Meet the Shetlands

Hello friends! I hope you all had a lovely long weekend. I've just gotten back from the cottage, where I spent some time with friends and family. And the weather was beautiful. And so were the sunsets.

I got to photograph two finished designs which will come out soon, possibly even tomorrow, if I can get all the edits and graphic stuff done. Thanks to Danielle for modelling....again. You'll see her beautiful face on the cover of the cowl pattern, when it comes out. 

The knitting side of things was not too exciting. I knit a bit on a sweater, and I have about 3'' done on a sock, which I'm not even sure I will keep. Having confidence in designing is strange. I want to be able to knit and present simple, intuitive, minimal designs on occasion, without needing to feel that I have 'reinvented the wheel.' But if I design anything too simple, I feel weird charging for it, because it's not anything novel. Anyone else have this feeling? 

A fibre highlight of the weekend was receiving fibre from my aunt. Last fall I was with her at the Woodstock (ON) Fleece Festival, when she bought a beautiful Shetland fleece from Chassagne Farm. She washed it, and then generously gave me 200 grams of it to play with. This is what it looked like:

She pulled a little of each colour so that I had a range of natural colours. Isn't it amazing that all these beautiful neutrals comes from the same fleece! That's one of the things that makes Shetlands so unique. The same fleece can have many different colours and textures. Now, I could have blended the whole bunch together to make a medium colour, but I've got images of colour wash or fair isle in natural colours.

When I got home this evening, I sat on the front step and gently carded it. I could have divided it more precisely, but I fancy a bit of heathering within each colour pile. The weather and light was good, and I had a wonderful time, punctuated by a few strange looks from my neighbours. 

I carded enough to open the locks, but not as vigorously as you might if making rolags for woollen spun, when you need to ensure absolutely parallel fibres.

Look at just how diverse the locks are across a single fleece. In general, the whitest locks are the shortest, finest, and fluffiest in this fleece, but that doesn't mean that the darker stuff isn't soft!

Also gifted from my aunt was part of a Leicester fleece. It was processed at Wellington Fibres, and when the initial owner of the fleece moved, it was given to my aunt. Some of it has come to live with me, and I'm excited to make some yarn from 100% Leicester, as well as blending it with some other fibres.

You can see how long the staple length of this Leicester is in this final pic. So happy to be adding to my fibre repertoire. Thanks again, Tante Margo!