By Sophia Egerton, Outdoor Work Tutor Technician

When I joined the Outdoor Work team as a Tutor Technician in January, Andrew Martin shared one of my main priorities in a Saturday Bulletin article – to get the wool room in the Sotherington Barn bustling with students spinning, weaving, knitting and all sorts of other traditional yarn skills.

First though, I needed to organise the wool room on the barn’s mezzanine level which had become quite disorganised. In my spare time I have been busy sorting, clearing out and clearing the room, transforming it into a beautiful, calm and peaceful space that is conducive to learning, will inspire creativity and enhance the barn’s stunning structural features.

In keeping with our recycling and sustainability ethos, we appealed to the Bedales community for furniture, storage baskets and wool to help replenish and coordinate the space. Thanks to the generosity of the community (and a little extra help from Facebook Marketplace!) the wool room is now a fabulous teaching space with organised areas to promote independent working. You can see more photos below:

A cabinet donated by Bedales parent Courtney Winstone is now being used as storage for felting, sewing and needlework equipment. The old school uniform pigeonhole unit has been repurposed as storage for individual students’ work in progress, whilst a dresser from Facebook Marketplace is displaying vintage spinning and weaving equipment, carding paddles, Lazy Katie’s, Bobbins and a small library of reference books and patterns. Bedales parent Eliza Kenan also donated lots of vibrant coloured chunky wool, which will be great for teaching beginners. A huge thank you to everyone who donated and made the makeover of the wool room possible. 

I am passionate about heritage crafts such as crocheting, so I also decided to decorate the room with pieces I crocheted myself, including a blue dreamcatcher hanging from one of the beams. It will be so exciting to teach Bedales students these traditional crafts and to utilise the wool from Bedales sheep for creative expression. As ‘flow’ activities, crafts such as spinning, weaving, knitting and crochet are also super beneficial for mental health and wellbeing, as people can fully immerse themselves in the crafts and feel energised focus, involvement and enjoyment in the process.

Giving the room a makeover has also inspired me to crochet items of clothing using Bedales wool, and you can currently see a bolero I crocheted on display in Reception. Knitting and crochet kits will be coming to the Outdoor Work Farm Shop soon, so watch this space! 

The reaction to the room has been incredible and I can’t wait to see it used by students in the weeks, months and years to come. If any students are keen knitters or crocheters, please get in touch with me as I would love to discuss project ideas.