WOOLLY WEEKENDS
Understand the basics with harvesting, selecting, prepping and washing raw sheep fleece ready to use for a multitude of craft activities that include spinning, weaving, knitting, felting etc - over 18’s only
Tuition is provided by our team of experts, that includes Andy as master Blade Shearer and Jen as wool handler, grader and selector, combining British genetics to grow fine, colourful and curly sheep fibres at Fernhill Farm
We also have textile graduates, spinning enthusiasts, retired tutors etc whom have enjoyed a life time working with fleece and fibres, where each person shares different skills and all are incredibly knowledgeable about many aspects of wool textile crafts
We are all here to assist, encourage and listen as we progress through the woolly weekends at our own pace - everyone is welcome at any stage of their understanding of working with wool as a completely natural fibre
Programme of workshop details:
Friday 1.30pm - 4pm - optional Extras*
1. Weaving a chunky tuffet seat pad using Fernhill Style Peg Looms:
This session is designed to enable a gentle welcome to allow time for participants to travel in daylight hours, and meet the team whilst chatting about their own wool journey, ready for the next few days ahead. These create your own personalised warm and cosy seat pad ready for all your next sessions
*Optional Extra - the tuffett session can be repeated on Sunday for those not able to attend Friday - please let us know in advance thanks
Friday 1.30pm - 4pm - optional Extras*
2. Natural Dyes with Ria Burns using Fernhill Fibres:
In this half day workshop Ria will show you how to work with natural dyes using plants and flowers grown on the farm and in their garden.
You can choose from a selection of prepared Fernhill fleece, yarns or even a cotton project bag to dye on the day
Saturday Spin Day - Option 1
Demonstrations:
Blade Shearing Demonstration - Fernhill Fibre Flocks
Wool Handling on grading tables, throwing fleeces and sorting fibres for pre-processing
Discussions:
· Native colours from our Best of the British Six
· Micron and fibre diameter testing, Soft Rolling Skin (SRS)
· Fibre length, strength and causes of staple weaknesses
· Sheep fleece parts and their subsequent qualities
· What is kemp and its effect on finished yarns
· Using seconds and waste wool
· Ways of washing wool, lanolin removal, lanolin rich fleece
· Drying fleece
· Storage of fleece and yarns etc
Practical hands-on:
· Picking, carding, making rolags using hand carders and carding machine
· Spinning hand-made rolags, with access to Fernhill Fibre tops and sliver, using drop spindles and range of spinning wheels
· Yarns onto bobbins on spinning wheels
· Yarns into balls from drop spindles
· Plying yarns - 2 or 3 ply hanks (skeins)
· Hanks into balls ready to knit or weave
Saturday with Jane Hunt - Option 2
Meet the fleece:
Have you ever been tempted to buy a raw fleece and enjoy the whole process from sheep to skein but felt you wouldn’t know where to begin once you’d got it home?
Join Jane Hunt on Saturday 24th October and unroll a fleece together. Explore the crimp and staple length and discuss what that tells us about the type of yarn we can spin and discover which are the finer and which the coarser areas of the fleece and what they might be used for.
The fleece will then be divided up for washing and you will look at doing both a cold soak and a hot wash and discuss which you might choose to do and why. We will also look at how to dry our cleaned fleece and the best way to store it until we are ready to use it.
Sunday Play Day - Choice of activities:
Yarns created on Saturday can be knitted or woven - tuition provided on all our equipment throughout the day.
· Carding and Combing - making rolags to spin or weave
· Drop Spindles & Spinning Wheels - learn to spin and ply yarns
· Knitting - learn a new skill, enhance your skills with needles
· Giant French Knitting - selection of yarns to create snoods ready to take home and wear
· Weaving - have a go on Brinkley and Rigid Heddle Looms
· Pin Looms - access our equipment - square, triangle, and rectangles available
· Peg Loom Weaving - create Tuffet seat pads using raw fleece
· 2D needle felting - picture art on felt squares - relaxing, social activity, ideal to explore hand skills, creating textile art formations and allows participants to take a break from other textile activities.
· 3D needle felting with Lesley Hill - curly wool sheep
· Wet Felting a Trug with Lesley Hill - 1/2 day workshop
· Sunday can also be used as additional time for spinning practice, plying etc
Start and End Timings: Saturdays & Sundays 10am - 4pm with an hour for lunch
Optional Extras: Friday - 2pm - 4pm
Location: Horseshoe Barn or Saloon – both are single story, ground floor, underfloor heated workshop space with ample parking, kitchen-diner and lots of space for workshop activities - ramps throughout the barns
Price / day: £150pp - includes a full day of woolly activities, use of all our craft equipment, materials for spinning, weaving & felting, and one-one and group tuition from 7+ textile experts
Price / ½ day: £60 - includes a half day of woolly activities, use of our crafting equipment, materials for your chosen workshop and group tuition from designated textile expert
All options include access to a range of drinks, juices, home made cakes, and those on the full days we meet for a two course hot, homegrown lunch - all dietary requirements are catered for when pre-booked
Our Horseshoe barn is underfloor heated throughout and is exceptionally large and cosy with more than ample space for us to create individual work stations throughout the rooms. The Saloon is our workshop space, ideal for natural dye, meet a fleece and wet felting workshops
What to bring along etc: No previous skills required – welcome to bring own wheel if you wish but not necessary – dress warm for a mini farm tour to the sheep shearing shed, where we encourage you to bring boots and slippers / slip-ons
How To Book: Options include:
WOOLLY WEEKEND FEES* - Saturday and Sunday @ £300pp
Friday - £60pp Tuffet weaving
Friday - Natural Dyes £60 with Ria Burns
Saturday Spin Day £150
Spend the day with Jane Distaff Spinning £150
Sunday Play Day @ £150
Wet Felting £60
Needle Felting £60
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bunk Bed @ £50pp/n*
Campervans @ £25/n
We also host our Mutton Club supper during WOOLLY WEEKENDS, which have become a fabulous addition to these social weekends - the menu will follow soon - here is the link to book - these are optional extras
*All fees include VAT so please ask if you require a VAT receipt thanks
We have also rustic, cosy onsite single-use accommodation units (Basement or Static Caravan) - these accommodation units can be pre-booked www.fernhill-farm.co.uk or email jen@fernhill-farm.co.uk
*If you are willing to share accommodation - please select Bunk Bed option at £50/n at checkout
BYO campervan - please select Van option at £25/n/van at checkout
Any queries, I am here to help thanks jen@fernhill-farm.co.uk
WOOLLY WEEKENDS
Understand the basics with harvesting, selecting, prepping and washing raw sheep fleece ready to use for a multitude of craft activities that include spinning, weaving, knitting, felting etc - over 18’s only
Tuition is provided by our team of experts, that includes Andy as master Blade Shearer and Jen as wool handler, grader and selector, combining British genetics to grow fine, colourful and curly sheep fibres at Fernhill Farm
We also have textile graduates, spinning enthusiasts, retired tutors etc whom have enjoyed a life time working with fleece and fibres, where each person shares different skills and all are incredibly knowledgeable about many aspects of wool textile crafts
We are all here to assist, encourage and listen as we progress through the woolly weekends at our own pace - everyone is welcome at any stage of their understanding of working with wool as a completely natural fibre
Programme of workshop details:
Friday 1.30pm - 4pm - optional Extras*
1. Weaving a chunky tuffet seat pad using Fernhill Style Peg Looms:
This session is designed to enable a gentle welcome to allow time for participants to travel in daylight hours, and meet the team whilst chatting about their own wool journey, ready for the next few days ahead. These create your own personalised warm and cosy seat pad ready for all your next sessions
*Optional Extra - the tuffett session can be repeated on Sunday for those not able to attend Friday - please let us know in advance thanks
Friday 1.30pm - 4pm - optional Extras*
2. Natural Dyes with Ria Burns using Fernhill Fibres:
In this half day workshop Ria will show you how to work with natural dyes using plants and flowers grown on the farm and in their garden.
You can choose from a selection of prepared Fernhill fleece, yarns or even a cotton project bag to dye on the day
Saturday Spin Day - Option 1
Demonstrations:
Blade Shearing Demonstration - Fernhill Fibre Flocks
Wool Handling on grading tables, throwing fleeces and sorting fibres for pre-processing
Discussions:
· Native colours from our Best of the British Six
· Micron and fibre diameter testing, Soft Rolling Skin (SRS)
· Fibre length, strength and causes of staple weaknesses
· Sheep fleece parts and their subsequent qualities
· What is kemp and its effect on finished yarns
· Using seconds and waste wool
· Ways of washing wool, lanolin removal, lanolin rich fleece
· Drying fleece
· Storage of fleece and yarns etc
Practical hands-on:
· Picking, carding, making rolags using hand carders and carding machine
· Spinning hand-made rolags, with access to Fernhill Fibre tops and sliver, using drop spindles and range of spinning wheels
· Yarns onto bobbins on spinning wheels
· Yarns into balls from drop spindles
· Plying yarns - 2 or 3 ply hanks (skeins)
· Hanks into balls ready to knit or weave
Saturday with Jane Hunt - Option 2
Meet the fleece:
Have you ever been tempted to buy a raw fleece and enjoy the whole process from sheep to skein but felt you wouldn’t know where to begin once you’d got it home?
Join Jane Hunt on Saturday 24th October and unroll a fleece together. Explore the crimp and staple length and discuss what that tells us about the type of yarn we can spin and discover which are the finer and which the coarser areas of the fleece and what they might be used for.
The fleece will then be divided up for washing and you will look at doing both a cold soak and a hot wash and discuss which you might choose to do and why. We will also look at how to dry our cleaned fleece and the best way to store it until we are ready to use it.
Sunday Play Day - Choice of activities:
Yarns created on Saturday can be knitted or woven - tuition provided on all our equipment throughout the day.
· Carding and Combing - making rolags to spin or weave
· Drop Spindles & Spinning Wheels - learn to spin and ply yarns
· Knitting - learn a new skill, enhance your skills with needles
· Giant French Knitting - selection of yarns to create snoods ready to take home and wear
· Weaving - have a go on Brinkley and Rigid Heddle Looms
· Pin Looms - access our equipment - square, triangle, and rectangles available
· Peg Loom Weaving - create Tuffet seat pads using raw fleece
· 2D needle felting - picture art on felt squares - relaxing, social activity, ideal to explore hand skills, creating textile art formations and allows participants to take a break from other textile activities.
· 3D needle felting with Lesley Hill - curly wool sheep
· Wet Felting a Trug with Lesley Hill - 1/2 day workshop
· Sunday can also be used as additional time for spinning practice, plying etc
Start and End Timings: Saturdays & Sundays 10am - 4pm with an hour for lunch
Optional Extras: Friday - 2pm - 4pm
Location: Horseshoe Barn or Saloon – both are single story, ground floor, underfloor heated workshop space with ample parking, kitchen-diner and lots of space for workshop activities - ramps throughout the barns
Price / day: £150pp - includes a full day of woolly activities, use of all our craft equipment, materials for spinning, weaving & felting, and one-one and group tuition from 7+ textile experts
Price / ½ day: £60 - includes a half day of woolly activities, use of our crafting equipment, materials for your chosen workshop and group tuition from designated textile expert
All options include access to a range of drinks, juices, home made cakes, and those on the full days we meet for a two course hot, homegrown lunch - all dietary requirements are catered for when pre-booked
Our Horseshoe barn is underfloor heated throughout and is exceptionally large and cosy with more than ample space for us to create individual work stations throughout the rooms. The Saloon is our workshop space, ideal for natural dye, meet a fleece and wet felting workshops
What to bring along etc: No previous skills required – welcome to bring own wheel if you wish but not necessary – dress warm for a mini farm tour to the sheep shearing shed, where we encourage you to bring boots and slippers / slip-ons
How To Book: Options include:
WOOLLY WEEKEND FEES* - Saturday and Sunday @ £300pp
Friday - £60pp Tuffet weaving
Friday - Natural Dyes £60 with Ria Burns
Saturday Spin Day £150
Spend the day with Jane Distaff Spinning £150
Sunday Play Day @ £150
Wet Felting £60
Needle Felting £60
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bunk Bed @ £50pp/n*
Campervans @ £25/n
We also host our Mutton Club supper during WOOLLY WEEKENDS, which have become a fabulous addition to these social weekends - the menu will follow soon - here is the link to book - these are optional extras
*All fees include VAT so please ask if you require a VAT receipt thanks
We have also rustic, cosy onsite single-use accommodation units (Basement or Static Caravan) - these accommodation units can be pre-booked www.fernhill-farm.co.uk or email jen@fernhill-farm.co.uk
*If you are willing to share accommodation - please select Bunk Bed option at £50/n at checkout
BYO campervan - please select Van option at £25/n/van at checkout
Any queries, I am here to help thanks jen@fernhill-farm.co.uk
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