Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Angus knitting yarn in demand from Alaska to Australia

The wool is the stuff of Champions.
The wool is the stuff of Champions.

An Angus couple’s knitting yarn has sparked demand from as far afield as Alaska and Australia.

Dan and Rosemary Champion run about 100 laying hens, breed Shetland cattle for beef and milk, raise a few weaner pigs and a batch of meat chickens over the summer.

Rosemary Champion.
Rosemary Champion.

The couple – who have been smallholders in Barry since 2010 – also breed Coloured Ryeland sheep, as well as growing fruit and vegetables and caring for a couple of hives of bees.

Rosemary said: “Just like there is a market for high welfare, known provenance food products, so there is a market for high welfare, known provenance knitting yarn.

“We’re hoping to build on having a great product in a single flock, native breed yarn available online.”

Rosemary said that although they have kept sheep since 2007, until this year the wool they get from their sheep “has been a rather neglected resource and shearing has mainly been a welfare issue”.

She said: “Our flock is small – we have around 15 breeding ewes – and the Coloured Ryeland is a traditional native breed that was rare but is now growing in popularity – in part because of its quality fleece and meat but also because of its docile nature and attractive appearance.

Barry business sell wool for first time

“We’ve always felt the we could do more with our fleeces.

“We sold some to hand spinners and crafters but a lot ended up in muddy gateways and in hanging baskets.”

Rosemary said that one of the couple’s staunch supporters is Sue Black from the Natural Fibre Company in Devon.

“Sue has been encouraging us to have our fleeces processed into knitting yarn for years,” said Rosemary.

“So this year we decided to take the plunge and sent off 13 fleeces for processing.

“Coloured Ryeland fleece is of very good quality and it comes in a range of colours from creamy grey to dark chocolate brown.

“We decided to go for one batch made from all thirteen fleeces. We’re very pleased with the result.”

Dan builds websites for a living and set up www.rosedeanryelands.co.uk with its own online shop.

Support from local spinner, knitter and photographer Jeni Reid; Leona-Jayne Kelly from Dundee yarn shop Fluph; and Louise Scollay from the KnitBritish blog helped spread the word.

Rosemary said: “In fact, it’s Louise’s regular podcast that led to the orders from Alaska and New South Wales, Australia.

“Our lovely shearer, Alistair Stewart, has been and completed our 2016 clip and we have 19 fleeces ready to go to the Natural Fibre Company this week.

“We’re hoping to do two batches this year – a dark one and a light one.”