'Pacas get nekkid! Ed's first shearing week at Toft.

The highlight of the year here at Toft is shearing week. Tonnes of gorgeous fleece comes rolling out of the field and into the Studio ready to head off to the mill. 

Everyone is roped in to help, and this year was a particular challenge due to the less than kind weather. It was both Claire and Harriet's first year in the shed and they certainly stepped up to the mark. 

Our knit night attendees joined us late Tuesday to see the beginning forge yarn process themselves- I think many began quite shocked but left with a far greater understanding of where their knitwear comes from. 

This year was a hard task juggling an increasingly toddling baby with one of the most demanding work weeks of the year.   Still. It was worth the bags under my eyes to see pure Toft batches head off to be spun into yarn. 

 

 

A woolly day out in the big city

Today I did something that I don't do as often as I should. I took a day off, got on a train into London and went to see an exhibition with colleagues Claire and Harriet.

So admittedly this was no ordinary exhibition, it was the Campaign for Wool 'Wool House' (and to some this may seem a bit too much like a bus man's holiday), but work chat was kept to a minimum and we enjoyed a Sunday in the city.

Following a very chilly and early start we battled snow and bad coffee to make it down to London just after 10am and headed to Brick Lane. We had enough time for a touch of browsing so started at Tatty Devine and worked our way via the Sunday Up Market through to Spitalfields.

The Wool House was inspiring. So much to see, feel and admire. Wool is such a diverse material and it was in show at its best. It was a pleasure to visit and we had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

We return to the office tomorrow with renewed admiration for sheep and a pact to do another day out soon.

Great day, lovely company and a big congratulations to everyone involved in giving us the Wool House.

Back up and writing again, but with a few changes for a New Year.

It looks like 2013 is going to be another one of those years where it's all change again and TOFT undergoes a growth spurt. Already in the few weeks of this new year we have rebranded the company to a much shorter, sharper TOFT.

In line with this (and the ever- expanding number of social media channels we are now managing) this blog will become Kerry Lord's words and thoughts from behind the scenes.

It may sometimes be about alpacas, occasionally about knitting, perhaps about being a new working mum, but most often it is likely to be vary varied and all about life at the helm of the TOFT empire.

Kerry

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