CHESTER WOOL CO

As well as developing and supplying beautiful yarns to independent hand-dyers around the world, this family firm also produces the gorgeous Fyberspates range

EVER WONDERED where your favourite indie hand-dyers buy their lovely base yarns from? There’s a good chance they’ll have sourced them from Chester Wool Co, the family business run by husband-and-wife team Andy Robinson and Jeni Hewlett.

The company wholesales more than 170 different natural yarn bases for hand dyers, weavers and textile artists all around the world, from their headquarters in Chester, England and their warehouse in the USA.

“We offer pretty much every natural fibre in our bases – merino and Bluefaced Leicester wool, alpaca, cashmere, silk, bamboo, tencel, mohair, linen and yak,” explains Jeni. “Our Bluefaced Leicester comes from the UK, and all the other fibres are sourced from the countries in which they are produced - alpaca from South America, and mohair from South Africa, for example. Because we have a no-mulesing policy for all of our yarns, our merino comes from South America rather than Australia.”

Years of experience in the yarn and dyeing industries means Andy and Jeni are experts at what they do. “Andy basically makes the company run!” laughs Jeni. “He is in charge of all the sourcing, stock control, shipping and accounts – he is also amazing at making yarn. Having been a wool merchant for most of his working life, he knows yarns inside out. He is experienced in sorting fleeces, and up until recently, would sort all our Bluefaced Leicester fleeces by hand.

“He loves fibres and textiles, and enjoys nothing better than sweater-spotting wherever we travel - he’s always looking out for patterns, cables and textures. Andy is passionate about sheep and wool - even our egg cups at home are different breeds of sheep!”

Dyeing delights

Chester Wool Co also custom spins yarns for other companies, and supplies yarns for machine knitwear in the UK and Europe. It has an even more famous side, though: that of its commercially dyed yarn business, Fyberspates. This produces not only the popular Fyberspates range of yarns, but also Coopknits yarns, and the Stolen Stitches Nua range for Carol Feller; it also distributes knitwear books for designers including Kate Davies.

Jeni is responsible for running the Fyberspates side of the business. Having worked as a successful indie dyer since 2005, she now works closely with her team of hand dyers in Peru to develop the Fyberspates palettes.

Jeni also helps to design new yarn bases for CWC’s undyed yarns. “We are pretty much the only undyed yarn company that design our yarns from scratch and test them extensively before bringing them into our lines,” says Jeni. “Not all yarns are suitable for hand dyeing, and we need to redesign them sometimes to make them robust enough for dyeing.”

Jeni works on marketing these yarns, helps out with technical questions relating to yarn and dyeing from her customers. “Different yarns suit different dyeing styles, so having a background in dyeing is essential if we’re going to help our customers,” she says. It’s also her job to figure out the upcoming trends in terms of dyeing, yarns and fibres: “Generally we are looking two years in advance for trends.”

Andy and Jeni are assisted by a small team of dedicated staff. “Chris is our key contact with our dyers, and loves nothing better than practising his foreign language skills on our customers!” Jeni says. “Lottie heads up Fyberspates administration; Phil is responsible for the warehouse and packing orders; and Hannah helps out on both sides of the business with all sorts!”

Both Chester Wool Co and Fyberspates are wholesale companies, selling their products in bulk to dyers and local yarn stores. However, Andy also runs the website Bluefaced.com, which sells undyed yarns in smaller quantities. “Bluefaced. com allows us to sell the white yarns at retail in smaller quantities, such as single hanks,” explains Jeni. “This gives people a chance to try yarns out before they buy larger quantities, but is also perfect for having fun dyeing at home.”

Undyed yarns from Bluefaced.com range in weight from lace to chunky, and include luxurious blends such as Bluefaced Leicester and silk, baby alpaca and cashmere, and kid mohair and baby camel, as well as classic superwash merino-nylon sock yarns. Why not treat yourself to a skein and try dyeing your own yarn for some colourful and unique socks?

For more about wholesale orders from Chester Wool Co, call 07546 948 378 or visit www.chesterwool.com View the Fyberspates range of yarns at www.fyberspates.com Knitters can order individual skeins of undyed yarn from www.bluefaced.com