Birds in the Holly, January Top of the Month Club 2016

As the winter morning sun crests the tree tops, sunlight rakes across the field, turning the grass green-gold and lighting the holly tree. The waxy leaves glint bright green where the sun strikes them, but they remain dark green inside the canopy where they are out of the suns reach. The bare deciduous trees are gold in the light, but from behind, they are black, as if drawn with India ink.

Everything before me is green and gold and black. I hear the cry of a bluejay and the call of a cardinal; as I look up I see them vanish, one behind the other, into the holly tree to look for berries. Welcome to Birds in the Holly, our January 2016 Top of the Month Club!

Our wool this month is Rambouillet!!! Rambouillet sheep were developed in France by crossing merino stock with long-wooled sheep; they were introduced into the US in the mid 1800s. They thrive in the western rangelands of the United States, which is where this Rambouillet originates. Fine and springy like merino, this fiber will spin into a next-to-the-skin-soft yarn with plenty of bounce.

Our wool/silk blend this month is Polwarth/Tussah Silk, 85/15. Easier to spin than merino, Polwarth has a bouncy feel and a matte glow which gleams with the addition of tussah silk.

Holly Green is our tonal companion colorway this month.