We so excited to be attending this year's Dornoch Fibre Fest as a full-fledged vendor, after years of research and a full year of developing our processing system. We did some of our earliest public surveys at the Festival, and everyone was so helpful and encouraging - it just feels right to have this wonderful festival be our first commercial outing.
We'll have carded batts from the Shetland fleeces we rescued last summer, and have been testing our equipment and skills on. They've proven that our 'no such thing as waste wool' ethos is solid: verrrry dirty, full of second cuts and grit, and meant for the landfill. Then rescued, hauled to The Hirsel and stored in a (damp!) sheep trailer until we had a dry space to put them in...
They were then skirted and picked over by our awesome #ShetlandShepherd Janet, washed and carded by Donna and Anna. When fleeces like these can deliver lucious product for your weaving, felting, and textured spinning needs, it just goes to show: there's no such thing as 'waste' wool!
We'll also have a limited amount of combed, super clean Shetland tops (thanks to our talented volunteer Anna George), Hebridean batts, raw fleeces and rug fleeces from both breeds. There are so many uses for even less than perfect wool - imagine what you can do with your well cared for fleeces! We still have lots to learn, but we're on the way. AND...
We will - finally! - have a callback sheet, where Highland & Island shepherds can sign up to receive a callback about making a reservation to have YOUR Shetland or Hebridean fleeces (up to 25k) washed and carded THIS SUMMER & FALL. You can also sign up, or just have a chat with us at the festival, about other breeds we'll start working with soon.
It's been two years since the Dornoch Fibre Fest leant us a table to talk to folk and ask what you need from a Highlands-based mini-mill. We're so grateful to all of you, and look forward to thanking you in person. So stop by our table in the West Church Hall, say hi, ask all your questions...and get your crafty hands on some #RescuedFleece.
Dornoch Fibre Fest, 9 & 10 March 2024 - see you there!
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