Meet Milka
You might be wondering, who even is Milka? You will hear me talk about her often, and you might see her on my website too! Read on to find out why Milka is so important.
On my quest for making a truly handmade item, it means starting from scratch. Truly, from scratch. I got my hands on a sheep fleece from a farmer which was shorn from a sheep named Milka. Here is a photo of Milka provided to me with the fleece from the farmer.
She is a cross between shetland, gotland and Llanwenog sheep with a lustrous fleece in a white/cream shade.
When buying a raw sheep fleece this means it is just as it comes off the sheep. It may have some sticks or grass caught up, soil and other contaminants from the farm. In order to get the ready to turn into yarn I have to process the fleece.
My process includes:- Skirting the fleece
- Soaking the fleece to remove the loose dirt
- Scouring to remove harder to remove dirt and oils
- Dry the fleece once clean
- Pick apart the fleece to fluff it up again
- Card or comb the fleece, depending on desired result
- Spin both singles
- Ply the yarn
- Wind it onto a niddy noddy and secure
- Give a final soak with wool wash to set the twist
- Thwack the yarn to bring out the softness
- Dry
- Tie into a skein
- Label and measure
- Photo shoot for item listing
- Upload to the shop
This is a labour of love, not something I do for the money. I keep my prices as low as possible despite the intensive labour process simply because I want hand spun yarn to be as accessible as possible to everyone.
Making yarn from the raw fleece I bought from a sheep farmer from Wales, means I can make something 100% handmade, from start to finish. It really is something special which you can't get in the big craft / yarn stores.