Welcome to episode 2 of my Scottish Wool Growers feature! Today I'm very excited to introduce you to Graeme from Caithness Yarns. All the way up in Houstry in the Highlands of Scotland, Ballachly Farm is set in a beautifully wild land which really captures the imagination and allows the mind to rest and be rejuvenated, as you will see in Graeme’s photos which he kindly contributed for this post.
Graeme is an inspiring man who has a very unique relationship with his flock and a deep reverence for the land. I love seeing his Instagram posts, where he shares his day-to-day life in service to the flock, and I very much enjoy reading through his website to learn more about his perspective on sheep farming. Each sheep is a friend to him, and glimpses of life at Ballachly Farm always make me smile and relax. Graeme focuses on highest welfare for his beautiful sheep, and in that way he is able to produce the best quality yarn.
I recently had the honour of purchasing from Graeme an enormous ball of yarn which came from a single sheep, Boss Ewe. I have no words to describe how unique this experience was, and how special it was to work with the yarn. Stay tuned till the end of this post to see what I made with it.
As a long term wool lover, I have never before been in possession of such a precious item. Working with that yarn offered me a direct connection to the lovely Boss Ewe, the land where she grows her wool, and the loving care she receives. A very special experience for me. So now let's hear from Graeme.
Say hello to Boss Ewe!
How did Caithness Yarns come about?
Well thereby hangs a tale. For years I have become increasingly frustrated and angry at the slow demise of Crofting in Caithness and North Sutherland, every year I would go to the annual lamb sale in August and every year there would be fewer and fewer folk there.
I realised I was seeing the end of a way of life. I could understand, I was feeling the financial pinch myself and was looking for ways to make more money from the farm. And then 6 years ago we were shearing and during a conversation about how good the fleeces were and how little the Wool Board valued them I had an epiphany. I would sell them myself and try to make money from the wool.
In my Grandad's time in the 1950's the main crop of sheep up here was the wool. The best Hill type North Country Cheviot wool was greatly desired for its qualities of strength and its ability to make a soft, firm thread and yarn. In today's money the 1959 clip, the best fleece was worth £60 a kilo, the 2020 was worth £1.20 and this year it's forecast to be worth £0.25!
So I decided to focus on making wool a positive for the farm. It had for a long time been a negative costing more to shear than it returned from the Wool Board. The first thing I did was think about how I could proceed. I spent a year going to yarn shows and phoning Mills and designers and made some test yarns to see what people thought. The response was brilliant and spurred me on to start a proper business. My local Chamber of Commerce helped with some startup money and off I went. That's sort of how I got started.
What do you love most about what you do?
Tiny moments of joy. A new lamb standing for the first time while mum makes the sheep’s special noise of delight. Watching sheep in the fields. Finding a new plant to be understood. Finishing a dry stone wall. Generally satisfaction in the wee moments.
What are the biggest challenges?
Money, I have no cash, it makes everything harder and more stressful. The cancellation of yarn shows for so long means I have lots of yarn (which I have paid for) and have not been able to reach the wider public. Money is super tight.
I love seeing the unique relationship you have with your flock and the land. Can you share with us how important that is to you?
My relationship with my sheep and the land is one and the same. I am not the owner, I am a custodian. It is my job to look after the things in my care, to leave the farm better than I received it. I often wonder what my antecedents must think about me leaving Academia to come back to crofting, I hope they are pleased.
There is a simple ethos I use to guide me, "Is it the right thing to do?" Sounds simple, it's not. But we all have an internal moral compass, and listening to it, and doing what it tells us is right and proper leads to a better farm environment, happier healthier sheep, a happier me and also counter-intuitively a more economically successful farm.
I like sheep, many farmers either don't or have no empathy for stock generally. I want them to be happy and healthy, it's what I believe is "right". Also I manage the sheep not by force but by persuasion, if I want the sheep to come I do not use a dog to chase them. I stand and call them, and after years of positive training they come towards me and don’t run away at the sight of me. This makes my life happier and easier, also the sheep are happy and less stressed which I believe makes them healthier and thus their wool better. Even if the qualitative improvement is small it makes my yarn a more positive purchase because the customer knows it comes from high welfare, kind farming source.
Thank you so much Graham for spending some time with us to talk about your meaningful work as a custodian of the land and your lovely sheep. I always love hearing from you and very much enjoy the beautiful yarn you produce.
Here is a look at the “Silver Land of Birch and Stone” Heirloom Throw I made with the yarn from Boss Ewe. The design was improvised as I worked, and I wanted the whole piece to be a tribute to the land where Boss Ewe lives: the waves of the ocean, the hills, the mossy peatland of the Flow Country, the pale grey rocks of Dunbeath Strath and the river…
The throw is very textural and evocative of that beautiful land, a little piece of Scotland to wrap up in and keep deliciously warm, a true one-of-a-kind luxury.
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