Woolcraft

The art and craft of Woolcraft lies in the skill of sourcing, creating and using the yarns involved. Charlotte, from Woolcraft Wales, lays out an entire fleece and sorts the wool ready for the first wash.

After drying the fleece the sorted wool is carded into "batts" ready for spinning. Charlotte uses a double band spinning wheel. The yarn created is a "single ply" and two strands are then spun together to create wool, which is wound into a skein. To produce one undyed skein usually takes half a morning – after all the preparation of the fleece is done.

When dyeing the wool Charlotte uses products such as onion skins, turmeric or log chip dyes to produce rich colours. Introducing colours involves heating the yarns gently in order to make the dye matter "fast" and great care must be taken not to ruin the wool at this stage.

Following the dyeing process the wool is wound off ready to use in crochet, knitting or weaving projects. The colours – being natural dyes – blend beautifully together.

Unique items for sale and on commission

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