GREEN GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY: FreshIsle Fibers Yarn

Manitoulin Island is known for many things: fresh, clean water, beautiful scenery, Haweater weekend (technically a cultural thing, but realistically a beverage-party type thing), First Nations, Pow-Wows...

...and sheep.

Well, maybe not. But there are sheep here. And they do have wool on them. And wool can be knit into sweaters. So I guess we can be known for wool.

Freshisle Fibers is a locally-owned business. Their unique product is 100% Suffolk (that's a type of sheep for all you urban types) yarn.

Fleece is collected from various sheep farmers on Manitoulin Island after their spring shearing. The raw fleece is then sent to a mill for processing. No
harmful chemicals are used in the processing, therefore, the yarn may contain small bits of straw or grass. These small bits tend to fall out when knitting or can be picked out. The natural un-dyed yarn still contains a bit of lanolin.

One of said farmers happens to be my parents - yup, you could end up wearing a sweater grown by yours truly. ( Ok, truth is, I actually have nothing to do with the farm, other than ooh and aah over how cute the little lambs are...that was my goal in life as a teenager...to move away from the farm - oh, and I also don't knit - well, I do knit, but very poorly, and every project I have ever started has been finished by my mother, but I digress...)

So why is this wool "green"? Well, it does come in a variety of colours other than green, and it is hand-dyed in small batches. The dyes are not the nasty chemicals found in chain stores, but rather, most are obtained from local wildflowers, nuts, berries, barks. Those which are purchased are natural dyes.

Because it is grown locally, it has a much smaller carbon footprint than it would be if the wool was shipped in from elsewhere. As well, the mill that processes was specifically chosen because it's environmentally friendly! They do not use any of the harsher chemicals that most mills use to wash and clean the fleece. That's why the finished yarn still contains some lanolin and the odd bits of vegetable matter (hay, grass, stuff!).

Another thing that makes Freshisle Fibers wool an eco-friendly choice is because the locally-raised sheep are not exposed to chemical dips and other ugly things that have been done to sheep in other parts of the world. They are also free-range and pasture-fed (and in some cases, garden-fed too - my mother just LOVES when they break free to graze amongst the corn and tomato plants).

Freshisle Fibers has a wide variety of products available for all your knitting needs (or in case you don't knit, your gifting needs). I just love the self-striping yarn - all you do is knit and the pattern creates itself....(or all you do is have someone else knit, as in my case). Be sure and check out the Freshisle online shop for a large selection of wool, free patterns, and photos of beautiful finished products.

This week's giveaway is a skein of yarn from Freshisle Fibers. Included is also a scarf pattern to knit up. If you don't knit, it would make a great gift for someone who does (especially if they, in turn, gift the completed item back to you!).

To enter, please leave a comment about knitting, wearing knitted clothes, wool, or anything to do with the topic - even sheep! If you want an extra entry, leave another comment about which Free Knitting Pattern, from the Freshisle Fibers' site, you like the most. Enter by March 10, 2008. Contest is open to Canadian residents only.