Spinning and knitting a fairisle hat as payment for my local sheep farmer
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- Опубліковано 22 лис 2022
- Hello friends! Last summer I brought home a human-sized bag of Flemish' sheep's wool. As wool is no longer economically interesting in Belgium the farmer didn't want any money for it, but I promised him a hat in return for all that lovely wool.
And I sure kept my promise. In this video we will first dye the wool with walnut peel, then comb it into fluffy birds' nests, spin it to a DK weight yarn and finally knit the Reynald hat from Drops Design/Garnstudio. (Pattern: www.garnstudio.com/pattern.ph...) All the while I rant about the lamentable state of the wool industry in Belgium because that is a complete travesty!
Some sources to back up my claims (in Dutch however):
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2022/09/07/...
www.slabbinck.be/nl-BE/conten...
www.landbouwleven.be/9500/art...
If anyone tells you handspun yarn isn't fit for fairisle or other colourwork knits, show them this video to prove them wrong!
If you enjoy spinning, yarn, knitting, fiber arts or any other traditional craft then this channel is right up your alley. Maybe you could hit that subscribe button?
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#crafting #spinning #knitting #knittingpattern #spinningyarn - Навчання та стиль
I hope that the wool industry can have a revival in our lifetime. I absolutely love it as a textile, working with it, whether spinning, felting, or knitting it is one of my favorite textures. I have asked a farmer that I work with if i could buy some of her fair show sheep fleeces, and she just sort of laughed at the idea and never got back to me after shearing season. I really hope that the popularity of merino in the recent years can help introduce more people to wool as a textile and help get more breeds into the mainstream so we can get away from unsustainable fibers and pay our farmer's better. Thanks for sharing, your videos are very much my brand of wooly chaos.
Yes, let's hope so!
I'm sure you made your farmer friend super happy, that is SUCH a kind and thoughtful gift 😍
He was 😁
Sooo interesting! Where I live (Norway), we also get told that our local sheep's wool is too "harsh and itchy", and not suited for soft knitted items and yarn. But we also have such a huge knitting industry! Ofc the big players all usually import alpaca from Peru, or Merino from new zealand and Australia (non-mulesing merino ofc). But it's interesting to see as there is such a high demand for wool yarn here, even for our "itchy and useless" wool. Because not surprsingly, the sheep we have, are bred to be able to deal with really harsh weather, and so their wool is absolutely excellent for outer layers. So socks, (with a layer of thin wool or cotton socks under), hats, mittens etc.
I have never been warmer on my feet, than I am when I use my thick knitted socks (on 3.5mm needles), made from the cheapest yarn available - because it's not treated as much as the softer yarns, and still got a lot of that natural protection going on. So I think I am going to become a little bit more vocal to protect our local resources and wool
Coincidentally I'm spinning my dog's wool as we speak! My parents once gifted me mittens made with wool from icelandic sheep, I reckon that's maybe similar to what you are familiar with in Norway? And they are indeed wonderfully warm! And yes! Wool socks for keeping warm any day!
I'm sorry to hear that there are not many people in Belgium that do fiber arts. If you are close to Eindhoven and ever feel like spinning with others, there is a group that gets together once a month for an afternoon to spin together. Everyone is welcome to join, and it is totally "vrijblijvend" (I don't know the English word). If you want more information, don't hesitate to ask.
There's a group here in Hoeselt as well, I'm part of their facebook group but haven't been able to attend one of the get togethers yet as it mostly coincides with my painting classes 😊
It's the same in the UK. Here we have some amazing fleeces (blue face leiceser for example) but farmers get paid nothing for the hard work and care that goes into producing such fantastic fibre. I love your gift, super thoughtful
That's horrible! I thought it was much better across the channel because English breeds are still in demand...
@@MijnWolden I was talking to a lady who keeps Leicester Long Wool. She does sell to spinners and other crafters but any she doesn't sell, she gets about 85p a kilo.
Not to say it is a livable, viable or even fair amount, but it's still 8 times as much (if I'm correct in the conversion rates to eurocents) as what the maximum amount is farmers get here 😅 it's just such a shame...
Such a pity about the Flemish wool industry and the lack of interest in fibre arts. I am in Australia and despite our reputation as a wool growing country most of it is merino and most of it is exported. There is starting to be more interest in fibre arts especially in the south but where I live not so much. There is a growing number of indie growers of other breeds and I as a new spinner I am exploring what breeds are grown here. There is also a growing number of indie dyers here also and we do have still a few mills. But it is almost entirely merino and some alpaca and silk added sometimes. All the mainstream retail outlets sell a great deal of acrylic as well as wool, and although some of the wool is local, much of it is Chinese. Such a shame for a country that prides itself on it's sheep history.
I enjoy your raves and digressions into other realms, so refreshing. Thank you.
You're not the first australian to Point this out in the comments. Global capitalism has seriously screwed over our relationship with local produced goods. Wool being only one example. The region where I live is renowned for apples. Though when you go to the supermarket, you Will not find our local apples... It makes me sad that this is the way we treat our planet and our people.
Yeah - similar story in NZ. There used to be a much stronger wool working tradition here, but very few people spin anymore. Also, nearly all the wool you can buy is marino. Although I did notice that we often wear more wool than when I was in Europe/the UK (e.g. merino undergarments, coats, etc). I don't know what it's like in Australia with that regard - you guys tend to have much warmer weather than we do (with the odd exception - I hear Tasmania has a similar climate temperature wise compared to the North Island of NZ)
I found this so interesting, im Spanish and also wish for a revival and protection of the past vast culture of wool crafts. You are a multifaceted artist! Well done
I think a lot of Europe sits in the same boat...
I so agree with you regarding the waste of wool. In UK farmers wool needs to be of exceptionally high standard to sell, even then they get paid the following year(!) and it is a criminally small amount. I am disgusted that this resource is wasted and at the same time produce so much polyester - plastic clothes,
This striving for ''quality'' is also completely destroying the biodiversity of sheep breeds. Nobody wants to herd a ''lesser'' breed, but those are most often heritage or historic breeds... How did we get this far? I'm actually quite angry about it. Even more now that I hear from you all it's not better elsewhere...
Gorgeous hat! I hope he was delighted. Funny to see you sitting like a 17th century Vermeer farmgirl in your studio, then you whip out a smartphone!
Fleeces, frustrating here in UK too - one has to pay lots to someone on Etsy for one, while requests direct to farmers gets you only blank looks. And farmers STILL send out food boxes with polystyrene insulation rather than wool...
Vermeer farmgirl is the absolute best description I had 😁
And yeah, my farmer was quite puzzeled last year when I said I wanted the wool for spinning. Now he's entirely supportive of course, thinking about having me spin while he shears and making a public thing out of it. But the thought of someone spinning wool is so alien to most People now...
I've done some nature dye of my fleeces but not walnut husks because I live too far north for walnuts to grow. I've used marigolds(tagetes) for gold/orange, horsetail (equisetum) for sage green, and daylilies (hemerocallis) for a caramel colour. You hat turned out wonderfully. Most the wool shorn off sheep here in Canada is also burned or composted since the farmers only get pennies per kg from the wool growers' co-op.
Hmmmm... Horsetail you say.... Interesting interesting
Awesome hat! Thanks for the vid.
This makes my heart happy. Thank you!
Thank you ☺️
What a lovely hat! Amazing that you can get wool locally, that is my dream one day. I live in the US and sheep are not at all economic in this area, so wool is incredibly hard to get a hold of. Wool yarn is considered very luxurious and out of the price range of most Americans, at least around here. Its very difficult to buy raw fleece around here too 😭
Oh wow and here I was, being misled by the internet, that if you want to be a spinner you better live in the USA... Is there even a place on darth where we value sheep's wool the way we should? 😱
@@MijnWolden Maybe one day 😭 Maybe in some parts of the US it is easier to spin with local sheep's wool, but acrylic is significantly more affordable. In my experience alpaca and cotton are more readily available natural fibers. One day I'll get my hands on some of that luxury Flemish wool, I'd pay way more than 0.5 euros, you have my word
Our wool is not that luxurious though, quite coarse in comparison to let's say Merino or BFL, but Flemish sheep's wool is ✨warm✨ AF.
In Australia it used to be relatively easy to get hold of a fleece if you happened to know a farmer. It's not unusual for a farmer to acquire a sheep that is a different breed to the rest of the flock (they wander and the neighbouring farm may have a different sort of sheep). In Australia, fleeces used to be squashed down into bales but the farmer wouldn't want to put a fleece from a different breed of sheep in because that would reduce the value of the bale.
So that tends to lead to fleeces that can't be sold with the rest and farmers are often happy to sell them for a low price, or barter them or even give them away to people who can use them. After that, though, you need to process the fleece yourself, you may want to do a partial scour before you start and you'll definitely want to remove any burrs, twigs, dags, etc, as well as combing or carding the wool before you can start to spin it.
I would even suggest that you search the internet for farmers in your area and then see if you can contact them and ask them if they have any fleeces that they'd be willing to sell you. The worst they can say is no - and even if they say no, they may be able to point you in the right direction.
I like your natural clothes, works, hobby, things that you’re doing there, but especially the smart watch fits perfect to all these things 😀👍
Spinning yarn is actually a high intensive sport, need to log on Strava 😎
Beautiful as always 🥰 hearing about how much wool gets wasted makes me think if it's similar in other countries - I just visited family in France and no one seemed to have even heard of buying fibre 😔 I brought a photo of a braid and asked for spinning wheel, fibre, "stuff you make yarn out of", and they had no idea where to find any. I was even in the countryside! It makes me sad how little people know about handwork today, I hope attention is brought to farmers and they are properly compensated!
I visit France regularly too and it is indeed a similar situation to what I experience here in Belgium. Although there are some more specialised yarn shops there that sell yarn from indie companies and not just the big brands you can get here...
Hello! I recently purchased my first spinning wheel. I’m so excited! You inspired me to finally take the plunge. I did name her(a nod to you). Her name is Faye.❤️
Faye is a beautiful name! Happy spinning and lots of luck!
That's a very nice project and well done! I find the awareness for such crafts and natural local ressources has been and is strongly growing in the last years. So sharing your thoughts, your craft and passion for it will do its thing to strenghten this mindset, in your region too. I'm sure of it! There are people who think and feel like you, they just need the right one to deliver the spark. Keep it up!
I hope you're right ❤️
❤️ This is awesome on so many levels.
Thank you 🥰
Thank you. I enjoyed your video 😊
Thank you ☺️
Bravo for your wonderful MISSION - FROM ALL ANGLES - MAY GOD BLESS YOU
Thank you 🙏
How did you determine what fluffs were worth keeping and which ones were tossed to the ground? Loved the chaos goblin energy as always!
The ones that didn't transfer from one comb to the other we're either too short or too brittle to work with and those got yeeted 😁 thanks for your lovely comment 🥰
I can see why he'd give it away instead of selling it. This way he gets a wonderful hat and the lovely wool gets used up!
I'd love wool from local sheep... If they even have any where I live... But the itch would leave me wanting to saw off my hands. :c So I'll live vicariously through you instead. Wonderful work. ❤️
Oh how sad you get itchy from wool! Maybe some local alpaca for you then? Thank you for your lovely comment 🥰
Do awesome 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thanks 😁
Amazing🥰 I Love the Spinning Wheel and the Hat you have Fantastic Talent 🥰🥰🥰
Thank you 🥰
In Greece too the wool processing industry has declined to the point where farmers throw away shorn fleece. Such a shame to let precious resources like wool go to waste.
I feel like it's the case nowadays in most of Europe. What a shame indeed...
Awesome video i really love your videography style (:
Thank you ☺️
One woman CAN bring about change. 🐑❤️
Fabulous hat!
❤️ I hope so!
Thank you 🥰
Hi Jente, I hope you're OK xx ❣️
Thankyou so much for sharing this video podcast. I love your Dyed Fibre and the Rustic way of your dying process.
I love the Hat you made for your Farmer.
I think that is a great way to Repay his Kindness. I think that will last him many more years than any money would and will probably keep him a lot warmer too, especially this winter.
I also love you explaining the different ways that Wool / textiles seem less important than they should. England sold most of its textile industry in the 1980's to late 1990's.
The small town I live in was well known for its Shoe Industry. Unfortunately that has gone now. It even had its own Coal Mine, I'm not sure when that closed.
Where I live I think I'm the only Spinner (fairly new).
Thankyou for sharing this information. I really appreciate everything you do.
Happy Spinning and Knitting Fibre Friend 🎡🐑🥰
Take care and stay safe
Lots of love and Big Hugs Jen xxxx ❤️❤️❤️🫂🫂🫂🐑🐑❣️
Hi Jen! How odd you're the only spinner where you live. The internet made me believe the UK is such a fiber arts minded country, or at least a lot more than Belgium is. And I know of at least one other spinner in my city and someone reached out on facebook to a group I'm a member off to find a spinning teacher here as well. Maybe there is some hope for the Future! Take Care, and thank you so much of your support 🥰
@@MijnWolden Hi Jente, why I said that I'm the only Spinner where I live, is that the main Fibre Arts are Knitting and Crotcheting. I'm pretty much self taught via UA-cam, although I've been Knitting for a years. There's no chance of buying Fibre apart from online. There's no Spinning Guilds either as such in this part of England.
I've been spinning for just over a year, started with Drop Spindles and then got the Nano 1.1 for my birthday last year and then my hubby bought me the eWheel 6 last Christmas. I can't use a Treadle Wheel as I have problems with my lower spine and problems with my feet. I'm virtually housebound especially now that the weather has turned cold.
I really appreciate you doing everything you do.
Happy Spinning Fibre Friend 🎡🐑🥰
Take care and stay safe
Lots of love and Big Hugs Jen xxxx ❤️❤️🫂🫂🎆🐑❤️🫂
@@MijnWoldenHi Jente, I hope you're OK xx ❣️❣️
I forgot to say
Thankyou so much for the Heart ♥ Reply Sending Heart ♥ back to you ❤️
Happy Spinning and Knitting Fibre Friend 🎡🐑🥰
Take care and stay safe
Love and Big Hugs Jen xxxx ❤️❤️❤️🫂🫂🫂🐕
Spinning wool is a dieing breed of people and wool is very health to use to soften wool up put it for a few days in salt water or ocean water
It indeed is!
Honestly - even in New Zealand much of our wool is wasted. My uncle keeps sheep (although this isn't his main source of income tbf) and he discards the wool after sheering because the price per fleece he can get isn't worth selling the fleeces. I think at least some of his wool ends up as compost for gardening, though - which is at least better than burning it.
Oh wow, capitalism, right?
Love the hat! And I love seeing the process.
Thank you 🥰
Beautiful work on all levels 🧶😊
Thank you 🥰
Just found you, I am from the US, I enjoyed your video,loved your spinning set up. Some day I will have something like yours.
And when you do I wish you all the fiber Fun!
A great project and a great hat!!
Thank you 🥰
Wow, this video is a masterpiece to me! I'm new here and I'm addicted to yours videos! I'm excited to see what comes next!
Thank you 🥰🥰 and Lucky for you there's a new one coming in a couple of hours!
I really, really loved it and shared this interesting story spun around a hat!
Thank you 🥰
Loved this story and that you brought us along. I hope you're able to influence your county to see the value in the recorce they have!
I hope so too! Thank you 🥰
Beautiful hat! This reminds me that I planned to knit a hat from Jacob wool a local farmer gave me back in April! I have spun the yarn but haven’t knit the hat yet and it’s getting very cold here. This is good inspiration to get me to finish the project😂
And he isn't yet reminding you himself? I got a text message from my farmer somewhere mid October asking about the process, as he sure seemed a bit impatient/excited 😁
To me it's always a big "Oooooph" to hear how poorly wool as a resource is treated. I'm quite sure, in Germany it's no better. I'd really love to save more wool from being thrown away. That won't alter the situation, but one has to start somewhere and I really like your effort and the beautiful hat.
I'm sometimes frustrated that my efforts are not even a droplet on a hot plate. Farmers and hobby breeders that know I spin are practically throwing their fleeces at me, but I can't take them all on...
@@MijnWolden But sharing your efforts via UA-cam is really an inspiration. Hold fast to that. ;)
Superbe stuff 😎
Thank you 😎
You have a very cosy house!
I know 😁
Wonderful video. 😊 did you use a mordant or fixative for the walnut dye please? I use any fleece that isnt up to spinning standard as mulch on the garden. There are so many uses for wool, it is criminal how much is wasted😢 🙏🏻
Black walnuts are so rich in Tannins that they don't require a mordant, so no I didn't use any ☺️
In the Netherlands it costs a sheep farmer 20 cents per kilo to get rid of the wool. It's such a shame. 😔
I like the hat though! 😁
Yeah, the 10 cents are a maximum in Belgium as well, and oftentimes farmers have to pay to get ''rid of'' their wool. So most just give it away for free to whomever wants to do something with it. My local farmer had 3 such bags of wool, the two others he gave to people as an insulation material - also for free. It's such a shame and I actually get really angry about it 😅
This is terrible!! I wish I had the space and resources to process my own fleece. There's definitely some local to me sheep farmers I could visit to buy from.
They might even give it away for free! Or that is what farmers in my area do. And they won't hear of payment, because they rather have it be used than thrown away. When I gifted the hat to my local farmer he had a friend over, who was also a farmer, and he was all proud ''this is the first of our sheep's wool that has come back to us!''. Which was nice as a conversation starter, but a sad reality.
@@MijnWolden I wish I could!! I need to find out if there's any kind of local wool production/mill etc anywhere near me. I'd love to spin a few local dutch/belgian/german breeds, but I have absolutely no idea where to find them.
Where are you exactly located? Because if you are in Belgium/the Netherlands/Germany you could check wether Tumulus fiber Mill are achievable for you, they're in Gingelom (Belgium) and have an alpaca farm as well.
I don't know if this is helpful information, but I recently read about a process where sheep's wool is treated so that pests will not like to nest in it. Then it is used as a more environmentally friendly home insulation. Maybe your farmer friend can look into selling his wool in that direction?
He had three of these large bags I showed in the video and the two others were indeed given away/sold to use as insulation. It's An Alternative indeed, but it is such lovely wool I think it's a pity we don't use it more creatively. But I guess capitalism 🤷
Beautiful. Can I ask if you scoured the fleece at all or if the only wash was the dye bath?
I did scour them lightly. I wash them in rainwater, which takes away most of the lanolin. Dyes Will not adhere properly if you don't scour first, I was told.
6:32 does the miniature spinning wheel on the table actually work? or is it a decor?
Well, the wheel Spins when you move the treadle, but there's no orifice, so yeah it's decor.
What do they rear or breed the sheep for? Milk? Meat?
Yes, milk and meat and as live lawnmowers for big nature reserves
Thrown away??? So incredibly sad.
I know right?!
God bless your hands and health to continue your work. Jesus Christ is Lord!
You can dye with walnut?? What the good Lord provided is abundant!! Can you use acorns my dear? The hat looks wonderful.
Acorns and oak leaves are also rich in tannins and thus, yes, can be used too. I have a small video on that. God bless!
30kg... Well at least you're set for the next tour the fleece? (Or not, at the speed you're posting these videos lol)
The wool situation really is terrible. I've heard people from the uk talk about very similar situations. We really need to gnaw some market back from synthetics.
I think I'm set for the next couple of tour de fleeces 😅
Yes, I didn't really talk about synthetics in this video, but I feel like a lot of People don't realise how much better a fiber wool is to clothes yourself with than synthetics. We've lost all sense of our historic knowledge about it. ''but doesn't it itch/smell?'' is all anybody who is not into fiber arts can ask me.