British Shetland felting wool from our own sheep - undyed natural colours

Shetland fleece (not carded or combed, so there may be some locks) from our own sheep, in 10g and 40g cellophane bags, firmer than Merino so ideal for needle felting and can also be used for wet felting and other crafts.
This wool is from our own small flock of much loved Shetland sheep, who are conservation grazers for our community orchards and bio-diverse chalk grassland. We hand shear each sheep (which allows us to wait until the fleece is ready), the fleeces are then carefully sorted (plant matter removed) and lower grade wool separated for use as packing material. Each fleece is gently but thoroughly washed in well water and eco -friendly Unicorn Power Scour and dried in the fresh air, before being picked with our antique French wool swing picker and then either packed as a natural Shetland fleece colour or naturally dyed by us at our small outside dye house in Oxfordshire (see separate listing for dyed colours). More fleece for felters and handspinners is available on our website https://www.theoutside.org.uk/shop/
Natural Shetland fleece colours have traditional names, so we have used these for the undyed colours. The amazing variegated colour is from a sheep called Alice - she was born dark brown (to dark brown ewe Annie and white ram Heinz) in her first year she began to turn grey, so the brown tips of her fleece fade to grey and then a few months before her first shear she turned distinctly and suddenly white, this is the only fleece we have with 3 colours in each staple and such a distinct line in the change from grey to white. The white locks are from our Shetland x Gotland sheep. We are currently in conversion to Organic status and our sheep are kept to organic standards.

We have a policy of buying no new packaging material for use in posting out parcels, we re-use old packaging gathered from other local businesses, individuals and schools. We hope you will enjoy receiving your parcel, whatever shape and size it is, knowing that it has a little less impact on the environment.