Sheepy Stuff

Sheep related gifts including jigsaws, tea towels and tableware

Sheepy Stuff

Sheep have been a big part of our product range since we began in 1985. We have a wide range of items with high quality sheep, lamb and ewe images, across a number of gift items.

Sheep have been farmed in the UK since Roman times and are a traditional and important part of our environment, economy and society, particularly in rural areas. It's estimated that there are over 33 million sheep in the UK.

There are roughly 90 different sheep breeds in the UK, such as Herdwick, Swaledale, Jacob, Wensleydale, Rough Fell, Welsh Mountain and Hebridean.

In the UK farmers use a unique stratified system to manage their flocks. Each sheep breed adapts to regional climate and habitats and the stratified system uses three levels (hill, upland and lowland) for breeding, rearing and management.

Managing the right sheep breed within the correct stratified tier means farmers extract the best qualities from their flocks. Although most sheep in the UK are reared for meat, British wool has been used for centuries for textiles, carpets and insulation.

Weather and location influences the quality and micron of wool. This in turn affects the way the yarn can be used. For example upland sheep wool tends to be coarser and is perfect for carpets and rugs. Lowlands sheep wool is finer and used for textiles and blankets.

Producing cloth from sheep is a slow process involving ten steps: shearing, grading, auction, scouring, carding, combing, spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing.

The UK is one of the largest producers of wool and it is traded all over the world. As sustainability becomes increasingly more important, there has been a rise of British 'woolly' crafts returning to traditional methods of production. As a result British wool is in more demand than ever before!