Bewildered by the wool biz we would really like to know what kind of Derbyshire Gritstone yarn you would like to knit. Or weave. Or felt. Or crochet.
After two years thinking about it, this wool business has come together at amazing speed.
This time last week we were planning to take the dogs for a long walk and mulling over how to spend the second week of our staycation.
Then on Tuesday, almost out of the blue, we got a call from The Natural Fibre Company in Launceston, Cornwall, to say our yarn was ready.
Since then we’ve been on a whistle stop round trip to pick it up, contacted Wiseheart Studio in Whaley Bridge to see if they’d be interested in selling it - thankfully they said yes - conjured up a brand name, printed labels, rushed the yarn over to Wiseheart to be on sale for the Derbyshire Open Arts festival this weekend and now we’re building a website and Instagram page. Phew.
If that sounds bewildering then that’s just typical of the whole shebang.
It’s all too reminiscent of the scene as we sat in the office at The Natural Fibre Company last September as the lovely Cyd Jenkin asked us how we wanted the wool processed - woollen or worsted, 3-ply, 4-ply, DK double knit, chunky, skeins, hanks, balls or cones?? On and on it went.
Can we just have basic knitting wool please I asked. Cue a kindly, sympathetic look and barely suppressed eye roll.
So we’ve ended up with exactly that: more or less 100 balls each of woollen 3-ply and 4-ply DK double knit hand knitting wool - the 3-ply ideal for summer weight regular knitting and the 4-ply for Aran, winter weight.
Presuming all goes well with this first batch - and it does seem mightily presumptuous to say that at this point - thoughts turn to how we might process this year’s clip.
Kate and Annie from Wiseheart have already given us some excellent pointers, I wrote them down somewhere, but it makes sense to ask you what kind of yarn you would like to see.
Please let us know in the comments below !
For the specific characteristics of our fleeces please see this from the Derbyshire Gritstone Sheepbreeders' Society. Broadly, it is a soft/medium handle, white, staple length 8 - 10cm and a micron range 31 - 33.