Lab Goddess Fibre Club May 2016

Blue Lias on Merino d'Arles

This month the fibre club was inspired by a very famous British scientist who had no formal scientific training: Mary Anning (1799-1847). Born at the end of the 18th century into a working class family, Mary Anning made her first major paleontological discovery at the age of 12, when she discovered the complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur. She spent the rest of her life as a fossil hunter, and reading as much of the available scientific literature as she could, making a name for herself as a fossil expert.

Despite her broad knowledge and expertise, Mary Anning's discoveries were almost entirely attributed to the gentlemen scientists of the day who published on her finds. Only after her untimely death from cancer at the age of 48 were her contributions acknowledged publicly. She is now recognised as having contributed to the establishment of paleontology as a field of study, and her finds were critical in proving extinction.

If you've read this blog at all over the past few weeks, you'll know all about the base I used for this month, which is also the base for the limited edition 2016 Tour de Fleece colours. Bouncy and elastic, this merino makes fabulous yarn for hats and cowls. The colourway inspiration comes from the beaches of Lyme Regis, where Mary Anning made many of her discoveries. Blue Lias is the name for a particular geologic formation that held many of her major finds, and dates to approximately 195-200 million years ago. The specific colours are meant to invoke the variety of shades of rocks seen on the beaches and in the cliffs of England's Jurassic Coast.

Fibre club will open up again on 1 June, in just about a week, so if you've missed out on the fun and want to join up, keep your eyes peeled for announcements on Twitter and Instagram when the slots go live!

One last shot...

2016 Tour de Fleece colourways: The Giant

There are a number of iconic mountains that have featured heavily in the Tour de France since it's inception. This year's Stage 12 finishes on the top of one of these quintissential peaks: Mont Ventoux.

Mount Ventoux by Jean-Marc Rosier from www.rosier.pro

Although geologically part of the Alps, Mont Ventoux stands quite isolated, rising out of the plains of Provence to a summit of 1,912 meters (6,273 feet) and dominating the local landscape. The top of the mountain is bare of trees and vegetation, inspiring comparisons to the surface of the Moon. This isolation makes it an interesting ecological niche, and there are some species that are unique to this peak.

From the historical side of the race, Mont Ventoux is considered one of the most grueling climbs on the Tour, and it has been included 15 times since 1951. Coming this year at the end of 185 km on Stage 12 and averaging between 6.6 and 10.1% for 11 km, this climb is sure to play a role in determining the final victor of the race. The mountain's challenges came into stark relief in 1967, when British cyclist Tom Simpson died within a half a mile of the summit from heat exhaustion brought on by dehydration, amphetamines and alcohol. Since then, there have been many great battles fought up the slopes of the Giant of Provence, but none have had such a tragic outcome.

The Giant on Merino d'Arles

For this colourway, I wanted to use a gradient to mimic the landscape that the riders pass through on their way from the lavender fields up to the mountain summit. A bright violet gives way to greens before passing into the bare rock hues of the summit. I'm hoping to spin some of this up to work a beautiful half-circle shawl, if I can get some good laceweight.

Don't forget, all these exclusive, limited edition Tour de Fleece colourways will be available in the shop update going live tomorrow morning at 10:00 am. Please note that there may be a bit of delay if the demand for a particular colourway is high, but I have plenty of the base and will get it out to you ASAP!

2016 Tour de Fleece colourways: Mageva

Mageva on Merino d'Arles

The ski resort town of Megève makes two appearances in this year's Tour de France: the finishing point of Stage 18 (the second individual time trial) and the starting line of Stage 20, the last stage before the final jaunt down the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The name of the town comes from the Celtic name of the original ancient settlement, Mageva, which means village on the water. The estimated date of founding for the local parish is 523, with the Benedictine monks setting up a priory in 1085. The current incarnation as a destination for tourists and skiers began in the 1920s, when the Rothschilds funded a purpose-built ski resort.

This colourway was inspired by the many streams and rivers that flow through the area, draining snow melt away from the mountains during the summers. It combines various blues with the browns of the streambed, and includes flashes of white for the sun reflecting off the waters surface. Cool and refreshing, the undyed sections of the top will blend with the dyed, creating a yarn that is more muted and blended then the fibre might appear at first glance.

Like the first two colourways, Rosé d'Anjou and Chauvet, Mageva is dyed on Merino d'Arles, and will be available starting with the shop update this coming Saturday (14 May) at 10:00 am, and running through the start of the event on 2 July 2016. Stay tuned for the last colourway on Friday!

2016 Tour de Fleece colourways: Chauvet

For our next TdF reveal, we're going to jump from Stage 4 to Stage 13 - the first time trial of the Tour de France, running from Bourd-Saint-Andéol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc, home of the stupendous prehistoric cave paintings of Chauvet.

The paintings of Chauvet, discovered by chance in 1994, are estimated to date back to 36,000 years ago, and are renowned for their uncommon representations of predatory animals. Hundreds of animals are depicted on the walls of the cave, including cave lions, panthers, bears and hyenas. Beyond the realistic pictures, the artists used the shape of the walls to emphasise the features of the animals shown.

In looking at images of the cave paintings, I was struck by the variety of earthy colours, generated by combinations of red ochre and charcoal, and I've used these colours in dyeing this top. The result is a blend of reds, rusts, dark browns, charcoal and steely blue. I'm thrilled with this combination, and can't wait to see it spun up!

2016 Tour de Fleece colourways: Rosé d'Anjou

2015 Tour de Fleece colours (clockwise from top left): House of Orange, Le Havre, Lac Blanc and Gamay

For last year's Tour de Fleece, I developed four limited edition colourways based on the course taken by the peloton over the course of the three weeks of the Tour de France. The process of finding parts of the race to highlight and working up the colours was a real jump start to my creative process, and I have been looking forward to this year's batch of colourways ever since!

As with last year, I've sourced a special French base for these colourways - Merino d'Arles. This breed of sheep is from the Provence region of France, and is descended from the first Spanish Merinos imported to the country in 1786, which were then crossed with the local breed in Arles. The resulting sheep are small and sturdy, well able to cope with tough living conditions in the plains and in the mountains, and they produce a fine, bulky wool. The average micron count for the fibre is 20-21 microns (very fine!), but it tends to be on the shorter side of staple length, at approximately 3 inches. It is very, very crimpy, and can be spun to a range of finished yarn weights. 

I spun up a few samples of this fibre as I was working out the colours, and it reminds me of Targhee or Portugeuse Merino. In other words, it is more interesting to spin (in my opinion) then your typical, run-of-the-mill Merino, as it has a nice toothy feel and isn't super slippery. The final yarn is super bouncy and springy - perfect for hats or sweaters! I think this fibre will also give phenomenal stitch definition, due to its elasticity.

On to the first colourway: this one is inspired by Stage 4, which passes through the Loire Valley, where many of the grapes produced end up as gorgeous Rosé wine. 

Rosé d'Anjou on Merino d'Arles

After last year's Gamay colourway, I definitely wanted to do another wine-inspired version for this year's Tour de Fleece. This one, instead of being inspired by a particular grape, is instead taken from the soft pinks of the finished product.

This colourway blends pinks, browns and tans with a special dyeing technique to get a particularly dappled appearance to the dyed fibre, and will spin up as a lovely semi-solid yarn.

Similar to last year, these colourways are only going to be available for a limited time. Starting with the next shop update, on 14th May at 10:00 am, you can order your limited edition colourways up until the start of the Tour de France/Tour de Fleece on Saturday, 2 July. There will also be a Porpoise Fur Tour de Fleece team on the Ravelry board, so please come join us in spinning up a storm in July!