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THE SHEEP THAT TOOK TO SEA
"Wats on my lover"?
We see you have found our treasure of Shipwreck Yarns. Well...seeing as you are already here, I guess we should tell you the perilous story. One moonlit night, a brave and cunning sheep took to sea upon a small fishing boat. It set sail for adventures unknown off the Cornish coast. A storm like no other swept in, with winds battering and waves crashing down as high as mountains. This daft and silly sheep was shipwrecked upon hard and jagged rocks.
As the storm broke and dawn rose its misfortune was not over yet. A Mersheep, half fish and half sheep (yeah, that's right), offered the stranded lamb safe passage back to shore on one condition. "Forevermore your fleece will be stained with the colors of the Cornish sea, the storms, shores, and skies; your wool will change as the seasons do," offered the Mersheep. Being a proud and noble sheep, the shipwrecked ewe considered for a moment. "Will my fleece remain soft with lustre and touch?" bleated the sheep. "It will remain as soft as the sea mist," replied the Mersheep.
Agreeing with the creature, the sheep was thrown back to shore and, as it flew, captured all the colors of the storms, the sea, the shore, and the skies just as the Mersheep had said. It was there on the beach in South Cornwall that we found the sheep, forever now to be known as 'Shipwreck'.
Hand-dyed in Cornwall and inspired the story of our poor shipwrecked sheep. Our yarns capture the colours of the coast and land around us here in Cornwall. Dyed with a mixture of natural and self-levelling dyes on a variety of yarn bases including single-origin flock bases from the Raw Wool Company. We are the only dyers to have exclusive use of Raw Wool Co bases to dye upon so we are very lucky. Founded in 2024 Shipwreck Yarns is a small collection of indie dyers with a passion for beautiful yarns and keeping our impact on the environment as minimal as possible. By returning our water to a safe PH before either recycling or disposing we make sure we are keeping our friends in the oceans clean and safe. All our skein labels are compostable and free of toxic chemicals. It is our way making beautiful yarns in the best way we can.
WORKING WITH RAW WOOL COMPANY
At the Raw Wool Company, they have structured their business on being circular. We love to celebrate British breeds because each breed has its own fiber identity. These unique profiles to the fleece create different wear and use for the fiber. Wensleydale is strong and glossy and has great drape when knitted, Merino is voluminous and bouncy, Dorset is kemp-free and squidgy, and Romney is durable and light.
This is where we introduce Anton, Steve aka "The Salty Shepherd" and Sarah; just down the road from us in Porthleven they keep the sheep who's fiber makes the Raw Wool Bases, Wensleydale, Dorsets, Romney and Zwartbles are kept in fields overlooking the South West Cornish sea.
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Spun in Cornwall and skeined by hand the Raw Wool bases are extra special by giving you the whole story from farm to finished skein.
