WoolWork

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Scottish Smallholder Festival at Lanark. This is Scotland’s largest smallholding event and I was asked by one of the organisers, Rosemary, to come along and show smallholders how much crafters value British breed wool.

little porkers

Staring competition!

woolly bottoms

Jacobs

huddle!

Clun Fores

Soays

Kune Kune pigs

A young man takes to finger knitting!

Of course, it would have been sensible to take some pictures of the table – resplendent with the new KnitBritish banner – but I wasn’t sensible! What I brought with me were samples of fleece, spun yarn and swatches of breed wool and fibre. I also had some knitted items and, of course, the KnitBritish breed blanket!

It was incredibly interesting talking to the people who stopped by the stall to feel the fleece and the swatches. Most of them had sheep and were either interested in getting their fleeces spun into yarn to sell, or were in the process of doing so. I also spoke to one or two people who had hobby flocks of mixed sheep and were having their fleece made into blankets or items of clothing, just so they could say it belonged to their sheep. I really loved that idea. These were not knitters or crafters, but saw the value in having something made from their small flock’s yarn.

What was awesome was that those who were already having their wool spun were fired up with an excited/nervous energy and were raring to go with etsy shops, or self-hosted platforms. Some had questions about social media and using ravelry. This kind of engagement with the knitting community is truly the key to reaching the market and selling their unique blend or single flock yarns.

Frustratingly, there were people there  who came up to ask how to sell yarn and didn’t really like my answer when I told them that they needed a strong online presence. Read More