Daughter of a Shepherd Volume 1: Beginnings celebrates our Hebridean/Zwartbles DK and 4ply yarns in a stunning book featuring a collection of 10 knitting and crochet patterns for both men and women, accompanied by thoughtful essays exploring our relationship with sheep and their wool, background stories and beautiful photography of the flock at home on Escrick Park Estate, plus background information of how a single blog post led to a whole new venture.

Born from a desire to implement positive change in the British wool industry, Daughter of a Shepherd was launched in 2016 with yarn spun from the fleeces of the flock of sheep her father shepherds in Yorkshire, and quickly established itself as a champion of small-scale wool producers.

Here, designers and writers celebrate the spirit and unique qualities of this yarn with essays and a collection of 10 knitting and crochet patterns for men and women. Introduced by Susan Cropper of Loop, contributors include:

Bristol Ivy
Clara Parkes
Felicity Ford
Jane Crowfoot
Jane Lithgow
Mother Seraphima & Mother Raphaela
Rachel Atkinson
Rachel Coopey
Sarah Hatton
Tom van Deijnen (Tom of Holland)

Printed in the UK, Beginnings comprises 128 litho-printed pages, and is bound in a soft-touch laminate cover with French flaps. Finished dimensions are 254 x 203mm and each copy comes with a complimentary eBook download code and a matching bookmark. The eBook will go live after the shipping date.

published in March 2018 by Rachel Atkinson