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Spinning - from sheep to fibre.

I am a recently retired teacher and am looking forward to spending much more time on my passion for spinning. I collect antique and vintage spinning wheels and love nothing more than to produce yarn from 'beginning to end' ... starting with a raw fleece and ending with a warm, bouncy yarn, perfect for unique jumpers and sweaters.

The process of producing handspun yarn is a long one ... after removing the undesirable parts of a fleece (skirting) it is then hand washed using a professional and gentle fibre wash. Next comes the carding or combing process where the locks are separated into even layers. The fibre is then spun using the 'woollen' or 'semi-woollen' method; two singles are then plied together to produce a soft and warm yarn. Once spun, the yarn is set and made into a skein or ball ready to hand dye, then knit or crochet.

The Quirky Shepherd ...
handcrafted homespun yarn made in a little thatched cottage in the heart of Devon. Each skein is unique and spun using traditional methods. The beautiful fibres are sourced from small farms in the UK with a mind for pure and rare breeds - often those that are deemed 'conservation breeds'.

In addition to spinning, I also have a passion for needle felting - a process of 'stabbing' fibre with barbed needles to sculpt objects ... especially animals.

I hope you like my work!