16 knittingmag.comKristina adds: “Roger has seen the whole journey of the wool market.
Five years before we started to collaborate he was almost thinking
of closing his mill because it was so quiet. In the past ive years it
has become more buoyant and he has taken on apprentices, which is
really good news for the industry. There is a slow but certain uptick.”
Romney Marsh’s wool production has been spurred on by Kristina’s
husband Paul’s enthusiasm for this part of the farm business. “We
both saw a real opportunity to put wool back on the map,” she says. “It
is natural, renewable, sustainable and an incredibly versatile product.
To us it seems incredible that so much is imported from around the
world when we produce it on our doorstep.”
When they originally started thinking about launching the
business, British wool was “pretty much on the loor”, according to
Kristina, with 80% going into carpets – also a declining industry as
wooden loors and under-loor heating grow in popularity. “We didn’t
want to have all our eggs in one basket, and felt sure there were still
incredible makers in the UK to produce wonderful products,” she says.
“Wool will have its day again in the future for all the right
reasons. Everything about sheep has a purpose – for example,
they graze and manage our lands on the farm. They probably
cut my husband’s work in half in terms of what he has to do, and
managing the landscape is an important element in modern-
day farming. It also preserves our natural-looking landscape for
everyone to enjoy. They produce wonderful leeces, from the wool
to the lanolin itself, which goes into a whole range of products,
such as the toiletries we do. I love the idea that nothing from wool
needs to be wasted – sheep really are fabulous.”She adds: “Wool is not just good for the environment, the
ibres themselves are phenomenal. If you look at them under a
microscope they have scales. The scales open up against the skin
and can absorb moisture, so it both warms you and cools you
down. It’s great to use in packaging and bedding – we now also
sell wool bedding. Wool is also an incredibly strong ibre – you
can bend a single ibre 20 times before it will snap. That makes
it incredibly durable, and it is also a natural ire retardant. It is
stretchy, so if you wash it you will see it will change shape during
the process because the ibres are elastic.”
Over the years Kristina has collaborated with more and more
makers to promote her wools. “My mother-in-law is my seamstress.
I have got a knitter in the village who makes my patterns. There
is a chemist who does the toiletries. We have another lady in Wye,
who knits things like my ingerless mittens and gloves. Someone
else does my moccasins, and Lawrence & Foster in Yorkshire make
our hats,” she says.
She sells at yarn fairs, country fairs and boutique fairs around
the country, via stockists – mainly top-end gift shops – and
through her website. The farm also holds occasional open days,
with the next falling on April 5 during lambing season. Three years
ago she began producing enough wool to start wholesaling, which
was a game changer for her woven wool blankets. “Before that,
what retailers wanted to pay for them was what they cost me to
produce,” she says.
“We have grown organically over 10 years, and it has been a case
of going along and investing back into the business,” Kristina says.PHOTOGRAPH: MATILDA DELVES PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHS UNLESS STATED : LAUREL GUILFOYLE PHOTOGRAPH: MATILDA DELVES PHOTOGRAPHY