About Us

Wildcraft was set up and is run by me, Karen Tesson. I've been a spinner, knitter and small-scale shepherd for a number of years, alongside my current day job as a web applications programmer. I work from home, so am always on hand to deal with any livestock crises, or to scoot off for a day's dyeing when stock gets low!

Wildcraft began for a number of reasons. After taking a break from breeding sheep while I completed a PhD in eco-psychology (I'm nothing if not eclectic!), my existing flock of Suffolk ewes was starting to dwindle in numbers as age took its toll. Eventually, we ended up with just one Suffolk ewe who was getting rather lonely. So, having completed my studies, I took the opportunity to start afresh with some ewe lambs, and to add some different breeds of sheep to the flock. I now have a flock of pedigree Coloured Ryelands, who produced their first crop of lambs in 2009, alongside a variety of crossbred sheep.

At the same time, I was reviving my interest in spinning and knitting, and without a ready supply of fleece from my own sheep, it wasn't long until I became frustrated with the lack of availability of interesting spinning materials in the UK. At the time I started Wildcraft, there were a great many web-based shops selling beautiful rovings and wool batts for spinning, but most of them were physically located in America, making shipping costs and times quite high. In any event, I'm keen to source my crafts materials locally whenever I can. So I decided to start producing my own painted rovings and blends, and to offer them for sale.

Our philospophy at Wildcraft is to use British sourced fibre whenever possible. Some if it is produced from my own sheep, but until we have a bigger flock, I'll be sourcing my wool rovings from other British suppliers. Some materials such as the silk we blend with our wool batts have to be supplied from elsewhere, that's until I learn how to farm silkworms!

We use chemical dyes for dyeing our painted rovings, principally because this produces very little chemical waste. We will be experimenting with natural dyes in the future. I am somewhat cautious about this, as contrary to the popular belief that natural dyes are safe and non-polluting, some of the mordants used to fix natural dyes to the fibre can actually be quite toxic environmental pollutants.

With wool from my own sheep, I am keen to demonstrate a direct link between the spinning fibre that you buy, and the sheep who produced it. Every sheep produces their own distinct fibre with individual character, and I think it adds to the fun of spinning when you know who grew it! Wherever possible, I'll tell you whose wool went into the fibre blend that you're buying, and on this site you can see a history of the individual sheep who grew it for you.

I draw my inspiration for my crafts and items for the shop from the natural world. My dye colours are always inspired by colour combinations found in nature, much of it from the beautiful Dorset countryside where I live. Wherever possible, our I'll post a photo alongside the dyed item in the online shop, showing how it inspired the colourway.

During 2008 we also began making a variety of drop spindles and other spinning tools. Many of the wooden items are made by Gerthe Tesson (my mother), who makes them from locally-sourced timber on her wood-turning lathe. I also make lightweight spindles with whorls made from plastic resin, with a variety of natural (and sometimes not so natural) items embedded inside.

In 2010, Marion Dolton joined the Wildcraft team, as chief parcel packer, and importantly as the source of a wide range of preserved local wildflowers, which she collects from her own garden and surrounding countryside, for inclusion in our resin spindles.