Habetrot

Welsh Sheeps

While those gloomy humans of the previous post are being all stiff and dour, these little lovelies are out in the pastures having a fleecy good time.

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Dolbenmaen Knitters

The photograph of these cheery people was taken in 1885 in Garn Dolbenmaen, Wales.

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What I'd like to know is why the man isn't knitting.  Too crabby, maybe.

Can You Imagine? II

In some countries they put spinners on their currency.

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This is a 50-franc note from France, issued in 1942.

Millet Spindler

  

As promised, I give you Jean-François Millet, again. Here we have a shepherdess spindling as she tends her flock.  I like his attention to detail and obvious affection for his subject matter.

(click on the image for the full effect of this lovely work.)

Ancient Spindle Whorls

We know about spindling, and we know people have spun from time out of mind.  Although  we find the occasional depiction in art, we don't often get to glimpse the actual tools that those fiberworkers used.

This Persian stone relief carving dates to about 4,000 b.c.e.

 

These little beauties are Roman spindle whorls from approximately 200 a.d. (And, yes, I take the dating of items like these with a grain of salt.) They are made of stone, bone, or glass and are all about 3/4 of an inch in diameter or smaller.    (click for big)

Suprising Sheep

Sheep, ovis aries, have been a part of the life of humankind for time untold.  Some say 6,000 years, some say longer.  However long it has been, sheep and their wool have become inextricably linked with us as human beings and with our society--to a much greater degree than most people realize.  Sheep show up in the most surprising places.  As proof I offer you this video. 

Algerian Spindler

Algerian spindler working with wool c . 1890.

Kashmir Shepherdesses

Kashmir the geographical region, not cashmere the fiber.  This photo dates from the late 1800's. 

Although that's a sheep in the photo and not a goat, it is for Kashmir that cashmere was named

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I sometime wonder what people paying many hundreds of dollars for cashmere garments would do if they found out the fiber comes from goats.  Do you think they'd care?

Autumnal Sheep

Autumn in New England
Amherst, Massachusetts




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