We had a lovely surprise at the Ullswater Country Show when 2 of the spinners who produce our Herdy yarn in Guisely in Yorkshire stopped by to say hello.  They were really excited to see yarns that they’d been working hard on in our Herdy kits all ready to be sold to knitters and crafters.

When they’re producing all the yarn in the mill, they rarely get to see it in its retail form; they’re just in a mill full of wool.  It’s a modern mill, but there are still lots of very traditional things about that environment.  When you’re in a mill dealing with tons and tons of materials every week, you process the yarn, send it to dispatch and it’s on its way and it’s rare for them to see their finished product in our knit kits.

The two spinners Dot and an have been spinners for many years – Ian is now retired, but his partner still works in Laxtons mill near Leeds – and although mills have changed enormously over the years, there’s still a real community and sense of camaraderie with those working there.  Being a traditional industry they’re passionate about what they do and it’s important to them to do a really good job so it’s the icing on the cake for them when they see their hard work for sale in something as lovely as our Herdy knit kits.

It takes a lot of skills and experience to produce the quality of wools that we use and it’s important that everyone in the mill works together to produce the end product, with everyone involved taking a real pride in the work that they do. Dot and Ian were chuffed to bits watching people buying the knit kits and knowing that they were an important part of that entire process, and we were thrilled to meet them and extend the Herdy family just a little bit further.