Merlin's Hill Wool Collection
The Processes
Shearing
All of our sheep are shorn annually,we use local shearing contractors to do this. These contractors are qualified and are experienced with our sheep. The fleece is taken away in one piece, with any dirt pulled out before being rolled and placed in the wool bag.
Sorting The wool
With all the wool taken from the sheep, we can now sort the wool by hand. This is a very time consuming job, but does wonders for your hands. Handling the wool releases the natural lanolin oil making them very soft.
The wool is sorted into white, brown and mixed. Mixed being anything that we can't separate easily or anything that is greying from older sheep.
At The Weavers
Once the wool has been sorted into the three colours, we take them to a local woollen mill, that is approx 20 miles from where the sheep have been grazing.
Here the wool is washed, spun and woven to create the wonderful fabrics we have to offer you. The wool will be made into blankets, throws, knee rugs and lengths of material on roll.
This allows us to then make more wonderful things from the material on a roll.
Back at the Farm
After we have collected the finished items from the weaver, we are able to add our own labels to the blankets, throws and knee rugs, before we get creative and make a variety of accessories including cushions and scarves, to name a few.
The Final Piece
As you can imagine, we try and do most of the work ourselves. If this is not possible then we rely on the work of local specialists. This guarantees that every stage of the process happens in Wales, mainly Carmarthenshire. You can feel certain when you purchase an item from us, that we can tell you all you want to know about our sheep, their lives and how truly traceable your garment is.