Using up cotton cones on my 8" Kromksi Harp Loom Years ago, possibly 6 or more, we lived in a beautiful area half way up a hill and opposite a gentleman who used to be in the textile trade. He had a garage full of leftover cones of wool and cotton and offered to let […]
Edward & Laura Sutcliffe Meet the Producer focuses this time on Ed and Laura Sutcliffe who keep rare breed Lonk and Whitefaced Woodland sheep at Heptonstall, near Hebdon Bridge in West Yorkshire. On Saturday we had the rare treat of visiting the farm during lambing and seeing the fleece as it entered the world! Last […]
We were extremely happy to have been invited back to Liverpool John Moores University to teach a tutorial in hand spinning for the fashion students there. This was our third visit this academic year and we've been blown over by both the interest shown by the students and their ability too. John Moores Uni have […]
What a night! Our first post Covid Wool & Wine event was a huge success thanks to all the lovely people who attended and a great venue in Briars Hall, Burscough, Lancashire. We chose Community as our theme and we are incredibly lucky in our area of the country to be well covered with Spinning, […]
Interview with Lucinda Bird from Benridge Woolworks Following our series of meet the producer, we spoke to Lucinda Bird from Benridge Woolworks. Based in County Durham, they sell wholesale specially selected wool and bespoke, handmade needle felts. They support British farmers by buying wool at a fair price, which we can then spin knowing we […]
A member of our Spinning Group was telling us the other day about the workshop she attended with a very well respected spinning teacher who is no longer with us. The purpose? - to learn how to spin yarn. This teacher had a huge knowledge of spinning and was technically brilliant. During the class, she […]
We were so excited to be invited back to take part in some spinning workshops run by Super Slow Way as part of the Textile Biennial in Blackburn, a range of exhibitions and workshops, mostly free that are celebrating the history of textiles, right across the town. Blackburn has such a rich history in textiles, […]
Sabrina Ross from Heatherlea Black Cheviots This is the first in a series of interviews with farmers/small producers of sheep that we are particularly interested for their fibre as spinners. I'm hoping to create a directory of high quality producers specifically for spinners. Our first farmer is Sabrina Ross of Heatherlea Black Cheviots who is […]
We have always used British Bluefaced Leicester on our spinning workshops sourced in the UK but not always directly from farmers. To be honest, I didnt know how to go about it. Farmers sent their fleeces directly to the Wool Marketing Board or had them spun into yarn, it was difficult to catch them at […]
We were invited to join in with this fascinating project (see previous post for more information to provide half term heritage activities for the volunteers who come each week to weed the flax field. This was the plan we started with, which began on Monday with a spinning workshop. The weather was absolutely perfect and […]
