Shetland Wool Week 4

Yesterday was all about colour and texture and exciting the senses.

I went down to Hoswick Visitors' Centre for the Wild Wool Play Day with Nielanell.  Wonderful venue for the class and well worth a visit for the permanent displays and the cafe - the food!  Fantastic.

The room was filled with baskets and bags of a multitude of types and colours of fibres for us to card and spin - we could have carded for a week and there would still have been fibre left.  Wonderful to have so much choice and no limits on our creativity.

Niela showed us some yarns she'd spun and very helpfully, the batts she'd made to spin them.  The day was all about enabling us all, each in a very personalised way, to discover and release a new level of creativity within ourselves and to enjoy and embrace what we could create.  Lots of technical expertise from Niela if we wanted it, but where we were being pushed was in using our senses to translate experiences, sights, sounds and emotions into a yarn.  It was very exciting and I was being pushed further than I realised at the time.

The red batt on the left was what I made and spun in the morning.  We were just given baskets, told to choose fibres we loved and have fun with the drum carder.  We then all spilt our batts and shared them out so that we were spinning a yarn using carded fibre from everyone in the class - a great way to loosen us up with the fat singles spinning and not be too precious about 'our' batt.

Some of the results here - ignoring the yarn on the bobbin

In the afternoon it was time for hard mental work and in my case I chose to go outside to the grass verge and listen as much as look.  After Felicity's presentation the evening before I was totally focused on experiencing for myself the sound of Shetland.  There were some dying nettles that had a multitude of colours in them if you looked past the 'brown' and the sounds they made rattling against each other in the gusts of wind were something I'd have completely missed before the talk.  Also a splash of a brave, late little purple flower.  I knew I needed to create a structure to the yarn that had firm, almost hard sections with blowsy airy light sections and a little hard edge for that sharp tapping rattle.

The batt, shown on front and back is above next to my red batt, and the yarn is on the bobbin above - here it is shown more clearly.

I was absolutely thrilled - colours I'd never have worked with otherwise and pushed to use over spun and verging on underspun sections in the single to embrace the qualities of the wind.  Little pieces of cut linen for that spiky edge to the dead nettles.  I totally adore this yarn and can't believe I created it.

Shetland Wool Week 3

Now this is where I'm going to say to anyone thinking of coming to Shetland Wool Week in future years - yes come, but do make the difficult choices regarding booking classes and events and don't try to go to EVERYTHING!

Yes, I'm having a fantastic time and my head is brimming with new creative ideas and inspirations, but I'm going to have to sleep solidly for a week when I get back home - except I'll be up to my knees in cleaning out hen houses etc ;-)

For those who know about my growing livestock interests on the farm, yes, daily updates from Assistant Shepherd are that all are doing well, including the Boreray Boys, and the chicks seem to have finally got the hang of going up the ramp to roost safely tucked up under their broody mum.  But he is leaving the mucking out to me when I get back and just adding clean straw when needed.

Now, back to things that don't require old clothes and wellingtons.

I started off Wednesday with Creative Art Yarns Spinning with Deborah Grey (ASF Shetland)
I had my trusty, well-travelled Sidekick with me, but couldn't resist the opportunity to try one of the Hamish Polson wheels.  I felt enormously grateful to the Shetland Spinners who had lent their precious wheels for people in the class to use.

 Then I went on to do some colour blending to make beautiful and interesting colours for the singles for my art yarns - I totally love playing with colour.  My family used to despair of my exclamations of delight when out together if I saw some particularly enticing combination of colours in the landscape and environment around us.  It could be anything from a traditionally beautiful view to peeling paint on a door or oil in a muddy puddle - the offspring had a particularly trying upbringing as they attempted to distance themselves from me in public.  I'm sure it built up their character ;-)

So, this was my colour blending - and I'm very pleased with the results.  I believe colour-blending is one of the things that will be appearing in Deborah's new book, not yet released.

Then onto the serious stuff - and I actually managed to produce a tail-spun yarn and a loopy one.  Great fun and new things I can experiment doing at home.

 The evening was the lectures at Shetland Museum with Di Gilpin and Felicity Ford.  Not only was this a wonderful opportunity to meet so many of the people who were attending Wool Week, but both lectures totally entranced me.  So much so that I had a total fail on the photography - well I got the one photo below which is of Felicity (on the left) performing the song she'd written as her response to the effect Shetland had had on her.  You can just make out some of Di's exquisite and exciting designs, and of course there is a Shetland Sheep featuring prominently.

It takes a lot of concentration to take photographs at this sort of event so that you're not distracting other people at all, and I was so absorbed in what both Di and Felicity had to say that it just wasn't happening.
You can however see more photos from the event on the Shetland Wool Week fb page.

What Di had to say about her life and work was very personal and I felt privileged to have heard it.  If you're not familiar with Di's work, then I urge you to look at her website and her blog.  It would be hard to listen to Di speak and not be itching to pick up needles and just knit something totally creative.  I knew that Di used some Scottish wool in her garments but I'd previously failed to realise how great her passion is for Scottish wool and promoting more processing of the local wool in Scotland.  Most of her garments are made with Scottish or British wool and she is a wonderful international advocate for the special qualities of Scottish wool.

Felicity continued to inspire me and move me emotionally through her talk as she described the effect that working in Shetland and with Shetland archive recordings had had on her.  This isn't going to be Felicity's last trip to Shetland I don't think!

If you're not familiar with Felicity's work, then this page has all the links you'll need.  Felicity is also one of the people behind Wovember

One thing that came out of both talks for me was how powerful the sense of place was for the creativity of both Di and Felicity, and how in Shetland the hardships imposed by the environment have shaped the people.  And of course, how intrinsic the Shetland sheep and their very special wool is to the Shetland of the past and the Shetland of the future.

Di told us about how wool processing/spinning operations in Scotland are taking on new young workers and expanding, which is such an exciting thing to be happening.  Shetland Wool Week itself, as it attracts more and more people from the area and as far afield as Australia and everywhere in between, reflects the growing interest and appreciation of Shetland sheep and their wool.  This is, of course, very exciting for me.

Shetland Wool Week 2

Monday evening was the opportunity to meet many of the people at Wool Week - and to buy the new book just published, Shetland Textiles 800BC to the Present edited by Sarah Laurenson. 

 There was also a very special cake to be cut - and eaten - and talks from some of the people behind Shetland Wool Week.

Tuesday was an early start for the From Sheep to Shop - Textiles Tour.  First stop was Burland Croft at Trondra, where we were met by Mary and Tommy Isbister.

We started in the barn where they had wonderful information boards about all the rare Shetland breed animals on their croft, including their Foula Shetland Sheep.

I also really enjoyed seeing the British wool garments that their daughter produces

and of course had a little feel of some of their Foula Shetland fleeces

Then it was time to meet the sheep - rounded up by their lovely sheepdogs - a mother and daughter pair working together.

As you can see the Foula Shetland sheep, believed by some to be a more primitive sheep, come in a vast array of colours.  The white sheep in with this flock are mainland Shetland sheep, and they were rather more amenable to being herded by the dogs than the fiesty Foulas.  I'd not expected to be able to see Foula sheep without braving the crossing to the island, so this was particularly exciting for me.

The Isbisters also have other rare breed Shetland animals, including the intriguing Shetland ducks.

 

After some extremely delicious home-made cake it was time to drive across another inter-island bridge to Easthouse on Burra

There we got to see the fascinating displays about local people, produced by Burra History Group, and see some wonderful Shetland knitting.  We also had a lunch consisting entirely of local produce, including bannocks - freshly made while we were there and a delicious mutton soup.

Then we had a lovely afternoon learning Shetland knitting skills - and more cake - and a chance to chat.  I shouldn't be amazed that our group included someone who had travelled all the way from Australia just for Shetland Wool Week.  Every year there are some Americans, Europeans and people from all around the world who come to Shetland just to enjoy everything that Wool Week has to offer.

We finished our time on Burra with a walk to the beach - deserted except for a few sheep in the fields beside the beach.

A wonderful day that gave me so much more than I'd expected.

Shetland Wool Week 1

I left Orkney in the rain last night and it seems I brought the rain to Shetland with me - yes, you can just make out the sheep on the hill where I'm staying.  They don't seem overly concerned about the rain though - they have thick wool fleeces to protect them.

I've arrived in a Lerwick that seems to embrace Wool Week even more each year.  You don't have to walk far to find a shop window featuring Shetland wool and Shetland knitting.

It brings a wonderful atmosphere to Lerwick - even in the rain!













Before I did anything else this morning though I headed straight for Jamieson & Smith, where I was the first one through the door.  I think they were half expecting me and were probably getting out the black bags ready.  Yes, it was straight down the stairs to every handspinners dream room - Oliver Henry's fine fleece store.  The room soon filled with other spinners keen to find that special fleece, or two, or more.....  Oliver joined us and we were soon hearing fascinating information from him about Shetland sheep and fleece.  This is a post by Oliver for Wovember and gives you an insight into his vast knowledge, experience and passion for Shetland wool.

This is a little glimpse into the fleece store - before we all started finding our special fleeces .

I am going to decline to say how many may have called to me and are now in the boot of the car - yes, there is a good reason why I endure the crossing to Shetland by ferry.

Then a quick dash upstairs to wash my hands and join Hazel Tindall for her workshop on knitting with colour.  Hazel is described as one of Shetland's finest knitting teachers, and I can now certainly agree with that.  As is usual with Shetland Wool Week workshops, all materials are provided which makes it very easy for all the overseas visitors who fly into Shetland.

I may now have conquered my aversion to knitting with double-pointed needles, having learnt from Hazel how to overcome my 'issues'.  It's certainly quicker to knit small diameters in the round on dpns than my usual method of 2 circular needles.

I celebrated my new skills by treating myself to a browse through the basket of Shetland Knitting Belts on the counter - all in the most fabulous colours ever!  I was totally spoilt for choice, but in the end chose a bright purple with pink stitching.

We knitted wrist bands, choosing our own colours - yes, just look at the walls of yarn in the background - and were inspired by seeing all the beautiful samples of Fair Isle knitting that Hazel had brought with her.  I was thrilled to actually finish one of the pair just in the morning class.

After the class another wander round Lerwick and into the now open shops, including Shetland Organics with their usual lovely display of Shetland wool and knitting.

Tonight there is the opening ceremony to look forward to, and lots of catching up with friends, including meeting Ravelry friends in person for the first time.

Novice Shepherd learns on the Boreray Boys

So 19 September dawned and it was time to address the results of the droppings samples I'd taken to the vet.

The Boys had roundworm, which we were advised to treat with 'clear' wormer.  Bob had said that they'd had 2 courses of Heptavac, but that if they were looking 'off' a 3rd one wouldn't come amiss, so we were armed with the bottle of that as well and syringes.  I also wanted to dag Boris and any other sheep that had been scouring a bit, partly so I could better assess if the worming treatment was successful, and I thought it would be a good opportunity just to check their feet. 

The Boys were unaware of the excitement ahead of them.  Oh, I should add that the yet-to-be-named one does now have a name - Broder.  A modern version of the old Norse name for brother.  Very apt since he and Brookes-Wright are the only pair of brothers in the group and they do like to do things together.  Broder is the last one in this photo, taken as we gently walked behind them, encouraging them to go up the length of the paddock towards the pens we'd made using borrowed sheep hurdles.

It was actually easier than I'd anticipated to get them into the pens, but I realised the long, narrow shape of the paddock was perfect for calm herding into the pens at the end.

Then it was time to get hands on - and here I must confess to taking time to appreciate the quality of the fleece in the sheep I was holding.  Can't wait for next year when I get their fleeces off them!

 Here feeling around their feet and between their toes to check for anything that shouldn't be there.  A minor bit of foot trimming was done where the outer edge of horn had grown down and bent over the sole - easily removed leaving a nice rim of horn lower than the sole and no toe trimming needed.

Giving the wormer and getting it down the back over the tongue turned out to be much easier than I'd feared, and I sensibly got 'assistant shepherd' to stick the needle in them, which he did with no problem and very quickly so it was over before they knew.

Only Boris, Bertie and Bilbo needed any dagging, and Boris got a good wash round his rear end as well.  Interestingly the two brothers, Brookes and Broder were completely clean.  I'm quite sure that 'proper' shepherds don't go round their sheep's mucky rear ends with cloths and warm water (making sure not to rub and felt the fleece of course) but it did leave Boris really clean, and hopefully more comfortable.

So that's Bilbo and Bertie both done and just the 3 larger Boys to do.  Having carefully read in my Sheep Book for Smallholders the correct way to turn sheep into sitting positions to work on them, we realised that with sheep this small there were alternative options.  For any other beginners out there, it goes without saying not to just copy what we did, but to consult knowledgeable sources about the correct way to lift and turn sheep of all sizes.

While I'm sure the sheep didn't enjoy this, we did manage to keep them calm throughout.  When they were all done, we gave them a couple of minutes at the 'treats' bucket (beet nuts) while pondering the big decision - was this the time to let them into the big field?

Deciding that the benefits to them of being on 'clean' ground while their wormer worked outweighed the difficulty of catching them again once outside the paddock, the gate was opened.

Then the fun really started.  They went around closely examining the fencing round the field.

Now, I'd not put extra chicken wire on the bottom gate because the gap below the bottom rung was far too small for a sheep to get through..........

Yes, that's Brookes-Wright enjoying identical grass on the other side of the gate - and he's one of the larger sheep!  I actually witnessed him going under the gate - does he have no respect for his belly fleece dragging himself across the ground like that?

Then of course Brookes realised he didn't like being separate from the rest of the Boys so stepped back and took a running leap at the fencing - this is full height shire wire with 2 strands of barbed wire on 5'6" stabs....... he didn't make it.  As I charged down the hill I could see that his head was trapped between the 2 strands of barbed wire with his horns hooked over the top strand and his back feet trying to get support on the shire wire.  I managed to get to him and take all his weight but couldn't get the wire off his horns while holding him up.  Fortunately my 'assistant shepherd' wasn't far behind me and he managed to do the unhooking.  At this point Brookes' safety took priority over photographs.   It was a miracle that Brookes appeared completely unharmed in any way, but very close inspection revealed that he didn't even have a scratch on him. 

So then I spent the rest of the day putting chicken wire on that gate as well (it was already on the paddock gates and the all-important gate to the driveway and road) and putting more fencing bits where the burn goes under the fence.  There may be vertiginous sides to the burn there, but I was leaving nothing to chance with these Boys.  Bertie and Bilbo had already shown great interest in the plants growing in that area.

Finally, exhausted, and with great respect for all the shepherds and farmers who grow our wool and number their flocks in the hundreds, all the jobs were done and I could enjoy the evening.  Yes, it was a full moon - and I do wonder if that led to Brookes trying his most stupid jump.

 There have been no jumping attempts from any sheep since then, and they are now very happily settled in the big field with it's huge selection of meadow plants to eat as well as the good grass.  They seem to spend about half of their time grazing on non-grass plants.

Broadband Reality of Rural Life

A lot of businesses involved with British wool are located in the countryside and rely on the internet for running the business.  Many more 'growers' of British wool, our sheep farmers, are rural and need good internet for the daily business of running a farm.  Yes, I've realised how much paperwork is involved and how much of this is able to be done on line IF you have good enough broadband.

There are still areas of the country of course that don't have any broadband - they rely on dial up connections.  The Government is planning to address this, but it seems there are issues.  This is an article from Rural Mole on the subject.

This is my bit of rural - the valley in Orkney where I live and farm now.  More fields and moorland than houses.  When I lived in central Newcastle upon Tyne we had cable broadband and got 20Mb/s, which was pretty reliable.  When it did go pear-shaped because the provider had sold more capacity in the area than was available the community complained en-masse and more capacity was provided.  Power in numbers!

Now we have a BT broadband connection with our contract specifying 'up to' 10Mb/s.  No doubt our valley is on the list of rural areas that have great, fast broadband of 'up to' 10Mb/s.  The key there is the 'up to'.  The reality is that the greatest speed we have ever received is LESS than 2Mb/s.  The usual maximum is 1.6Mb/s.

So, with the advantage that I can recall life with reliable, 24 hour, 20Mb/s, how does life compare with 1.6Mb/s?
Well, I can't read The Orcadian on-line  easily.  I can get a page to come up quickly, but enlarging it enough to read means sitting at the laptop waiting, or going away to do something else for 2-3 minutes.  That's for every single page turn.

Ravelry.com means waiting for images to load - a tedious waste of time.

Uploading information to the blog or website is also a hugely slower process than it used to be - some people with businesses need to regularly upload lots of images to their websites and for them, time is money.

But the situation is actually much worse than this.  During most evenings and weekends, and sometimes during the day the speed drops off to less than 0.7Mb/s, sometimes down to this (yesterday evening)

What does less than 0.7Mb/s mean?
Well I can't do internet banking, emails won't load, most websites time out, and even speedtest times out so our speed record excludes everything below that speed.

In other words we're cut off from the basic necessities of 21st century life - but don't forget, our area will be listed as a BT success of a rural area getting 'up to' 10Mb/s.

So, in all the discussions about bringing broadband to those areas that don't yet have it - and that MUST be a priority for the Government - remember that even BT's claimed successes are not all they're made out to be.

All these households here below receive a BT service that is far from what it's claimed to be and far from what we're paying for.

 So what is the Government going to do about that, and for how long will BT be allowed the advantageous monopoly it has but does not deserve based on current achievements?

I've also, with such recent experience of living in an urban community, asked myself, "who most needs reliable, consistent, usable broadband - those in cities or those in the countryside?"
 I no longer have easy access to banks, libraries, cinemas, shopping centres, Council offices and all the other places I took for granted I could visit cheaply and quickly.  In the 21st century a lot of these services can be accessed on-line.  An essential lifeline for those who live many miles from any of these.  Yet these are the people who have the worst broadband, if any, of our entire population here in UK.  That cannot be right, and I think it's the duty of our Government to properly address this issue and make themselves fully aware of the reality of the situation behind all the charts and maps they'll have been provided with.

ps - in answer to the inevitable question, when we can face the horrors of the BT call centre, yes our wireless is working properly and all the 'inside the house' techie side of things is working to give the best possible broadband service.  Sorry BT - it's all down to your side of things!