Journal

Sheep to Skein: Chapter One, Back to the Highlands
Sheep to Skein: Chapter One, Back to the Highlands
The first chapter of my Sheep to Skein journey takes me into the Scottish Highlands, visiting farms and farmers, collecting fleece, and working with friends to sort and skirt it... Read more...
Highland Magic at Strathearn Arts: Crieff Arts Fair, 15 August
Highland Magic at Strathearn Arts: Crieff Arts Fair, 15 August
I’m taking Highland Magic Fibre Arts out of the studio and into my own town this Saturday! Come and find me at the Strathearn Arts Fair in Crieff, part of... Read more...
What Matters Most When You Choose Wool?
What Matters Most When You Choose Wool?
Every knitter, weaver, crocheter and spinner has their own reasons for choosing a particular yarn. Is it softness, breed, provenance, colour, durability, or supporting local farmers? As I continue my... Read more...
Another Step Towards a Highland Fibre Future 🌲🧶
Another Step Towards a Highland Fibre Future 🌲🧶
I’ll be speaking at Kyleside Woolfest this September about the ideas that have shaped Highland Magic Fibre Arts, from sourcing Highland fleeces to creating yarn and tapestry, and why I... Read more...
Past Work: Himalayan Balsam and Place-Based Colour
Past Work: Himalayan Balsam and Place-Based Colour
A look back at my Himalayan balsam dye work in the Scottish Highlands: harvesting an invasive plant, exploring its colour potential, and taking part in a wider local project around... Read more...
From Loch Ness Fleece to a Handspun Rainbow
From Loch Ness Fleece to a Handspun Rainbow
From farms around Loch Ness to my kitchen dye pots, this handspun palette has travelled through many hands and processes. Local fleece was collected, sorted and skirted, washed and carded... Read more...
Colours of the Highland Glens
Colours of the Highland Glens
Over the past few weeks, my studio has been filled with skeins of wool, dye pots, notebooks and colour experiments. What began as a simple idea soon became a much... Read more...
Now in the Handspun Directory
Now in the Handspun Directory
Highland Magic Fibre Arts is now listed in the Handspun Directory. Traceable Highland fleece, handspun and naturally dyed yarn, sold direct. Read more...
Why Doesn’t the Blue Flower Make Blue Dye?
Why Doesn’t the Blue Flower Make Blue Dye?
Most people assume a blue flower will make blue dye. Natural dyeing rarely follows those rules. From blue dyes made from green leaves to roots that hide vivid reds beneath... Read more...
Stock Migration, Summer Edition 🌿📦
Stock Migration, Summer Edition 🌿📦
All of my current physical stock has now been packed up and moved off the website ahead of a summer stay at Made in Stirling. The Cairngorms Sunset and Wildflower... Read more...
Studio Notes: Looms, Shawls, and Experimental Handspun
Studio Notes: Looms, Shawls, and Experimental Handspun
The studio has been in an in-between state lately. Not messy exactly, but mid-transformation. There are loom parts stacked against walls, cones gathering in corners, repaired spinning wheels back in... Read more...
From Their Field, Back to Their Shelves
From Their Field, Back to Their Shelves
Some of the alpaca in these skeins was grazing at Robertson’s Farm Shop in Beauly last year. Thirteen skeins, eight hundred grams, one pair of hands from fleece to finished... Read more...
Colour, Gathered
Colour, Gathered
Colour doesn’t begin with dye, but with fibre, structure, and light. The Pale Sky sets explore how natural shades and subtle shifts create palettes that move, rather than sit still. Read more...
Why This Fibre, From This Place
Why This Fibre, From This Place
Why This Fibre, From This Place There are easier ways to make yarn. You can buy fibre in bulk, standardised and predictable. You can smooth out the variables, remove the... Read more...
From Mill to Material
From Mill to Material
Fibre & yarn returning from the mill and being reworked into yarn and preparation for dyeing and blending. Read more...