder why I am on this rant about my favorite fiber. That is because I have been working with 100% wool on my Spectra scarf by Stephen West. As I knit it, the wonderful woolie properties of wool keep throwing themselves onto my needles stitch by stitch, so it's pretty much in my face right now! I also follow Kate Davies (a fantastic designer) and she just wrote all about her love of wool and even has a petition that I signed about calling only wool, wool. You can take a look here if you like. It's very well written and clear cut.

Please, please don't get me wrong. I love many other fibers for many reasons (too numerous to try to mention here), but as the weather is getting crisper here and my needles click along on my 100% wool project I felt I would share a bit of my wool passion with you.

If you like to felt things, wool is your fiber for sure!! I always recommend a minimum of 75% wool (NOT super wash wool) yarn for a felting project as the microscopic scales on the fibers will fuse like nobody's business and create the nicest felted whatever-you-want. For warmth in a light weight (fingering on up) wool is my first choice and will insulate whatever body part I like. As I type this, I have on a DK weight pair of 100% wool socks (hand knit of course) and my Knitting Pure and Simple Mukluks made out of (can you guess this one??) 100% wool! Warm, warm and warm are my little toes right now.

Blue Face Leicester
As you may have guessed, I love wool and could easily go on and on, but will give it a rest for now. I hope you will give wool a try, as well as try wools from different sheep breeds so you can find your own favorite. My personal favorite is the Blue Face Leicester and I love to knit with it. It also spins it up very nicely (yes I am a hand spinner sometimes). You can check it and other breeds out with Rowans British Sheep Breeds line of yarns.

If you are interested in learning more about this amazing fiber and others too, check out the following resources. These are only two of my personal favorites!

 The Fleece &  Fiber Sourcebook                                                                 The Natural Knitter






I would love to know what you favorite fiber is and why. No matter what you like to work with, keep on going no matter what I say!!! If you don't enjoy what you are working with, you certainly won't enjoy the project, no matter what it is. Experiment with all the amazing fibers that are on the market these days and have fun!

As always happy knitting and crocheting!

Jeanne


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One Lucky Little Bean!

by : Freaky Knitter




Why am I such a lucky little bean, you may ask? Well, all the other little beans pitched in to work extra so that I could go to Peru. I can't thank them enough! This was an amazing adventure! From Lima to Macchu Pichu and back, we saw so much that one blog couldn't possibly hold it all (but I'll certainly try)!


Peruvian dancers

We had so much fun experiencing all that Peruvian culture has to offer - delicious food, beautiful dancing, and of course a lot of fiber!

Fiber in the Andean region is primarily Alpaca. I found it just a tad ironic that I wore my Never Not Knitting Autumn Vines Beret knit out of Isager's Alpaca 2 yarn most of the time I was there. Since most of the world's Alpaca comes from Peru, I am pretty sure that I wore my hat right back to the source. Cool, huh?


Museo Larco was fantastic!

We saw so many amazing things, including the Museo Larco which boasts 45,000 pieces of Incan pottery in its private collection. There was also an amazing example of weaving that dates back to 800 B.C. but since flash photography can damage ancient artifacts, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures of it! What's really interesting about Andean textiles is that it was their 'written language', where certain weaving styles and colors were used to symbolize anywhere from grandiose spiritual concepts to accounting methods!



It never rains in Lima but it is very humid due to it's coastal location. Lima has the most extraordinary fish and seafood I have EVER had in my life!

I ate Ceviche which is an amazing raw fish (yep, raw) concoction!!! I have to say that Peruvian cooking is FANTASTIC!! I will be working on a couple of recipes for my family soon.





As you can see, I found the LYS in Lima. However, it was very different than what we are used to here in the States. I bought a set of very nice circular needles, which I am happy to say made it all the way back home. I have heard horror stories of needles being confiscated when people are trying to return but I thankfully didn't have any trouble. I did get my small scissors taken away in Lima but that's it! Phew!






Here is an amazing example of traditional back strap weaving. To be able to see this artist weaving was truly spectacular. The Peruvian government is working to preserve this tradition and the costume is actually everyday wear for a lot of Peruvian peoples. There are, of course people, wearing modern dress, but we saw people dressed like this everywhere and in the fields on the outskirts of the cities.

No show here - this is the real deal!







I don't know if you have ever heard of Vicuna fiber but it is super duper expensive (if you can find it) and that is because this adorable little guy is endangered!!! The Vicuna is the smallest in the camelid family, which begins with camels, llamas, alpacas and then the oh-so sweet Vicuna!! Soooooooo soft!! Unfortunately, they have been hunted to the brink of extinction for their amazing coat. The good news is that they are now protected by the government so hopefully they will be able to build back up their populations.


Machu Picchu





We hiked all around Machu Picchu and it is truly breathtaking! This extremely rugged terrain was home to the Incan people up until the Spanish Conquistadors came to Peru. The precision with which the stones are laid is mind boggling and the fact that they climbed these mountains everyday is incredible!






Well for now this will have to wet your appetite for all things Peruvian! I will write in more detail about my fiber adventures, which were many to say the least! Let me know if there is any specific part of my adventure you would like to hear about in more detail and I sure will do my best to accommodate you all!


As always, happy knitting, crocheting, and adventuring!


Jeanne


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