fbpx

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

Glencroft full traceable British wool 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.

Shop the Glencroft collection here

SMD Knitting

SMD Knitting - British wool Yarn
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.

Shop the SMD Knitting collection here

The Lace Knittery

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.

Shop The Lace Knittery collection here

Laxtons

Laxtons

Laxtons are specialist manufacturers of worsted and fancy yarns, not for hand knitting or high volume manufacturing.

Shop the Laxtons collection here

Town End Alpacas

Town End Alpacas
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.

Shop the Town End Alpacas collection here

Ardalanish Mill

Ardalanish Isle of Mull Weavers British Yarn
Ardalanish Mill

The Ardalanish Mill on the Isle of Mull not only spins its own yarn but also weaves it into beautiful fabrics.

Shop the Ardalanish Mill collection here

Black Isle Yarns

Black Isle Yarns

Natural and sustainable yarns from Scotland.

Shop the Black Isle Yarns collection here

Blacker Yarns

Blacker Yarns

Blacker Yarns produce a range of beautiful breed-specific yarns made exclusively from British sheep, all spun in Cornwall.

Shop the Blacker Yarns collection here

Cambrian Wool

Cambrian Wool

100% Welsh wool, spun from the fleece of the Welsh mule.

Shop the Cambrian Wool collection here

Daughter of a Shepherd

Daughter of a Shepherd

100% British wool from shepherds and producers within the United Kingdom.

Shop the Daughter of a Shepherd collection here

Eden Cottage Yarns

Eden Cottage Yarns

Beautiful hand-dyed yarns.

Shop the Eden Cottage Yarns collection here

Garthenor

Garthenor

Certified organic knitting yarns from traditional British sheep.

Shop the Garthenor collection here

J.C. Rennie & Co

J. C. Rennie & Co.

Established in 1798, J.C. Rennie make beautiful woollen yarns for knitters and weavers. They’ll be exhibiting at our Meet the Manufacturer event in May.

Shop the J.C. Rennie & Co. collection here

Jamieson & Smith

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.

Shop the Jamieson & Smith collection here

Jamiesons of Shetland

Jamiesons of Shetland

Shetland wool and yarn suppliers.

Shop the Jamiesons of Scotland collection here

John Arbon

Jon Arbon

Worsted spun luxury yarns and custom yarns for hand dyers and designers.

Shop the Jon Arbon collection here

Kettle Yarn Co.

Kettle Yarn Co.

Hand-dyed British yarn from ethical mills.

Shop the Kettle Yarn Co. collection here

Knockando Woolmill

Knockando Woolmill

This historic working district woolmill is situated in Knockando, in the Spey valley, Scotland.

Shop the Knockando Woolmill collection here

Lily Warne Wool

Lily Warne

British wool from a Devon farm.

Shop the Lily Warne collection here

R.E. Dickie

R.E. Dickie

Specialising in British and rare breeds wool, manufactured on their premises in Halifax.

Shop the R.E. Dickie collection here

The Knitting Goddess

The Knitting Goddess

The Knitting Goddess is an independent dyer of British knitting yarns, producing hand dyed yarns from British wool.

Shop The Knitting Goddess collection here

Toft Alpaca

Toft Alpaca

The Toft Alpaca shop sells British alpaca and luxury 100% wool yarn.

Shop the Toft Alpaca collection here

Uist Wool

Uist Wool

Undyed yarns from the Outer Hebrides.

Shop the Uist Wool collection here

West Yorkshire Spinners

West Yorkshire Spinners

West Yorkshire Spinner’s yarn is reared, sheared and spun in Britain.

Shop the West Yorkshire Spinners collection here

If you’re looking to buy from these British yarn producers, you may want visit the Yorkshire Yarn Fest which happens in November. With over 100 exhibitors, many of which produce 100% British wool, it promises to be a great event for knitters.