Benlaw
Costa
Evie
KW17 2NN
At 'The Woolshed' we use fleece from the native seaweed-eating North Ronaldsay sheep and other local flocks to produce a variety of woollen goods, including knitting wool, knitwear, handmade felt and weaving.
The workshop is located in a traditional stone-built Orkney longhouse with attached corn drying kiln and is part of a 60 acre sheep and beef farm on the West Mainland of Orkney. The views across Eynhallow Sound to Rousay and Westray beyond are truly spectacular.
As far as possible the fleece we use in the workshop is from the rare breed of sheep native to Orkney, the North Ronaldsay, but we also use other fleeces from our own sheep and local flocks.
Traditionally-styled jumpers, cardigans and waistcoats are either hand-knitted or hand-framed from North Ronaldsay or local wool, all in natural colours. For hand-knitters there are 100gram skeins of this lovely wool, either in aran weight or double knitting yarn,
There is a selection of hand-felted items available, from a colourful wallhanging depicting some aspect of Orkney to a more practical tea-cosy, scarf or purse. And just for fun there are mice, flowers or teddy bears, all designed, hand-felted and handmade at The Woolshed. We have packs of naturally coloured fleece to keep felt makers and spinners happy!
Hand woven in our own workshop, maybe even with handspun yarn, we have a variety of goodies such as cushions, bags, table runners, scarves or maybe even a waistcoat .
N.B. We are around most week days between 11.00 and 17.00 but please ring first if you want to be certain as we are hoping to have some trips out ourselves. Most days and times can be arranged by mutual agreement so do please ring or email.