Swaledale garments and yarns

Ruth Strong of Well House, Hesket new Market, near Wigton, uses wool from the family’s 900 ewe Swaledale flock to produce knitting yarns and garments.

The family runs two farms, about three miles apart totalling about 360 acres and supplemented by some rented land plus fell grazings. Apart from the Swaledales, there is also a small flock of Shetland sheep kept for their wool.

“I cannot remember how I first got involved with wool. I know my mother was very much into wool and first taught me how to knit when I was about four years old. Things just went on from there.

“We have a derogation from the British Wool Marketing Board to use some of our own wool. We send fleeces away to be spun into wool, some of which we dye and some of which is left in its natural colours.

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Swaledales at Well House

“I knit myself and have two hand knitters producing garments for me. Being hand knitters we can produce bespoke garments. For instance we had one order for a very tall person with long arms.

“Strangely, we find that with the knitting yarns the dyed yarns sell best, but the demand for garments is mostly for the undyed wool.

“We sell some products direct, but the Wool Clip shop is one of our main outlets. Organisations such as Made in Cumbria are very useful, but their marketing is geared to larger quantities than we can supply. The nature of our business also means that it is difficult to supply numbers of identical products,” she said.