Nancy Nicholson
Textile Artist
Nancy Nicholson grew up on a farm perched in the Cumbrian fells which her mother still farms today. It was a windswept childhood, steeped in rainwater and lanolin and slate. These South Lakeland fells are the home of a very old and sadly now endangered breed of upland sheep called the Rough Fell and these hardy animals grazed the fields that surrounded Nancy's family farm.
The Rough Fell produces a thick, shaggy fleece that protects the sheep from the worst of the bitter northern winters. The long, coarse fibres are perfect for rug yarn and, back when the British Wool industry was in its prime, it was for this purpose that these sheep were often bred.
From the start, Nancy dreamt of using this wild northern fibre, filled with all the rain-lashed resilience of her childhood home, in her work. It has been a long and rigorous process. Rug yarn is very specific, and the UK has very few mills left that have the knowledge and skills to spin it, and fewer still that can spin small batches.
Over time, and together with support from The Natural Fibre Company, Nancy developed a beautiful yarn from these Rough Fell sheep that she grew up with that is fit for her purposes.
The yarn is a soft, pure white that carries the texture of the softest of jutes, worn silvery over time. To best showcase the strengths and beauty of this yarn, Nancy has designed two patterns that focus solely on surface, shunning the distractions of colour and indulging in the deep pleasures of rich texture.
"Our Cumbrian Rug Wool Collection is the product of a love story many years in the making, a romance between childhood memories & wool industry heritage"Nancy Nicholson
