Daughter of a Shepherd – Ram Jam Worsted

Ram Jam encompasses everything Daughter of a Shepherd set out to do and be; that of wanting to put value into something otherwise considered worthless.

All the raw fleece that goes into Ram Jam is gathered from flocks where it would otherwise have gone to waste and it, therefore utilising both black and white wool. You will find a plethora of different sheep breeds in the yarn; the natural blacks include Hebridean, Zwartbles and black Texel and the white comes from a mixture of BFL/Cheviot cross, Texel cross, various other mule crosses and also added is fleece from the naturally black and white coloured Badgerface sheep.

Ram Jam is woollen spun as a 2ply yarn to a worsted weight  It is light and bouncy to handle, with good stitch definition, a soft halo and lots of character.

Being a worsted weight means the yarn is suited to working across a various range of tensions, and is just as happy on a 4mm needle as a 5mm. We suggest a tension of 18 stitches to 10cm (4″) using a 4.5mm (US 7 / UK 7) needle but please do swatch and play with it; have fun seeing the different fabrics you can create by simply varying needle sizes.

“I worked with the mill to blend the greys which are created by combing different quantities of black and white fibre together, resulting in wonderful, soft heathered shades. Meanwhile, the Natural Black is a complex, very dark brown perfect for backgrounds or intricate patterning, while the Natural White lifts the darker shades with its creamy tone. By working closely with the mill we have mixed a balanced palette that is ideal for use in stranded knitting patterns, colour-blocking and stripes, but equally beautiful for single colour projects.

I am truly thrilled that Ram Jam is also a 100% Yorkshire product. From the raw fibre, to the scouring, spinning and skeining, even the delivery of the final yarn to me, is from or has been done by Yorkshire companies and as a proud Yorkshire lass this makes me beam!”  Pauline ( from Cross & Woods) would agree , as she is also a Yorkshire lass, whose Father was a carpenter on the same estate as where the sheep from Daughter of a Shepard graze!