Wool Month at CM
October is British Wool ‘s wool month, which “aims to highlight through events, communications and social media, wool’s natural performance attributes and asking consumers to #ChooseWool”. Throughout October, British Wool are running events and campaigns to promote the fibre and we’ll be celebrating too!
Scroll down to read about local producers, our current wool projects and shop local fibre, yarn and accessories.
Burnfoot Wool’s knitting yarn
Burnfoot Wool
Run by local couple Gill and Andrew and Andrew’s mum Anne, Burnfoot Wool produce beautiful yarn from their flock of New Zealand Romney x South Country Cheviot sheep.
Whilst working their flock of 1500 sheep, Gill and Andrew came up with the idea of using the wool themselves. From 2020, they began researching wool processing and were overwhelmed with information. They got in touch with Lynn Elliott of Elliott’s Shed who suggested working with Halifax Spinning Mill.
Fast forward to 2024, and Burnfoot wool are producing knitting yarn in various colours, blankets dyed and woven in Langholm, carded wool and even crocheted accessories - all using wool from their Ewes Valley farm near Langholm!
Learn more about Burnfoot here and view their products on our online shop.
Val Cartner
Val has a flock of Valais Blacknose in Dumfries and Galloway, whose fleece we have had sent to be processed at Benbridge Woolworks in Durham. This means that the wool was grown, washed and carded in the UK!
We are selling 100g bundles of the carded fleece, perfect for felting, spinning and stuffing -take a look here.
Valais Blacknose fleece
Val Cartner is attending the Scottish Smallholder Festival in Edinburgh on the 19th of October. Click the link below to book your ticket now:
Tarras Valley and Benbridge Wool Works
When the community bought the land near Langholm for the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, it included a sheep farm with a flock of South Country Cheviots. We have been working with the Tarras Valley team to come up with ways to use the fleece locally ever since.
We are currently working together on an experimental project making wool logs to reinforce paths around the Lower Tarras area. The fleece is being scoured at Benbridge Woolworks just now, removing impurities before we put in the ground.
Tarras Valley and Hebbs Alpaccas
Working with local Alpacca farm Hebbs Alpaccas, we are also creating our own blend of Tarras South Country Cheviot X Hebbs Huacaya Alpacca fleece. The fibres are currently being blended at Shire Mill in Loughborough, so we will share the results soon!
Tarras Valley South Country Cheviot and Hebbs Alpacas Huacaya fleece
Exciting new equipment!
Thanks to support from the goverment’s Decarbonising Fund, we have been able to purchase a felt loom, which is arriving at the end of October! We have chosen the FeltLoom Pro series and are looking forward to using this with British wool and textile waste to create innovative products. Click the link below to learn more about the FeltLoom Pro:
Go, See, Share
This year, we were lucky enough to recieve support from the Go, See, Share fund from Creative Scotland. This allowed founders Emma and Leanne to embark on two research trips around Scotland to learn more about fibre processing and weaving with the aim of expanding our business activity and making us more financially sustainable
Emma at the Wool Centre
In July, Emma and Leanne travelled to Harris and Uist in the outer Hebrides to visit Harris Tweed and Uist Wool. For the second trip, in August, they went up north to visit Knockando Woolmill and Woven in the Bone in Moray.
The trips were a great way to meet inspirational makers across Scotland and find out which processes we could bring to Langholm!
Thanks for reading! Join in on the Wool Month action on social media using #ChooseWool
