We are a small independent business specialising in the sale of yarn and fibres from British sheep breeds, currently from three small flocks on the Suffolk/Norfolk Borders. They are delicious! We are presently only on line but intend to have a physical place in November for you to feel the good before you buy!
Why we do it
We are on two missions!
Firstly, to promote the wonderful fibres and yarn that come from British breed sheep grazing in the fields around us. For decades the fleeces they produce each year have been shunned and we want this to change. It can only happen if people have the opportunity to buy these fibres and yarns or the finished products made with them.
Secondly, to encourage making. To create rather than consume. Humans have made things since they appeared on this earth but it is no longer neccessary for our survival and so many people don't make - food, clothes, beautiful things. Making is part of human DNA and we are incomplete without making. And it's fun!
AND WHO ARE WOOLPLAY?
Woolplay is the creation of Claire Powell and Andy Saunders, who have been smallholders on the Suffolk/Norfolk borders since 2016. It started with Claire wanting to keep her horses at the bottom of the garden and Andy discovering he had rather a thing about hens. Claire spent her part of her childhood in the Peak District, surrounded by sheep and sheep farmers. She was became involved in the Hayfield Sheepdog Trials while a teenager and was secretary of the sheep show for a number of years. So when she had the land and was offered a small flock of Leicester Longwools in need of a home, it was a dream come true.
Claire and Andy are both makers. The move to Suffolk has been a total change of activity and pace after years of working in financial services in London. It's all about living more as previous generations used to - being out in all weathers, having long physical days (and nights if there are lambs to be fed), appreciating the seasons, taking delight in a characterful hen or new born lamb (which balance up the times when sheep and horses do not play ball or the pigeons decimate the brassicas over a weekend), connecting with our creativity, learning new skills, living in the now and making things. Claire's mantra used to be "I don't have time for this" ; now it's "even so, this still beats emails and meetings"
What we do
Meet Claire
Claire has always had a thing about textiles - the textures, the colours. She did tapestry needlework as a hobby until she discovered patchwork and quilting back in 2002. She ran her own online patchwork business for a number of years before focussing on modern improv patchwork. She has been free motion longarm quilting for customers (see www.quiltspace.co.uk) since 2019. Since the arrival of sheep, she has fully embraced woolly crafts, rekindling her knitting, overcoming her mental block of spinning, falling in love with weaving in all its guises, learning about wool processing and enjoying splashing about wet felting.
Meet Andy
Andy studied product design at St Martin's school of art and design and has filled many notebooks with sketches of ideas for projects. He loves to work with metal and has built all manner of things including a couple of motor bikes from scratch, garden clocks, lamps, a weathervane of Southwold. He became a full time (well as much as can fitted in around smallholdering) designer maker in 2016 (see www.mendhammaker.co.uk) Claire's move into wool has resulted in him making a drum carder and mechanised skein winder. He can also spin, has made a woven scarf and also enjoys getting wet while wet felting.