Welcome to my new Scottish Wool Growers feature! In this series we get the chance to chat to some amazing Scottish wool producers whom I love working with. We will hear their wisdom, passion and experience about what it takes to produce outstanding yarns for us to play with.
First up is Sarah from Balnahard Farm on the Isle of Colonsay. Sarah is a remarkable lady who wears many hats, and whose deep love of nature, great kindness, beautiful photos and brilliant sense of humour always brighten my Instagram feed. There she posts regular updates on the flock, the farm, the island, and her many occupations.
With the help of her husband and their increasingly famous dogs, she takes outstanding care of her woolly charges in all weathers. The wool is then dyed with botanicals foraged exclusively on the island, and the distilling tails and spent botanicals used in the Colonsay Gin Distillery.
The end product is a totally unique and local yarn that is a little piece of her stunning Scottish island and a real treasure to work with. I hope you enjoy reading this feature and the amazing photos which Sarah generously shares.
Tell us about how you came to start your lovely Scottish wool business.
I started Colonsay Wool Growers about 8 years ago, as a way of making the sheep on our farm more interesting to me. We had 450 Scottish Blackface ewes, all good and productive hill sheep but with fleeces that weren’t ideal for knitting yarn.
I’ve always loved Blue Face Leicester sheep, so I nagged David until he let me buy a tup to cross over the Blackface ewes. This led to me experimenting a bit with other breeds, such as the Hebridean x Blue Face, which is a really lovely sheep. Hardy and tough from the Hebridean side, but with a softer more lustre fleece from the BFL.
We now have approx 200 BF ewes, 200 Lleyn ewes and 100 ‘wool sheep’ of various breeds and crosses.
What are your favourite things about being a Colonsay Wool Grower?
Producing yarns and fleeces with real provenance, naturally dyed with plants that grow on the same ground that the sheep graze.
Visitors to Colonsay can walk through the farm, see the sheep & plants and then look at / buy yarns and knitting kits from Seapink gallery.
I’ve even had people message me after seeing a photo of some sheep in the yard saying ‘Can I have her fleece when you clip that sheep?’ I love that personal interaction with people.
What are the biggest challenges?
Probably farming and working on a remote Scottish Island. Farming on Colonsay has given me the opportunity to create a lovely unique product, but it’s not without its challenges.
The weather is wet and wild, and breeding ewes that need to live out all year round in the wind and the rain, whilst also having lovely soft fleeces, is quite a fine balancing act.
But to be honest, I have enjoyed that challenge, as quite a lot of people laughed at me when I started.
Logistics are always harder from an island – getting the fleeces to the spinning mill, attending fairs, delivering stock to mainland outlets, is all time consuming and expensive.
Can you debunk a few woolly myths for us and tell us why wool is so amazing?
Not all pure wool is tricky to look after – I am constantly surprised how much I get away with when dyeing the wool. It is not unknown for me to go out and leave a dye pot on the heat– boiling away – and I have never yet managed to harm the yarn. Mostly wool hates a sudden temperate change – don’t go straight from hot water to cold water and vice versa.
Obviously some pure wools are more delicate than others, but I think we have also got into the habit of over washing. Wool has great hygiene properties built in- it’s anti bacterial, hypo allergenic, moisture wicking, odour resistant and mildew/mould resistant. Just a hang out in the fresh air for a few hours is often all that is needed to refresh a garment or blanket. Less work than washing and more environmentally friendly. Win Win!
Wow, thank you so much Sarah for taking the time to talk to us about your beautiful woolly business and what makes it so special.
I can't wait to visit Colonsay, which really does look like a jewel and a very special place. While I wait for that happy time, enjoying Sarah's beautiful yarns is the next best thing!
I used Sarah’s yarns to make myself a crafting shawl which I called “Colonsay Rocks and Lichens.” I enjoy wearing it to keep my arms and shoulders toasty while I am crocheting, and it was a joy to work with so many beautiful colours from Balnahard. The shawl is like a mini world that I can wrap in to enjoy Colonsay from a distance. I really look forward to my next project made from Colonsay Wool Growers yarns.
Visit Sarah’s website
Follow Sarah on Instagram
Read the blog post about the making of the “Colonsay Song” Throw pictured below
