Fleecewood Farm & Woolcraft Workshops

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Fleecewood Farm & Woolcraft Workshops

Owner: Anne Grassham - NZSWWS tutor Phone: +64 3 5418161 Fleecewood is a 30 Ha farm nestled in the Nelson foothills, about 30 minutes drive from Richmond.

For more than 20 years we have been producing quality fleeces specifically for spinning and other handcraft use, and now stock associated supplies and equipment ( www.woolcraft.co.nz ). We also offer small group workshops ( www.woolcraftworkshops.co.nz ) on many aspects of woolcraft, including spinning, fleece preparation and dyeing, weaving, knitting and felting (including needle felting). Visito

rs and students are welcome to make friends with the sheep. Visit by appointment only. Please ring or email.

02/06/2026

We had a bit of storm here last night with 120 mm of rain, but it must have been much heavier up in the hills, because the Waiiti River was flowing pretty full and fast this morning. Great weather for a bit of indoor creativity, so I have made a start on a hooked rug that I had the inspiration for back before I went into hospital. It is lushously thick and full of different textures, but extremely time consuming to make!

25/05/2026

A while back I posted a photo of a crocheted wool liner I'd made for an old hanging basket I had. I filled the liner with potting mix and planted out some plants, and let them settle in. But before they could flower, Abby noticed the sides of the basket were disintegrating. At first we thought weka, so I placed the basket on a stack of plastic chairs on the patio, that I thought would be hard for weka to get to. Then we noticed a mouse and wondered it it had been nibbled by a mouse. By this time the sides of the liner were shredded. Someone has suggested earth worms. However, at this point I really don't know what has been eating the wool. Wool does rot, but from my experience of using it in the garden as mulch it takes about 3 years, not 3 months. So I'd be interested to hear from anyone who may have had a similar experience, or who has other ideas to throw in the mix.

22/05/2026

Been a while since I posted. The hip replacement went well and I have been recuperating. Have got a lot of fleece skirted, some combed and spun. I have been enjoying the lovely Autumn days we've been having in Tasman with beautiful reds and yellows. The ewes are getting lovely thick coats ready for shearing in 6 weeks. I know, it seems bad to be shearing in mid Winter, but really it is best. The heavily pregnant ewes don't get cast (we're talking an extra 6-8 kg they are carrying around in fleece), we use a cover comb that leaves a bit of wool on them, and they have lots of fat to keep them warm. They are well fed after shearing and plenty of shelter for them too. And when the lambs are born, they can find the teats (believe me, the lambs are programmed to suck, but they will suck on anything vaguely teat shaped, like long wool and dags), and their mums take them to shelter (which they don't do if they have lots of fleece on), so newborn lambs get the benefit too.

24/04/2026

The other night the possum found the trap, so the girls had their chance to pluck their first possum. Unfortunately, the fur was a bit short so of limited use, but all part of the fibre experience. For non-NZers, possums are a rampant pest in NZ and there is a saying, "The only good possum is a dead possum." Possums were introduced to NZ in the 1800's to start a fur industry, but now they do extensive damage to our native bush and wildlife, because they have no natural predators. I realise this is not the case elsewhere in the world.

22/04/2026

Where has the last month gone! Well, I spent a week in Christchurch with my daughter, and then have had 2 lovely women from the US helping me make a start on the wool mountain in the woolshed. I forgot to take a photo before we started, but would have been to embarrassed to post it anyway! Six fadges of wool to the wool buyer and 2 fadges of fleeces skirted for the shop and I feel a bit like we have definitely made progress. The plan is to clear quite a bit more out, and set the shed up so we can use it for shearing in July. However, I am scheduled for hip replacement surgery next week, so I'll have to see how the recovery goes :-)

24/03/2026

During the winter storms last year several large, eucalyptus trees fell over, some across fences, which has meant that the sheep could and did find ways out of the paddock I put them in. The logs were way too big for my chainsaw, so I have had to factor this into animal management. But now that we have sorted ewes and a ram into mating mobs, I've had to do something about it! Yesterday, Abby and I put in a temporary fence around one such fallen tree. What looks like a rock pile in actually a root ball of a fallen tree with the main part of the tree out in the adjacent paddock. With the new bit of fence the sheep will hopefully stay where I put them!

13/03/2026

Had fun today helping 4 lovely ladies rainbow dye English Leicester fleece locks. The fleece locks are still wet, so you don't get to fully appreciate the sheen, but a lovely array of colours.

01/03/2026

Recently Abby has been picking the prune plums. These are a medium size plum with firm yellow flesh and purple skin. They are free stone when ripe. So I have had to prepare and dry them to make prunes! Most of the drying is in front of a northeast facing window, but on overcast days I will also use a cool oven if I've had it on for something else and it has retained warmth. They will be great for breakfast in the Winter.

09/02/2026

Yikes! Yesyerday I suddenly realised that my pick and mix bins of rainbow dyed fleece are half empty, and I have a stall at the Teapot Valley Felters' Retreat this coming Weekend. So some serious restocking is in order! This is the first batch - still drying. There could be worse things to do on a hot day - like carting hay (which I had to do this afternoon).

02/02/2026

And now for a post that is not about wool or workshops! About 5 weeks ago, a storm caused a bird nest to fall out of its tree in the garden. It contained 3 x 5-day old chicks that my daughter had been keeping an eye on. The chicks were found cold and lying on the ground, but 2 were still alive. They were warmed up and as the parent thrushes showed no interest in taking them back, we started feeding them. Long story short, they thrived and turned from ugly skinny featherless creatures into beautifully feathered young birds. Unfortunately, on of them was attacked and killed through the wire netting of an enclosure we rigged up for them, but the other bird is now living outside full time, and without protection. We do have lots of trees and bushes around to provide cover. He/she (we don't know how to tell!) can fly and catch worms just like an adult thrush, but still likes to be fed cat food, and happily lands on the doorstep and hops inside to be fed several times a day. Being Summer, the door is open when we are around. He is gorgeous!

Address

Nelson
7095

Telephone

03 5418161

Website

https://woolcraft.co.nz/

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