Spinning a Rainbow

Our island hosts national sheep dog trials every year. This year, one of the fundraising efforts is to create artistic shepherd’s crooks to sell. I knew as soon as I heard about it exactly what I wanted to create – a rainbow of handspun in memory of our announcer for the trials (whose charitable efforts were in support of the Rainbow Girls) and to celebrate a recent Supreme Court decision.

The initial rainbow: I started by spinning an ounce each of ROY G. BIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet) merino yarn. The yarn is spun Z (clockwise) and plied S (counter-clockwise). I carefully wrapped the yarn around the crook from bottom to top, leaving the crook top uncovered because the hickory from which it was made had to be seen.

Rainbow locks: I also spun some dyed locks from island sheep using tail spinning. Tailspinning allows the actual lock to hang from the central yarn, creating a kind of kinky fluff that shows the true nature of the sheep’s fleece. In this case, the true nature was augmented by the dyes to create another rainbow of color.

Needle-felted creatures: I used natural wool to create 3 creatures: a sheep, a sheep dog, and a shepherd. My shepherd is loosely based on the shepherd in the Trials’ advertisement – at least he has a green cap and a crook. I tried to make the sheepdog resemble the contestants we see each year. Last, my crook sheep is based on Shaun the Sheep, whose likeness can be found all over London this summer and whose movie is due out in August. He is a particular object of affection in our household (thanks to a small addiction to Wallace and Grommit).

Skein fringe: Last, I created a little skein of each merino handspun to create a fringe of color at the top of the crook. Rainbows all around.

Since I still had plenty of material, I took an old cane and created another version to represent the youth involved in this sport. The cane includes wrapped handspun, needle-felted dog and sheep, tailspun locks, and a small tassle representing the rainbow.

I really enjoyed this challenge and I cannot wait to see the other visions when they are all on display together. We are lucky to have the trials and such a fun way to support it. After all, what could be better than 4 days of dogs and sheep and fiber?