{"id":3350,"date":"2011-11-01T20:00:34","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T20:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedomesticsoundscape.com\/wordpress\/?p=3350"},"modified":"2011-11-01T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T20:10:49","slug":"wovember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thedomesticsoundscape.com\/wordpress\/?p=3350","title":{"rendered":"Wovember"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Kate wrote this amazing post<\/a> about the (mis)labelling of clothes and the confusing use of the terms WOOL, WOOLLEN and WOOLLY in garment descriptions, I was struck by the disparity between the widespread (mis)use of those terms by the fashion industry, and the lack of value given to ACTUAL WOOL from ACTUAL SHEEP. The world of fashion is one of desire, dreams and association as well as being a nuts-and-bolts production line for the creation of clothing and where WOOL is concerned, it would seem that the mythic or imaginative dimension<\/em> of WOOL is regarded much more highly than the animals, skills and farmers involved in physically producing the stuff<\/em>. While a lot of lip-service is given to the cache value of WOOL through the widespread use of terms like WOOL, WOOLLEN and WOOLLY in garment descriptions, widespread ignorance persists regarding how and where it is actually made<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How is it that the associations of the word WOOL – the countryside; fluffy sheep; cosy fireside hearths etc.; – can be popularised and used to imply a certain rustic charm to garments, while those garments are sometimes not<\/em> made from WOOL and when (as the case was for farmers in 2009) shearing an animal for its fleece sometimes costs more money than the WOOL board<\/a> will pay for it<\/em>? <\/p>\n

Such questions have their origins for me back in the Autumn of 2007, when I went to stay at Beech Hill Farm in Sussex and inadvertently discovered my own ignorance regarding such matters. I had to do a write up of my MA studies in order to conclude the course and had searched everywhere for a quiet place (rural; inexpensive) in which to debrief and reflect on my work. From the online descriptions The Studio<\/em> at Beech Hill Farm sounded perfect<\/em>. I had no idea as I drove through the leafy, winding roads from Tunbridge Wells deep into the heart of The Weald that I was going to gain in that place a fully revised perspective on the situation for WOOL producers in the UK. I arrived late in the evening and was greeted first thing the next morning by a robust chorus of baas from the sheep. <\/p>\n

It was the first time I have spent any time in my life on a sheep farm, and I was struck by the enormous gulf between the comedic way that sheep are often represented, and the boisterous nature of the actual animals<\/em>. There is a world of difference between CLOWNSHOES<\/a> SHEEP of giftcards and colouring books and the earthy, noisy, hoofed, fragrant beasts whom I met at Beech Hill Farm.<\/p>\n

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\nClownshoes sheep; 100% NON-WOOLLY BADNESS<\/p>\n

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\nActual sheep; 100% WOOLLY GOODNESS<\/p>\n

…I had vaguely understood from my correspondence with Julia Desch that she kept a small flock of Wensleydales at Beech Hill Farm and that she was involved in a local craft group called Woolcraft with Wensleydale<\/a>. Being relatively new to knitting I profess that in the Autumn of 2007 I was entirely ignorant<\/em> about the scope and vision of those projects. In the intervening years I have learned more about the specific advantages and challenges of breeding coloured sheep, and of the ambitious vision of the Woolcraft with Wensleydale group to keep sheep-breeding, spinning and weaving skills alive through a programme of open-days, and workshops, and the ongoing production of top-quality 100% Wensleydale yarns. <\/p>\n

What blew my mind about staying with Julia was that I could look out of the window and see these sheep…<\/p>\n

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\nJulia’s coloured Wensleydale Sheep, Beech Hill Farm, Sussex, 2007<\/p>\n

…and then I could go out of the studio, cross the yard, and enter The WOOL Room<\/em> to discover yarns spun from their fleeces<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\nWorsted WOOL spun from coloured Wensleydale fleece, Beech Hill Farm, Sussex, 2007<\/p>\n

Maybe it sounds stupid and obvious to point this out now, but in this world where the means of how everyday things which we use are produced are so often inscrutable, (how is an iPhone produced? by what process are Addi-Turbos constructed? how are silicon muffin-tins made?) the tangible connections between the animals on Julia’s farm, the place itself, and the WOOL yarns feel rare and precious and rich<\/em>. Looking through all the photos from that first stay, I have found this picture, which is of a ball of lumpen yarn (my very first handspun!) which I had taken to Sussex to proudly show to Julia. It is a very naive kind of a photo and my handspinning is clearly that of a novice, but I feel it says something about the start of my obsession with REAL WOOL.<\/p>\n

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\n100% WOOL, poorly handspun by me in 2007<\/p>\n

I visited The Studio<\/em> several times after that first journey; firstly to celebrate the WOOLLY heritage of the area with Kate on our wonderful, Oomska-laden adventure in 2008<\/a>, and again later that Winter<\/a> to research an article for Yarn Forward Magazine on Julia’s sheep, and then the piece I wrote for Twist Collective<\/a> on discovering the hidden traces of shepherding within a landscape. <\/p>\n

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\nDewpond, Ditchling, Sussex, photographed in Winter 2008<\/p>\n

Later I had the wonderful privilege of gaining more spinning experience in a lovely afternoon class shared with Liz<\/a> and Ruth, when Wendy (a member of the Woolcraft with Wensleydale Group) came to teach us what she knows about handspinning. Happily she bought some fleece from Roger’s black Romney sheep for us to spin with; sheep whom I had previously met during my visit with Kate.<\/p>\n

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As well as breeding these wonderful animals, Roger also runs Diamond Fibres Mill<\/a> where Julia’s coloured fleeces are spun. Visiting the mill with Kate, we learned about the many processes which go into producing spinning worsted and semi-worsted yarns. <\/p>\n

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\nDiamond Fibres Mill bobbins, 2008<\/p>\n

I also explored the history of shepherding in the nearby region of Romney – where Romney Sheep grazed in their thousands for many years, looked after by “Lookers” who stayed in their huts to mind the sheep during lambing season and difficult weather. And I recorded many sounds associated with the people, places, processes and animals that I was coming to associate with WOOL for my SHEEP<\/a> radio show, produced for an episode of framework:afield<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\nKate peering into the Looker’s Hut in Romney, 2008<\/p>\n

I returned to Beech Hill Farm just once in 2009 on a mission with the talented Martin Ellerbeck<\/a> to investigate the possibility of creating a documentary focused around linking the production of wool more closely with the fashionable world of urban Stitch’n’Bitch culture. You can see the trailer that we made featuring Julia and Tom Davies (who works on London’s city farms) here.<\/p>\n