Handspun Yarn
How it Works
1. Contact ME
The first thing to do is contact me, either here on the website via the Contact page, or via social media. That way we can discuss what might be possible with your fibre.
2. Send ME your wool
It doesn't have to be pretty. As long as you can easily pull the fleece apart by hand (insofar as it's not matted together) there should be no problem spinning it into yarn. It can be greasy, muddy and still have some of your garden attached, I'll take care of that.
Removals boxes are great for posting fleece, but any sturdy bag or box that's large enough will do the job. Old feed sacks work well too!
Removals boxes are great for posting fleece, but any sturdy bag or box that's large enough will do the job. Old feed sacks work well too!
3. Scouring (washing)
Washing wool is a smelly business, there's no way around that. You can wash your wool before sending it to me, but most people prefer to send greasy fleeces and let me take care of it. I only use environmentally friendly detergents and Shropshire rainwater. I let the wool air dry naturally because it's better for the wool than large-scale kiln drying, and it's better for the environment.
4. Carding
I prepare the wool for spinning by carding it, always on hand-powered machines and one ball of yarn at a time to ensure that only the best fibres make it through to the yarn, and that the fibres are going to spin correctly. The quality of wool from different parts of the sheep varies too, so this is when we can either discard the nasty bits, or blend different parts together to achieve uniform texture and/or colours.
5. Spinning
I spin on a modern replica of a Saxony style spinning wheel, every inch of new yarn passes through human hands. Hopefully in the very near future I will also be operating the only Spinning Jenny in commercial use in the British Isles today. Bear with me while I build and learn to use an 18th Century machine with no instructions! I'm nearly there!
6. Winding & Plying
The final step in the process. Yarn is usually plied to give strength, improve loftiness and make it easier to work with as a knitting / crochet yarn. Once again, I use only hand tools. I can wind your yarn into balls or skeins, depending on whether it's going to be worked as is (balls), dyed (skeins) or sold (either!), it's up to you.
7. Postage
I post your wool back to you as finished yarn. Usually this takes the form of x12 50g balls or skeins at a time. We can process as little as one ball of yarn of course, or any given number of balls you choose, or entire fleeces.