Northwest Yarns

  • Know Your Fiber: Eider Wool

    Posted on June 01 2019

       One of the amazing things about sheep isn’t just the wool, milk and meat they produce, it is also how they affect the surrounding environment.  Now, when flocks are...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Romney Wool

    Posted on May 01 2019

       The tale of the Romney sheep is one of the southeastern English coast, salt marshes, and smugglers. This long-wool sheep was critical to the early English wool trade, and...

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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: Rambouillet

    Posted on March 01 2019

          The late 1700s were an eventful time for French sheep! A French sheep (along with a rooster and a duck) were the first to escape gravity in a...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Black Welsh Mountain Sheep

    Posted on February 01 2019

       Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool? The Black Welsh Mountain Sheep certainly does! A member of the Welsh Mountain Sheep breed, this hardy sheep is one of...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Lydia's Flock

    Posted on January 01 2019

          We are starting out this year’s Know Your Fiber articles with a look at Lydia’s Flock, a local flock of Icelandic and Shetland sheep kept right here in...

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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: Jacob Wool

    Posted on November 01 2018

       Two horns, four horns, six horns!  Jacob sheep, an adorable, multi-horned spotted sheep (most commonly they have four horns, but can have up to six) from the U.K., has...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Merino Wool

    Posted on October 01 2018

    Merino sheep are among the most broadly known and popular sheep breeds for wool today.  Wool from Merino sheep has gained in popularity over the centuries, and has successfully conquered...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Viscose Rayon (aka Bamboo, Viscose)

    Posted on August 01 2018

    In the late 19th century, the first semi-synthetic fiber in history was invented – viscose rayon! Known as artificial silk until its rebranding as rayon in 1924, rayon has become...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Targhee Wool

    Posted on July 01 2018

    Targhee sheep, one of the youngest breeds of sheep in North America, have been experiencing a surge of interest from spinners and hand-dyers in the last several years. This American...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Shetland Wool

    Posted on June 01 2018

          Shetland sheep are beautiful and friendly little sheep with a soft wool that comes in almost every possible natural sheep color. These short-tailed sheep are from the Shetland...

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  • Dealing with Clothing Moths

    Posted on May 09 2018

             Part 1: Identifying the Evil Little Clothing Moth (Important note:  there is no such thing as a Good Little Clothing Moth) These little buggers are the...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Flax

    Posted on May 01 2018

       Flax is one of the oldest fibers used by humans. First sourced from wild plants, the oldest evidence of humans using flax comes from the Republic of Georgia. Spun,...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Icelandic Wool

    Posted on March 31 2018

       Icelandic sheep are one of the oldest breeds of sheep still in existence. Descended from the first short-tailed sheep to arrive in Northern Europe during the Paleolithic Age, these...

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  • Know Your Fiber: Bluefaced Leicester

    Posted on March 02 2018

       Named for their beautiful gray-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 breeding....

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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

     

     

    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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