Pick me

Three fleeces crawled out of their paperbags that had been strewn out in the corners of the living room for quite a while, pinned me down on the couch and hijacked my blog. This is what they wrote.

Doris the Gestrike sheep

I’m Doris the gestrike sheep. Feel my soft staples, they are not your regular gestrike fleece. No, my staples are curly-wurly-crimpy, they shine like the inner sky of a seashell, softly, kindly, with a twirl right at the tip end. I have skipped about in the pastures, brushing sweetly against the grass in the late autumn sun until shearing day.

Pick me, pick my staples, mindfully, and you will feel my glide, my length and my give. Yes, I will give – give you the sweetest rolags once you shape my fibers into spinnable rolls of heaven. Pick me and you will learn my secrets, see what I can do, how I work in movement, in stillness. Close your eyes and feel who I am, follow my lead, search for my deepest secrets and I will guide you along the way. Listen, listen to my whispers and go with my flow. When I have your attention, when you feel my most subtle vibe, you will know how to make me sparkle and reflect that seashell shine.

Glorious gute

I’m the gute glory! It took me two weeks to get here, I was bundled up and rolled into a paper bag with meter after meter of transparent tape rolled around me. It really itched! I looked like a yarn ball, and nobody paid me any attention. When I finally got to my destination and had a hot bath, I was thrown into a dark drum, spun around for ages and came out felted. The brutality! I am deeply humiliated. My cut ends are all stuck together in a tight carpet.

I’m not done in yet, though, I will be picked, I will be freed from the felted slippers and allowed air between my fibers. You see, I have many to choose from! I offer many a kemp quirk, in both black and white. They keep my staples open and upright. They are excellent travelers, they will spred through the living room like the rustling leaves when you open the front door on a windy September day.

Some of them will stay in my fleece, but most of them will fall out and leave sweet pockets of air between the softest fibers you can ever imagine. The colour of vanilla at the tips, smooth like velvet, I tell you. Rustic grey at the bottom, strong and sturdy. As you pick me you will see what I can do for you. You already found out I can felt into a beautiful structure that will withstand wind and rain, just like I could before I was shorn off that sweet gute lamb.

Rya as dark as the night sky

Do you see the length of my fibers? On and on they go, from the solid cut ends to the tips with the sweet lamb’s curls. No, don’t play with them, it tickles! I’m black as the night, what were you thinking there, really? You know you can’t see to spin black!

But don’t you worry, I’ll help you. Just close your eyes and feel my sweet undercoat, soft and fine, enjoy the length of my strong and shiny outercoat. I will give you so many options to play with, to dive in to, to get utterly and senselessly wild with. Perhaps blend it all together, perhaps spin one soft and warm, one strong and shiny. Do explore! But pick me first, get to know me deeply, lean in and let me guide you to my strengths, my gifts, my spirit. Lean in some more as you pick me, staple by staple, feeling all my wealth, my treasures and my soul. Meet me in my core and spin from your heart.

Learn how to pick your fleece in this short lecture.

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

• This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
• My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
• I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
• I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
• On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
• Follow me on Instagram.  I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
• Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
• I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
• In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
• I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.