With Xalda wool, "what a loom." Fuentes del Narcea

Home / With Xalda wool, "what a loom." Fuentes del Narcea

With Xalda wool, "what a loom." Fuentes del Narcea

Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve

An experience in which you will truly discover the importance of wool, currently facing an uncertain future, which we all need to revalue. You will also learn about our cultural and ethnographic heritage through the history of our looms, a reflection of our way of life and, in particular, the role of rural women in ancient times.

Description

We will explain to you:

The importance of the Xalda sheep, an endangered breed, in the management of natural spaces or areas and in the configuration of our landscapes.
The use of waste that we will turn into a resource.
The process of transforming wool from the fleeces of our neighbor Segundo's flock of Xalda sheep and its different uses.
The importance of its use for the family economy when it was transformed into fabric on low-warp looms, a clear example of the circular economy.

The experience in detail

Activities

Visit to the workshops
Xalda sheep wool workshop

Programme

Day 1

Upon arrival at Casa Mario, we will greet our guests with a welcome gift and, if arrival time permits, we will tour the workshop.

Day 2

After a breakfast made with organic, homemade products, we'll begin the experience. We'll explain the process of transforming wool into fiber. We'll demonstrate the different stages: washing, carding, and spinning, as well as the different techniques for using it. We'll create a small piece using wet felting. We'll dedicate the rest of the day to helping you discover how weaving is done on an antique low-warp loom. With the warp already set, we'll ensure you can take home a small piece woven with our wool.

Day 3

Departure from your accommodation after breakfast. If you'd like to explore the surrounding area, we'll provide information on all the interesting routes and places you can't miss in the Fuentes del Narcea region.

Included services

Accommodation:
-Village House 3 Trisqueles (room with bathroom)
-2 nights in an ecological rural house on a B/D basis
-Kitchen available

Travel Guide
Material

Additional Services

Pick-up at the nearest bus stop for travelers using public transport.

Ecotourism Commitment

Casa Mario is an eco-friendly rural house, where visitors are lovingly cared for and with great responsibility for the sustainability of the environment in which it is located.
Nature and the cultural and ethnographic heritage are added values to guests' stays, and guests are invited to discover and enjoy them responsibly, sharing their contribution to their conservation through their visit.
For six years now, with the wool group "Con xaldas a lo loco" (With Xaldas Crazy), we have been working to recover the wool from Xalda sheep, a breed in danger of extinction. We have been using wool from a neighbor's flock that had always been thrown away, transforming it into a resource and creating products using felt or fabrics made on our old low-warp looms.
We offer a tour of our looms and wool workshops as a complement to our accommodations.

These workshops allow us to:
To convey the importance of revaluing wool and its use so that it ceases to be waste, and at the same time, to convey the vital role that sheep play in our natural environment, landscape, and biodiversity.

To show how different pieces can be created from this fiber and what it feels like when you work with it, creating a different and restorative sensory experience for the mind.

To showcase part of our region's ethnographic and cultural heritage through restored antique looms, with fascinating histories behind them. These looms, mostly used by women, help us understand a little more about their rural lives and their contribution to the family economy.