Skip to main content

In praise of wool

Just a quick post today. I'm offering you a short but peaceful break from the overwhelmingness (is that a word?) of Christmas.  By now you've probably eaten your bodyweight in sweets//roast potatoes/pigs in blankets/cake/After Eights ... whatever your festive indulgences are.  You're under-exericsed, over-stimulated, feeling broke and possibly guilty about an argument with a relative or friend you've never entirely got on with.  So, here's something to take your mind off all that.  

I've two videos to refresh and revive, and they both concern wool.  

Interesting fact.  Well, I found it interesting.  About 1% - yup, one per cent - of the world's textiles are made of wool.  Out of curiosity, I also googled how much is made of cotton.  That's higher, but it's only about 24% and that's heading downward instead of up.  Synthetic fibres are the bulk of all textile manufacture.  Anyway, back to woolly wonders.  

My first recommendation is 'Forgotten Fibre'.  

This is a gorgeous ten minutes, featuring photogenic sheep and a lovely bit of singing.  The message about sustainability comes across loud & clear, but it's not made in a doom laden we're-all-hurtling-to-Hell-in-a-handcart kind of way.  I think you're left with a sense of hopefulness, that there are solutions out there if we're willing to listen and learn.  
This second recommendation features a lady called Debbie Zawinski, a.k.a. the feral spinner.  She's a knitter and self-taught spinner, and also works with natural dyes.  She also has one of those arty homes where you just know you could spend hours.  Looking at what's she made.  Hearing the stories behind her creations.  As with the first video, Debbie Zawinski places a huge value on the handmade, on home crafting, and what should be but isn't always our strong connection with the land and with nature.  

The You Tube algorithm can be immensely frustrating, at times but occasionally it works perfectly and presents you with little treasures.  Enjoy!  



Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous27 December 2024 at 04:37

    Hello from The Netherlands. Thank you so much for sharing those videos! Really loved watching - and have looked at them more than once. 😊. Very inspirational. Thank you also for your blog. I am one of those silent lurkers on your blog - always read and am often inspired by all the things you create. I also love the creative process and cannot imagine my life without it. So thank you for sharing yours. All the best for 2025, Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Valerie blogs at rubykittyruby28 December 2024 at 05:54

    Hi Sylvia. What a lovely comment, thank you so much. I do sometimes wonder who reads my blog. I'm aware it's not the most exciting, earth shattering little corner of the online world, but I like keeping track of what I'm up to. Hope you had a great Christmas and let's see what 2025 brings us all. Best wishes, Valerie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fabric bowls & electrical cables ...

To add to my seemingly never ending list of works-in-progress, I've started making a fabric bowl.  Or should I call it a fabric basket?  I'm not sure.  Anyway, I've made the odd bowl or two before, like this blue & white one that I keep cotton perle in.   I decided to use upholstery material, which has both advantages & disadvantages.  On the good side, it has a certain stiffness, which helps the bowl stay in shape.  On the irritating side, the kind of material I'm using frays like mad, and I'm forever picking up threads off the carpet.  The bowl's a simple construction, and I've used a circle of cardboard covered with brown felt for the base.   It'll look much better when I've embroidered and stitched into it.  I've made a start on that, and appliqued on a rectangle of plum coloured velvet for extra interest. When not stitching, I've been catching up on my reading.  I finished C J Sansom's 'Dark Fire'.   Real...
Post a Comment
Read more

Threads of Freedom and charity shop bargains

  It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to.  Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate.  Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden.   I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday.  I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different.  There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city.  It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery.  There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery.   My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Another fabric bowl & what's starting to look like a craft room ...

  Hello on what's been a beautiful autumn day.  Bright blue clear sky, a chilly start but warming up in the afternoon.  I've been on a long walk around a local nature reserve, not wanting to stay inside when it's so lovely outdoors.   In the last week or so, I've been finishing this fabric bowl, and have started making another.   But mainly I've been having a bit of a change-around in my house.  I've hauled furniture from one room to another, clutter-cleared cupboards and bagged up things for the charity shop, and generally hoovered and cleaned all those dusty corners.   I'd finally made a decision about turning the dumping ground of the front bedroom into a craft room.  It's taking shape, though it really has taken some effort.   Larger pieces of material are stacked on shelves, grouped into colours.  Lower down is my Sissix machine and die cuts, and at the base of the shelving are beads and jewellery making supplies...
Post a Comment
Read more