his summer, I set out on the first stage of a rather large fibre adventure.
The plan was simple enough on paper: travel through the Scottish Highlands, visit some of the farms and flocks whose wool I work with, collect fleece, and bring it home to turn into yarn.
In reality, there was rather more wool involved.
I've just released a new long-form video documenting the first part of that journey: Sheep to Skein.
Going back to the source
One of the things I love about working with Scottish fleece is that the yarn can be traced much further back than the label on a skein.
It starts with a sheep.
And before the sheep, there is a flock, a farm, a landscape and the people looking after them.
So this summer I headed north to spend time with several farmers and collect fleece for some of the projects I'm working on at Highland Magic Fibre Arts.
This wasn't a quick wool-collecting expedition. I wanted to see the places the fleece came from, meet the people raising the sheep, and understand more about the material before taking it home to work with.
Sorting the wool
Once the fleece came off the farms, the real work began.
With the help of a couple of friends, I spent time sorting and skirting the fleece, separating out what could be used and getting everything prepared for the next stage.
There is something wonderfully tangible about this part of the process.
Before there are batts, yarns or skeins, there are bags of fleece spread out in front of you. You learn to look at a fleece differently: the variation within it, the qualities of different sections, the amount of vegetable matter, the staple, the colour and the feel.
And you start making decisions about what each fleece might eventually become.
After all that work, I packed everything up and brought it home.
Which is where the next part of the story begins.
This is only the beginning
The Sheep to Skein video is the first chapter in a longer journey.
The fleece is home now, but it is very much not yarn yet.
Future episodes will follow what happens next: creating the blends, processing the fibre, working with the mill and eventually turning these Highland fleeces into finished yarns.
I'll also be exploring the dyeing and finishing process, so you'll be able to follow the material all the way from its original source through to the finished skein.
For me, that's one of the most important parts of making yarn this way.
I don't want the story to disappear between the farm and the finished product.
I want to show the whole chain.
Sheep → fleece → sorting → processing → spinning → dyeing → skein.
And, eventually, whatever that skein becomes.
Watch Chapter One
If you'd like to come along for the beginning of the journey, you can watch Sheep to Skein here:
And if you've ever wondered what actually happens to Scottish fleece before it becomes the yarn sitting in your project bag, this is where the story starts. 🐑
More chapters to come.
Highland Magic Fibre Arts explores Scottish fleece, spinning, weaving and textile art, with a particular interest in the relationships between fibre, landscape, people and place.
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