Corriedale - New Zealand

The Corriedale sheep was first developed by James Little, the manager of a ranch called "Corriedale" on the south island of New Zealand by crossing British Lincoln Longwools, which preferred lush lowland grazing, with Merino's that preferred dry sparse grazing, in the early 1880's to breed a sheep that would be more suited to the intermediate grasslands of the ranches location.  Similar breeding work was undertaken by a number of ranch managers across New Zealand and Australia with the addition of Romney and Border Leicester and the breed eventually became stabilised and it was officially recognised in 1911.   

Corriedale have been exported all over the world since then and have become the origins of many other breeds by cross breeding with the local sheep and creating new names breeds or being selectively bred for particular traits and these forming new "strains" of Corriedale, which have their own names, Bond being one such strain.

The Corriedale is a medium-large sheep with rams weighing 85-105kg and ewes weighing 65-75kg.  Both sexes are polled.  They are not prolific with most ewes giving birth to one single lamb.  The chance of twins is 5-25%.  They are a dual-purpose sheep, being raised for both meat and fleece.  Some shepherds who raise this breed use jackets on their sheep to keep the wool as clean as possible.  They are usually white but in smaller flocks, like those mostly kept to sell their fleece to hand spinners, you will often find pale grey through to black and beige through to moorit in the brown range. A small amount of sheep are spotted.

Corriedale fleeces generally range from 4.5-9 kg but most are around 5.4kg.  Staple length is 7.5 - 15cm (3½ - 6 inches).  They come in a wide range of micron counts ranging from the low 20's for lambs and hoggets up to 33 microns for adult but most fall in the middle of this range at about 25-31 microns which is soft enough to be used next-to-skin for most people.  Despite the fact the micron range varies from individual to individual the quality of any particular fleece tends to be consistent in length, crimp and fineness.  The locks are rectangular and dense although soft with flat tips.  The crimp is clearly defined along the full length of the fibre.  

The bright white fleeces take dye well and the coloured fleece can also be overdyed.  You can prepare this fibre anyway you like and you can cut the long fibres in half for carding.  Weathered tips may break off and cause noils.  When spinning ensure to spin finer than you think you need as this fibre will bloom.

Many sheep that are raised in the Falkland Islands and South America are Corriedales.  Wool that is shipped through the Chilean port of Punta Arenas is likely to be Corriedale.  There is currently, in 2025, fibre that is marketed as "Falkland", "South American", "New Zealand" and "Punta Arenas" and yet there are no actual breeds of sheep that are called that and instead, with research, I have discovered that these are actually blends of a variety of sheep from farmers in those areas who have pooled their fleeces together collectively for processing and marketing and generally contain fibre from 4 or 5 different breeds that are available to purchase individually elsewhere.

 

I bought this breed in as 100g of commercially prepared fibre that is stated as being 25-30 microns with a staple of 8-12cm and I bought it in 3 colours, white, grey and brown.  For this project I have chosen to use the brown one.

Unusual for my fibre source, I found that this particular fibre contained quite a lot of kemp, white hairs, bits of vegetable matter and also slubby bits of rubbish fibres.  I removed a lot whilst pre-drafting and some more when I was actually spinning.  I started the spinning on 7th August and plied it on 10th August.  As this breed also bounces up after spinning and washing I did my best to spin as fine as I could but, again, only managed a 14wpi yarn and my finished yarn is 91g/375m, which means that I lost around 9g just in the rubbish bits of the fibre that I removed.

I knit my project piece on 15th and 16th August and used just 15g of yarn.

Spinning some John Arbon fibre - Wooden Bobbin - multicoloured version

As I mentioned in my last post I had bought some fibre in May 2022 from another spinner that was de-stashing.  

This is an interesting blend, both in in terms of fibre content and colour combination.  The fibre content is 40% Corriedale, 30% Merino, 10% Exmoor Blueface, 10% Zwartbles, 5% Bluefaced Leicester, 5% Wensleydale.

Having spun up the first braid and whilst being happy with that yarn I decided that I would spin up the second braid in a completely different way.  There are a few options available to me. 1) Pull apart the colours and create some kind of gradient yarn but I can't see this working as I can probably isolate the green and the white but the rest, nope. 2) Fibonacci Spin, this has potential as I can isolate the green and the white and then the rest would probably have to be blended together to make one browny-grey shade.  I don't think I want to make a Fibonacci Yarn. 3) Pull off chunks and spin-over-the-fold to keep the colours together and then I have two options: a) spin two singles like this and ply them together for a barber-pole yarn or b) spin one long single and then chain ply to make a 3 ply yarn but pay attention to the colours coming through and adjust the loop lengths each time to try and keep the colours clean and together. 

For this braid I decided to spin it over-the-fold, as per option 3, but I didn't initially decide on which option to take for the plying so I halved the braid in length to give me options and started with the first smaller length.  Once I saw how it spun up I was able to make a decision on the next step.

I liked the way the colours were isolating and into various shades of the brown so I decided to continue and spin one long single and then chain ply it.  I spun it quite finely, like the first yarn, but as I was making a chain ply 3ply this yarn was going to spin up thicker than the first yarn.  I had to adjust the length of the loops when plying to accommodate the colour changes as best as I could.

The finished yarn is double knit weight, 106g/262m, and it's nice and soft.  It has turned out really nice and interesting with lots of colour blocks but there are also some sections that are a bit barber-poled but this couldn't be helped and I don't mind it.  I am glad I went this way and not with the option of spinning it over-the-fold and then making a 2ply barber-pole yarn.

Spinning some John Arbon fibre - Wooden Bobbin - blended version

I bought some fibre in May 2022 from another spinner that was de-stashing.  She had got this fibre from an Open Mill Weekend event held in June 2020 by John Arbon Textiles who are based in South Molton, Devon, which is about 180 miles away from where I live.  They hold this event every year and they also sell online, I've bought some fibres directly from them, most are still waiting to be spun but I have spun a couple of them.

This is an interesting blend, both in in terms of fibre content and colour combination.  The fibre content is 40% Corriedale, 30% Merino, 10% Exmoor Blueface, 10% Zwartbles, 5% Bluefaced Leicester, 5% Wensleydale.

Before I started spinning I had an idea that I may want to spin each of the braids in a different way, handle the colours in a different way for each yarn, but I wanted to see how the first one turned out before I made a final decision on making two different yarns or making them both in the same way and having a larger amount of yarn that could be used on one project.

For this first one I undone one of the braids and put the two ends together and run it through my hands to find the middle and broke the length at this point to make two shorter lengths. I pre-drafted each of these shorter lengths before spinning and I tried to make sure that a little bit of each colour was pulled into the draft each time I pulled on it.  I forgot to take photos of my basket full of pre-drafted fluff but it was a kind of mousey grey-brown with a hint of green, the colours have blended together and the white has completely disappeared.

I spun each single from the end of the pre-drafted fibre using the short forward draw/short backward draw method, spinning quite finely, and I plied the two singles together. A simple and straight forward spin.

The finished yarn is sport weight, 106g/410m, and it's nice and soft.  It has turned out quite a drab mousey-brown-grey colour, lifted by the tinges of green.  I do like it but I have decided that I want to try and make something a little more exciting, colourful, different with the second braid of fibre.  I have a few options and I need to think about which way to go with the second braid.

Advent Calendar 2024 Day 13 - Lutzelfrau

I'm not German so I haven't heard of today's character but she sounds interesting. All the information can be found in the first photo and if you click on the photo you can zoom in if you need to.

The design on this little packet is pretty, but again doesn't seem to match the character, which is absolutely fine as that is not expected but wouldn't it be nice if they all did.

I have undone the tightly wrapped little bundles and made them into braids to take any pressures off the fibres and also so that I can see the colours properly and feel the texture too.  I love this one. It is so fine and soft and the colours are so rich but also softened by the creaminess of the both the Soy Bean and the Tussah Silk.  I would love to get some more of this.

Advent Calendar 2024 Day 12 - Yulecat

This one is apparently the pet of the Yule Lads, which were mentioned in last years fibre calendar on Day 4.  All the information can be found in the first photo and if you click on the photo you can zoom in if you need to.

I'm guessing that this is another bag design that isn't matched to the story specifically.

I have undone the tightly wrapped little bundles and made them into braids to take any pressures off the fibres and also so that I can see the colours properly and feel the texture too.  I like the colour of this one but not the feel.  The Icelandic is pretty coarse but I do have a large chunk of what I believe is black Corriedale that was in a mixed bag of fibres and I have the two colours of bamboo that was used to make this shade of green so I might be able to re-create something similar to this and then pre-draft and spin them together.  This would up the softness of it by diluting the Icelandic content.

Advent Calendar 2024 Day 1 - Fezziwig

So, this year's Advent Calendar fibres have been created around the theme of "Christmas Characters".  The first one is Fezziwig from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".  I don't think I need to write anything up as all the information can be found in the first photo and if you click on the photo you can zoom in if you need to.

I do like the designs on the little packets though.  Each one is different.

I have undone the tightly wrapped little bundles and made them into braids to take any pressures off the fibres and also so that I can see the colours properly and feel the texture too. I like this one.  I have no idea, yet, what I will do with it though.

Spinning up two braids of "Singer"

I am continuing to spin up some of the oldest fibres in my stash and this next one is from the monthly fibre club that I used to subscribe to.  It is from July 2019 and is called "Singer" and was based on the colours of the Singer sewing machines.  I had two braids of this, one that arrived at the time from the club and then I managed to get another at a later date via a fellow spinner who was downsizing and selling off some of their fibres.

I did consider ways in which to handle the colours which would include separating the colours out for a more interesting yarn but the problem with that is that the yellowy-gold colour is the Eri Silk and so by separating the colours this would isolate the Eri Silk away from the wool content and I didn't really want to do that.  What I decided to do was to split it in half along the length, pre-draft the fibre and just spin it as it comes and I done this for both braids.

Given that this fibre was from a monthly subscription and we were told that there was only ever one batch made at the wool mill that she used it surprised the hell out of me to discover that the two skeins made are different colours.

The braid that I had as part of the monthly subscription has spun up much darker and leaning more toward the green and black content than the braid that I got from a fellow spinner who was selling off stuff to downsize which leans more towards the red and gold content.

With this colour difference between the two skeins there is no way that I could work them together on the same project in a bid to blend them and neutralise any colour variation as it would just cause stripes and on the kind of things that I make stripes rarely work.  They will have to be worked on separate projects.

So, both come under the umbrella of "sport weight" and the darker/duller one (on the right) is 100g/331m and the other one is 106g/381m and the fibre content is 50% Shetland, 25% Corriedale, 25% Eri Silk.

Spinning up an old 12 Days of Advent set from 2018

Yesterday I finished spinning a set of 11 silks and a main braid that I started spinning on 16th July for the TDF2024 challenge of spinning something that you find tricky, your arch-nemesis.  This set was from way back to Christmas 2018 and was a set put together to celebrate the 12 Days of Advent (or 12 Days of Christmas if your prefer) by a supplier that I no longer use.  This is not an Advent Calendar, which run 1st to 24th December, this is to celebrate the 12 days after Christmas to 12th Night. There were a few different options available at the time, which I wrote about here, and I chose one called Pine Forest, as those colours appealed to me more than some of the brighter, bolder, or gaudy colour options.

The main braid is really soft and an interesting medium grey colour with splodges of dye along it which match some, but not all, of the colours of the Tussah Silks.  The set is designed to be used together in one project, or at least most of it together in one project, and there are plenty of patterns available that use a main yarn together with smaller amounts of other colours.

So although I spun the first two skeins of silk on 16th and 17th July I didn't spin anything else until 7th August as I was away or busy doing other things.  The Tussah Silk was all spun first, over-the-fold and plied as a standard 2ply yarn.  I used the same over-the-fold method for the main braid too with, again, the standard 2ply.  With hindsight I kind of wish I had spun the main braid as one big single and then chain plied it to keep the colours more together but it's done now and I like it as it is anyway.

The colours of the silks, starting with the pale blue in the 12 o'clock position and working clockwise around are: Sunrise, Fir, Milk, Storm, Twilight, Wood, Cloud, Tuareg, Fog, Thyme, Paradise.  The main braid I have called "Pine Forest", after the name of the entire pack, and the fibre content is 50% Corriedale, 25% Yak, 25% Rose Rayon.  All of the yarns have spun up at 16-18wpi, which is the range for Light Fingering weight.

I am very happy with the way the entire set turned out and I am no longer scared of spinning 100% Silk and I found spinning over-the-fold to be quite enjoyable.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 11

The Cycling: Stage 11 is 211km of a mountain route that starts in Évaux Les Bains and ends in Le Lioran.

The Daily Challenge: Évaux Les Bains has been around for 2000 years and was a Roman spa town.  Go natural with non-dyed fibre!  No dye colours here, just beautiful natural fibre.

Suggested Fibre: The Romney (or at least Romney-type) is thought to have been introduced to the UK by the Romans, so this is a good choice for today's theme.

What I did

I'm not doing todays challenge so all I have done is to carry on from yesterday and spin the second single and ply them together.

My finished skein is fingering weight and 101g/267m and the fibre content is 87.5% Corriedale Wool, 12.5% Rainbow Trilobal Nylon.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 10

The Cycling: Stage 10 is 187.3km of a flat route that starts in Orléans and ends in Saint Amand Montrond.

The Daily Challenge: Monrond is noted for it's goldsmiths; it has 9 companies and a school of jewellery.  Gold has been part of its trade for many years.  Bring some opulence to your spin by adding something gold or even a bit of sparkle.  Why not both...?

Suggested Fibre: Angelina Gold is the obvious choice for this one.  A tiny bit will bring a definite sparkle to any project and a large bit will make it positively gleam!

What I did

I am trying to spin up some the oldest fibres in my stash so for this challenge I decided to spin a World of Wool Team Blend from 2020 called Peacock by Adam.  Team Blends are created by the staff that work at World of Wool and then customers are invited to vote online for their favourite ones and those that get the highest number of votes are produced as a shop product and the staff who created them get a percentage of the sales from it.  I know that this year, 2024, we have been asked to vote for our favourite 10 out of 22 and the top 10 favourites will become shop products for 12 months but I think that during Covid lockdown, when this one was produced, we had a much lower number of blends to choose from, probably because they would have had a lower number of staff working for them at that time due to the restrictions.

This fibre doesn't have any Angelina in it but it does have rainbow Trilobal Nylon so it's still a bit sparkly/shimmery.

I only spun the first single today.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 First Rest Day

The Cycling: Today is the first official rest day of the Tour and the cyclists transfer to Orléans in readiness for tomorrow.

The Daily Challenge: Orléans was liberated by Joan of Arc on 8th May 1429 - not a very relaxing face but a key part of history!  Rest is important.  So we challenge you to nap uninterrupted from 30 minutes.  

Suggested Fibre: No spinning, just napping!  But if you are desperate then it's a good opportunity to finish what you've started - or even to try to get ahead if you've got a goal in mind.

What I did

I finished spinning the second single and then plied them both together.  Amazingly, and only just, I did actually manage to squeeze all of the yarn onto one bobbin when I plied it and there is no room left between the yarn on the bobbin and the flyer arm (which spins around the bobbin feeding the yarn onto the bobbin.

This spun to fingering weight and there was actually a bit more in the pack than the 140g.  My finished skein is 148g/375m

Spinning the Whiteface Dartmoor blend

With the festive celebrations and everything else it has taken me around about a month to spin up the entirety of this blend that I put together myself back in June 2023, but then there is just over 450g of it.  I finished spinning the first skein on 16th December 2023 and the last skein on 10th January 2024.

As I was spinning I had to keep thinning out the various lumps and bumps of different fibres and I also tried to make sure that there were at least a few strands of the Whiteface Dartmoor throughout the entirety of the length of the yarn.

All of the skeins are sport weight and they are reasonably soft considering the fact that majority fibre in the blend is Whitefaced Dartmoor.  The fibre content is 67.5% Whiteface Dartmoor, 13.5% Merino, 5% Corriedale, 4% Tussah Silk, 3% Hemp, 3% Longwool breed, 3% Sari Silk, 1% Angelina.  Unfortunately the Angelina doesn't show up in the photos but it is there and under the right lighting conditions you can see little purple sparkles in the yarn.  In total there is 454g/859m.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 23

The Tradition

Day 23 is called Cavalcade of Lights and the tradition comes from Canada.  An annual festival that has been held in Toronto since 1967.  The Nathan Phillips square is decorated with upwards of half a million(!) lights and a giant Christmas tree which is usually around 18 metres high. There is an opening night celebration with live performances, the lighting of the city's official Christmas Tree and nightly ice skating and festive lights for the entire festive season.

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 40% Merino (Charcoal), 30% Corriedale (Raven), 30% Tussah Silk (Lemon, Acai & Taro).   This is a very bright blend.  This is Merino, Corriedale and Tussah Silk.  The lights are best seen at night which is why we have black Merino and black Corriedale in this because that makes the Tussah Silk colours pop and they are so vibrant, look at these coming through here.  So just like the lights you will see the shimmer and the sheen in this.  This is a very Silk heavy blend, we've got the wool in to help contain it all otherwise the Silk will just run away with you anytime you try to do anything.  In terms of spinning, take this one slowly.  If you do a finer yarn you might loose the colours because this hasn't been overly blended if you break it up very carefully you may just be able to get a black and blue or bit of black and yellow.  Alternatively if you spin from the fold you can get all sorts of different colours coming though randomly.

My Thoughts

Oooh, I got excited about this one.  It is so different looking to most other blends.  Those bight silk colours really pop against the black wool.  The silk is not blended in so it may be possible to separate the silk colours out away from the black wool and then I can think of two ways to spin it.  You could break it up into short lengths and re-combine individual colours of silk with the black so that you have everchanging pops of colour against the black and then maybe chain ply to keep the colours together or you could spin the black and the spin the coloured silk as two separate singles and then ply them together but this does rely on there being the same amount of coloured silk as there is wool and there isn't but it might be possible to do a three ply of 2 black and 1 coloured.  Another way it to just split it down the length in thin strips, ensuring that there is both black and colour in each strip and then just spin from the end and its up to you if you want to do a 2 ply, 3 ply or chain ply or something else. The camera on my phone captured most of the colours but my proper Canon camera has done a slightly better job.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards seem to be correct.  

What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 20

The Tradition

Day 20 is called Weihnachtsmann and the tradition comes from Germany.  Also known as Father Christmas, Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas and I am sure we all know about these guys as they are technically the same person, although depending where you are and the traditions of your country, he either visits on 6th December or 24th December. His attire has been portrayed in different shades throughout the years; one of those colours is green.

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 80% Corriedale (Emerald, Citrus, Grass, Lightning), 14% Merino, 6% Rainbow Trilobal Nylon. Father Christmas has been portrayed wearing different colours over the years.  We know it as red but it has been blue, green and more earthy tones.  This blend is taking it as green and earthy.  This is a blend of Corriedale and Stellina because you don't need to use Merino all the time to get these lovely colours.  So you've got lovely shades of white and green Corriedale and also some Corriedale Amber in there with some glitter going through it.  This is a really springy blend, its quite soft and it is incredibly easy to spin, it is not too fine that will will run away with you and it will make a thin yarn but also a bulky one as well, if you want to that is.  You can break it down the sides to get little sections of colour.  This blend will do absolutely anything and it will make a really nice finished item.

My Thoughts

I quite like the earthy green, amber and browny tones in this blend.  It's reasonably soft and I have no idea how I will be spinning this one.  I could find a similar green or a white or something like that to spin this with or maybe I might see if I can do a Fibonacci spin with this, not sure if the colours will separate out enough though.  Another option might be to spin from the fold to have little pops of colours all the way along the yarn.  This will require some testing or thinking about and maybe seeing how others have spun it up and the results that they got.  This is another one that is so different to how the camera on my phone captured the colours and at the time I couldn't get it to show the true tone of green and all the other colours, more could I get it to not show any turquoise blue, which is NOT in the blend in real life.  At least my Canon camera has managed to capture all of the tones and colours.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards seem to be incorrect, again! There isn't any Stellina in this one! They initially gave us 80% Corriedale (in shades of Emerald, Citrus, Grass & Lightning), 20% Glitzy Amber which itself is 70% Merino, 30% Rainbow Trilobal Nylon.  If my maths are correct that makes the overall fibre content 80% Corriedale, 14% Merino, 6% Rainbow Trilobal Nylon.  

What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 14

The Tradition

Day 14 is called Misa de Gallo and the tradition comes from Spain and translates as Roosters Mass. The Festival of the Rooster has a few origin stories, the one we like tells of how they (we're not sure who they are!) were trying to work out when to have a mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus; it was hard to come up with an agreeable time so they settled on "when the cock crows".

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 50% Corriedale (Amber & Crimson), 35% Manx Loagthan (natural), 15% Bambo (Ella).  For this blend we've looked at a traditional barnyard cockerel and tried to pull as many colours as we can into this.  I don't think we've done a bad job.  The base of this is brown, like many chickens are and this brown is Manx Loaghtan which originally comes form the Isle of Man, they're always brown and they have four horns, two at the top and two down below.  Quite a short staple but it is a remarkably soft fibre for something that you'd find from our shores.  The rest of the fibres in here are Corriedale because we really didn't want to put Merino in with this, we wanted something that would be similar in handle to the Manx and we've also put a little bit of bamboo in here just to get that sheen that you see on the rooster tail feathers and if you look at a strutting rooster in the sunlight you will see all of these colours in this blend.  For spinning, what I would probably do is split it along the length and do a nice loose spin to make sure I'm not muddying all the shades up.  This is a nice springy versatile blend with a good amount of colours in and every time you spin it it will go differently.  If you spin from the fold or if you spin from the lines (down the length).

My Thoughts

The colours are interesting, I didn't get excited or squeal at this one or anything, but I don't not like it.  This isn't soft and squishy or luxurious but it is a hardworking kind of fibre blend that would make great winter accessories like hat, scarf and gloves.  I'm not sure what I will be doing with this but I could maybe find some similar fibres and similar colours in my stash and make this braid go a little further.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards seem to be correct, yay!  

What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 6

The Tradition

Day 6 is called Pōhutukawa and the tradition comes from New Zealand.  It is a flowering tree called the New Zealand Christmas Tree or Iron Tree that flowers November to January with vibrant red flowers.  The oldest tree is thought to be around 600 years old and they are sacred in Māori culture and mythology.  It is a coastal evergreen tree belonging to the Myrtle family that grow up to about 82ft tall.

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 60% New Zealand (brown), 20% Sari Silk (Rosette), 20% Corriedale (Grass).  Because this is a New Zealand tradition we have New Zealand fibre in it.  This is a natural brown shade of New Zealand and its got green Corriedale in it, which also comes from New Zealand and its got red Sari Silk in to represent the flowers. You've got a little bit of everything in this blend, brown for the bark, green for the leaves and red for the flowers. This is actually quite a soft blend because the fibres in it are bulky and squishy and you would be able use these in any chosen craft.  This will be an interesting fibre to spin with.  The Sari Silk has got different staple lengths in it which means you don't always get an even draft on it so you would end up with some of it slightly thicker and some of it slightly thinner which would be a lovely textured yarn and it would also be good for an art yarn.  Because this a recycled Sari Silk you get pops of other colours in it so we've got a little bit of pink in here are well as a tiny little bit of green too and it will be a fun blend to work with.

My Thoughts

Upon open the packet I immediately thought of one of the fibres from last years advent calendar, which this reminds me of.  I am thinking that it might work well with last year's Day 3 "Wreath".  The colours are not my favourite blend but I'm ok with that.  

I am also writing up these blog posts some time after the date and the first photos are what I took on the day of opening using my mobile phone and the early December natural light, which isn't always the best, and the next photos have been taken some time after using my proper camera and my little lit pop up studio and the colours are more true to life. 

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards seem to be correct, YAY!

What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 3

The Tradition

Day 3 is called Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii and the tradition comes from Japan.   The first KFC outlet opened in Japan in 1970 and its manager was Takeshi Okawara.  He came up with the idea of a creating a "party barrel" of KFC to be sold at Christmas after overhearing a couple of foreigners talking in his store about how they missed having turkey at Christmas whilst they are in Japan.  He marketed his "party barrel" at Christmas in his store until KFC themselves took the idea up and marketed it across all of their Japan stores for Christmas 1974 under the name of Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii, or Kentucky for Christmas.  It was a success and Takeshi Okawara rose through the company ranks quickly, serving as president and CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan from 1984 to 2002.

Previously, there was no Christmas tradition in Japan as the majority of Japanese people follow Shinto or Buddhism faiths, worshipping ancestors and spirits with only around 1% of the population following the Christian faith.  Today an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to the special meal at KFC over Christmas period.  Other families treat it as a time to have a romantic celebration, similar to St Valentines day, and have a meal in upscale restaurants and then there are some families that acknowledge the day but do not celebrate it in any form.

The meals are so popular over the Christmas period that you can't just walk in a get one.  Most people pre-order the meal weeks in advance and if you don't do this then you could be waiting in line for hours to be able to get one and daily sales at some KFC restaurants can be 10 times that of any other time of year.  It's not just barrels of fried chicken that is available, over the years the meals have morphed into banquets and you can now get fried chicken, cake and wine.  In a country that puts a high value on its elders, they now also dress up the company mascot, Colonel Sanders, in Santa outfits. 

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is different to that that was printed on the bags, see the comments in "My Thoughts" for full details. There are some kind of similarities with some colours maybe with some sort of branding but it is totally unintentional and this blend doesn't contain any interesting herbs or spices.  It has a nice bold colour provided by the Corriedale and although Corriedale is not as soft as Merino it does have the same stitch definition when its being knitted or crocheted.  It has a nice bulk to it, which you don't find in Merino blends and there are lovely little bits of Tweed running through it to add a little bit of extra colour and some texture. The lightness comes from the Lotus Fibre, which has just been blended throughout so instead of being a heavy dark red it lifts it quite a bit.

My Thoughts

I like this one, it's quite festive and could even represent Santa with the red suit, white trim and black accessories.  I'm glad that the blends are not all super soft and fluffy, I like having a bit of a more hardwearing fibre too.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not necessarily correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they originally gave on the chat boards was 60% Corriedale, 30% Tweed, 10% Lotus, which is different from the Corriedale, Lotus and Viscose that is printed on the bag and after some discussion it transpires that "Tweed" is actually 80% South American Wool, 20% Viscose and it took a little while to get the actual contents from them and work out the actual fibre percentages, which is 60% Corriedale, 24% South American Wool, 10% Lotus and 6% Viscose . 

As a customer/consumer I don't want to know the percentage of "other blends" that are in the blend and I shouldn't have to then do research or ask questions to find out what is in that blend and do the maths to add those fibre percentages into the main blend fibre content percentages.  Thankfully I was not the only one that brought this oversight up with them and they've been pretty good about it. I have now also adjusted the fibre content details on all other blends in my stash that contain "Tweed" to correct them to what they actually are.  Thankfully I have not made any shawls or anything with any yarns that I have spun using this "Tweed" content.

What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Making a blend of the blue Whiteface Dartmoor

Back in September I dyed some Whiteface Dartmoor a blue-purple colour. I have now blended it with some other bits and pieces ready for spinning. I picked out a load of fibre but three of the bumps were close to what I wanted but not quite there.  After a little test I decided that if I blend the three together then it will give me the exact shade that I was looking for, as my intention is to only put the blend through the hackle once as I don't want it too well blended but these individual bumps needs to be well blended together first.  I blended them in roughly equal amounts so used all of the Merino and about half of the Corriedale.

Top right is Merino in shade Fuchsia, top left is Corriedale in shade Tanzanite, bottom left is Merino in shade Sapphire and bottom right is the finished blend of the three

A = 57g of blended Merino/Corriedale
B = 5g of Angelina in Ultraviolet
C = 20g of Tussah Silk in Lilac
D = 25g of Merino - WoW Northern Lights in shade Typhoon
E = 7g of Merino in Lavender
F = 15 of Hemp in Lilac
G = 14g of unknown white longwool
H = 13g of Sari Silk in Moon River
I = 324g of Whiteface Dartmoor wool

I had to loosen up the dyed Whiteface Dartmoor before I put it through the hackle because it had felted slightly in places during the dyeing process.  I lost 16g in the process, which is almost nothing.

The fibre content is: 67.5% Whiteface Dartmoor wool, 13.5% Merino wool, 5% Corriedale wool, 4% Tussah Silk, 3% Hemp, 3% Longwool breed, 3% Sari Silk and 1% Angelina.

This is another blend that probably won't be spun for the the TdF but hopefully it won't be too long before I get around to it.

Advent Calendar 2022 Day 22

I'm in love with today's fibre, its beautiful and called King Wenceslas and is a beautiful rich colour combination being made up of 75% Corriedale. 12.5% Red Eri Silk and 12.5 Tussah Silk.  Almost everyone in the chat group is going nuts over this one, we want more, we want more, we want more.😂

After Christmas, in the New Year, WoW made additional 100g braids of fibre of all of the Advent Calendar Fibres available to purchase to those who had purchased the Advent Calendar.  There were limited stocks of each one available, it was on a first-come-first served basis and there was a short time frame of priority before the remaining stock was made available to general purchase.  This was one of 7 fibres that I bought an extra 100g of.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2022 Stage 19 - Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors

Stage 19 of the Tour de France and it is a 188.3km long flat race that starts in Castelnau-Magnoac and ends in Cahors.

The Map

Sights and points of interest along the route

The start town is situated on a castral mound that once had a 13th century castle sat on the top and at the time of its formation there was a phenomenon whereby people spread across the local countryside were grouping together at the foot of castles to gain protection from the local lord.  There is a memorial and museum dedicated to the Pommiès Corps Franc, a clandestine unit sponsored by the Army Resistance Organisation that operated during WWII, especially noted for sabotaging the Hispano-Suiza (Alstom) factory and thereby saving locals from an air bombardment.  There is also the 15th century Collegiate Church of the Assumption.

Castelnau-Magnoac

As they get on the road today they pass through Chélan, Masseube, Ornézan with its 13th century church, Orbessan with a 17th century castle and then onto the city of Auch, with many of the building being built by Louis XV and you will find the Museum of the Americas and 15th century St Mary's Cathedral.  They leave the city and onto Preignan, with 18th century Testère Castle, Sainte-Christie with a population of 550 and then onto Fleurance, which hosts an annual Astronomy Festival for the first 10 days of August and has 14th century St Laurent Church.  Saint-Clar is next along the route quickly followed by Saint-Créac and then Marsac, with its 12th century castle.

Marsac Castle

At 86km along the route is Poupas, with a population of just 90 it has 15th century St Christopher's Church and the ruins of a 17th century castle.  Lachapelle with St Peter's Church being built in the 13th century.  Lamotte Castle, also built in the 13th century is in the village of Bardigues, with the castle now being used to host exhibitions and has a shop selling local products.  Auvillar has been listed as one of the most beautiful villages in France.  During the 18th and 19th centuries it was one of the largest earthenware producers and the museum exhibits almost 500 pieces.

Auvillar

The town of Valence d'Agen was founded in 1283 by King Edward I of England and is home to some 5,200 people.  Further on the route is Goudourville which has a 12th century castle and the 15th century Saint-Julien-de-Brioude Church, which is plain looking from the outside but has two ceiling paintings representing the resurrection of Lazarus and the burial.  

24km further along the riders reach Lauzerte which has some 15th century houses and 13th century Saint Bartholomew's Church.  The place of note is Montcuq-en-Quercy-Blanc, which was popularised in the 1970s by a French TV show and was the home of Nino Ferrer, a singer of Jazz and Blues, although I myself have heard of him but then I'm not into Jazz and Blues music.

The finish town today is Cahors, famous for its wine and the 14th century Valentré Bridge which has eight arches and three towers and each end was protected by a small castle but these have since disappeared. Since 1995 it has been a pedestrian only bridge.  Other sites include St Etienne's Cathedral, medieval Cahors prison and 22 secret gardens designed in 2002 to enhance unused spaces and offer various themes such as the Herbularium which is a garden of medicinal plants and the Witch and Dragon garden is themed on demonic plants and legends.

Valentré Bridge 

Who Won the Stage and Who Won What Jersey

The Stage winner is Christophe Laporte for Jumbo-Visma

The Yellow Jersey won by Jonas Vingegaard for Jumbo-Visma

The Green Jersey won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

The Polka Dot Jersey won by Jonas Vingegaard for Jumbo-Visma

The White Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

Combatif Award won by Quinn Simmons for Trek-Segafredo/USA.

Leading team: Ineos-Grenadiers

The Challenge: Ooh look!  It's a flat bit.  After the uphill push yesterday, it is time t take a step back and get back in to our normal rhythms - no need to rush or zoom today! (Unless you're actually cycling the Tour de France, in that case keep going!).  The final destination today is Cahors, homme to a bridge with an interesting story.

Spin something you wouldn't normally spin.  This can be a different preparation (e.g. tops, batts, roving) or a different fibre type.  If you're a woolly wonder, why not try a plant fibre.

Suggested Fibre:  Gourami is our suggested fibre for those who want to give a pure bamboo yarn a go.

What I did

I already knew that I would be spinning today's choice on this TDF as carded slivers was on the shopping list but I had some in the Advent Calendar.

I wasn't able to pre-draft in the way that I am used to but I was able to open it up.

It was a tricky spin for me as I always do short-forward draw, where you keep the twist away from the draft zone and only allow the twist in once you moved your hand holding the fibre backwards revealing the small group of fibres that the twist will be added to and then allow the twist in and I always spin from either commercial top or hand combed top.  For me to be able to spin this and also to spin it fairly fine and even I had to venture into new territory for me and do some kind of short-forward-longdraw mash up, so allowing the twist into the draft zone and pulling the fibres back to thin out and even out the yarn.  Not my best spinning and not my favourite spinning, I found it quite stressful but I do love the end result, especially the colour.

The finished yarn is double-knit weight and 100g/201m which in terms of the TdF length calculations is 303m - 2 singles plus the plied length = 3 x finished yarn length.