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Deborah Williams produces DK undyed wool at Armscote Manor in Warwickshire from the flock of Portland sheep she’s been breeding for the last twenty years. Portland are the oldest recorded sheep in England and were mentioned in the Doomsday Book. She also has some Black Welsh Mountain Sheep and so she is able to offer some beautiful blends.

The wool can be bought online via paypal on the website, Bacs or cheque. Trade prices are available on request.

From Farm To Yarn ‘3 counties wool’. I’m a textile designer/maker and wool merchant working with farmers in two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Lancashire. I work closely with the farmers to promote their wool and buy my fleeces direct from the farms which are high nature value and low intensity.

The coloured fleeces come from a conservation grazer flock in Silverdale on Morecambe Bay, the white fleeces are from an organic flock of Lonk sheep, Lancashire’s ancient native heritage breed in Whitewell, Forest of Bowland. The fleeces are spun into yarn in Derbyshire using minimal processing to impact as little as possible on the environment and made into bags, hats and throws by me in Cheshire. I have Double Knit, Aran and Chunky weight yarn all can be used with standard knitting patterns. I don’t use dyes but the yarns do take dye very well. Samples available on request. Kate Schofield, Lancashire Farm Wools.

Libby Summers has been designing and making hand-knitted textiles since 2007. Having specialised in social anthropology at University in the 1990s, she is delighted to rekindle a link with Latin America by sourcing her yarn from Peruvian alpaca farmers in the Andes. She brings traditional knitting techniques up to date with her simple, contemporary style, reflecting her love for the colours of British landscapes and the value she places on natural quality fibres.

She was encouraged to turn her hobby into a career when she befriended other women who were finding outlets for their creativity in business. She pursued her passion for bringing hand knitting to the high street, becoming a John Lewis supplier under her ready to wear label ‘LibbyTDesigns’ in 2010. She now focuses on designing for knitters, with her own label ‘Libby Summers’ yarn, and by commission for UK and US knitting companies.

Visit the website for Libby’s yarns, patterns and kits.

Natali Stewart is an experienced feltmaker, colorist and yarn dyer based in East Sussex. She works with finest wool and silk materials, hand dyed in beautiful solid and variegated colours, offering:
Embroidery threads from silk and cotton;
Silk fibre (100% Mulberry silk grade A) top hand dyed in various single and multi colours;
Hand dyed cotton cheesecloth;
Margilan silk and silk organza;
A wide selection of beautiful hand dyed yarns.