Sep 154 min read

A delve into all things woollen - Icelandic Textile Residency Week 2

Being here at The Icelandic Textile Centre, has given me several unique textile orientated opportunities, generating a more in-depth knowledge of Icelandic textiles. Additionally, I have been living with eight individuals from around the globe, who all have a background, or interest, in textiles in their own way.

Below I have noted the sessions that I have been fortunate to partake in during my second week of residency.

Local sheep roundup

In Iceland there is one breed only – The Icelandic Sheep! Well known for their hardiness, lack of disease and thick fleeces.

We were notified by Johanna that there would be a round up of over 8,000 sheep from the mountains during the week, and that the sheep would be gathered approximately 20 minutes away from Blönduós.

· As a group we hired a taxi and were driven to the round up pens. The sheep had been gathered from the hills, on horseback and quad, in the preceding 5 days. They were then held in a large pen, where we met them. From this pen they were divided in one of over 30 holding areas before being herded into the farmers large trucks. It was a whole community affair, with all members of the family, from 4 year olds to 80 year olds helping with the sorting.

· It was an incredible opportunity to see the community at work together sorting sheep, catching up with each other and picnicking in the back of their trucks There were also plenty of Icelandic sweaters to admire too!

· I also enjoyed seeing the hardy Icelandic horses who had been involved in the round up and helped out moving some into a smaller pasture. I was also fortunate to watch 110 horses being driven up the track towards new pastures 15kms away.

Sheep farming and Wool Spinning.

Johnna first gave a talk on the sheep farming annual cycle. This was a very interesting talk which highlighted the difficulties of rearing sheep in a harsh climate.

· Unlike Wales, the sheep in Iceland spend the winter months inside. They therefore need hay and this particular year the hay has been cut only once, rather than the twice of most years. This means that many farmers will be decreasing their stocks to allow them to get through the winter with a healthy herd.

· The sheep are sheared twice a year – Nov and March. The March shearing stops the new spring growth from being matted to the winter growth.

· There are two types of wool from the fleece. The outer “tor” layer – which is fairly hard and curly to displace the rain, and the inner “per”(pronounced “ther”) which is the soft wool keeping the sheep warm, and the knitters happy.

· Lambswool is taken from a lamb born in May and sheared in November

Johanna then ran a day long wool spinning class for us.

· The beautiful Louret looms were very impressive. The art of spinning was demonstrated, and we quickly got to have a go. Not as easy as it looks!! I really enjoyed the spinning element, but I did struggle with plying the two cones of my newly spun wool. Thankfully Johanna was on hand to help.

· I found the days session very informative and productive, and a little emotional as I was keenly aware that the fleece is a gift from the sheep on which thousands of years of textiles have been based.

History of Icelandic Textiles – Ragga (Ragnheiður Björk Þórsdóttir)

A talk was given by Ragga (MA University of San Fransisco) in relation to the history of Islandic textiles. Below I note the main learning points:

· Weaving dates back over 12,000 years. There is evidence of fabric going back 7,000 years to Egypt.

· Use of the floor loom is linked to permanent settlement. In a Nomadic life the weighted loom could be carried.

· All were connected with weaving as it was, and still is, an essential of everyday life

· In literature there is evidence of the importance of weaving and weavers. The Egyptian god “Neith” was the protector of weaving. In Greek mythology, daughter of Icarius, of Sparta, and wife of the hero Odysseus, was a weaver. Frigg was the Nordic goddess of weaving.

· 870AD – 1750 using only the spindle and the weighted loom. Other nations were using the floor loom from 1200 and there is little evidence to suggest why Icelandic weaving remained on the weighted loom.

· 900AD – 1950 many believe that the Norwegians came to Iceland in order to breed sheep.

· 1750 – 1810 the first attempts to use the floor loom in Iceland. The spinning wheel comes to Iceland.

· 1900 – The industrial revolution brought weaving on large mechanical looms to Iceland including the spinning jenny.

· 1990 – The collapse of Icelandic weaving due to Russian and American imports.

· 2016 – TC2 (Digital weaving loom) arrives in Iceland.

· 2024 - Currently there is no weaving industry in Iceland.

Istex wool washery visit

Blönduós town is home to the only wool washery in Iceland. As a result all the wool sheared in the country comes to the Istex washery before being shipped abroad or to Reyjavick.

We were not able to observe the production line, as there has been a fire in one of the machines and the line was not operating. However, we were fortunate to have a tour and an in-depth talk with the manager of the site.

· The wool washery is housed in a restored historic building. The facility is a critical part of Iceland's ongoing efforts to preserve and promote its traditional textile industry.

The process has a number of stages:

The raw fleece is delivered to the wool washery on trucks after being collected from farms around the country.
It is then washed three times and rinsed twice.
The clean fibre is then spun and heated to dry it thoroughly.
The final stage is packaging into bales.

· It was interesting to note that much of the wool is sold to the UK. Only 50% of the “pel” is kept in Iceland, the rest is exported.

· The “Lopi” which is an unspun wool, used in the making of Icelandic sweaters, is made by Istex at their factory in Reyjavick.