Protective garments, woven of plant and animal fibers

There is a way to create a protective garment weaving plant and animal fibers together throughout the garment.  

This skirt is an example of a protective garment knitted with wool and linen.

The pattern is to cast on an appropriate number of stitches for the hem.  Then do some knit/pearl ribbing so the hem does not roll up.

I decreased only on the two sides to create the A line shape.

I used strong and heavy wool and lovely linen for the skirt and lambs wool for the waist band.

I have used this skirt for over a year doing chores in it most days.

Made of a hard strong wool the hay and debris just brush right off.  
It is getting softer and shinier the more I wear it and wash it.

Hi Samantha,
Lovely colours in the skirt!
So the yarn is a wool/linen blend? Does the linen give better wear/washability to the wool fibres?

This is done with multiple yarns knitted together.  The wool and linen are their own yarns.  I lay them together in my hand and knit.   I think the linen gives a nice shine and I think it makes the garment more water resistant.  I think the linen absorbs some water in the rain and swells up a little.   Then the fibers are tighter and the piece sheds water.      This is a very subtle improvement but the garment seems to shed water better than wool alone.

This is a knitter's version of a very old blend historically used in weaving, and known as "Linsey-Woolsey".  A weaver (which is what I do now since I had to give up knitting and crochet due to "Knitter's Thumb," aka De Quevain's Syndrome) can use linen as the warp fiber and wool as the weft, or the reverse.  The former is most common since wool is great as weft but can be temperamental as a warp unless specifically spun for that purpose, but one can also alternate a linen warp thread with a wool one in either warp or weft, or both.  What you don't want to do is alternate them in stripes (in either direction) because of their different shrinkage rates. You end up with a puckered or self-pleated fabric, similar to seersucker.
It is a great, funtional, good-wearing fabric.  A Google search for Linsey Woolsey should keep you occupied for a bit!  Have fun!

Thank you Rebecca!

My mother would weave that way a lot!   With the weft as a lovely wool and the warp a nice strong linen.   She made long lasting rugs that really hold their shape.

This summer at the Permaculture Technology Jamboree ...
https://wheaton-labs.com/permaculture-tech/
we warped the loom with a soft linen.  
Folks had a chance to try their hand at shearing the lambs, carding and spinning the lovely lambs wool and weaving.  


We kept the colors separate when we spun the yarn so we had this nice alternating pattern.