Woolplay

Woolplay loves British sheep and their wool. wow! Check out our website woolplay.co.uk for rovings, yarns, kits and more.

It started with our flock of rare breed Leicester Longwools and has grown into a field to fibre wool producer and stockist business.

27/05/2026

We've had a fab day at the Suffolk Show today. We spent the morning watching the sheep classes as well as having a good wander round the pens looking at potential sheep breeds to add to our current offering of British sheep yarns and fibres.

The Leicester Longwools did very well in the Longwool classes with a Leicester Longwool ram
ending up as supreme champion - well done Barry and Chris!

It was also great seeing youngsters showing sheep - they are so necessary to the survival of many of rare breeds beyond the current generations of sheep breeders.

25/05/2026

With the country's sheep population being sheared at the moment, you may well be interested in or being offered a fleece or two.

Although I send most of my fleeces away to be commercially processed, I can never resist keeping a couple back to process myself. I've not got all the way from fleece to finished items, though I've plenty of spun skeins!

I know how daunting it can feel to have a raw fleece and wonder what you have to do to get to the spinning stage.

So Woolplay has just started a series of blogs to help you starting with what to look for when buying or accepting a fleece. Over the coming weeks there will be further blogs which will go through the various steps in the process to get from fleece to fibre. What you do with it afterwards is up to you!

https://www.woolplay.co.uk/post/what-to-look-for-when-you-buy-or-accept-a-fleece

24/05/2026

One warp, two completely different towels! I used 8/4 white for the warp and then played with two very different designs.

Let me know which you prefer?

23/05/2026

When we have our sheep shorn, I usually keep back a fleece or two to process myself. This year I kept back Annie's fleece. This was her first year of shearing. Annie was a cad lamb last year when we needed a lamb to keep our rejected lamb company. She's a Cheviot cross Northern Mule and her fleece was lovely and soft. which is not always the case

So yesterday I washed her fleece and when it was clean but still wet, I thought I'd dye it in the hopes that a colourful fleece would be more tempting to process than a white one. I dyed it with blue, turquoise and purple dyed mixed together to get a good blend of colours. Next step will be remove the remaining VM (vegetable matter) and start carding so watch this space

22/05/2026

Isn't it great that making is not only enjoyable but is also good for us unlike eating chocolate or drinking wine! Not that I don't do those too!
I've made things for most of my life and I'm sure it's what helped me to survive a very demanding job for so long - I've knitted and hand quilted on long haul flights and in hotel bedrooms of an evening. Sometimes dreaming of the next project and the yarns you might use is just as relaxing. I stop thinking of everything else when I make and it takes my thoughts away of work or chores or the challenging times we live in.
So when I started Woolplay (indeed clue in the name) I wanted to encourage play and making as much as using British Wool. Almost from day 1 we've held regular cake + make get togethers so you can come and make at our studio. I love them as it's time out for me to work on a project and if I get some company so much the better.

So if you're around this afternoon why not pop over any time after 2pm and give yourself permission to play and make

19/05/2026

I so enjoyed making this pair of cushions. The textured part of them are a hand spun blend of wool and silk and the "plain" backs and sections are natural dyed local yarn. With the drama of both the weft yarns, a plain weave seemed just right. I wove them on my Louet David floor loom

16/05/2026

Light coloured Ryeland roving are back in stock!

Ryeland sheep come in two shades - white and coloured. Within the coloured fleeces there are always some lighter coloured ones which I like to separate out for processing into rovings and yarn. There are less of them than the darker fleeces so we only get small volumes back from the mill.

The micron count is 25-32 and staple length is 3-5 inches. And it so soft you just don't want to stop squishing it!

Check it out in fibres on woolplay.co.uk

15/05/2026

This is my latest knitting project! I'm using two shades of worsted spun Leicester Longwool DK that I dyed with nettles a few weeks back. It's proving lovely to knit with. I'm knitting the rib and the top yoke in the darker shade with the lighter shade for the main body.

I will be natural dyeing more of the Leicester Longwool DK so look out for updates. And if you can't wait to try out this fab yarn, the natural cream is gorgeous too!

14/05/2026

Just a reminder that the Woolplay studio is open today through to Saturday from 10 till 4. You can find the studio on Hollow Lane, Mendham Suffolk IP20 0JP, just off the B1123 after you come through Withersdale Street, or just before you get to the village if you're coming from Metfield/Halesworth direction.

And we've cake + make this afternoon from 2pm so if you have a woolly project why not come along and make in crafty company ?

13/05/2026

Today was our first beginner spinning day for two wool crafty ladies. One had spun previously a long time ago and the other had once done a spinning day. By the end of the day they had both produced very creditable skeins of yarn and have gone home very happy and exhausted!

We don't run regular workshops but are always happy to provide a bespoke day or half day on a particular topic be it fleece preparation, dyeing, rigid heddle weaving, weaving wall hangings or beginner spinning.

12/05/2026

Shetland sheep are famous for their incredible natural colour range, from soft creamy whites and warm fawns to greys, browns, and deep moorit shades. That beautiful variety makes Shetland wool a dream for makers who love working with undyed fibres that already carry so much variety.

At Woolplay, you can enjoy undyed Shetland wool in 4ply weight as well as rovings giving you a different ways to work with this versatile British wool depending on your craft.

At this time of year 4ply yarns are perfect for lightweight knits, colourwork, and finer garments. We also love using the rovings for spinning, blending, and fibre projects that let the wool’s natural shades be the centre of attention.

Whether you’re drawn to a subtle tonal palette or a richer mix of shades, Shetland wool offers endless inspiration straight from the fleece. It’s a wonderful example of how British sheep breeds bring beauty, individuality, and heritage to every handmade project.

Address

Harleston
IP200JP

Website

http://woolplay.co.uk/

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