You have probably seen references (I first typed "reverences", which may be appropriate in this case) to Wovember. I cannot decide if this is a British thing or if it is world-wide, but really, who cares? It is a chance to celebrate a wonderful fiber*.
A few facts cheerfully stolen cheerfully lifted gleaned from Wovember.com:
- Unlike nylon, rayon and other man-made fibers, wool is a renewable and natural resource.
- There are 1,000,000,000,000 sheep in our world, or approximately 1 sheep for every 6 people.
- China and Australia are the top wool-producing countries in the world, tied at 302,000 tons each (that is 604 million pounds!).
One last factoid:
As far as their reputation for stupidity is concerned it turns out that sheep are not half so dumb as we have always assumed. Recent experiments have shown that sheep are really quite bright. They have the ability to recognise their shepherds and each other. Nor do sheep have a short attention span. It was proved that sheep could remember the faces of their shepherds and other sheep amongst whom they had lived for up to two years. Some sheep have also learned to roll across cattle grids on their backs and new measures may have to be taken in order to keep them penned in because it has also been shown that they can teach each other this naughty trick.
- Alan Butler, Sheep: the remarkable story of the humble animal that built the modern world
Do go to Wovember.com and look around. They have lots more information about wool and sheep, plus an abundance of sheepie photos.
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* A fiber that, tragically, I have some trouble wearing. Unless it is very nice merino, it itches. And unless the indoor temperature is somewhere south of 66˚ F, one that is too warm for this post-menepausal woman. But I persevere in my knitting of it...
