Ange Sewell: why British wool is important to me

ANGE SEWELL is a weaver from West Kilbride – Scotland’s craft town. She describes herself as a weaver of Scottish weather, Ange creates handwoven cloth, clothing and furnishings at her studio, Weft Blown, and teaches classes in weaving and spinning too.  Ange will also be writing about her favourite British yarns to weave with but here she… Continue Reading Ange Sewell: why British wool is important to me

Louise Spong and Jenny Dean on Natural Dyeing

Last night we heard from Louise Spong about The South Downs, Southdown sheep, and South Downs Yarn. You may have seen a few glimpses of the beautiful palette that the yarn is available in. Louise only uses natural dyes, and she is indepted to Jenny Dean, who is her mentor and partner in crime in… Continue Reading Louise Spong and Jenny Dean on Natural Dyeing

Daily Photo: Making 6

Part of the Daily Photo series of photos taken and curated by Jeni Reid especially for WOVEMBER, this photo is part of a series documenting beautiful things Jeni Reid has made with WOOL in celebration of for the WORKING WITH WOOL phase of WOVEMBER. This is from a selection of my own woolly endeavours. Some… Continue Reading Daily Photo: Making 6

Wovember Words: KnitBritish

Today’s WOVEMBER WORDS post explores the term KnitBritish as it appears in Louise Scollay’s Knit British Breed Swatch KAL. To tie in with yesterday’s post by Tom, the yarn featured in this post is from South Downs Yarn. #BreedSwatchAlong | What are we doing? Using British breed wool, or wool from our local area, we… Continue Reading Wovember Words: KnitBritish

Louise Spong on Tracing Provenance

As part of our focus on small producers, Wovember Team Member Tom met up with Louise Spong, founder of South Downs Yarn and Jenny Dean, expert natural dyer, and visited Graham Langford, one of the three shepherds that own the Nepcote Flock of Southdown sheep. Cup of tea warning: make a brew and get comfy,… Continue Reading Louise Spong on Tracing Provenance

Daily Photo: Making 5

Part of the Daily Photo series of photos taken and curated by Jeni Reid especially for WOVEMBER, this photo is part of a series documenting beautiful things Jeni Reid has made with WOOL in celebration of for the WORKING WITH WOOL phase of WOVEMBER. This is from a selection of my own woolly endeavours. Some… Continue Reading Daily Photo: Making 5

Wovember Words: Pyecombe Hook

As an amuse-bouche for tonight’s post with Louise Spong from South Downs Yarn, we hear from her about a very special shepherd’s crook. With Louise’s natural curiosity, it was not enough to just know about the hook. She actually made one herself! So, here’s Louise, on the Pyecombe Hook: Ah, therein lies a tale or… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Pyecombe Hook

Photo Gallery Roundup #3

Your photographic entries to our Instagram photo contest are amazing, and it is truly lovely to see such a massive buzz growing around wool thanks to your images and words! As promised at the start of WOVEMBER, here’s a weekly roundup featuring a handful of photos entered into the competition so far.. Do not forget… Continue Reading Photo Gallery Roundup #3

Wovember Words: "Yows"

You may already have heard farmers in the North of England speaking about yows or in Shetland, speaking about yowes. I have found it spelled with an e and without, but in both those contexts it is a regional dialect word meaning ewe. When in Shetland recently for Wool Week, the Shetland Library in Lerwick… Continue Reading Wovember Words: "Yows"

Jane Dryden on Growing Wool

One of the things we love doing most of all with WOVEMBER is celebrating the many stages of work that go into the production of WOOL; this is one of the reasons why we loosely theme our WOVEMBER posts around Growing Wool, Harvesting Wool, Processing Wool, Working with Wool and Wearing Wool. Of course many… Continue Reading Jane Dryden on Growing Wool