Wearable Wool Salad with Crouton Toque (Felted Tunic and Pompom Hat)
The FELTED TUNIC created with raw Wensleydale, Cotswold, Scottish Blackface and Romeldale from Spirit Sands Shepherds in Carberry; Shetland and Mohair from Prairies Edge Wool Farm in Kleefield; Icelandic from Dragon Ridge Farm near Dauphin; Tunis from Dusty Ridge Ranch in St Malo; Rideau Arcott from Seine River Shepherd in Ste Anne, Romanov x Clun Forest from Sandy Ridge Sheep in La Broquerie, on a foundation of Rambouillet milled into batts by Long Way Homestead from GRannie Rambouillets and Johnstown Farm Border Cheviots in Binscarth. It’s a Wearable Wool Salad
POMPOM KNIT HAT created with Icelandic wool from Sandy Ridge Sheep in La Broquerie, Manitoba milled into a lopi-style yarn at Long Way Homestead. Topped with a pompom made of Romney from Spirit Sands Shepherds in Carberry. It’s the Crouton Toque
My intention to create an ensemble made entirely from Manitoba fibre began a few summers ago as a project with the children (that was not unpleasantly sidetracked when we decided to try every plant we could find in the backyard in solar dye jars) so when the concept of the One Year One Outfit challenge was raised by Pembina FibreShed, I jumped at the opportunity and have not stopped talking about it for the past 14 months to anyone who’ll stop to listen.
Enthusiasm does not always align with outcome, however, so I found myself desperately short on time at the conclusion of the one-year timeframe and submit only two instead of the required three parts.
The first, my Pompom Knit Hat is fairly straightforward: natural wool made with a circular knitting machine topped with an overly-large pompom created of intact locks.
The second, a Felted Tunic. It’s Wearable Wool Salad, a tapestry of various wools from some of the many breeds of Manitoba sheep and based on our wall-hanging Wool Salad workshop but modified to wear. It was intended to replace a winter jacket but, realistically, without sleeves not entirely practical. (Sleeves will come next year in the form of a floor-length sweater to be worn with it.) If my felted tunic is a Wearable Wool Salad then the knit hat with pompom is the crouton to top it. Otherwise known as the Crouton Toque.
The satisfaction this project has brought me is incalculable for all the reasons one could cite to join any One Year One Outfit challenge. The challenges themselves to me were twofold. Due to the nature of working with a felting process oriented in raw wool, I had to wait until dye plants could be harvested before beginning with dyeing locks to be used in felting which forms the largest part of the endeavour, meaning that I spent the first six to eight months of the available time growing dye plants and dyeing locks to be used instead of investing time in the laborious process of felting the main component of the piece.
The second aspect to the challenges I faced was based in trying to survive (nevermind thrive) during a pandemic. I found it nearly impossible to execute a finely-laid plan amid the drastic uncertainty of lockdowns, illnesses and unemployment. Cancellations, postponements, unexpected periods of remote learning, supply chain interruptions, disputes, financial woes— all these factors impacted my intentions in a highly negative, punitive manner. Nonetheless, I persevered. The tactics I used to overcome these challenges are now metaphorically woven into the pieces and form a barrier of protection from that which would do us harm as much as does wool on the sheep itself.
Maureen Winnicki Lyons, owner of Wool Mountain, quietly subverts the whirlwind age in which we live with 20 years of experience in handmade slow-living through the arts and crafts movement in Manitoba. Through MWLminiMakers, Maureen offers skill-based workshops, and the materials to do it via Wool Mountain including 200+ breeds of wool starting with local breeds sourced first