A project using local Organic Dorset Down sheep’s wool to make a limited edition collection of hand-woven ‘Hands in the Earth’ Jacquard weaves.

Four original designs: ‘Winter Water’, ‘Sail Stitch’, ‘Seed’ & ‘Dancing Ledge’.

‘I opened the box Kirsty had sent me of the sample jacquard weaves, each unique piece wrapped in tissue paper, they were a joy. Seeing my marks for the first time in a weave, and the deep, chalky colour of the Dorset Down wool, was beyond anything I had hoped for. They had a wonderful smell and feel of the wool, a movement of the mark, and a reminder of the earth, visible on both sides of the jacquard weave.'

I asked Kirsty McDougall who runs the inspiring Re-Weave Textiles studio, to experiment with my field patterns on a handwoven jacquard weave. The provenance of the wool I was using was important, and I sourced organic Dorset Down sheep’s wool from the lovely and knowledgeable Ellen Simms at Tamarisk Farm, right on the edge of the sea at West Bexington, Dorset. Ellen let me buy the last of her wool for the project. The Dorset Down wool has a wonderful, warm, intense chalk colour. I dyed and painted some of it with my Autumn 2024 walnut ink. And I combined the Dorset Down with wool from a family, Zwartbal sheep which brought the dark, walnut cusp colour I wanted. I took the raw Zwartbal sheep’s wool to David and Ruth at Rampisham Hill Mill, Beaminster, Dorset, to be cleaned and spun. They were amazing and took me through the process of the mill from raw to spun for the weaves.

Hand woven ‘Hands in the Earth’ weaves, size:  30 x 36 cm

Please contact us if you would like to purchase one of these limited edition pieces.