Lairg & District Learning Centre will be screening Robert Aitken’s THREADS from the DEEP, a portrait of internationally renowned tapestry artist Joan Baxter from her home in East Sutherland by filmmaker Robert Aitken. This will be screened throughout the day and have subtitles. Visit LDLC’s website here.

Gabriele Brown, Hackland Wool Shed/Hackland Farms (11:30am)
Gabriele will be talking about her farm and wool business, and why they are are inextricably linked. More info to come. Meanwhile, visit their website here.

Samantha Farmer – Highland Magic Fibre Arts (12:30pm)
Samantha’s work spans the wool chain from raw fleece and fibre selection through to yarn development, weaving, dyeing, and finished products. Alongside her creative practice, Samantha is passionate about connecting people with the story behind the materials they use and exploring the cultural and economic value of regional wool production. Samantha will be talking about her research and process. Visit Highland Magic Fibre Arts here.

Scotland’s Micro-Mill Movement. (1:30pm)
In the journey to sustainability, ‘local’ is key – and that’s true of the wool industry too. Reversing the trend toward centralization and the ‘bigger is better’ outlook, the micro mill movement works with local farmers and crafters to ensure traceability, quality, fair returns to producers, and lower transport miles on the finished product. During this talk, you’ll meet representatives of the three (at this writing) micro-mills that have started processing local wool since 2022: Mill of Kintyre, Creation Mill Langholm, and Highland Wool. Moderator: Susan Anderson/The Journal of Scottish Yarns

Hands on and Demonstrations: the Highland Guild of Spinning, Weaving and Dying
A group of people from all over the Highlands of Scotland and beyond who enjoy weaving, spinning or dyeing (often all three!). They are always happy to encourage new members and beginners are welcome – no need to feel you might not be good enough; They all enjoy passing on their skills and learning from each other. Visit their website here.
The HGSWD is affiliated with the Association of Guilds of WSD

Mending with Marieke – Learn to visibly or invisibly repair your wool jumpers! Learn-as-you-fix class with pointers and a helping hand from Marieke.

Wool Swish table – Bring your pre-loved wool item of any sort, craft tools, books – anything to do with fibre arts – donate it to the table, and trade it in for something new-to-you. You can drop things off at the mill ahead of the fest – please alert us ahead of time! – or bring it to the hall on the day. A great way to give a second life to something that is no longer useful to you, but will be treasured by someone else. Wool is wonderful – let’s share the love!

The Learning Centre’s  Zelka Pearson will offering  drop-in activities for children and young people, including pom-pom making, personalised wool-wrapped letters and colourful woollen yarn art.

All materials supplied. Everyone welcome!

Susan Anderson, The Journal of Scottish Wool
The Journal of Scottish Yarns is a biannual print and digital magazine which exists to promote Scottish textiles by sharing stories or people, places and history and commissioning craft designs which use materials from Scottish textile businesses. In the process of meeting lots of people and learning about Scottish textiles Susan is building a network of knowledge which she shares as a free download from her website: Scottish Farm to Yarn.

Hackland Wool Shed
“From my Wool Shed to your home! Everything here is handmade and produced with care using mostly wool from my own flock of Hebridean and Lleyn Sheep and other flocks in Orkney but also wool produced all over the UK. In this little corner of the farm, you’ll find my workshop where I design beautiful wet and needle felted creations, rugs and pads woven on the peg loom, and vibrant clothing.” More info to come. Meanwhile, visit their website here.

Bunloit Woolery
“We stock home produced and locally sourced fleece, Scottish yarns, along with simple knits and our own range of wool processing tools and equipment. Wheel repairs and bespoke pieces undertaken. All woolen products are from Scottish wool and the equipment is mostly made with wood from the croft.” Visit their Facebook page here.

Pam’s Tams/Pam Menzies
“Often asked ‘what do you do in the winter?’ After retirement, I hand knit these ‘tams’, usually sitting in front of the open fire. I find pleasure in choosing the designs and the amazing variety of colours to be sourced in Shetland wool.

Highland Magic Fibre Arts
Samantha Farmer is a textile artist, weaver, and founder of Highland Magic Fibre Arts, a Highlands-based practice centred on local wool, natural dyes, and contemporary fibre art. Working with fleece sourced directly from Highland farms, she develops small-batch yarns and creates handwoven textiles, knitted accessories, and original artworks inspired by the landscapes, plants, and agricultural traditions of the Scottish Highlands. You’ll be able to purchase her Highland-grown yarns, handwoven textiles, knitted accessories, fibre kits, and a selection of original textile artwork. Many of the materials are sourced directly from Highland farms and processed through Scottish mills, reflecting a commitment to regional fibre production and traditional craft skills. Visit Highland Magic Fibre Arts here.

Highland Wool
Founded in 2022, and supported by farmers, crofters, and wool businesses, Highland Wool’s mission is to support a sustainable wool industry in Scotland; to process Highlands & Islands wool into useful products; to have a positive environmental impact with our low-impact mill, and to help mitigate farming’s impact on our environment by lowering the amount of wool that goes to waste in the UK; to enable farmers to get more value from their wool crop; to bring together wool producers, crafters and customers in order to add value to the “100% Made in Scotland” label. After a period of research, testing, and learning, we began commercial processing of wool from Highland farms in July 2025. At the Kyleside Wool Fest, In addition to offering carded batts from local farms, Highland Wool will offer you the opportunity to tell us what you think is needed to support a sustainable wool industry in Scotland. How can Highland Wool help make that that a reality? You’ll be able to share your thoughts at the Highland Wool table, and we’ll make sure your ideas are put in front of our elected representatives. Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HighlandWool

Creation Mill was established as a Community Interest Company in 2021 with the aim of shouting about all things textiles, from fibre creation to recycling textile waste, all happening in the South of Scotland.

We aim to encourage the future generation to get involved in the industry in and around Langholm, pledging to provide accessible workshops, short courses and training sessions in textiles. We provide these resources by working in partnership with local schools, colleges and the job centre.

On top of this, sustainability is considered every step of the way. We have opened a small scrap store in our office, stocking salvaged fabric and haberdashery which were heading to landfill. We source fabrics and materials for all of our workshops and classes from our scrap store – even designing workshops around utilising scraps and teaching zero waste techniques. Website: https://www.creationmill.org/

Mill of Kintyre is a newly established community interest company based in Tarbert, working to support a sustainable wool industry in Scotland. Our aims are to add value to local fleece by offering processing services and delivering workshops developed in partnership with our local communities. We will realise these aims by creating services that help farmers, smallholders, makers and the wider community make better use of wool grown in the area through development of a wool processing mill. Initially fleece will be processed to wool batts but our aim in the future is to offer full processing services to yarn.

Our workshops aim to bring people together to learn traditional skills and explore innovative uses for wool, that connects heritage, sustainability and community enterprise while combating social isolation and improving wellbeing.

We believe that wool is an undervalued and underutilised resource which has great potential on many fronts. We’re looking forward to what the future holds for our small enterprise and how we can best serve our communities here in Argyll through the mill. Website: https://millofkintyre.scot/

Mill Tour – Friday 18th September, 1pm. Nestled in a collection of outbuildings and portacabins at our home farm, The Hirsel, Highland Wool combines hands-on skills with machinery processing to wash and card small batch wool from local farms in our low-impact micro-mill. This tour is free, but places are limited and reservations are required.

THANK YOU!

The Highlands & Islands Climate Hub is funded by the Scottish Government and has the purpose of supporting community-led climate action across the region. the Hub is part of a network of 24 Climate Action Hubs across Scotland which support communities to make a just transition towards net zero and support a climate ready Scotland.

We operate across the Highland and the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland with our team ready to assist communities in their climate action journey. From developing new projects with a specific climate action focus or working with community groups to embed more climate friendly behaviours into their existing work. From community engagement, climate action plans, net zero policies to design, development and delivery of a project we can lend additional capacity, support and advice.

The Climate Hub was the first funding organization to support Highland Wool CIC, and is supporting multiple participants in this year’s Kyleside Wool Fest, as part of the annual Highlands and Islands Climate Festival. Thank you!