A Special Shipment from Portugal!

While My Sister Knits likes to carry local and regional yarn, we also like finding international treasures that not many other shops carry. 

Campanica sheep whose fleece is used to make Mondim.        ©quintadasmanas

For instance, we are the only shop in the US to carry breed specific Blacker Yarns from England, and we’re one of a handful of shops in the US to carry unique WoolDreamers from Spain. 

Saloia (pronounced SELL oi ewe)  sheep whose fleece is used to make Brusca.               ©quintadasmanas

Julie has found us another international yarn, this time from Portugal! Like Blacker, who produces yarn from English breeds, and WoolDreamers who produces yarn from Spanish breeds, our Retrosaria Rosa Pomar yarns are from native Portuguese breeds, some of whom are endangered. 

A Portuguese Merino ewe whose fleece may be used in Brusca (pronounced BREW scuh) or Zagal (pronounced za GUlL).    ©Portuguese Merino Breeders Association

Rosa Pomar is the owner of Lisbon’s Retrosaria yarn shop and haberdashery. Rosa also does field research of Portuguese textiles which has resulted in the Retrosaria Rosa Pomar yarn line.

We are now so pleased to carry three of her yarns: Mondim, Brusca, and Zagal!

Some of the non-superwash colors of Mondim!

Mondim is a Fingering weight yarn, named after a village once famous for its sock knitting, made from native Campanica sheep. They are an endangered breed that Rosa wants to help save. When we purchase this yarn, we help her to buy it from the shepherds for a value above market price. She hopes that will be an incentive for farmers to help save the breed. Do you notice the socks on the labels?

A sampling of the non-superwash colors of Brusca!

Brusca is a DK weight yarn that’s a blend of 50% Saloia and 50% Merino Branco (white) and Merino Preto (black) wool. Also endangered, the Saloia breed’s numbers have drastically plummeted from more than 10,000 to 2,377 over the last several years. One of the reasons is that the demand for construction has taken over their grazing lands.

In a conversation with Rosa, I learned more about this threatened breed and the yarn she produces with their fleece. She buys the entire clip (all the shorn wool) and uses it to make Brusca which is the traditional name of the Saloia sheep used by shepherds. Their wool is unusually rich in lanolin and the dust adheres to it, making them look grey when their wool is actually white. They’re the native breed of the Lisbon area and are descendants of a small group of Merino sheep dating back to the 1700s. If you look carefully at their horns, you’ll notice a beautiful dark line which is replicated on the label of the yarn! Each of the labels on Rosa’s yarn has a special meaning.

Finally, some of the colors of Zagal, again; non-superwash!

Zagal, meaning shepherd or young lad in English, is a Bulky weight 100% indigenous Portuguese Merino yarn. Most of the Merino sheep come from the Alentejo region of Portugal. As a side note, do any of you remember the children’s book Ferdinand about the bull who likes to stand under the cork trees and smell the flowers? Well, the Alentejo region has cork oak trees! That immediately reminded me of Ferdinand! The Portuguese Merino Breeders Association verifies the origin and quality of the fleece used to produce Zagal.

We encourage you to come in and examine these yarns made from sheep in Portugal! And while you’re at it, help save some of the endangered breeds!

Happy knitting,