During Tour de Fleece I was spinning some gorgeous Zwartbles wool from a local farmer who was reluctant to accept payment for it as he saw it more as waste, so we eventually agreed that I would contribute some money towards the fleeces, but make him some hats from his wool as part payment too. He requested plain knit beanie hats, so I found a vintage pattern in my stash (the same one that I used to knit my Ryeland Gloves a few years back) and followed that, adjusting it so it could be knitted in the round to avoid a bulky seam.
The Zwartbles was a joy to knit with and the colours are really gorgeous – I have plans for a project I think would look really beautiful using some more of it, which I’ll hopefully be able to begin in the near future. I’ve never knitted hats before, but I think they came out rather well and it was really wonderful to see the farmer’s reaction to something created using fleece from his flock.
I’ll be doing a proper write up of the history and processing of the breed in the new year when I’ve had time to film. As always let me know if you have any tips or advice in the comments below!
Happy Crafting!
Loose Ends 
I love the hats and this story! The yarn is beautiful. I have a bunch of hand spun yarn sitting around that I do not know what to do with, and I had been thinking hats would work since you don’t need a ton of yarn for that. The School of Sweet Georgia has a new pattern for making a hat based on the wraps per inch, to use with hand spun yarn. I think it includes a big chart with different sizes of hats and gauges based on WPI. You have to be a member to get the pattern, but probably easy enough to figure out. https://www.schoolofsweetgeorgia.com/wraps-per-inch-hat/
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It was a really special project, being able to meet the sheep and support someone starting out! The hats didn’t use a huge amount of yarn, so would definitely make a good stash-busting project. I will have a look at that pattern as it sounds very useful – although I have found that vintage patterns I’ve used for accessories so far have worked with handspun without needing any adjustment (maybe the commercial yarns back then were closer to my handspun is size, or the patterns are not very fitted so account for variations in diameter).
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What a great way to repay him and get him enthusiastic about his sheep fleeces and not just a waste product.
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It was so lovely to feel a part of the full cycle and encourage someone just starting out and being able to visit the sheep in person was really special!
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