The whole process from sheep to bobble hat takes place here on Eday.
At Wyllen Wicce I aim to be fully transparent about my production methods, so you can be sure that anything you buy is ethically made, and know exactly how it came to be!
So below I have outlined how I get from the sheep to the final product.
It Starts with the Fleeces…
Ancient Breeds of sheep used to molt their fleeces, some still do, but most modern sheep hang on to them. That’s great for us because it means we can actually harvest the wool. But it does also mean that every year they need a full-body haircut.
Sheep will only grow a good fleece if they’re healthy, and the more energy they can put into a fleece, the bigger it will get!
I shear my sheep myself, here on the farm, during July and August. Shearing doesn’t harm the sheep and they’re often very relieved to be free of their fleeces.
Fleece to Yarn
Instead of sending my fleeces away to be cleaned and spun, I process them myself on the farm. This way I can process each fleece individually, which preserves their unique colours and characteristics. It also means I can trace the wool back to each sheep!
Depending on the texture of the fleece I may be able to spin it straight from the wool bag, or sometimes i’ll need to to pick it (to separate out the fibres) and card it (to line up the fibres). Everything is spun by hand, on my trusty Kromski spinning wheel. I also ply all of my yarn for strength.
Once it is spun, I wash each skein of yarn by hand with a gentle detergent. This cleans the fleece, but preserves a small amount of the lanolin. Lanolin adds extra water resistance to the wool, which makes the wool perfect for outdoor wear.
The gentle creates a unique texture, which is softly spun and full of loft, but also holds its strength.
Time to Knit
Once I have the yarn I hand knit it into my knitwear pieces. I love the process of working with all the different colours of yarn and all the different textures depending on the breed.
The yarns from my Breck sheep come out thick and fluffy, whereas the shetland yarns are delicate and soft. I design the pieces around the yarns that I have available.