Best of British Yarn Producers
Where can you buy British yarn? Loads of places! Read on to find out who’s making yarn here. From local farms and hand-dyers, to large mills and commercial spinners, there’s a wealth of British yarn makers producing some amazing quality yarn.
Following on from a request via the website asking where they could buy British-made hand knitting yarn, we put a call out on Instagram for people to recommend companies that make British yarn. We had a fantastic response…it appears that the British yarn scene is thriving.
One thing that we’d like to point out is the distinction between British wool and British-spun yarn. This article covers British spun yarn, i.e. the criteria was that the yarn was spun in Britain but might be from fibres that aren’t from the UK. However, the vast majority of the products here, especially from the smaller companies, use local fibers from British sheep or alpaca. If in doubt, always ask the yarn supplier to give more details about the provenance of their yarn.
Glencroft
Manufactured exclusively by Glencroft from fleeces collected from two farms within 5 miles of their warehouse in Clapham, Yorkshire Dales. This fully traceable yarn directly benefits local farmers and 10% of the profits also go back to their farms.
SMD Knitting
Focusing on British wool and supporting the British independent spinner where they can. SMD Knitting stocks the likes of West Yorkshire Spinners, Baa Ram Ewe, Jamieson and Smith, Garthenor just to name a few.
The Lace Knittery
The Lace Knitery started over ten years ago with the aim of celebrating and promoting the wonderful, sustainable, natural fibre resources we have in the UK. It has grown from a single idea to an in-house range of patterns, kits, yarns, and bespoke finished garments and homewares. All of which are produced from scratch at their home base in rural Somerset.
Laxtons
Laxtons are specialist manufacturers of worsted and fancy yarns, not for hand knitting or high volume manufacturing.
Town End Alpacas
Town End Alpacas produce British alpaca wool and other UK alpaca blend knitting yarns from their farm in the Lake District. They buy local fleece where possible and sort and blend the fibres on the farm.
Ardalanish Mill
The Ardalanish Mill on the Isle of Mull not only spins its own yarn but also weaves it into beautiful fabrics.
Black Isle Yarns
Natural and sustainable yarns from Scotland.
Blacker Yarns
Blacker Yarns produce a range of beautiful breed-specific yarns made exclusively from British sheep, all spun in Cornwall.
Cambrian Wool
100% Welsh wool, spun from the fleece of the Welsh mule.
Daughter of a Shepherd
100% British wool from shepherds and producers within the United Kingdom.
Eden Cottage Yarns
Beautiful hand-dyed yarns.
Garthenor
Certified organic knitting yarns from traditional British sheep.
J.C. Rennie & Co
Established in 1798, J.C. Rennie make beautiful woollen yarns for knitters and weavers. They鈥檒l be exhibiting at our Meet the Manufacturer event in May.
Jamieson & Smith
Jamieson & Smith Shetland Wool Brokers purchase Shetland wool from over 700 of Shetland’s crofters and farmers, and transform it into high-quality Shetland yarn.
Jamiesons of Shetland
Shetland wool and yarn suppliers.
John Arbon
Worsted spun luxury yarns and custom yarns for hand dyers and designers.
Kettle Yarn Co.
Hand-dyed British yarn from ethical mills.
Knockando Woolmill
This historic working district woolmill is situated in Knockando, in the Spey valley, Scotland.
Lily Warne Wool
British wool from a Devon farm.
R.E. Dickie
Specialising in British and rare breeds wool, manufactured on their premises in Halifax.
The Knitting Goddess
The Knitting Goddess is an independent dyer of British knitting yarns, producing hand dyed yarns from British wool.
Toft Alpaca
The Toft Alpaca shop sells British alpaca and luxury 100% wool yarn.
Uist Wool
Undyed yarns from the Outer Hebrides.
West Yorkshire Spinners
West Yorkshire Spinner鈥檚 yarn is reared, sheared and spun in Britain.
