Heritage Handspun: Eco-friendly yarns . . . for people who tread softly on the earth
Inspired by nature and the changing seasons, every yarn I make is unique.

Combining time-honoured, traditional crafting techniques, with a playful contemporary twist, each yarn is individually designed and hand crafted in my cozy wool filled workroom in the North East of England. 

The process begins by sourcing high quality raw sheep fleece from specialist Rare Breed sheep breeders or people with smallholdings who keep rare breed or Heritage sheep as pets. Pet sheep are kept and loved throughout their natural lives and do not end up in the food chain, so wool made from their fleece is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Where possible I also choose fleece from growers who adopt organic principles and procedures. 

The fleece is then sorted, hand washed, a process known as 'scouring', in eco-friendly products, and dried natural in the fresh air. It is then carded by hand and either made into rolags to spin directly or blended with other wools on my drum carder to make a bat from which to spin. Depending on the effect I want to achieve, sometimes I will dye the fleece before spinning and sometimes afterwards. Often I will choose to use natural coloured fleece but sometimes I want a broader range of colours and use both professional quality Acid dyes and plant based colours to achieve the effects I'm looking for. The spun yarn is then wound onto a 'Niddy Noddy', and finished. This involves washing, with eco-friendly products, blocking and drying before being wound into a skein, photographed and listed in the shop.

I use 100% recycled craft tissue paper and 100% compostable mailer bags and pack my yarns flat so that they will fit through your letterbox.