Other than announcing the Sale, it's all been a little quiet from me across all the platforms- that's cause I've been working my butt off getting everything ready and setting things in motion for this year. 

Woollen Wytch is changing tactics and making moves to be more ethical and sustainable in 2023- something I've wanted to do from the start. 

MERINO BE GONE. 

Once the last few skeins on Merino are gone from the store, I will no longer be dyeing Merino yarn and fibre. This is one of the major steps I am taking this year. I've been scared of taking this step because Merino is a popular yarn for many but I think this is the right move for Woollen Wytch. 

Almost all commercially available Merino on the market is farmed and produced in South America or Australia, and its adds a huge carbon footprint to get to the UK. When we have so many fantastic breeds of sheep in the UK, it seems ridiculous to ignore resources on our doorstep and by moving to UK wool I'm hoping to avoid the additional emissions on my conscience. 

WOOL MADE IN THE UK, SPUN IN THE UK. 

All yarns dyed and sold by Woollen Wytch in the future will be 100% produced in the UK, both farmed and spun- something many indie dyers can't honestly claim.

Whilst Blued Faced Leicester is available from most Indie dyers as a Merino alternative, not many will realise that one of the largest and popular undyed yarn suppliers in the UK actually ship British wool overseas to be spun in South America.

As soon as I found this out, I knew I wanted to be different.

Not only does this add huge a Carbon footprint by shipping wool from the UK to be spun overseas and then shipping it back to the UK, but also the ethical nature of using cheap labour in middle income countries has never sat right with me, and has made me feel very uncomfortable with using this supplier. It seemed one thing to purchase wool and yarns from South America that were produced by South American sheep, but quite another thing to purposely send UK wool to South America.

I've researched and spoken to mills in the UK and made sure that all wool and hand dyed yarn from Woollen Wytch from now on will be made from British wool and spun in the UK- promoting agriculture, aiding local economies and lowering our Carbon impact as a whole. 

(Semi)Regular schedule.

This year, Woollen Wytch will go back to making large Shop Updates of hand dyed yarn- no longer will we have the small pitiful updates I've been doing for the last 12 months. I've set myself a schedule, and will keep to it as best I can. The plan is to start working seasonally, releasing quarterly new colourways that work with the seasons- bright hand dyed yarns in Summer and cosier colours for Autumn and Winter. This gives me enough time to work on colours before the next drop- leading to more regular updates. 

Next shop update

In light of all this news, my next major Shop Update will be coming at the start of March- when I will be launching my hand dyed British yarn.

The new yarn bases I will be working from to start with will be based using Blue Faced Leicester, I'll go into more detail in further blog posts but lets just say its a fantastic alternative to Merino- I barely notice the difference. 

I will also have a select few 'Learn to Spin kits available- now with BFL fibre. 

 There's no set date for the Update just yet- I've still got to dye the last of the 4ply and fibre 😁 and photographs to take. But it will be in the first or second week of March. 

Make sure you join the Woollen Wytch mailing list to get reminders and announcements for Shop updates and new stuff.