Daughter of a Shepherd
Rachel Atkinson is a talented designer, technical editor and knitter Ā – now she’s on to her next wooly adventureĀ with her yarn Daughter of a Shepherd that launched this year.
The start of this journey began with Rachel’s blog post Fleeced, where she highlighted the low prices that farmers were being paid for quality fleeces. Her father works as a shepherd (hence the yarns name!) looking after sheep that are established for conservation grazing on Escrick Park EstateĀ – as well as training a fair few sheep dogs in his time! Rather than sell the fleeces he clipped off the flock each year at a loss, he had some 250 fleeces stored and waiting. As a knitter, Rachel saw the incredibleĀ potential for these wooly coats and began the process of finding out how she could makeĀ them into the beautiful yarn she knew they could be.
The result was Daughter of a Shepard! True to Rachel’s ethos at the start, the yarn is sourced, scoured and spun all in the UK and supports the British wool industry and manufacturing that she sought to promote. All with a sweet label with a logo courtesy of Tony Duncan Smith
The final blend includes a 25% cutĀ of the sheep breed Zwartbles from Exmoor, who are close to where the yarn is spun in Devon. This addition allows the fibres to be spun together easier and gives a rich dark cinnamon brown to the deep chocolate of the Hebridean.
If you had any doubt about it’s authenticity, then the proof is in this yarns smell! There is something very comforting about the wonderful wooly fragranceĀ that subtly accompanies each skein. Rachel describes it as a ‘signature scent ofĀ the fields, flock and new lambs in straw-filled barns.’
Many moons ago Rachel used to be a Loopette, though is still involved with the shop as our technical editor and writer of several of our free patterns.Ā We are really proud to be stocking such a genuine product with this wonderful story –Ā something that is a true limited edition!
If you fancy cozying up with your own skein of Daughter of a Shepherd, you’re in luck as we have one skein to give away! Simply comment below letting us know what you would love to make and we’ll announce the winner on the blog next week. Make sure to get you comments in by midnight Wednesday 20th July.
Good luck and Happy Knitting!
Beautiful and what a wonderful idea! I would love to make anpair of really cosy mittens for winter with this yarn!
Would definitely use it in a hap from Kate Davies’s new Book of Haps. Perhaps Theme and Variation – a lot of colours will pop against that deep brown.
I envision a wonderful little shawlette for walking the Moors!
What a gorgeous color way!
I think a hat would look lovely with a shawl I made last winter.
I would make a hat for one of my boys. Lovely yarn.
I would knit a warm, cosy woolly hat for the Seamen’s Mission. It’s cold out at sea!
I should make a nice cosy teddy bear.
I would knit a hat with this lovely yarn
I’d like knitting a cozy hat for me (selfish, yes!) :)
I would crochet a lovely chocolate sheep to remind me of warm winter days
I would love to use the yarn as part of a project I’m doing this fall as I spend 6 weeks traveling the Atlantic and Mediterranean. I’ll be collecting stories and mapping my travels in a series of handmade objects.
I’d love to knit a warm hat! Maybe with some cables!
A beautiful background story to a beautiful yarn.I would design and knit a simple shawl to show off this lovely yarn texture and colour.
If love to crochet a wooly sheep with bright twinkly button eyes as a reminder of where this yarn came from
I would knit a lovely hat with that beautiful yarn
I love the story/principle behind this project. I’m thinking the front panel of a cushion so I can take a deep inhale of sheep while relaxing.
I would knit a hat with this lovely yarn.
Love that it’s authentic and the smell would be an added delight. Would use it to make a pair of mittens to use when walking the dog.
I would knit a sheep.
The dark color lends itself for a great accessory! A hat, some mittens, maybe fingerless mitts with a beautiful cabled leaf design. Sometimes holding a lovely skein tells you what it truly wants to be. Thank you for this chance!
A hat! So cozy, love the rich colour.
What a fantastic venture, I hope it is a great success. I would love to knit a tea cosy, it would be a lovely conversation piece while having tea with friends.
A warm woolly hat for the colder months ahead!
I would make fingerless mittens with this beautiful yarn. Perfect if knit from the top down as all that precious yarn could be used to make the longest possible cuffs.
I would knit a lovely cowl, perhaps with a few cables to showcase this lovely yarn.
I think it would have to be a cosy hat,so I’d get a lot of use out of it :)
I would use the skein as one of several to make Hazel Tindall’s gorgeous hap from Kate Davies’ new brilliant book.
I don’t yet know what I would make but I promise this wool would be properly loved while I’m deciding!
I’d definitely make something that could snuggle close to my skin on a winter’s day. I think a pretty lacy cowl would be just perfect.
Rachel’s story is wonderful. I’d knit this yarn into mitts or mittens to keep my hands toasty, and that way I’d be able to fondle and admire it continually.
What a gorgeous brown! I love the story. I am already really in love with this yarn.
Oh! And I would definitely make something cozy with it like a beret. Eventually, I think I’d love to buy more and make a sweater.
Definitely fingerless mittens ah la Steptoe!
I would love to make fingerless mitts so I can enjoy the fragrance of the yarn as I move my hands.
I would like to make a cowl, that way I might be able to take in the special fragrance of the yarn!
Oh gosh what lovely looking yarn.
I would knit a cozy pair of winter socks to keep my feet warm in the winter. X
I would make either a hat, a snood or a pair of wristwatmers depending on what mood I was in when casting on!
Hmm . . . Wrist warmers or headband. The yarn looks very interesting and I applaud the venture.
I would use it as part of the colourwork on a sweater!
I think this would make a wonderful pair of toasty mittens for our (usually) cold New York winters!
I already can smell this lovely yarn… And feel this softness.. I would knit a nice cowl from this yarn.
Perfect description of the yarn and the smell. I would make my son a sweater for his winter months of forest school to keep him warm and in keeping with our countryside.
Lovely yarn. I would knit a warm, woolly cowl.
I’ve got a few skeins of this yarn already as I’m hoping to design and knit a cardigan (inspired by the shape of the Herdwick’s curly horns and helped along by watching Alan Bates as Gabriele Oak in Faar from the Madding Crowd)…but I’d also like to knit a neckerchief or cowl, something warm and reassuring to bury my face into and breath in that sheepy calm on days it’s hard to face the world.
A few years ago there was a pattern in the Knitter for a gansey wrap using conservation grade wool that was a mix of Hebridean and Shetland yarn. By the time I picked up the magazine, the yarn had sold out and it’s no longer available. It was DK and this yarn would fit the bill.
One can never have enough hats. The colour of the skein in the photo looks so rich. I can only imagine that you can smell the straw and field of whence it cameā£
I would love to win a skein to knit it as a Trim for a First School Cardigan for my 4 year old Grandaughter. I can imagine she would be sniffing lucious smells of the yarn walking to her New School.
I would make some chunky mittens with a giant cable…beautiful yarn!
I would love to knit a simple moss-stitch tam in this yarn. The colour is so wonderfully deep brown, my favourite!
I would love to knit a cowl, to keep my neck warm for many winters to come
I’m itching to make Louise Tilbrook’s Hebridean Hap, its a lovely design for a wonderful wool!
Have already made a hap out of this delicious yarn. The smell
of sheep evokes images of the countryside here in a big city.
I’d make a pair of mittens The warmth and aroma will assist
as Archie (my Westie) and I brave the early morning cold.
Definitely a pair of fingerless mitts, with long cuffs so there’s no chance of feeling the cold between end of mitts and beginning of sleeve. I would choose a stitch pattern which would give great stitch definition.
I’m a hat knitter through and through and would love a skein to make one! Alternatively, I could knit a baby sweater for a friend.
I’d knit a beret for the Scottish winter!
Fingerless mittens!
I’d knit a wonderfully cabled cowl.
I would probably knit a brioche cowl, mixing together that gorgeous chocolate yarn and another creamy mohair yarn.
I would name it “chocolate and cream”, yum,yum,yum
I fancy knitting a hat for my husband in this yarn and think cables would look striking in this dark colour.
I would definitely make a hat.The blend sounds great Zwarbles is a nice fibre as well.I want to know where I can buy one of Rachel’s totebags. Thanks!!
I would love to knit a hat to wear on cold, foggy mornings.
Living in the Hebrides I am most interested in this yarn and would definitely knit a hat to keep those Atlantic winds at bay!
I love that picture of little Rachel in her wellies!
I’d knit an earthy cowl to go with the new dark green parka-esque jacket I just bought. The combination is making me think of a forest floor, all moss and mud and that really rich smell.
Would love to knit Forest Cowl in this!
It would have to be a pair of fingerless mitts so I could be cozy but still able do my knitting
Some cosy slippers, I reckon, maybe to practise my fairisle knitting!
I would love to make a pair of mittens to wear to work to show one of my pupils who keeps his own flock of Zwartbles.
Thank you for presenting this beautiful yarn! I would knit a hat as a gift for my husband. I’m sure he would be really happy with that!
A lovely scarf for the man in my life! So warm and cozy.
I would knit a slouchy hat, with a lovely pom pom on top!
Such a beautiful yarn! I love the darker one. Great for a marvelous cowl to keep me warm this winter.
A pair of ‘Woodland Tales’ mittens would be great in this yarn!
Definitely something with cables! Maybe a cowl or mittens!
It’s got to be a hap!
Fingerless mittens with cables. I walk to work across The Downs in Bristol each morning and evening and the weather comes in sideways!! Warm,toasty mitts with a heavenly aroma will keep me going xx
I would make a convertible pair of mitts.
Boot toppers ready for winter. Soo warm!
It would have to be turned into a snuggly cowl. It would keep me warm, but I’d also get to breath in the Sheepy smell every time I wore it and be able to dream of spring/summer coming.
Don’t know yet, but for sure contemplating and maybe use it in a westknits pattern
The wool looks as lovely and interesting as the story behind it. There is something so evocative about the scent of ‘proper’ wool. Thank you Rachel for your labour and all good wishes for your new endeavour
It would be lovely to win one of these skeins so that long after, I can easily recall my July in London, 2016:)
I would love to knit some mitten with this lovely yarn.
Rachel’s story is wonderful. For her yarn, I would love to make a cardigan with either cable or a simple tight garter stitch to keep me warm on a cold winter day.
I would like to make a crochet pot/basket- perfect wool I think !