12 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Knitting Industrial knitting in the UK used to be centered in the North of England and the border regions of Scotland. Since the 1980’s much of this industry has moved off shore to the Far East, causing loss of jobs including many skilled workers. As […]
Knitting on an industrial scale moved from Britain in the 1980s Read More »
11 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Spinning Hand spinning has been used as a process to make yarn from fleece for thousands of years, originally using a stick known as a spindle. The hand spinning wheel was invented around 500-1000AD, the origins are still being debated. This simple hand machine enabled
The humble hand spinning wheel is still used today Read More »
10 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Carding Carding, is essentially a process of combing the washed wool, aligning all the hairs to sit in one direction in preparation for spinning. This process creates a loose, light roll of soft wool, known as roving. This can be done by hand or machine.
Carding an essential preparation stage of aligning the hairs Read More »
9 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Washing and Processing On the 23rd of June I visited Haworths the wool processors based in Bradford. Haworths are one of the largest scourers in the country, processing up to fifty million tons of wool per year. It was here I learnt about the scouring
Scouring and procesing wool from ancient and heritage breeds Read More »
8 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Shearing Hand shears have traditionally been used for sheep shearing and this technique has not changed since the middle ages. Sheep shearing is essential for the animals welfare, (with the exception of a few breeds), as they do not shed their own fleece. Blow fly
Traditional hand shears meet electric competition in the 1950s Read More »
7 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool The Wool Board was set up in 1950, a government body with the role to regulate the marketing of an important national produce. The aim of the board is to position itself between the sheep farmers and the textile industry. The auction room where most
The ‘Wool Board’ was set up in 1950 Read More »
6 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool The industrial revolution lead to further developments of sheep breeding. Robert Bakewell was the first person to introduce a selective breeding programme where sheep were selected for distinct characteristics to achieve improvement. The goal of this breeding programme was to create faster growing and heavier
1780-1840 The industrial revolution and sheep breeding Read More »
5 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool The Agricultural Revolution of 1500- 1850 The revolution in argiculture brought huge improvement to the quantity of food produced with new methods of farming. This was needed to feed the inhabitants of the new cities. People moved from the country to work in the growing
The agricultural revolution and new methods of farming Read More »
4 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Invasion of the Danes in 865AD The third influence on the British sheep lineage was the invasion of the Vikings who bought with them the hardy, black faced, horned sheep whose fleece ranged from grey to brown. These hardy sheep were well suited to life
Invasion of the Danes in 865AD a third lineage arrives Read More »
3 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool The Roman invasion of Britain introduced a white and hornless sheep with a very shoft fleece. These sheep evolved into our longwool varieties, including the Cotswold, Ryeland, Romany and Leicester, all producing exceptionally fine wools. Early Ryeland sheep breed, featurd in J.Jenkins (1975) The wool
55AD New hornless breed introduced with Roman invasion Read More »
Hand made artisan knitwear
Allow between 4 to 6 weeks
