The founding father of a West Wales firm, who hand dyes British wool yarns utilizing botanical extracts and pure dyeing strategies, can’t wait to launch two new merchandise at subsequent month’s Wonderwool Wales.
Helen Hickman, proprietor of Nellie and Eve -www.nellieandeve.com – based mostly close to Llanwrda, is a large fan of the award-winning present that celebrates all that’s nice about Welsh wool and pure fibres.
“It’s the very best present ever,” says Helen who named her enterprise after her grandmothers, Nellie and Eve.
“It by no means fails to amaze me that each stall within the three halls has one thing fully completely different. I keep in mind going to my first present and being completely amazed at how extremely inspirational it was.”
Greater than 230 exhibitors have booked their locations at this yr’s 17th Wonderwool Wales on the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells on April 22 and 23.
The annual competition brings collectively individuals and companies with a ardour for Welsh wool and its versatility as a fabric for inventive crafts, designer garments, house furnishings and extra.
Wonderwool Wales covers every little thing from the begin to the tip of the inventive course of. Reveals of sheep, uncooked and hand dyed fibres, yarn for knitting and crochet, elaborations, gear, dyes and books could be discovered alongside very good examples of completed textile artwork, craft, clothes and residential furnishings.
Nellie and Eve can be launching two yarns which were spun particularly for Wonderwool Wales.
One is a Blue Confronted Leicester yarn made out of fleece chosen by Helen from an area farm. The opposite is a yarn spun from the fleece of a small flock of Shetland sheep from the farm subsequent door to the place she lives.
“The vital issues for me are that I’m supporting native farms and the footprint of getting the yarn produced is as small as attainable,” stated Helen, who moved to Wales from Somerset along with her husband, Simon, 20 years in the past.
As she was surrounded by sheep, it appeared solely pure that she launched a wool-based enterprise, having been taught methods to knit and crochet as a baby in Surrey. She learnt methods to spin in weave in Wales.
Helen, who additionally runs workshops on spinning and plant dyeing wool, says there’s a “misplaced era” of people that didn’t get taught the inventive abilities however at the moment are eager to be taught.
The colors of the Nellie and Eve’s yarns are impressed by the panorama and altering seasons of a Welsh mountain.
Sourced from small, native farms, your complete manufacturing of unique ‘Restricted Version’ and ‘Single Farm’ collections is stored to inside 50 miles of Helen’s studio and spun at a household owned woollen mill, Curlew Weavers at Rhydlewis, Llandysul.
Conscious of the surroundings, yarns are dyed in small batches utilizing water from a pure spring, compostable supplies and plastic free packaging.
Wonderwool Wales tickets – value £12 per day or £22 for the weekend – could also be bought on-line upfront at www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk or on the gate.
For extra data, go to www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk, like Wonderwool Wales Ltd on Fb or comply with on Twitter @wonderwoolwales and Instagram @wonderwoolwales.
