Somerset Wool Shed

A different perspective of our stall. This lovely owl was made twice by .mcmahon.39 - first intentionally, and second time because I broke him 🤦🏼‍♀️. We are at Lytes Cary NT again today.

We are at Lytes Cary NT today and tomorrow with lots of lovely stallholders.

We will be at Lytes Cary NT this weekend with more of our lovely hand-dyed, spun, woven and knitted products, plus cyanotypes by the talented .photo. It's now June but it still feels like spring with chilly nights and changeable days, so wool might still be your friend 😃

Back in stock - washed natural Bluefaced Leicester curls. These are from last year's clip but only just washed. Most of them are small tight curls but there are some longer ones, so each pack is likely to contain a mixture of tight and longer curls although some may just be tight curls). Now available on the website - link in comments.

Today we are at Spring Craft Fair. It has finally warmed up and is a beautiful day.

We are at for the second day of this weekend's craft fair. Over the winter we have been busy dyeing, spinning and knitting so have new hats, gloves and yarn for you to squish and enjoy (and hopefully buy). We also have original cyanotypes by .photo as well as cards and prints. We are here until 4pm today - break your journey on the and stop for coffee and crafts

We are really looking forward to returning to Lytes Cary Manor in a few weeks

Our first craft market of the season is on 13 and 14 April 2024. There will be lots of unique and creative products available from local artists so why not pop down and pick up a treat.

These are a few of the new sock yarn skeins now available on the website (link in comments). I dye yarns that I like the feel of, so these are all super-soft and lovely to handle. There are Merino / Bamboo, Merino / Cashmere / Nylon and Merino / Superfine Alpaca / Nylon, and they are absolutely wonderful to work with. They are good for indoor socks but even better for slouchy hats and neck warmers or short scarves.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been dyeing yarns and fibres, mainly as a bit of therapy. Colour makes me happy, and the combination of colour and soft squishy fibre is a double hit. The tops that I have dyed are either a custom blend of Bluefaced Leicester, grey alpaca and silk, or white Bluefaced Leicester and silk. I now can't decide whether to spin them myself or put them on the website to sell, which would enable me to buy more tops to dye, which I can then either spin or sell, which would enable me to buy more tops to dye... Do you see the problem 😂

Some parts of Somerset had snow over night - not here unfortunately (I am unreasonably excited by snow!). I was also reminded that six years ago today we had freezing rain that covered the house, vehicles and all surfaces in a quarter of an inch of ice, making the outside world impenetrable. It's a reminder that, even though it is now meteorological spring, the British weather is variable and it still.feels like winter out there to me. Here is one of our hats that is certain to keep your head warm. You can find this and others on our website (link in comments), along with gloves and a few scarves.

This is what's currently on my needles: a doubleish-knit hat from handspun and hand-dyed yarn. A while ago I found a pillowcase with 1kg of oatmeal bluefaced Leicester and silk mix from so set about dyeing it in 100g batches. The dyeing was tonal rather than contrasting as I wanted to use it for projects such as this. It's so lovely to spin and knit with, and will make someone a lovely warm hat.

We are really pleased to be returning to Lytes Cary Manor in the spring for their monthly weekend-long craft fairs. It's our favourite event, well-organised and run by the brilliant Katherine. We are looking forward to seeing old friends again and meeting new stall holders, all of whom make the fairs a great event to take part in. We will have more of our knitted and woven products made from yarn we have either spun or dyed with only minimal commercialy-sold yarn used as required, as well as hand dyed fibre and yarn. We will also have local photographs and original cyanotype prints by .photo - it's always good to have something interesting to look at while your friend or partner is fondling the yarn!

As the fairs are organised by the National Trust please contact them direct with any requests for information.

This is one of the new hats that have been added to the website today. We use yarn that we have either dyed or spun, and make up the patterns as we go using (mostly) traditional Fair Isle motifs. This is what makes every one of our hats unique - you will never see another person wearing the same as you. You can see the other hats we currently have available, including two slouchy ones, in the link in the comments.

Since Christmas I have been knitting gloves, and typically have only got round to adding them to the website after the cold snap has gone! However, they are now online and available for you to purchase. All are knitted from handspun yarn, most from tops or fleece we have dyed. Being fingerless they keep your hands warm while still allowing you to use your fingers. The long cuffs mean you don't get that annoying gap between your coat sleeve and your glove! Now available to purchase - link in comments.

Good morning, I wanted to share one of my favourite tools. This yarn bowl was made for me by a friend who I met several years ago at Lytes Cary Manor craft fair. His wife, who sadly passed a couple of years ago, was a spinner and knitter and we got on very well. The bowl is hand-turned and is large enough to hold 200g of my hand-spun yarn. This work in progress will become a pair of fingerless gloves.

We are at Christmas Fayre today until 4pm. The sun is shining and the wind is blowing, but we are inside and it isn't raining!

This Saturday, 9th December, we will be at Coates English Willow Christmas Fayre from 10am - 4pm with knitted and woven products and some yarn and fibre. Come and find us upstairs 😊

I have just dug out my hand-knitted socks as the weather has finally started to turn chilly and autumnal. These aren't them - these are brand new merino, cashmere and nylon, super-soft and cosy. The best thing is that, being wool, they will keep your feet cool when it starts to get warmer. They have quite a bit of stretch so will fit sizes 5-8 comfortably. Buy them for yourself or for a friend for Christmas (link in comments).

This weekend we will be at Lytes Cary NT for the last craft market of the year. Come and say hello and browse our unique hats, gloves, scarves and yarn.

It's coming up to that time of year again, when makers are starting to think about beards and hair for all sorts of Christmas-related figures. Father Christmas, gnomes, dwarves, gonks, tomten - whatever you are making that has hair and /or a beard, our washed natural Bluefaced Leicester curls are just the job. Now available online - limited supply until next year's clip! Link in comments

Come and visit us today at Lytes Cary Manor, where you can find some really beautiful creations by local makers. We will be here until 4pm. The next and final craft fair will be 28-29 October, 10am - 4pm.

We will be at Lytes Cary Manor this weekend. On Saturday Mr Woolshed will be on his own as Mrs and Mother Woolshed are doing other things, so he'd love you to ask him about all things woolly 😁

I regularly receive messages asking me how to book a table at this craft fair, so I have put information on the Events page of the website. Unfortunately people still seem to miss this, so I'll summarise here: contact the National Trust using the link on the Events page. They organise these craft fairs so are the people that need to be contacted. Please don't ask me as I don't organise them. Thank you 😊

This weekend you can find us at Lytes Cary Manor, selling our woolly products at the free craft fair. We also have new cyanotype pictures by created with plants from the gardens at the manor (courtesy of the wheelbarrows of the helpful gardeners!). It's definitely starting to feel autumnal but promises to be a fine day. The fair is open 10am - 4pm Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd September.

Here are some new hats that we will have with us next weekend at Lytes Cary Manor Craft Fair, Saturday 2nd - Sunday 3rd September.

Sometimes when I sort fleece some ends up in the too-dirty-to-sell pile, but when it has been dyed it comes up far more clean than I thought it would. These two batches yielded some lovely curls so instead of carding the whole of each batch for spinning, I have sorted them for sale. There are only a few of each colourway, and you can find them in the Dyed Fleece and Fibre section of the website (link in comments).

Now that the weather has improved a bit I have been able to wash and dye quite a lot of fleece. This is gorgeous Bluefaced Leicester from Sarah Oatley, as ever lovely and clean and so soft to handle. The cleanest have been kept natural, and I am now working my way through the rest of the curls and am attempting to create some new colourways as well as topping up the popular ones. You can find Fiesta, Plum, Spring Green and Orchid on the website now, as well as the natural colours - link in comments

Two new hats that we have with us this weekend at Lytes Cary Manor craft fair. It's a bit blustery but it's dry, and there are lots of lovely stalls here.

We are at Lytes Cary Manor craft fair again today with hats, gloves, socks and photos by .photo . It's a lovely day and the manor is a great place to stop for a break on your way home along the A303.

It might seem funny to advertise hand-knitted socks when the weather is so lovely, but wool is great for keeping your feet cool in summer as well as warm in winter. These have a touch of alpaca for extra softness. There is still time to take advantage of our online sale, giving you 15% off orders over £10 (but including delivery charges) with the code Mayday. If you don't need socks or gloves there's still fibre available, as well as hand-dyed sock yarn that's great for more than just socks. The sale ends on Sunday 4th June and applies to online orders only.

About eighteen months ago I was approached by a production company making a television series for Apple TV, an interpretation of the trilogy Wool by Hugh Howey. The fibre and fleece I supplied has been turned into some lovely pieces of art by and you can now see the first few episodes of the series, called Silo, on Apple TV. This is about the closest I will come to fame! Gorgeous fleece was supplied by Sarah Oatley, Bramblecot Farm and , and the Bluefaced Leicester tops that I dyed came from