FOR almost 50 years, one of SA's most progressive Merino sheep studs has grown wool at Snowtown and now, a side endeavor of making its yarn from the farm into garments, has been realised.
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In July last year, Leahcim stud's Rosemary Michael loaded a batch of wool from their Willalooka property onto a trailer and delivered it to Geelong, Vic, to begin the process of turning their wool into yarn.
After a bit of a wait of nine months, the wool returned back to Rosemary, to begin working on, and dyeing, turning the wool into products.
The journey has been "unbelievably exciting", according to Rosemary.
The jump between seeing Leahcim sheep running around in the yards to handling a finished product of a soft bundle of wool, has provided Rosemary with the drive to continue with the project through its challenges.
"I always had a background with craft but the excitement of working with our own wool, that has been grown on our farm, has really been something I never could have dreamed of," she said.
Rosemary began making hand-woven scarves and received positive feedback that everyone was loving the product - so demand got to a point where she needed to get some help.
"I now take it to Silver Fleece in Adelaide to turn our wool into commercial products - it has been an unbelievable process and I have gained so much from it," she said.
The Australian Sheep and Wool Show was the first time Leahcim's commercially-made products had been sold and Rosemary was overwhelmed with the response at Bendigo, Vic, last month.
"It has taken a lot of gradual steps to get to this point but it really has been a wonderful journey," she said.
Rosemary said the most difficult part of the process was finding a wool spinner.
"There are hardly any wool spinners left in Australia and the demand for this since the pandemic has been huge - they have barely kept up with making enough yarn for crafts people," she said.
But, despite the challenges, it is important for the products to be 100 per cent Australian made, says Rosemary.
"It was important for us to go that way - we were set on remaining 100pc Australian. So, I was not going to give up on the process," she said.
So far, Rosemary has set up stands at Grampian Texture, Vic, Fibre Feast SA, Yorke Peninsula Field Days, The Festival of Lamb and most recently, the Australian Sheep and Wool Show.
In the lead up to these events, Rosemary is very busy dyeing, winding yarn into balls, weaving, twisting ends and tagging - so it is quite the process to get herself ready.
"I am selling scarves, beanies, lap rugs and wraps," she said.
"Reaching a commercial stage is really the pinnacle of where we could have aimed for."
The family own Hummocks Station at Snowtown and have recently received a grant to restore an old shed that housed horse carts.
"We are restoring the trap shed to open a wool store at the station - it will give me a permanent place for the products," she said.
They hope to open the store by April next year.
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Vanessa Binks
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
