Here at Blacker we thought it was about time to give our lovely stockists some love, find out more about them below! Name: Isla Davison – now retired but…
Harvesting in the case of wool means shearing. Pure new wool comes from live sheep and sheep are not killed in the shearing process! This blog item focusses on how…
Here we look at three important aspects of fleece and fibre: consistency/style, colour and animal health. Consistency varies considerably between different breeds, within the breed and across the animal. We…
One of the joys of having our own mill, is that it gives us the freedom to experiment and try new things. For the last two years we’ve celebrated our…
Here at Blacker Yarns we try not to have favourites amongst the sheep breeds, but Gotland sheep do have a rather special place in our hearts. Perhaps because they’re the…
Images courtesy of The Saatchi Gallery At the Mill we have been thinking about art – for reasons which will become very clear in the near future! So we have…
Lyonesse DK in Serpentine, Citrine and Aquamarine We use linen in our Lyonesse yarn range – it adds great drape, crispness and strength to a yarn, but have you ever…
Length is less relevant to the processor than to the breeder! After all, the breeder will be expecting to show animals in full fleece in all their glory, while the…
The Bluefaced Leicester is a noble breed, originating from selective breeding in the early twentieth century by Robert Bakewell, specifically hand-picked for their “blue faces”, referring to their very dark…
Wool from different sheep varies considerably – above are Wendsleydale,Shetland and Blue-faced Leicester – there are no prizes for guessing which is which! The point here is to illustrate difference…
Most of us know wool comes from sheep, and perhaps we think it is always white and all the same: this series of articles may make you think again! The…
Here are a few snaps of the “new” Fearnaught. It had an illustrious past in a mill at Banbury, now sadly closed … The machine replaces our “old” Fearnaught…
As many of our avid readers will know, we have been working on a new Blacker yarn range, being launched this month! This is a permanent addition to our ranges,…
We’ve recently been working with our customers on some case studies; these showcase different breeds and items which have been produced using pure wool (or alpaca) fibre. Follow the links…
It is well known that the Boreray is at the top of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list and that the Soay is still at risk (though thankfully its…
Farming is both a very traditional and a very experimental and innovative activity. On the one hand, we are inevitably tied to the land and its attributes, whether they are…