Description
NEWS in September: the These Isles nomadic weaving workshop is rerooting & needs your help to make a proper home... please visit tinyurl.com/ycx3ywsp Your purchases also help enormously... Another at the top of my current range, the undyed, natural, dark brown Jacob wool of this handwoven poncho is all British, & the paler yarn is too, bought undyed & unbleached from the same Yorkshire mill. I then dyed this paler yarn myself, labour-intensively but naturally, using rhubarb root & hibiscus flowers, for softest olive greens & rusty roses in variegated, bronzey stripes. I mordanted the paler yarn with rhubarb leaf to help fix the colours, but as with all the most natural dyeing processes, these colours will gradually fade over the years with exposure to water & sunlight (see special care instructions below). The boldest stripe pattern will always remain as the dyed wool started a natural rabbit-grey. A medium sized poncho for women or small poncho for men, these measure approximately 23" deep/long with a 28" neck opening. You see it modelled on a UK size 12, & it should fit any size up to a 16 or so, depending on how long you like it (as with all ponchos of this construction, the tasselled side is longer than the untasselled; for an easy-to-wear, practical garment, I recommend wearing the untasselled on the side of your writing hand). There are four ponchos in this batch, almost identical, but if you state your dress size on ordering then I can select the smaller or larger of those which remain (they vary by an inch or two side to side only, that is, from one shoulder to opposite hip; the abovementioned dimensions are consistent, & anyway we can more or less treat these as a one-size/free-size garment). The cloth is wholesome & sheepy but not coarse; it drapes well and, well made as always, should last long. Sustainability rating: 4 (I wish higher, but I used fossil fuels to heat the dyebath; if the land were my own I'd have created a firepit instead) Softness rating: 3 Itch factor: 2 (see charts, plus more info on my website, www.theseisles.co/sustainability) Care: you may wish to bind the tassels neatly in one bunch with rubber bands to avoid tangles on washing. Handwash gently & SEPARATELY in cold water with minimal agitation. Ecoleaf or similar will give a clean, unperfumed, soapy smell that preserves the integrity of the wool. Never wring, but rather pat dry with a towel & reshape whilst damp, spreading on a flat surface on a towel to dry away from direct sunlight. (Airing wool instead of washing will often suffice, it's very forgiving!) Please note, in case of allergy, that my items come from a home with a dog, but will smell fresh. Because my life is somewhat nomadic, bear with me if your parcel is posted from an outer isle, Brittany or Ireland & is at all slow to arrive - I'll let you know. (My blog, 'Tales from the road', at www.theseisles.co will give you an idea of where I am currently.) My loom & weaving process are illustrated in
