Northwest Yarns
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Know Your Fiber: Dorset Horn Wool
Posted on September 30 2019
Known for their rams’ dramatically spiraled horns and their close, springy fleece, Dorset Horn sheep are originally from the verdant hills and valleys of southwestern England. Although they have...
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Know Your Fiber: Manx Loaghtan
Posted on March 31 2019
Who has adorable horns (up to six!) and has made dramatic come-backs from the brink of extinction? Manx Loaghtan sheep from the Isle of Man, that’s who! These unique sheep...
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Know Your Fiber: Gotland Wool
Posted on November 30 2018
Gotland sheep from the Swedish island of Gotland are not only gosh-darn adorable, but they also produce a beautiful wool with long, lustrous locks. Settle in, Know Your Fiber...
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Know Your Fiber: Bluefaced Leicester
Posted on March 02 2018
Named for their beautiful dark-blue skin underneath their lustrous wool, the story of Bluefaced Leicester sheep is also the story of how England contributed to a revolution in livestock...
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Know Your Fiber: Churro Wool
Posted on February 01 2018
Navajo-Churro sheep, are direct descendants of the Churra sheep brought in two waves to North America by the Spanish, a very old breed of sheep from the Castile and León...
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Know Your Fiber: A (Very) Brief History of Wool
Posted on January 02 2018
Welcome to a (very) brief history of wool sheep! Wool is an amazing fiber, with qualities that make is unique among all other natural fibers – we’ll be discussing that...
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Know Your Fiber: Llama
Posted on December 01 2017
Long necked, big-eyed, fluffy animals from South America, llamas have fascinated many of us from North America. The availability of llama fiber has steadily been increasing in the yarn world,...
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Know Your Fiber: Mohair
Posted on November 01 2017
Let’s take a look at mohair! Mohair comes from Angora goats, and to look at their history, we have to go back to when humans first learned to keep goats...
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Know Your Fiber: Angora
Posted on October 01 2017
Angora bunnies! Just the words evoke visions of fluffy, cuddly rabbits. Or for fiber artists, visions of soft and amazingly cozy sweaters, hats, scarves, and gloves.How humans discovered and bred...
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Know Your Fiber: Silk
Posted on September 02 2017
The use of silk as a fiber is thought by most historians to have been developed in early China. Chinese legend has it that silk was discovered by Leizu, an empress...
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Know Your Fiber: Yak
Posted on August 01 2017
Yak is a relatively recent addition to the fibers easily available to the knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers on this side of the world. The undercoat of the yak, known...
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Know Your Fiber: Cotton
Posted on July 06 2017
Cotton has been used for millennia. The earliest evidence of human use of cotton has been found on the Indian subcontinent, where cotton threads were found in copper beads dating...
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Know Your Fiber: Alpaca
Posted on June 01 2017
If you have spent any time at all in a yarn shop, you have probably seen alpaca and alpaca-blend yarns, and marveled at their softness. Alpacas are in the camelid...
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