Fleece with Altitude

Alston Craft Fair

2011-11-29T06:20:00.000-08:00

Where did the year go? Almost December already! And, of course, the first weekend in December always brings with it Alston Craft Fair - a truncated version this year, just two days. Come along if you can. It's always full of wonderful things.

On the homefront we're busy hemp-lime plastering, trying to kill two birds with one stone - plastering and insulation. It's good fun, very easy to do, but dust everywhere......... We've spent so much time wondering how best to insulate our walls and retain breathability and now we've taken the plunge. Hopefully it will all be worthwhile.

Of course, energy-wise we've had electricity coming out of our ears for several months now. Gales, gales and more gales, the irony being that our house is warmer than usual as the dump loads (all heaters of one type or another) are almost permanently on. Even with two eleven year old boys we don't seem able to generate sufficient washing to take advantage of this plenty. Not that I'm complaining. Still, it would be nice to be able to stand upright outside..........

Shedded Sheep - and Feltmaking Workshops Autumn 2011

2011-11-10T04:37:00.000-08:00

What a busy year it's been and the last two feltmaking workshops of 2011 are imminent, next week a 2-day residential workshop at Keswick Youth Hostel - very good value and still places left!

The following Sunday (20th) will be my last workshop of the year - a Christmas workshop at MAKE, Allen Mill, Northumberland.

My final outing of the year will be to Alston Craft Fair, 3rd and 4th of December. The list of exhibitors looks excellent, as ever.

Otherwise I'm busy in my workshop, preparing for an exhibition early next year, getting on with commissions (some of which are very long overdue and some so unusual that I simply couldn't say no to them), generally trying to catch up with a huge backlog, and also trying to assist with making sure we have a bathroom by Christmas.

I'll be taking a break from my sheep column for Felt Matters following the December issue, which is rather sad, but I really need to make more time for my paid work. The December article includes a section on ethical issues in sheep farming, and here is a snippet of what you'll find there. Some of you may be listening in horror to the plans for factory farming cattle in the Archers (some of you will have better things to do than listen to the Archers!), but do you know that a large number of Merino sheep are factory farmed, in pretty much the same way as battery hens?

These sheep are kept for wool, indoors in pens (many in individual pens), permanently wearing nylon coats to avoid soiling of the wool. The sheep never see the outside and are fed limited rations, a degree of malnutrition producing finer wool. These sheep are known as 'shedded' sheep or 'Sharlea' sheep. They are unable to indulge in any natural behaviour such as flocking, grazing, cudding and frequently display signs of distress. This is what the Australian RSPCA has to say:

The RSPCA is opposed to farming practices which cause suffering or distress to animals, or which restrict their movements or natural behaviour. Shedding sheep for fine-wool production does all of these, with the obvious potential for poor animal welfare.

Shedded Merino sheep images courtesy of Animals Australia

Obviously not all Merino wool is produced in this way. This is the premium fine wool, wool of less than 16 microns in diameter, usually referred to as ultrafine merino. Think about these animals when you buy anything woollen (fibres or products) and don't feel embarrassed about questioning the salespeople. If they can't answer your questions about this and other welfare issues (for example Mulesing) of the sheep supplying the wool for whatever you're buying they should be willing and able to find out. If in doubt, just don't buy it.

The first snow

2011-10-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well it snowed. Not much snow, admittedly, more a sleety affair in the 60mph winds, but it was definitely there. Hello winter!

Gearing up for the North Pennines Wool Event

2011-10-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

The second North Pennines Wool Event is almost upon us (7th and 8th October), and the turnout should be high. The big worry is the weather, with gales forecast and several events planned for the marquee at 1500 feet. Tents and gales - an interesting combination!

Anyway we have a fantastic lineup of stallholders (with only British wools!), plus a few exciting wool/sheep related extras (including peg looms, lucets, sheep cards, breed books etc) on the North Pennines Wool Group's sale table. We also have the daily fleece auctions, which will include Wensleydale, Shetland, Teeswater, Manx Loaghtan, Hebridean and Ryeland fleeces, various demonstrations throughout the two days and the spinning and knitting circle in the yurt at Killhope just a mile down the hill. Plus, of course, there will be delicious food! We'll also have the prizegiving for the North Pennines gansey design competition, plus exciting woolly raffle prizes.

On a woolly theme I needed some woolly/sheepy photos so I tried on the dress I made for a recent exhibition (a dress that is ultimately destined for my lovely sister). Unfortunately dresses seem to frighten my sheep, so they were mostly hiding in the distance. Hmm.

Absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with sheep or wool, but I wanted to share with you this view from my kitchen window.

Talk about wayward chickens!

Incidentally the North Pennines Wool Group now has its own blog, so why not take a look?

Feltmaking Workshops Autumn 2011

2011-09-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

Rather belatedly, here are some of my 2011 feltmaking workshops.

And what I almost forgot to mention is that this morning we had our first real frost. Where did this year go?

North Pennines Wool Event

2011-09-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Details of this year's North Pennines Wool Event are now available on the group's website. Or, for those of you who can't wait, they're here too!

Lots more to see and do than last year. We even have a spinning/knitting circle in the Yurt down the hill at Killhope North East of England Lead Mining Museum.

Should be a good couple of days. Come along if you can!

North Pennines Gansey Design Competition

2011-08-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know that there's just one week left to enter the North Pennines Wool Group's Gansey design competition. No need to be able to knit - anyone with a pencil can enter!

Look out on their website next week for full details of the North Pennines Wool Event to be held 7th and 8th October, 11am - 4pm at Lanehead, Weardale.

North Pennines Wool Trail

2011-08-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well the Wool Trail went very well indeed. We had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day with the occasional huge influx, and Ruth and I enjoyed ourselves enormously. I was doing my usual felting, peg loom weaving and tea making, but Ruth was doing wonders with her natural dyes. Here are some images of Ruth, her yarn and her splendid fire box in our green woodworking tent.

We also had a small helper fetching and carrying and giving tours of the sheep, so thank you also to Gabriel.

Sheep, wool - what more can anyone ask for?

2011-08-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready for the Wool Trail at the weekend. There will be woolly goings on at Eden Gotlands and Highside Farm and here at Slack House Farm, where we have a small exhibition of felt, dyed wools and even a few paintings. Ruth Hicken from Textiles through Time will be dyeing using natural dyes, I'll be making feltmaking and peg loom weaving. There'll be an opportunity to buy various carded wools, dyed yarns etc. And don't forget that there will be tea and cake!

For anyone who can't make this do remember to enter the North Pennines Wool Group Gansey competition. You really don't need to be a knitter to do this - you just need to be able to hold a pencil!

We haven't seen any sheep here for a while, so here's a photo of a mixed flock - not mine, alas, but a very interesting flock to plunder for fleeces!

North Pennines Wool Trail

2011-07-29T02:54:00.000-07:00

All you woolly-minded people, why not come along to the first North Pennines Wool Trail. It will take you through some beautiful landscapes and lead you to wonderful sheep, wool and woolly activities - possibly cake too!

"Highlights" in Dent.

2011-05-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

Today we went along to the village of Dent to visit the "Meadowsweet" Highlights Contemporary Craft Tour 2011. Isn't Dent a beautiful place? Of course, I quickly found some sheep

and we found a magical wishing tree

and a stunning limestone pavement (to which my photography doesn't do justice).

Alas, the Terrible Knitters of Dent are no more, but we did see some of their mind-boggling needle holders in a tea shop. Plus on the way home we managed to find a fabulous bookshop in nearby Sedburgh.

The Meditation Centre, hosting the Dent leg of the tour, is a beautiful venue, and it all looked lovely, even if I do say so myself. Here are some images of my own felt work and the work of Allyson Gee and Sarah Mitchell.

Do catch the exhibition if you're out and about in the north. Check out the venues and dates here. I think you'll find something to enjoy!

Meadowsweet Contemporary Craft Exhibition

2011-04-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

The 'Meadowsweet' exhibition opens today in beautiful Dentdale, to coincide with their walking festival.
Amongst the butterflies and intricate books you'll find my own woolly offerings, including this dress made from local Hebridean wool for my beautiful sister.

Exhibition

2011-04-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

If you can make it to Bridlington in June or July do go to see this exhibition. It's at Sewerby Hall - a beautiful spot to visit in itself.

If you can't make it then try to check out Rhea's work wherever you can.

Feltmaking in the North East

2011-04-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

I have finally managed to update my website www.fleecewithaltitude.co.uk. Now I have new sections including 'News' to give information about my open studios, exhibitions and felt courses at other venues in the North East (more to be added soon). I've also managed to add a 'Gallery' of sorts. Still no shop, I'm afraid, but I'm always happy to make to order.

Watch out for the North Pennines Wool Group gansey competition (not just for knitters!), and if you haven't already subscribed why not sign up for the newsletter?

Highlights and Feltmaking workshops

2011-04-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? Well, I think most of mine seems to have been spent making felt. Much of it will be here.

However this poster does give a slightly misleading impression of what you'll find there. Along with paper and butterflies you'll find local wool, hopefully as you haven't seen it before. Here are a couple of sneak previews.

When not making felt I'm doing quite a lot of teaching feltmaking - much of it community work, but I do now have some public workshops scheduled, both at home and at MAKE.

There'll be a free taster felting factory at the Stanhope venue of the Highlights Meadowsweet tour plus, back on the smallholding, I'll be holding open studios - very informal affairs - on the first and third Sundays of May, June, July and August. With any luck, there won't just be wool - there'll also be chocolate sheep!

Just in case I get sidetracked again, I'll mention now that the North Pennines Wool Group, following the astounding and unexpected success of last October's Wool Event, will be holding a bigger and better version - exclusively focused on local, British wool, of course - on 7th & 8th October 2011. Sign up for the email list to make sure you don't miss out.

North Pennines Wool Event

2010-09-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

This should be a good afternoon for the woolly-minded out there, and, what's more, it's entirely free!
For more details, including public transport details check the North Pennines Wool Group's website.

This will be an opportunity to learn what makes a good fleece, have a go at spinning, feltmaking, weaving, compare fleeces from various breeds, discover lots of wool-related information - and eat homemade cakes.
There will also be an opportunity to buy various wools as raw fleece, carded batts, sliver, roving or yarn.

I should just add that some of the wools available will be pretty special, including Teeswater, Blue Faced Leicester, Gotland, Shetland and BowmontXShetland. All wools will be of local origin, several of the breeders will be there on the day.

Please do support this initiative - everyone involved is passionate about promoting local wool and we're all giving our time and expertise for free.

Extra Feltmaking Workshops, Durham and Northumberland

2010-09-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

After a long silence, here, finally are the dates for my extra feltmaking workshops. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) they're almost full already, so if you're interested in any of them, please contact me asap.
The workshop dates are 18th, 20th and 21st October.

Also, do remember my workshops at MAKE. I believe two of them are pretty full, so if anyone else wants to do the whole series you'll need to contact Katie soon.

Still on the subject of wool, look out for a North Pennines Wool Day, which should be happening in October - full details will be posted here soon

Such a busy time just now, and I'm rather excited to have been asked to do two exhibitions next year. I have big plans!

Finally, I feel I ought to add one or two images, so, during the summer I visited the Halifax Spinning Company and here are a couple of pieces of machinery to be found there. First of all this fabulous antique skein winder.

Secondly, this rather mean looking wool picker - one of several to be found there!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention - I had another message without contact details. Too late now, I think, but, if you're reading, the answers are 'Yes, you're welcome to visit and 'Yes, I do make skull caps'.

Feltmaking Workshop and Bed and Breakfast

2010-09-12T03:54:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid general busyness has led to this blog being neglected once more, and this is really just a quick SOS message, on the off-chance that the people concerned might read this.

Firstly I received 2 phone messages - I think from the same person? - wanting to book into the B&B next April, but neither message left a telephone number, so I'm afraid I can't contact you. All I know is that one message was from someone by the name of Jenny.

Secondly - and this one is my fault entirely - I've misplaced a couple of hastily scribbled phone numbers from people wanting additional feltmaking workshops in the autumn. There will be two additional workshops here on the smallholding, details to be posted very soon, and there are also workshops at MAKE.

Please, if you're waiting for a phone call or email from me, just get in touch!
Thank you.

Dyeing for a change

2010-08-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

It's many years since I did any dyeing - I'm very committed to my love of natural sheep shades - but I'd mentioned wanting to dye with horsetail and Phil picked some for me, so I thought I'd better use it! Anyway I tried a few other things too and, although some of the results are OK(sorry, it's a very dark photo), the experience did nothing to convince me that I was missing out on anything. (Don't worry, Katie, we'll still be dyeing for the workshop and with more colours!)

Before I go, I seem to remember mentioning wayward poultry in my last post. One of the aforementioned wayward poultry was even more wayward than I thought. Just look at what we found wandering round our garden last week!

Felt Making Workshops and Wool Carding.

2010-07-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

We have Autumn workshops coming up fast, both here and at Make in Allendale, where I'll be running a course of four feltmaking and other woolly-type days in October and November.

Although, as those of you who know me will be aware, I specialise in natural, undyed wools, we will be using some naturally dyed wools to add a little colour on some of the Make days. Here's a little dyer's chamomile to whet your appetite.

Katie is running lots of other exciting events at Make, so if wool isn't your thing, then I'm sure you'll find something that is.

For those of you - and I know there are many - with an interest in getting your own fleeces processed I've updated the information on wool carding services. Here is the tiniest tip of my own iceberg of fleeces waiting to be processed, in what should be one of my bed and breakfast rooms.
Hmm!

If only the weather hadn't been so wet and windy for the past two or three weeks I could have got some of the fleeces sorted and washed or packed and sent away, but my felt making/sorting platform is currently populated only by wayward poultry (shown here in a rare moment of sunshine) and there's no significant improvement in the weather in sight. In fact I did notice that the temperature is due to drop to freezing tonight....... It's July!

Baa baa black sheep have you any wool?

2010-07-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Yes! I am being inundated with offers of fleeces - not that I'm complaining, I hasten to add, but I am running out of space. Anyway, how could I possibly resist Lincoln Longwool, Wensleydale, Blue Faced Leicester and Hebridean, to say nothing of the Shetland, Jacob and Teeswater fleeces? At the moment I have several hundred kilos of wool in various states, just waiting to be felted, spun and/or woven. I have to confess, I'm in heaven!
Anyway, this is a good opportunity for a long overdue sheep photo to revive the Sheep of the Month spot.

In the foreground is Ziggy, my beautiful Wensleydale, and standing next to him is Jacob's still unnamed twin brother (always referred to as Jacob's Brother, which, I suppose, is a name of sorts), who looks remarkably similar to Ziggy, but is, in fact a Teeswater X Jacob. Looking on is Bouncy, a Shetland named by my children when they were too young to know any better.

As if I didn't have enough wool, I have also imported some from a farm in Finland for an article I'm writing. It's Finnsheep wool, which I have used in the dim and distant past, but the article is about a specific farm and, before today, I hadn't used their wool. I've only made a sample so far, but it seems very lovely. Look at these five different natural shades.

The skies around my home are always stunning, particularly in the evenings. This evening, when I went down to feed my sheep I actually remembered to take a camera, so for once I can share this with you.

Now, for the woolly-minded among you, just look at the crimp in that cloud to the left of the picture!
And here's my own home underneath this glorious sky.

I haven't even mentioned our newly fledged swallows and blackbirds, or the curlew who, for several evenings, sat and watched as we clipped sheep. Sorry, no photographs of this - too busy and far too dirty.
But what an amazing planet this is.

Woolfest, Summer and Make.

2010-06-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Oh, it's been such a busy time recently - open studios, B&Bs, workshops, sheep clipping and so on - but yesterday I took a day out to go to Woolfest. Haven't been for a couple of years, so it was high time I went again. I arrived before 10am, didn't leave until almost 6pm, and still only saw a fraction of what there was to see, spoke to only a handful of people and didn't spend nearly enough time with the sheep. I was asked to take some felty things along to the Grampus fashion shows so it was fun to play a small part.

By the time of the Woolfest weekend, we know that we're officially into summer and, so far, it seems rather like we might actually have a summer. The first since 2006! Let's hope so anyway.

So with summer in mind, here are some summery photos. My fleeces are beautiful.

I make no apologies for sounding just a little bit smug here, but wouldn't you just love to get your hands on these? Clockwise from bottom left they are Blue Faced Leicester, Black Welsh Mountain, Teeswater X Jacob and last, but certainly not least, Wensleydale.

Thankfully the sheep are very patient - we are not the speediest of sheep clippers. Sometimes we don't finish until 10.30 or 11pm. Believe me, it isn't easy clipping in the semi-dark, but generally it's the only time we can spare.

And our haymeadow is stunning.

Better have another one of those!

And somewhere out in cyberspace Katie's wonderful new shop, Make, is now online. If you haven't yet been to Allen Mills and are able to visit the shop in person get yourself over there. It's completely unique and happens to be next door to a splendid bakery and opposite an excellent local brewery. If you can't make it in person, you'll get a tiny taste online.....

Felt and chocolate brownies

2010-06-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

The Art Tour has begun and here are a few offerings from my own little woolly world. A few brave souls have ventured into Weardale for an Art Tour first, but we could do with lots more.

We made lots of brownies and sticky toffee pudding to revitalise weary travellers - although, of course, as everyone knows, we're only fifteen minutes south of Allendale, so just a hop, skip and a jump really.

Do come to see us, and then why not head over the beautiful Ireshope Moor (the most beautiful road I know), through Harwood Common and Yad Moss, to the other North Pennines cluster members at Ashgill, Garrigill and Alston, before returning via Carrshield and Ninebanks.

So here are a few morsels of my felt work, followed by a few morsels of bliss........

Made from Montezuma's organic chocolate - and very little else................

Natalie Merchant

2010-05-26T01:43:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the Sage to see Natalie Merchant. Despite being a fan for more than twenty years this was my first opportunity to see her live. She was sublime. Erudite, fascinating, generous are just some of her qualities, to say nothing of her being one of the world's greatest lyricists and possessing such a unique, incredible voice. She's still in Britain for a few days - catch her if you can! If you're new to Natalie Merchant, why not start, as I did all those years ago, with 'Blind Man's Zoo' from her 10000 Maniacs days or, perhaps, 'Tigerlily' from her solo days and allow yourself be enchanted........?

Full steam ahead!

2010-05-23T02:39:00.000-07:00

This very weekend, the Weardale Railway has resumed its passenger service connecting to the mainline. The service was withdrawn in 1953.

So now, for visitors to our B&B, we're only a short 10 minute bus ride from a mainline rail link at Stanhope. Most excitingly of all, some of that link is steam hauled!

Feltmaking and other woolly workshops 2010

2010-05-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

I've finally put together some workshops for 2010, so for anyone with an inclination to learn to make felt, get to know wool, perhaps try a hand at preparing fleece, simple spinning and weaving, meet the sheep or just to come to spend some time on my smallholding and go home with something beautiful and practical, just check out the workshops page on my website. There's even going to be a Paypal button there soon for paying deposits online!

I'll also be taking part in the Art Tour every weekend during June. I'm part of the North Pennines cluster 'On the Edge'- because we are! Please do make the trip to visit our studios and workshops - we need you! You won't be disappointed. Whatever you think of our art and craft work the scenery is absolutely stunning - and two of us in the cluster provide Bed and Breakfast!

On my doorstep

2010-04-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Time passes so quickly. Already, we're almost at the end of April, after what has felt like a very difficult beginning to the year. However I'm filled with optimism for the coming months. The light evenings are so welcome, the healing sunshine is exactly what we need and life around us is full of joy and wonder. These amazing little creatures belong to a colony of newts living under our wind turbine.

We love to visit them - one of their companions (not pictured) is clearly full of baby newts, so we're excitedly awaiting their arrival.

Other wonders have been arriving on my doorstep too. I recently sent some of my Shetland fleeces to the new Halifax Spinning Mill and they were returned to me a few days ago.

Here they are on my felting platform, and I have to say they're absolutely beautifully processed into carded sliver. Here's some of Jack's fleece, carded to perfection. I can thoroughly recommend the new mill. So good to have facilities back in the north!

Another woolly wonder has been the arrival of this Great Wheel, or Walking Wheel.

It arrived courtesy of the Wool Board, and, I have to say, it isn't mine. It's for the use of the North Pennines Wool Project which I've been instrumental in setting up to try to promote local wool, support local wool workers and achieve a better wool deal for local farmers. It's a very embryonic project just now, but before too long should see some exciting developments and be a mine of information for woolly-minded people.

And here's a little spring brightness.

My Daphne Mezereon is flowering for the first time in heaven knows how many years. It resides in what I affectionately term my 'Suicide Garden' or 'The Garden of Last Resort'. I only grow 'useful' plants and this is in the corner of my garden populated by the poisonous herbs - Wolfsbane, Monkshood, Foxglove, Mandrake, Herb Paris, Lily of the Valley, Bittersweet. No plans ever to use them, but I do love these beautiful plants.

Life, the Universe and Everything......

2010-03-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

.........is where I'm at just now. I haven't suddenly acquired a philosophical bent, but today I've reached the age that is the answer to that question.
Despite having achieved a much larger number than I'd like to be confronted with on a daily basis, today should have been a good day, with glorious sunshine and a family eager to make the day a special one. Instead, today confirmed my conviction that life is utterly random, transient, and has neither meaning nor purpose. The morning of my birthday saw the death of one of my very, very dearest friends. So as not to mislead anyone I need to point out that this friend was of a different species. To me this makes no difference whatsoever - love is love wherever it lands as far as I'm concerned. To society at large, grief for anything non-human must be buried so as to avoid giving social offence. Well, at the risk of offending, I am heartbroken. As for the answer to life, the universe and everything, forty-two seems as sensible as any other.

British Wool please!

2010-03-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

Today I managed to miss two important appointments due, I have to confess, to monumental incompetence on my part. Perhaps my brain has taken a holiday, frightened at the prospect of yet another birthday looming large on the horizon. Don't they come around quickly?

Anyway, a consequence of not being able to do what I should have been doing meant that I was stranded in a most spring-like Newcastle for a couple of hours with time to fill. Although I spent most of that time walking in the sunny parks I did remember that Phil is in need of a decent, warm coat. Naively believing Marks and Spencer might be the place to supply this need I entered its hallowed halls in search of woollen coats. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I was to find that every single one of them was made in China. China! Whatever happened to British Wool? Actually I know what happens to it - most of it is exported to China! Needless to say, Phil still doesn't have a coat.

However, the subject of British Wool leads me nicely to a new sheep of the month - another third of my delightful delivery from the wonderful Joe. And here she is - a beautiful, black, Bluefaced Leicester. Isn't she just gorgeous? And her wool will definitely not be going to China!

Unfortunately all is not well on the sheep front. We are experiencing a rather severe case of 'silage eye' which basically means that a number of my sheep are temporarily blinded. I say 'temporarily' with more hope than conviction, since, despite regular treatment, the blindness has lasted for more than a week in some of my poor darlings, and one, I feel certain, will never recover the sight in at least one eye - a further seven sheep are very badly affected, although two are showing signs of recovery. To make matters worse, those that are unaffected or recovered are having to spend their nights outside to avoid any more spread of the infection, and every morning we awake to yet more snow. Makes you glad you're not a sheep...........

Days of sheep and sunshine

2010-02-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year - there's always a point in February where it suddenly becomes clear that the days are lengthening. I don't mind that we're still deep in winter, now that I have evenings! That said, I do have to admit that it's been especially wonderful this week, with so many days of bright, glorious sunshine.

I suspect my view of the world may have been coloured by my new arrivals - three bundles of woolly heaven. Here's the first - yet to be named - he's the twin brother of Jacob, whose arrival you may remember from March last year. Just look at that fleece! You really can have no idea how much I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it! Little No-name has a Jacob mother and a Teeswater father, which makes him a Masham of sorts - but so much more exciting than just any old Masham.

Here's Jacob, for those of you who don't remember him, looking grown up and simply perfect.

I'll save my other new arrivals for another day. Any of you looking for interesting sheep need to speak to the wonderful Joe, a Yorkshire farmer born and bred, but most unusual in that he has an interest in breeding coloured sheep - and I am so lucky to have him for a brother-in-law. Jacob, Teeswater, Masham, BFL, Herdwick, Hebridean - you name it, he has it. If anyone wants his details for sheep or fleeces just let me know and I'll pass them on.

Wool carding services

2010-02-06T11:03:00.000-08:00

I know that there are many people out there looking for mini mills to scour and card their fleeces. I also know how difficult it can be to track them down, so I thought I'd give details of all the services I'm aware of in Britain at the moment, in no order of preference, I hasten to add.

The Natural Fibre Company is based in Cornwall and offers a full service through to spinning, but requires a minimum quantity of 20 kilos.
The Woolly Shepherd is based in Somerset and offers a scouring and carding service. For those of you keen to d-i-y it is also possible to pay a flat fee to spend the day washing and carding your own fleeces.
Diamond Fibres, based in East Sussex, offer a full service, from as little as one fleece. Unfortunately they are unable to process fleeces of primitive breeds, including some Shetlands. Diamond fibres charge on received weight of wool.
Norweft is based in Denbighshire, and offers a full service, from as little as one fleece. They specialise in alpaca fibre, but will process sheep fleeces too. They charge on the weight after scouring.
Cold Harbour Mill is based in Devon. It offers a limited service, only accepting scoured fleeces.
The Halifax Spinning Mill is a new venture, particularly exciting for those of us in the north. It is based in the East Riding of Yorkshire - not at Halifax at all! The mill is now fully operational and offers a complete service, from as little as one fleece. They charge on returned weight.
Griffiths Mill is based in Derbyshire. They offer a range of services from scouring through to spinning. They charge on received weight.

NB. For those of you unsure about whether calculations are better based on the received weight or the returned weight, bear in mind that you will lose an average of a third of the weight after scouring. Also, remember that you will get back what you send - by which I mean, if you send dirty, contaminated fleeces, this will affect what you get back, both in terms of quantity and quality.

During 2009 both Woolcount and Meon Valley ceased trading. There is also a mill in Lanarkshire, which I'm not very familiar with, but again, this mill offers no scouring service. As far as I'm aware the New Lanark Mill requires large quantities - upwards of 150 kilos.

So while you're deciding where to take your fleeces here are some beautiful, carded fleeces from some of my Shetland sheep.

Shopping and nostalgia

2010-01-25T11:45:00.001-08:00

At the weekend we went shopping! Now, in itself this isn't so amazing (although it isn't a common occurrence for us), but on this particular occasion it was just nice to be somewhere away from the snow and the cold. Gabriel and Isaac have been itching to spend their Christmas money since, well, since Christmas, and on Saturday they finally did it!

We spent most of Saturday in a model shop, which gave rise to great waves of nostalgia as I remembered all the Airfix models of my childhood. It was rather a large model shop and I particularly enjoyed the moment when Gabriel shouted across the aisles, "Where are you, Ellie?" and I was able to respond, "I'm over here at the Battle of Waterloo". The Airfix Battle of Waterloo is now in our sitting room and I'm beginning to regret agreeing to help with the painting of the combatants - several hundreds of them, each half an inch high and dazzlingly multi-coloured in a blue/grey/mud sort of way. My eyes were never very good, but I really can't distinguish a rifle butt from a hand, much less a microscopic cuff from a tunic.

We've had more nostalgia recently in the shape of dvds of old films. Several weeks ago, The Beatles 'Help!' was the first of these (Gabriel and I are BIG Beatles fans!). This was followed by a rival Elvis Presley bid from Phil, with such deep, dark, offerings as 'Love me Tender' and 'Flaming Star'. Goodness me - they're really quite harrowing! Anyway this weekend we watched 'The Magnificent Seven' - and what a fab film! It must be over thirty years since I last saw it and the only part I actually remembered was Charles Bronson dying trying to protect the three children who adopted him. And I'd always thought I didn't like westerns.

Anyway, enough of that! I think it's about time I revived my 'Sheep of the Month'. Just a few short miles along the road there is no snow, but there are Blue Faced Leicesters! Here are some of them. The BFL hunt has been on for a while - the photos are for my regular sheep column in Felt Matters and I can't bear to use anonymous images from the internet. I love Blue Faced Leicesters, but they're not a hardy breed. They were actually developed only a few miles from here, around Hexham (hence their alternative name, the Hexham Leicester), but it's a struggle for them to survive our North Pennines winters. Don't you just love them? And for any of you who don't already know it, their wool is second to none. Don't buy imported stuff - get some Blue Faced Leicester. You won't regret it!

13th January 2010

2010-01-13T14:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that everyone's as fed up as I am with pictures of snow but at the moment that's all we have. It is four weeks to the day since we last saw anything green. Looking at the depth of snow, more particularly the depth of compacted snow, it looks like being another four weeks until we do. Then, of course, will come February's snow.
Our house is around here somewhere.......

All roads, but one, out of Weardale are currently closed - have been for many days now. The snowploughs and snowblowers have been getting stuck(!).
But, we love it really. Even though today we've had to chop more logs. We sank up to our adult waists on the way to the woodpile, before employing child labour to compact the 100 yard run through the willows to the house so that we could return with the newly cut and split logs. A bitter south easterly wind was blowing, but we were all very warm indeed, as Phil chainsawed and I split the logs and Gabriel and Isaac sledged for England! Or was it for pocket money?

With children at home, snow jobs and a frozen workshop I've had no time at all to do my own work. However, I have spent hours digging out sheep. Here's a snowhole I'm particularly proud of digging, just so that my wool providers could have somewhere to stand. Don't worry, I do take them in at night.

The poor wild animals are less fortunate. It's quite heartbreaking to find all the little frozen bodies littering the ground. It will be nice to see some grass again, to feel some sun on our faces and to have a new topic of conversation.

In the meantime we're alive and well, inconvenienced, but secretly enjoying the minor hardships and we're unspeakably grateful that we live in such a realtively benign part of the world as our hearts go out to the people of Haiti.

Craftsmen

2009-12-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

The craft fair at Alston was lovely - as always. I came home with two wonderful purchases. Terry made these just for me.
Aren't they splendid? I find buying new shoes very daunting - my last pair of new shoes, which I do still think of as my 'new' shoes, was six and a half years ago and, over such a period of time, they become so very comfortable. In a few years I'll have adjusted to these splendid new shoes, but at the moment they feel very new and shiny. Of course, the other daunting issue for me is that, as a vegetarian, I shouldn't buy leather shoes. The shoes are beautiful and practical and will last me for many years, but in truth I can't even attempt to justify this hypocrisy.
My second purchase posed no such moral dilemma. I wanted a large basket in which to keep my spun yarn and that is precisely what I got!
This basket really is huge - and I love it! It was made by Chris(chris@hetherbankcreels.wanadoo.co.uk) who, I'm afraid, has no website.
I sold a few bits and pieces, but returned home with plenty of things to add to my shop.
In a few days you will find a variety of hats,

bags
and rugs appearing there.
One hat remains unfinished, having proved itself to be very popular with certain members of the household.

Even the comments book is a work of art

2009-11-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is the comments book for the Cowshill Village Hall Centenary Exhibition, opening on Friday. Isn't it lovely?
And here's an image from the photo archive showing the hall in 1918.

And this is the wonderful proggy mat, another dimension to the exhibition. Isn't it sweet?

And, finally, here's a detail from the forty ft long felt frieze.

The exhibition is running from 28th November to 5th December, then it's going on tour. It's first stop will be Beamish Museum, although the felt frieze will remain in situ in the hall. We've been hanging the frieze today and I've seen some of the other bits for the first time, including the wonderful photographs taken by Louise, who also orchestrated the entire project. There's also the photo archive, oral history project, specially composed folk song, and heaven knows what else. If you can make it to Cowshill Village Hall next week I promise you will not be disappointed.

High Force

2009-11-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

I was all set to tell you about High Force. For those of you who don't know, High Force is, arguably the biggest waterfall in England. I say ' arguably' because there are several ways of defining biggest waterfall - volume of water, height of drop, and probably a host of other criteria. Anyway, High Force fits one of them - can't remember which....... High Force is not far from where we live and we haven't been since the summer, so we though we should go to see what havoc the recent rains had wreaked. Unfortunately, the path to High Force is closed - too dangerous! We walked around to the top of the waterfall, but it's difficult to get a good photograph from the top - there's no concept of scale - especially when you're there at dusk and visibility is pretty poor, to say the least. So here we are at the top of High Force.

And here's a sign which we found rather amusing.

To see High Force itself the best thing to do is to visit it yourself. In the flesh it's always impressive.

Centenary Exhibition

2009-11-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

The felt frieze is finally going to be unveiled as part of the Cowshill Village Hall Centenary Exhibition. If you're in the area during the exhibition then do go in and have a look - there's plenty to see and hear. Of course, the 40ft frieze will be on permanent exhibition forevermore. It's all very exciting! Also look out for an article about the project in the December issue of Felt Matters, the journal of the International Feltmakers Association.

Felt online

2009-11-12T15:07:00.000-08:00

I've finally made my first move to selling online. Check out my Folksy shop! Here's a sneak preview. Obviously I need to add a few things to it.....

First snow

2009-11-08T07:20:00.001-08:00

It's here! Our first snow of the year - pretty late compared with last year (2nd October!). As you can see, it hasn't quite reached us yet, but it's looming large. G&I have gone out to make a sledge.......

Go your own way

2009-11-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

We certainly did just that. Several months ago Phil announced - with no small degree of excitement - that he'd bought tickets for us all to go to see Fleetwood Mac. It has to be said, our response was less than enthusiastic. I quite like Fleetwood Mac, but I've never been a big fan. As for Gabriel and Isaac, well, they're 9 years old......... BUT, yesterday, we made the 3 hour trek south to Sheffield, and Fleetwood Mac were pretty amazing - even without Christine MacVie. It took me back to my youth (sigh!). If you fancy a bit of nostalgia - or just some good live music - they're still touring. Check them out!

Wool workshop

2009-11-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

The wool workshop on the 30th October was a great success. Katie and I had a fabulous time and a hundred people joined us during the day to 'do their bit'. Here are some of the bits - felted, spun, woven, knitted, stitched, needlefelted, luceted, crocheted - all waiting to be assembled into a finished autumnal wallhanging.

We're planning three more workshops, one each for winter, spring and summer, so watch this space or get on our mailing list. It was lovely to work with Katie, and I can't wait to do it again.
Now we're home to hard, driving rain, which is negotiating its way through the stonework of our poor old house in an alarming number of places. BUT Phil is a wonder and when he's finished making his window (he's doing this as I type!) he'll be dealing with pointing and lead flashing and whatever else he finds awry.

Herb garden

2009-10-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

Look at what I found in my herb garden this evening. An opium poppy flowering in Upper Weardale at the end of October!

Our new upstairs garden.......

2009-10-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

It isn't quite finished, but here it is anyway - our new turf roof. We have a fantasy that this will transform our lives! OK, not just this, but the roof and insulated walls and floor combination. At the moment we lose all the heat from our stove (located on the inside of this wall) to the outside elements - basically we spend a fortune every year heating the miles and miles of open fell. This summer's ongoing project has been to improve this gable end and get the lean to watertight and insulated. After making the small window you can see on the photos, Phil is set on making the larger window too, then, of course, we still need to break up and replace the floor, install doors and insulation, replace the toilet etc. Still some way to go then........

Mainline rail link

2009-09-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well, this is very exciting! This is a one-off, but, in the not too distant future, we should have a regular main line link, which is fantastic news. Keep checking back here.

Haytime

2009-09-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

The haymeadow is finally cut! We've had the first three consecutive days of dry weather since June.

Unfortunately it's so late and so autumnal that it will all be silaged this year - c'est la vie!
G & I actually managed to make a hay fort last night. Excellent fun.

I remember a time, not so very long ago, when it didn't really rain very much in this country. As a postgrad student I shared a house with a French girl, Marion, who said that she was dreading coming to live here because of England's reputation for rain. She said how pleasantly surprised she'd been at how good the weather was. And it was! It was only the early nineties and I remember so well that, on the whole, most days it didn't rain, nor was it excessively, unpleasantly windy - and we had summers. And it isn't all in my head - just take a look here.
It's shocking to even begin to conceive that we are probably responsible for the changes. The human race is surely the single most catastrophic thing that ever happened to this planet. What a legacy, eh?

The sun

2009-09-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today I've seen the sun. It seems like the first time in a very long time. I was convinced this would be a splendid summer after the endless rain of 2007 and 2008. How wrong I was! Yes we did have a few nice days in June, but then what happened? And, I do have to admit, it has been warmer than last year, when I never made it out of my thermals, but when I'm reminded of how lovely it can be here I do get a bit nostalgic for when we used to have summers......

This is what lies just outside our house. I know we're lucky. How many people have something like this quite literally on their doorstep? Oh, but how I wish it looked so blue just a little more often.

Solfest!

2009-09-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

Incredibly, we actually made it to Solfest at the weekend. I say incredibly, because, as anyone who knows me will know, I never go anywhere because I fret about the animals at home. Anyway, the animals all survived and seem none the worse for being abandoned.

Unfortunately we forgot to take a camera, but you can find lots of pictures of Solfest here.

The music was fantastic - Phil and Isaac particularly loved Firetone, Gabriel was so looking forward to Kula Shaker, but after three songs was struggling to keep his eyes open - just a bit too late for tired little boys. Other bands we really enjoyed included the Balkanics, Lo Fi Lung and Francis Rodino.

Such a lovely atmosphere and even the weather was remarkably kind - a few mad downpours resulting in LOTS of mud, but on the whole it was all pretty benign. Excellent weekend!

Felt Frieze

2009-08-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well the 40ft felt frieze we've been making for the centenary of Cowshill Village Hall is almost finished, so here are a few photos taken by Louise. The frieze has nine scenes of village life, with sections between for villagers and users of the hall to needle felt their signatures onto the hanging.

Gearing up for the Weardale Wool Weekend

2009-07-02T05:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a newly clipped Ziggy - what a stunner! gearing up for the Weardale Wool Weekend on July 4th and 5th.

In the meantime, the village hall frieze is looking fantastic - I'll post photos here when it's finished - probably another month or so.

Not in my name

2009-06-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

Please, if any of you are as ashamed as I am to be living in a country which now has two BNP candidates representing us in Europe, register your protest here.

Ugh!

2009-05-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

I don't remember being so nauseated and revolted by anything I've found in my letterbox for a long time. Today I received an election communication from the BNP. How dare they think it is acceptable to destroy trees to peddle their bigotry and obscenity to ordinary, decent people? Words fail me.

A million worlds away from these vile, evil individuals, today I arrived home to find a lapwing running about on the track behind my house with her three beautiful chicks. This planet is a magical place, if only we could put our human concerns into perspective.

Wool for all seasons

2009-05-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

Things have been dreadfully busy recently, but, on the positive side, I had to clear out my workshop for a feltmaking class and it's at times like this that I realise just how many fleeces I have. I now have one bed and breakfast room full, absolutely full, of fleeces, plus a sitting room, yurt and my own bedroom pretty much overloaded with the stuff. The problem is that every fleece is so different, so I just can't part with any, just in case it happens to be the one I need next. Also, now that my workshop is clear I can get back into production, and since the things that I like to make most of all are BIG things the fleece disappears alarmingly quickly once I get felting or spinning.

Unfortunately there are too many distractions, such as my new wool picker, that I'm just itching to try out. It's also getting to the time when I start needing to think about clipping my own sheep and pondering who else has sheep with fleeces I might like for this year. My absolute favourite fleeces for felting have to be Ziggy and Bob's (sorry, Jack, I love you most and you're a very close second!). I suppose that's just another excuse for more photos of lovely sheep and their fleeces from the 2008 clip!

Website

2009-05-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the website's working, but the background is a very strange colour on some computers. On my Mac it's a beautiful matt sort of brownish colour with a hint of green khaki, on someone else's Mac it's bright green and on Phil's PC at work it's dark green. I've no idea why. I expect there's some way to remedy it, but I'll worry about that another day, together with the slideshow that isn't working......

www.fleecewithaltitude.co.uk

2009-05-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Apologies to anyone trying to view our website today. A brand spanking new website should be with you very, very soon. I hope you'll find it enjoyable.

In the meantime, since I missed out my 'sheep of the month' in April, here's a photo of Bob, one of my beautiful black Wensleydales..........

Norwegian Wool

2009-04-28T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today some wool arrived from Maggy at Norwegian Wool. It's carded Norwegian and Pels wool and it's quite the most beautiful dyed wool I've ever seen. It's for a project to make a felt frieze for the Cowshill Village Hall centenary. Can't wait to get started!

Felt Making Workshops

2009-04-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

Lots of felt making workshops planned for this year at the smallholding. Come along and meet the sheep! You could even stay in our B&B or yurt.

Sheep - from Lamb to Loom

2009-04-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while you encounter something really special. A Somerset based artist, Kate Lynch, has spent three years putting together an exhibition of paintings and drawings, literally following the lives of sheep, farmers, artisans. The results are stunningly beautiful. She has also produced a book of the work. Buy the book! Check out the exhibition! You won't regret it.

New addition

2009-03-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

We have a new addition. Gabriel asked for his very own lamb for his birthday - and this is what he got! We collected Jacob yesterday. He was five days old, with a Jacob mother and a Teeswater father so his fleece will be just wonderful. Jacob has a twin brother, but his mother didn't have enough milk for two lambs so Gabriel stepped into the breach. Perfect.

Mrs Rant

2009-03-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

I think it's probably unwise to write a post when you're angry, but one thing that irritates and frustrates me to distraction is when someone calls me 'Mrs'. I find it so unutterably offensive. Thankfully it doesn't happen often, but twice this week post has been received at this house addressed to "Mrs' and once, more unusually, to 'Miss'. Who is this 'Mrs Langley'? Certainly not me. I am not a 'Mrs' or a 'Miss'. I have never been a 'Mrs'. I never shall be a 'Mrs'. If I have to be given a title it is 'Ms', but in reality I'm just Ellie.

In the twenty-first century, how can women allow themselves to be discriminated against so blatantly? How can some men - and only some, I hasten to add - fail to understand how demeaning it is to advertise a woman's marital status and denote possession in this way?

I don't consider myself to be a radical feminist, but this makes my blood boil.

Commission a portrait now

2009-03-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

I had to go to take a photograph of this painting recently. It's a portrait of my children painted, two or three years ago, by my sister, Rhea. So, if ever you want to commission a portrait, you know who to ask!

Slack House Farm Workshops 2009

2009-03-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Finally - apologies for the delay - the list of Slack House Farm workshops for 2009 is ready. New for this year we have a Weardale Wool Weekend and a mini Healing Plant Festival, together with Felt Making, Permaculture, Green Woodworking, Basket Making and Roots Medicine.

I'm afraid I just can't work out how to add a pdf so here's a link to our website instead. Hope to see you at one of the workshops!

New Blades from Proven 3

2009-02-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well, just look at this - a steady sixty amps. For the past four years we've been lucky to achieve twenty amps. Occasionally we've hit twenty-five amps for a brief moment. Sixty amps!! Today, for the first time ever, we've had an electric heater on in the kitchen. Our new blades are FANTASTIC!!!!

New blades from Proven 2

2009-02-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

So here are the blades, fitted and ready to go - but not a breath of wind anywhere.

New blades from Proven!

2009-02-11T05:20:00.000-08:00

Today's been a pretty exciting day. Two very nice guys from Proven have fitted new blades to our 2.5kW wind turbine! We've struggled on for four years of underproduction with the old style blades and are hoping for great things from the new Twintex blades. Remember we have no mains electricity to fall back on. I'll report back to let you know how we're getting on. In the meantime here are some photos from today.

And here, for those of you who are interested, are pictures of the old and new blades. The three old blades are behind one of the new blades.

Lovestruck

2009-02-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

My brother has a play opening tonight. It's called Lovestruck and it's the first he's both written and directed so go to see it if you're near the Etcetera Theatre on Camden High Street, London.

Let it snow....

2009-02-05T15:51:00.001-08:00

Listening to weather forecasts you would be forgiven for thinking that we don't have weather in the North. In fact we have just as much weather as those of you in the south, believe it or not.

As for the 's' word, we've had a lot of that too this winter - more often than not in fact. Here are a few snapshots:

Sledging 5th December 2008

Sledging 5th January 2009

Sledging 5th February 2009

The perfect sheep, the perfect fleece.

2009-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Here is Jack. Jack was my first sheep and he's my superstar. He is the perfect sheep and has the perfect fleece.

Jack is a Shetland, a grey katmoget. How can I describe such perfection? His fleece is fine and ranges from white to greys to browns to violet, with a crimp to die for. He's my right hand man and keeps the other sheep in line. Anyone who doesn't realise that sheep are loving, loyal and understanding should come over to meet him.

Ashford Country Spinner. It's about time we had some wool on here......

2009-02-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Lovers of finely-spun yarn look away now.

This is my Ashford Country spinner, with my newly plied Herdwick yarn. Spinning was never really part of my grand plan, but since learning to weave a couple of years ago I haven't been able to find any yarn chunky enough for weaving my rugs, so I just had to spin it myself. I haven't quite got the hang of this spinning lark, but I'm getting there.

Unfortunately, just as learning to spin has been a side-effect of learning to weave, learning to spin has led to me having to take up knitting because my first spinning practices were with fairly fine wools (Blue Faced LeicesterXBeltex, Zwartbles) and it just didn't seem right to make them into rugs. Ho hum. The knitting will be kept to a minimum, I hasten to add. Not that there's anything wrong with knitting, but there just aren't enough hours in a day for all these woolly activities.

Acknowledgments

2009-01-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that some acknowledgments should have accompanied my last post (first post?).

Firstly, thank you to Marc and Vic of the Haltwhistle Film Project for putting the film together.

Secondly, the soundtrack consists of the following:
Up that Wrinkled Street - Stewboss
Billy's Got a Gun - Lotus Cruise
Fill Station - Stewboss
Sweet Lullabye - Stewboss
Cuckold Set - Horseplay
Counting to Seven at Your Old Barstool - Stewboss

Hope you enjoyed it!

First Post!

2009-01-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Since setting up this blog I have been in a quandary as to what I should use as my first ever post. It just so happens that setting up my blog coincided with putting my first (and probably last!) film on Youtube. So here - hopefully - is my very first video on my very first blog:

Thirty-six Thousand Days was an exhibition of functional felt objects and this film accompanied it. There's a book to accompany the exhibition too, which you should be able to see if you click here.

If any of this works it will be a small miracle....................