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Azrah | FleeceFolk Fibre

@duchessofsewssex

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Dyer & Wool Processor for @fleecefolkfibre 🧶
FleeceFolk Diary on YouTube 🐑
Championing Australian & NZ Wool!
On Gadigal Land 🍃

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Hello! There are a few new folks here and today is the first anniversary of my YouTube channel, the FleeceFolk Diary, so I thought it time I reintroduce myself!

My name is Azrah. I am a self-proclaimed fleece fiend (evidence attached) & fibre artist! 🐑 I’m on a mission to encourage people to think locally about wool no matter where they fall in the lifecycle of wool. More importantly, I’m on a mission to get more Australians spinning again and to showcase the wide variety of wool available to us in this part of the world 🌍

As an ex-researcher, I’m now keeping those skills sharp with a woolly lens and sharing what I learn about this industry and its people with you!

Keep scrutinising those ball bands and chatting to your local mills, dyers and farmers! Thank you for being here and for supporting my passion ♥️ Here’s to many more trips around the sun in our FleeceFolk Flock! X

#fleecefolkdiary #fleecefolkfibre #australianwool by @duchessofsewssex

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4 months ago

This week’s FleeceFolk Diary entry is a chat through all of my handspun Jaunty shawls. I thought I was done with 2, but in September a 3rd spawned off the needles out of two braids I stole from my @fleecefolkfibre NZ Corriedale drop.

The video covers the unique woolly compositions and stories of each Jaunty and the second half is a chaotic account of how my 2nd Jaunty was spun as part of the #jauntysal earlier in the year 🧣

The highlight for me is my most recent Jaunty (pictured here) where I wanted to do something funky and spun the twin braids two different ways - one chain plied, one with fingering twist - and knitted two halves of the shawl in this way to show how drastically you can change a colourway based on the way you ply. The difference aren’t obvious in the finished skeins but translated dramatically in the knit version. I really enjoyed doing this and I don’t think it will be the last!

This pattern has a special place in my heart. It is such a generous blank canvas to pour handspun into and I can see I’m not alone in having multiples of the pattern!

🔗 link in bio for my video on this and a better view of this 3rd version

Pattern: Jaunty Shawl by @dreareneeknits
Fibre: Handspun NZ Corriedale dyed by me @fleecefolkfibre

#fleecefolkdiary #jauntyshawl #handspunwithlove #fleecefolkfibre by @duchessofsewssex

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5 days ago

Hello crafters and Happy Socktober! 🧦

In this week’s FleeceFolk Diary entry, I share my favourite self-striping dyers from ANZ and my Socktober plans! I will be spinning up this ultra soft sock top from my last shop update @fleecefolkfibre

I will also be hosting a small giveaway across Instagram and our Ravelry group - FleeceFolk Flock. The prizes chosen are my 2 most versatile sock patterns - you won’t need another with these in your Ravelry library!

All rules for entering are on Slide 2. On Instagram, please be sure to tag me in addition to the hashtag!

As with most FleeceFolk makealongs, this too will be about keeping good company and knowledge sharing. Whether you join us here or head over to Ravelry (link in bio) I hope you enjoy a slow cruise through Socktober!

All sock-related crafts allowed!

Graphics by the ever talented @palmhouseknits 🫶

#fleecefolkdiary #socktober2026 #FFSocktober2026 #fleecefolkfibre by @duchessofsewssex

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18 days ago

A meditative Sunday knit 💛 I’m receiving a lot of DMs about this snap in my stories, so I thought I’d share the details here

🧣Pattern: Mizzle and Mist Cardigan by @thewoolbarrow

🧶Yarn: @wildearthyarns Reclaimed wool in Harvest 🌾

☕️ Mug: @beershebafarm advent. Pictured is the adorable Drysdale, Gilbert. He accompanies a lot of my PJ knits

Video coming soon!

#fleecefolkdiary by @duchessofsewssex

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a month ago

Spring Sweater 🌸

Happy release day to the Spring Sweater by @knitsbyshru ! It was an absolute pleasure to test knit this gorgeous sweater ♥️ The pattern is now available on Ravelry with a release weekend discount code - check it out!

This was a very naughty experiment by me to use a discontinued yarn by a mill that no longer exists but I am very pleased with the end results and did spend the start of Aussie spring living in this sweater!

🧶 Main colour: English Leicester Lambswool by Little Wood mill
🧶 Contrast Colour: Handspun Romanov, Mulberry Silk, Angora blend by @ixchelbunny in the colourway Springtime (a happy coincidence!)

This is the first sweater I ever had to scour - the English Leicester held on to a good amount of lanolin and I bought it possibly third or fourth hand. This did mean it grew a bit more than I would’ve liked but it’s still such a cozy fit! All my notes are on my Ravelry page (link in bio).

I really love the heathered natural colour of the main colour against the contrast of my handspun. If you were looking for a sign to use your imperfect handspun, here it is!

Happy spring and happy release day to Shru! This is a new treasure in my forever wardrobe 🌼

#springsweater #knitsbyshru #fleecefolkdiary #handspunknits #englishleicesterwool by @duchessofsewssex

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a month ago

This week‘s FleeceFolk Diary entry is about one of my favourite ways to combo spin! As someone that dyes a lot of OOAK colourways this is a question I get asked a lot!

There are lots of tips and tricks squeezed into the 20 minute slot including:
- anchoring colour with a semi-solid braid
- how to choose colours that work together
- colour value and how to choose matching main/contrast colours for knitted garments

I spun this to hopefully use as a contrast colour to the Quilted Dreams Pullover by Briana Arlene. I am really delighted with the end results colourwise but I haven’t yet worked out yardages, so we will wait and see if I have spun enough!

All braids are from @feltingewe which means you can recreate this combo spin at home! I hope you enjoy this cheaper alternative to Spincycle yarns (which is still loved and cherished at FleeceFolk HQ!)

🔗 in bio to my channel

Happy Spinning!

#fleecefolkfibre #fleecefolkdiary #handspunwithlove #diyspincycle #combospinning by @duchessofsewssex

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2 months ago

Rainbow Connection 🌈

Kermit sat at my wheel today and spun 50g of Palette by @feltingewe ! I’m always intrigued by how singles wind on to bobbins and hope you enjoy!

Happy spinning 🫶

#fleecefolkfibre #fleecefolkdiary #spinningrainbows #feltingewe by @duchessofsewssex

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2 months ago

Tour de Fleece 2026

This is most of what I spun over Tour de Fleece (including spinning with Tour de Femmes!). I thought long and hard about gathering all these skeins for a complete summary but it just feels right to show them as they came off the bobbins - mostly late in the evening/midnight!

This was a very very Wyndara and FleeceFolk Fibre tour and I am so so pleased with the finished skeins. I really enjoyed spinning Whiskey and have a bit more left of her to finish. I harp on at length about her fleece and what her finished skeins mean in last week’s FleeceFolk diary entry (link in bio).

In total I spun Polwarth, Corriedale, Corriedale Silk blend and merino!

Thank you so much for joining me this Tour and for sharing your makes under Tour de FleeceFolk! Can’t wait to do it all again next year x

#fleecefolkdiary #fleecefolkfibre #wyndarablacksheep #handspunwithlove #tdfleecefolk26 by @duchessofsewssex

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2 months ago

This beauty almost missed the grid but I had a quick snap before it got caked for swatching 🧶

Singles spun entirely on @lady_greensleeves_ drop spindles and plied on the wheel. I love this delightful mix of colours on Polwarth by Helen @waratahfibres 🧵

This will meet my own hand dyed handspun of Polwarth for a new cast on!

209m to 119g 🫶

#handspunwithlove #fleecefolkfibre #dropspindlespun #ladygreensleevesspindle #waratahfibres by @duchessofsewssex

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2 months ago

This week’s FleeceFolk Diary entry is all about what I consider to be the SECRET Bendigo Show - The Bendigo Artisans Annual Fair! If you are heading to Bendigo next year, it should definitely be part of your itinerary! It runs alongside the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show at the North Bendigo Bowlo and is a very cosy hall with a wonderful collection of artists!

I visited this year in pursuit of some Angora rabbit fibre and as you can see I am very pleased with Inky’s saddle clip that I’m holding in the 1st snap!

I was also fortunate enough to meet Liz @spinners_cotton and want to thank her for the gift of her time! We had such a lovely chat about cotton and mills in Australia. I walked away with a colourful box of goodies too. Liz is also a dealer of Clemes and Clemes products if you are after lock pops and the like, she’s your gal!

Finally, I made my very first trip to our beloved @bendigowoollenmills ! Such a treat to finally step into the infamous back room and I share some of that haul too!

I hope you enjoy this one and fill your trip down to Bendigo next year with new spaces to explore! How lucky are we to have so much fibre goodness at our fingertips! 🫶

🔗 Link in bio to my channel on YouTube

#fleecefolkdiary #angorarabbitfibre #australiancotton #bendigowoollenmills by @duchessofsewssex

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2 months ago

That’s a wrap on the Australian Sheep & Wool Show 2026! It was such a delight and privilege to attend this year and spend so much time with the sheep and people behind our joyful craft!

I strongly recommend approaching the show from an agricultural/sheepie lens and filling your lungs with shed 4!

This is only a small collection of snaps from when I remembered to pull the phone out! Thank you so much to everyone that made this weekend so so special!

A recap of my weekend at the show is now on my YouTube channel (link in bio).

Let’s do it all again in 2027! @sheepshow

#fleecefolkdiary #asws2026 #bendigosheepandwoolshow #australianfibre #fleecefolkfibre taken in Dja Dja Wurrung Country by @duchessofsewssex

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3 months ago

The Great Australian Breed Study | English Leicester 🐑

This week’s FleeceFolk Diary entry is now available on YouTube (link in bio). With a week to go for the @sheepshow I thought it very fitting that we talk about the feature breed for 2026, English Leicester.

It is a packed episode where I show how I go from raw fleece to yarn. I cover the development of English Leicester (EL) as a breed, its history in Australia and NZ (incl. the development of the NZ Halfbred as a result), comparison of EL locks from a young hogget fleece to a 7 year old ewe who became the case study for the episode, side by side comparison of 2 methods of scouring, tips for combing and spinning the breed, as well as a 3ply and 2ply version of the breed.

More than anything I am so chuffed with how many farms and FleeceFolk come together in one episode:
🐑 Fleece spun from the gorgeous Pesto at @olady.coloured.corriedales
🐑 Impressively long lock sample from Ember @morallacorriedales
🧶 Vintage EL Lambswool scored in a destash by @thedragonknitter (thank you Su!) which is now in a test knit for @knitsbyshru
🧶 Combs from Petlyn to understand the point of English wool combs
And the conversations that have followed from dedicated EL breeders that do so much to keep this lovely breed alive in Aus!

Thank you so much for watching and for continuing to be interested in Australian fibre ♥️

#fleecefolkdiary #sheepbreedstudy #australianwool #englishleicester #rarebreedwool by @duchessofsewssex

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3 months ago