The North Circular - winter woolies not the A406

The North Circular, a company which makes contemporary knitwear from British wool, was the idea of Lily Cole and Katherine Poulton, who in turn were inspired by Izzy Lane. Izzy Lane has rescued Wensleydale and Shetland sheep that would otherwise go to slaughter, using their wool for a collection that is shown at London Fashion Week. 

The North Circular uses mainly Wensleydale wool which is from their own flock - the wool is spun and dyed without using harmful mordants, and then sent to a team of knitters who turn it into a range of hats, gloves and scarves.

Classic bobble hat 100% Wensleydale wool, hand knitted by one of the team of 'Grannies' - meet the ladies (and gent) who do the knitting here

a visit to Romney Marsh Wools, Kent

The pic above shows the family shepherd's crook which inspired the logo design.

The M25 in torrential rain and few wrong directions from satnav could not hold me back from taking up Romney Marsh Wools' invitation to visit them yesterday at Rushfield farm (I recently blogged about Romney Marsh Wools here).
I was welcomed with a cup of tea and a visit to the Romney Marsh sheep, and also the Merino sheep, their fleece vaguely reminiscent of a poodle perm, but they were unsportingly hiding behind a trough so I couldn't take a picture.

a handsome Romney ewe

newest of new baby lambs

The family at Rushfield have farmed this land for 6 generations - their farm is mainly arable, but they have a sizeable number of sheep too who graze the land in the system of crop rotation. Aside from the 60 Merinos, the rest of the 1000 sheep at the farm are Romneys, a hardy breed which is well suited to this part of the Kent marshes. Romneys produce good meat (salt marsh lamb, anyone?), and have a soft fleece due to the fine wool fibres - the width of the wool fibres is 32 microns, which compares to human hair which is 100 microns. Merinos are even softer, their wool fibres have a width of 18 microns. Due to their softness, the fleece from Romneys and Merinos can be used to make lovely cosy blankets and clothes.

The sheep at Rushfield produce about 5 to 6 tonnes of wool per year, the majority of which is bought by the Wool Marketing Board to be used in the carpet industry. The rest of the wool is now used in the farm's Romney Marsh Wool business - the fleeces are taken to Wales where they are washed, carded, spun and woven into blankets and rugs and fabric for cushions.

  A massive cube of wool

 wool - before (left) and after (right) the process of carding. I am assuming this is rather like brushing hair, only somewhat harder work, given that a fleece weighs between 3 and 4 kilos.

Some Romney Marsh Wool blankets - the darker wool is from a different sheep, which from one year to the next can vary in depth of colour

 different shades of brown and white striped blankets

Part of the skincare range which is made from lanolin, extracted from the wool

 slippers - with these Spring storms we have been having, there is nothing I would like more than a pair of these after getting drenched.

And finally here is the lovely (and, may I add, glamorous) Kristina - the driving force behind Romney Marsh Wool, her enthusiasm and energy for this new part of the family farm business is inspiring.

Thank you Kristina and family for a great afternoon.

Made in Yorkshire

Pheasant is a fantastic website, dedicated to things made in Yorkshire.

Hmm, this gives me an idea - more posts coming soon, featuring handmade good things from different counties across this fair land....

Check out the handmade teapots which look like your favourite branded foods - Marmite, Colman's Mustard and Tate & Lyle syrup - made in Leyburn, North Yorks.

The weather can't make up it's mind - for those wintry moments, these lambswool blankets made in Morley, West Yorks look just the ticket:

last days of summer

As a 'famille nombreuse' one picnic blanket is never enough. Before school started we sneaked in a final week's holiday in Wiltshire and I found a Welsh blanket made from recycled wool at the National Trust shop in Avebury. Charmingly named random woollen rug, it's excellent value at £10 and comes in a random assortment of colours (surprise surprise). My photo doesn't do the colours justice - it's got lots of dusky blues in it, and the wool is soft enough to use as throw or blanket at home.