Ryeland fleece for spinning - home grown and hand carded.

Way back in the 12th century, Ryeland sheep were kept and bred around Leominster in Herefordshire. The trading of their fantastic wall led to Ryeland wool from Leomister later being known as “Lemster Ore” because of the large amounts of gold it earned. The fine, soft, bouncy, “shortwool” fleece has a distinct springy crimp which, once spun, traps air and delivers amazing warmth. It gave good stitch definition and holds cables and textures well. 
As you will see from our shop, we make and use a lot of our handspun art wool, which we hand-dye. 
This listing allows you to enjoy the same creative process and includes 100g of hand-carded fleece from one of our fabulous flock. There may be some VM in the fibre, but we find it falls out as we spin. There will also still be a slight lanolin smell despite the wool being washed in Ecover Wool Wash before carding. This makes the wool great to work with and softens both your hands and the yarn as you spin. It can be retained with careful washing or removed after spinning by washing with a harsher soap. We love it in our products because it adds a slight water-repellent character, which is always good to have in this country!
We are currently selling Maggie's wool. Maggie is a gentle lady who produced one lovely ewe lamb to add to the flock this spring. When her fleece runs out, we will move on to one of her friends.