tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post5869953066539989741..comments2024-03-27T18:12:02.867+00:00Comments on Wool - Tribulations of Hand Spinning and Herbal Dyeing: On the Origin of Sheep Fleeces by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for LifeFran Rushworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09742656242582509967noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-47886671059189206212019-01-26T23:58:41.698+00:002019-01-26T23:58:41.698+00:00Thanks for writing :)Thanks for writing :)Fran Rushworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09742656242582509967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-90862584882927876372019-01-26T16:57:05.313+00:002019-01-26T16:57:05.313+00:00Thank you a very entertaining and educational piec...Thank you a very entertaining and educational piece. I enjoyed reading it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08986585934418635018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-47155064074090809962019-01-01T00:06:26.938+00:002019-01-01T00:06:26.938+00:00The house never quite does reach Elinor's stan...The house never quite does reach Elinor's standard of cleanliness, but most of the time, neither of us notice. Here's to a New Year with far too many interesting things to do to bother much about tidying up! Fran Rushworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09742656242582509967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-30662751755272837232019-01-01T00:03:43.760+00:002019-01-01T00:03:43.760+00:00Happy New Year, Elinor and I raise our glasses to ...Happy New Year, Elinor and I raise our glasses to you :)Fran Rushworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09742656242582509967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-71222997544409184442018-12-31T17:13:03.901+00:002018-12-31T17:13:03.901+00:00that one is so bossy sometimes:) but she does know...that one is so bossy sometimes:) but she does know her sheep from her goats - and the history to boot! <br />hope you'll have a great start to the new year - and that the house is clean enough now to satisfy even your snarky companion:) Woolly Bitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11961632742998726155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-40114297660018556242018-12-30T20:23:51.195+00:002018-12-30T20:23:51.195+00:00Excellent explicated. Thanks to both of you. And b...Excellent explicated. Thanks to both of you. And best wishes for a Happy New Year.Freyalynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11911845535682123517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-85957109686327910092018-12-30T14:29:35.235+00:002018-12-30T14:29:35.235+00:00That's fascinating - both the possum spinning ...That's fascinating - both the possum spinning and the nature of Australian sheep fleeces. I guess that because your sheep have been bred for quality wool, the genes that cause the rise might have been selected out. The photo shows my hand on the rise on a Welsh Mountain breed on the day of shearing, not all the flock had such an obvious thinning, but it is something farmers in Wales use to time the shearing. We also get breaks in the staple when conditions are bad - a few years ago there was flooding locally in February and the sheep had restricted space to feed, come shearing, every hogg had a break in the staple at the same level. Fran Rushworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09742656242582509967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-75468036167440587522018-12-30T14:20:52.533+00:002018-12-30T14:20:52.533+00:00I put it as a story, because I don't think any...I put it as a story, because I don't think anyone knows anything for sure - prehistory has to change its theories every time a new discovery is made. From what I've read, the working assumption of archeologists is that Neolithic people were intrinsically primitive in their thinking. The more that is rediscovered, the earlier we find techniques like weaving were being used and the more subtle and complex Neolithic lives appear to have been. Seems to me, if you could transport a Neolithic baby to today, it would have no trouble fitting in to whatever society brought it up. I doubt I'd cope half so well if the reverse happened to me.Fran Rushworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09742656242582509967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-63503794089922888252018-12-30T04:39:19.467+00:002018-12-30T04:39:19.467+00:00I think that spinning probably started much earlie...I think that spinning probably started much earlier - Indigenous Australians spun possum fur before Europeans invaded (and possum fur is short and really hard to spin). They've been here for 50-60,000 years. <br /><br />In Australia, we don't call it the 'rise' - it's a 'break' in the fleece, and caused by stress and/or a drop in feed quality. Lambing can cause a break. It's not a good thing, and good farmers work to prevent a break in fleeces - but as we get around $20/kg for a decent merino fleece these days, it's worth the effort./anne...https://www.blogger.com/profile/05064942549599731629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975233729836030720.post-77068147143727121792018-12-29T13:16:29.018+00:002018-12-29T13:16:29.018+00:00thank you for sharing this story, I had no idea wh...thank you for sharing this story, I had no idea when weaving of wool startedsusan hemannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17784893342890918275noreply@blogger.com