jan
Last week, I spent a few days in Normandie where I have family on my paternal grand-father´s side.
There were a few knitting sessions in front of the fire (but nothing I can actually show you!)
I admired some costumes and coiffes at the Museum of Normandy in Caen.
One of the highlight of my trip was to visit again Stéphanie and Marion from Laines à l´Ouest.
Laines l´ouest has for a goal to preserve and rehabilitate three local breeds that have been neglected by the professional breeders: the Avranchin sheep, the Cotentin sheep and the Roussin of la Hague. The wool produced by those three sheep have all different qualities, each with its own value, would it be for knitting or
Most of the time (10 months per year), the sheep graze on the salted meadows by the coastline. The French Channel has the largest tide in Europe and the meadows are regulrly submerged by the sea.
But now it´s the beginning of lambing season so they are in the sheep barn. Time to eat!
The lambs are so cute!
Stephanie is also the mayor of Lessay and gracefully goes from one job to the other throughout the day!
Every year, some lambs are for adoption
TEN GOOD REASONS TO ADOPT A LAMB:
1️⃣ It’s an ecological and self-sufficient renewable energy mower ♻️
2️⃣ It produces fertilizer all year round which it spreads himself, improves the quality of your grass and brings back the earthworms 🪱🐝
3️⃣ Very soft, it gives wool that can be used to mulch your garden or stuff your cushions
4️⃣ It gets along well with dogs, cats, horses, goats and chickens (but not with NAC 🐍)
5️⃣ It reconnects you to your past as a shepherd. Because pastoralism marks the sedentarization of humanity after millennia of hunter-gatherer activity. The sheep is the first domesticated herbivore, its history is inseparable from ours 🔥🐑🐑🐑
6️⃣ If the snobbery of cats annoys you, the candid love of your lamb will warm your heart 💋
7️⃣ This is the alibi for playing Marie-Antoinette with a stick decorated with a ribbon, a lace dress and little macaroons 🎀
8️⃣ You will gain in credibility and legitimize your gentleman farmer outfit: checkered shirt, velvet jacket, even a small collection tractor 🚜
9️⃣ If you have children, they will exploit its comic potential: the lamb on the sofa, the lamb in the bathtub, the lamb on a leash in the street, etc.
🔟 One lamb is good, two is better! Adopting a duo allows them to warm up and keep each other company 🫶
If you are interested, you can contact lacotentinemoderne@gmail.com or call Marion 06 47 04 10 58
(they are in Lessay in the center of Manche, Normandy, France)
As for me, I didn´t adopt a lamb (I can´t bring one to Iceland, it´s forbidden!) but I brought back their wool in the form of splendid Laines à l´ouest skeins in an array of beautifully hand dyed colors.
The bulky quality is perfect to knit the Flowerpot coat I´m wearing on the pictures with the lambs.
I´m back to Iceland and will continue sharing my travels in Iceland with you and the knitting tours from last autumn!
Useful links
- Laines á l´ouest yarns
- Lambs for adoption: contact lacotentinemoderne@gmail.com or call Marion +33 6 47 04 10 58
- Flowerpot coat pattern
