Denise: Mum’s in respite care for 4wks, and Jonathan’s taken over many of my duties: I’m recuperating from an operation. However, I’m now fit to drive again, and I feel in need of a wee excursion, albeit one with a purpose.  Today I’m going with J on his routine trip to Harris, and I’ll leave him on site and nip up to Tarbert for a bit of shopping.  Now Tarbert is not exactly a major shopping destination, but there’s the Harris Tweed shop, and I need to stock up on fabric for making cushions and other stuff for the #HebrideanWoolshed.  … Continue reading →

Jonathan: By the time I’d got everything ready and the appointed hour for this afternoon’s shearing had come, the rain had eased off and though it was still overcast and still spitting – there was a drying wind and there was hope enough that the shearing could get done before the weather closed in again. The only thing is that there weren’t enough hands – or paws – for the task: Seonaidh was still not back from Daliburgh with his new bull. An hour passed and I passed it with a few fencing tasks, but clearly something was amiss and … Continue reading →

Denise:  Hebridean Haulage turned up today with 9 large cardboard boxes which are now stacked up in the hall – already piled high with stuff due to building work – and making navigation of our house even more tortuous.  Our sheep’s wool back from spinning!  Mostly from our own Hebridean sheep, but also a lot we bought from other shepherds. The mill-spinning cost just over £2000; but that’s turned into a much larger value of sales during next summer, even if we sell it only as balls of yarn; and some of it will be knitted or felted up into … Continue reading →

Jonathan: This afternoon, two long-running threads came together for a long-overdue sheepy excursion ‘down north’ (as they say here in Uist).  Back in late summer we placed an ad in Am Paipear saying we were buying fleeces, and Raghnall MacIain in N Uist phoned us to say he’d got some we might be interested in. It’s a very long way for just a few fleeces, so we needed to combine the trip with something else, and only a few days ago – many weeks later – did the arrangements for the afternoon’s two activities come into synchronicity. We met up … Continue reading →

Denise: It’s late July and the sun is out, the breeze is distinctly warm (well for here!) and, more importantly for a spinner, there’s a wealth of plants in full-flower just waiting to be picked for the dye pot!  Here’s a recipe especially for Sharon Blackie on Lewis to get her started colouring the recently obtained Blackface fleeces. Ragwort (Gaelic – Buaghallan) Part 1, Making up the dye Plenty of this around now – and until late August. It’s easy to pick. Produces a really impressive full-coloured yellow, for relatively little outlay. To dye about 1lb of wool collect a … Continue reading →

Becky Bridge: Mum and I went along the old road to Smerclete to to scrape lichen from the rocks by Loch Aisebhat – for dyeing wool.  We used our fingers to remove it- a bit rough on the skin but easy enough as only the ‘ripe’ lichen is used – it is already ‘dead’ and lifting away from the rock naturally. Traditionally it was done using an old wooden spoon, but whatever the implement this has been done since at least as far back as the Iron Age.