Moulin Yarns is a hobby that grew out of a request from my wife, Linda, so it’s really not my fault! She wanted me to find a hobby which I could do in the evenings while watching the television. Linda knits, so one day when she was busy buying some knitting supplies and I was hanging about waiting (come on, you know what I mean!) I saw a notice for a class in weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom. I thought it sounded interesting so booked myself on the course, enjoyed it and got myself my own loom and started weaving scarves. So far so good, weaving is something I can do in the evenings while watching television -Result!
A while later, at one of the big knitting shows at Harrogate, there was a man demonstrating a spinning tool called the Bogway Spinner. Imagine an old fashioned football rattle, that he was spinning wool with. I bought one and started spinning… badly! After a bit of practice I was able to produce small amounts of yarn, then Linda bought me a drop spindle and I improved enough to be able to spin consistent yarn, but still only in small quantities. That prompted me to think about a spinning wheel. Well, being the kind of guy that checks things before buying I did my research and decided on the wheel I wanted, but what if I wasn’t any good at spinning using a wheel, I had never tried. So, in February 2016 I went to Wingham Wool Works in Wentwort, South Yorkshire for a 2 day ‘learn to spin’ course and, yes, I came home with my wheel!! A Kromski Fantasia spinning wheel, and the rest, as they say, is history. Moulin Yarns was born. Now I can spin a 100g skein of plied wool over the course of a week in the evenings while watching television. As any spinner will tell you you need more than one spinning wheel! I’ve now got a second wheel, a Majacraft Susie Pro which is a lovely piece of kit.
The third string to my bow is dyeing. I began experimenting with dyeing yarn in 2012 and started to dye small batches of yarn in my kitchen. The enjoyment of seeing the resulting effects spurred me on and I was soon producing different styles of coloured yarn, semi-solid colours, dip dyed and speckled yarns are the main styles of yarn I produce. Linda need never go elsewhere for yarn ever again and now my yarn range is available to you too, either here online or in person at my studio and craft fairs. Check out the Events Page to see where you will find Moulin Yarns.
I also acquired some fleeces from local farms and have had the wool processed and spun into a lovely natural grey coloured yarn which I have named ‘Purely Perthshire’.