Caithness Yarns
Crafting Yarns
caithnessyarns.com
Caithness Yarns offers premium quality artisan yarns made from sheep sourced from high welfare small – medium sized farms in the North of Scotland. The focus is on the traditional breed here the North Country Cheviot, with side lines from select British Rare Breed sheep like my own Castlemilk Moorits.
My story is this. I come from a long line of crofters, we Bethune’s have been here in Dunbeath since the 1830’s, with just a wee break when my dad left to work away before moving back over 20 years ago. For the longest time as a family the men both crofted and fished. I often thank the maker I don’t have to go to sea. I am a poor sailor, I once was seasick on a ferry while it was still tied to the dock. I settled here in Caithness in my mid thirties after a diverse and world wide assortment of pastime, I found peace and a sense of really belonging once I committed to farming Ballachly Farm.
Ballachly Farm is a special place. For a small farm of 50 acres it has an amazing diversity of environments, normal farmland grazing, a an ancient Aspen wood, Chapel Hill a place of Medieval trading and maybe worship. Also several novels by the great Scottish Modernist writer Neil Gunn are set on the farm. If you want to know more I will tell the stories of Ballachly in more detail in articles that will appear in the Our Sheepie Stories section of this site.
Being the custodian of this land has touched my heart, its care and improvement has become my obsession and creative outlet. The family and now myself have renovated the farmhouse and outbuildings, building new ones, replacing all farm fencing, improving the quality of the fields. Now I am embarking on further programs of environmental diversification and repair, looking to raise both sheep health and numbers by repairing the slow degradation of the working farmland by intensive overuse of fertilizers and neglect. If you want to know more detail about what we have done and hope to do in the future look in our Sheepie Stories page.
Producing top quality crafting yarns directly from my own and friends happy healthy sheep. For more than 10 years wool is the main crop here, the farming and animal management is aimed at producing better and better fleeces for yarns.
What is so amazing about working with British wool?
British wool has unrivalled quality and diversity, whatever your needs are for fibre there is a British Breed or farm that can satisfy your requirements.
If any/ what have been your challenges with working with British wool and a local way of working?
The main things are the desperate lack of facilities and processing available.
What gauge of knitwear do you sell? i.e. fine gauge 10-12gg or more chunky knits such as 7-5gg
From 2ply laceweight through to super chunky.
Do you finish onsite? If not, is it convenient or what would be your ideal situation?
Yes, finishing myself saves 25% of processing costs.
Do you find a lot of push back in the industry in terms of working with British wool?
No
Do you find that customers are becoming more interested in British wool?
Absolutely but more can and should be done to ensure this continues to grow.
Do you have any hero farmers or people in your supply chain you would like to highlight?
This is cheating because I’m the farmer, so ME!
*I really want to push the importance of provenance, origin and to celebrate ethical and environmentally positive farming. Proving that the economic and quality case for everyone is achievable.