Habetrot

Sheep Cyclone

 

 

 

 

Mountain, Moor and Loch

 

 

This postcard of Scottish Blackface Sheep in the Highlands of Scotland was mailed in 1906--106 years ago.

And here's a modern look at some of their descendants, from the breed association webpage linked above.  

 (Click images for big.) 

 It's nice to know some things don't change a lot through time.

Can You Imagine VIII

 

(click to embiggen)

Can you imagine a country so proud of its heritage that it puts drop spinners on a national postage stamp?  

This 1961 stamp is from Jugoslavia, and it accurately depicts three spinners in traditional dress, sitting upon their sit-upon distaves and spinning wool with hand spindles.

Where's Bee??

 

 

Who, me, resist a cute lamb video?  I don't think so.

 

Meeehhhh!

 

 

Max

 

All his life, Max insisted he was a Border Collie.

With thanks to TheGeorg.

Welsh Spinner

 

This photograph, probably a tintype, was taken in Wales in 1885 by a traveling photographer.  

The dear lady, in her traditional Welsh lady's headgear, is clearly fond of pattern in her personal attire.

The spinning wheel is interesting in that the only "fine" part of it is the drive wheel, itself; the rest of the wheel is quite rough-hewn. This makes sense as legs can get broken or wet and rotted, the tension mechanism can become worn, and the spindle mount can wear out.  All can be easily replaced by any fairly competent wood-worker.  But the drive wheel--the hub, the rim, and the spokes are a very different matter; they require a skilled woodworker to produce.  If a move is necessary, all one needs do is bring along the drive wheel and spindle; the rest can be produced on the spot later.

The wool is also interesting.  It is clearly mill-produced rolags.  See the unspun rolag hanging from her left hand and the ropey bundle on the handle of the tensioner?  Those are rolags that could only have been produced by a mill.  See my previous entry addressing wool mills here.  Although that discussion addresses wool mills in the US, the situation in the UK  at the time would have been very similar.

 
 

Merry Merry!

 

May your holiday season be filled with light and love,

and may the New Year bring you all good things.

 

BOO!

 

 

 Happy Halloween!

Tibetan Handcraft

I don't know how many times I've watched this video, but each time I do, it continues to enchant me.

Note how fine she spins the brown wool on her support spindle and with what care.  Note also her technique for winding on, starting at 2:40--after spinning and winding a goodly length, she unwinds it, butterflying it onto her hand, then rewinds it onto the cop.

This is the video that started the popularity of Tibetan-style support spindles a couple of years ago.  I know that many of you have already seen it, but I felt a need to include it in these pages after watching it this morning for the umpteenth time.