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'FROM SHEEP TO SKEIN'
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I pride myself on the sustainability of what I do here on the croft - the sheep grow their lovely fleeces every year, which are then sent over to Uist Wool where they get spun into 100g skeins of DK-weight wool. The sheep have a home here for life and I am passionate about sharing the provenance of my yarn - when you buy a skein it even lists the names of all the sheep whose fleeces went into making that particular shade!
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Much as I would have loved to get my wool spun locally, at Jamieson's mill here in Shetland, we worked out it would take me about 25 years to accumulate the minimum weight of fleeces required for them to do a commission spin! After researching several mills throughout the U.K. that specialise in small-scale spinning commissions, I approached Uist Wool as, not only do they take immense pride in producing their yarns and create their own beautiful blends that are just lovely to work with, but also I felt a strong affinity with their ethos as a company. An island co-operative, the mill and wool centre offer employment to members of the community who, like myself, hold down other part-time jobs as well as running their crofts. It makes me really happy that, in some small way, I'm one Scottish island business supporting another Scottish island business.
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Only the fleeces from my pure Shetland sheep, which I hand-shear myself, get transformed into my beautiful Bee Croft Wool - it takes two years' worth of fleeces to produce each batch of skeins I have for sale and once they're gone, they're gone!
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My wool is completely undyed and unbleached - you are getting the pure, natural colours of the sheep's fleeces that have been expertly blended by Uist Wool to create three shades, maximising every ounce of raw fleece. Bee Croft Busby is a 'natural' white, Bee Croft Butterscotch is a delicate moorit and Bee Croft Barnacle a pale grey - all named after the sheep whose fleeces were the basis for each blend! There is also a very limited edition marl - Bee Croft Juniper - which blends the three natural colours.
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Please head over to my online shop to see the skeins in more detail!
