British Sheep Wool

Wee Scarves – Scarves – Table Runners – Wee Wraps – Wraps

Margaret’s specialty is naturally colored wool from primitive, rare, and threatened British sheep breeds.  In the 1970’s, there was a growing recognition in both the UK and the USA that many livestock breeds were in serious decline, and in fact several breeds had already become extinct. The timely establishment of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) UK, and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) USA, together with the dedication of loyal flock keepers, sheep farmers, and consumers of wool and meat products, is leading to increased populations of primitive, rare, and threatened British breeds.

Balwen sheep, Wales

Photograph by Kathie Miller

Through handweaving, Margaret is dedicated to raising public awareness of the fragile future of these sheep. Woven works are offered using a vast selection of British sheep wool, many certified organic, amd most obtained directly from the UK. Margaret respects and is in awe of her wool sources. To have the privilege of working with British sheep breeders in the USA and the UK who continually battle the odds by raising sheep that are generally small in number and stature, in addition to producing fleece that is not always marketable because of uncommon colors and textures. The fortuitous finding of a devoted handspinner in the UK, also pursuing preservation, whose skill and artistry expresses the spirit of these legendary breeds through her handspun yarns. With the wools from these sources, Margaret’s woven objective is for each creation to look as if it were lifted directly from the sheep itself: robust, lustrous, unrefined, sleek, rugged, elegant. The unusual and varied fleece characteristics of these historically extraordinary creatures highlight each one-of-a-kind piece.

Primitive, rare, or threatened British sheep breeds currently represented by Antrim Handweaving

Soay

Soay sheep are believed to be the closest living descendants of the original sheep that were introduced into Europe in prehistoric times.  They still live wild on the tiny, extremely remote St. Kilda Islands beyond Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.  They are small, very hardy, and nimble, and have preserved much of the genetic diversity of sheep that was present before they were domesticated.  The fleece is not shorn, but naturally shed, a most primitive characteristic.  The residents of St. Kilda, who had inhabited these barren islands for 2000 years, would row from Hirta, the largest island, to the island of Soay to gather the fleece.  Following increasing intrusion by the modern world (“missionaries, do-gooders, and tourists”), which eventually destroyed the St. Kildans’ primitive way of life, the inhabitants were permanently evacuated to the Scottish mainland in 1930.  Soay sheep coloration varies from light tan to dark brown/black, with distinctive cream markings.  Fleece quality ranges from a fine, downy, undercoat to a coarser outercoat. True variation from sheep to sheep provides the fiber artist with unparalleled opportunity.

Soay sheep, Wales

Photograph by Kathie Miller

Antrim Handweaving is actively working with Kathie Miller, Southern Oregon Soay Sheep Farms, www.soayfarms.com.  A mutual concern of what is easily lost and often irreplaceable, whether a sheep breed or the art of handweaving, has led to an ongoing collaborative effort to preserve both.  What has grown out of a simple request for Soay fleece, from a handweaver on the East coast to a sheep farmer, historian, and artist on the West coast, is a full fledged devotion to raise awareness of a most legendary breed, the Soay sheep. British registered Soay fleece is rooed (plucked) by Kathie, processed at a small, family-owned New England mill, and pieces are woven by Margaret.  Through combined efforts, Soay handwoven pieces are now available in limited quantity

© 2011 Antrim Handweaving – all rights reserved

Soay ewe, St. Kilda

Photograph by Kathie Miller