Weaving at Ardalanish

We make Designer and Country Tweeds in a range of subtle patterns and shades. We also make a range of woven goods that includes throws, scarves, shawls and bothy mats.

The lustrous black wool of Hebridean sheep makes hard-wearing articles - traces of similar wool have been found in ancient Island burial chambers. The exact shade of wool varies from animal to animal and from year to year so that every garment made is unique, with natural colours ranging from black and charcoal brown through to silver.

We are happy to undertake commissions.

We aim for quality rather than quantity and pay attention to detail at each stage of production so that the finished tweeds will keep their shape - with no bagging or creasing.

About Isle of Mull Weavers

Isle of Mull Weavers was founded by Bob and Kathy Ryan in 1987, and when they began to think about retiring a few years ago a fortuitous sequence of events brought their 1920's and 1950's looms to Ardalanish.

Bob now acts as Master Weaver and takes care of training a new generation of weavers. Weaver Mark Staley has been at Ardalanish for three years now and in 2007 another young apprentice joined the team.

Working in this Hebridean landscape, Hebridean sheep were the natural choice for wool and we began with our own especially as it's many rich dark shades offered the potential to process and market natural undyed wool.

We now gather wool form other native breeds too, including Shetland and Manx Loaghtan and this gives our weavers a wonderful range of natural shades and colours with which to work. The wool is spun using water power at the New Lanark Heritage Centre, and returned to Ardalanish to be woven.

Producing Hebridean and Native Breed Tweeds is a step towards revitalising the traditional industry of weaving, with the end product paying tribute to the sheep and the energy used to grow their lustrous wool.

Our aim is to achieve a harmonious link between the land, the products, and the consumer, and we believe that the end result means that customers not only benefit from a unique and beautiful product, but also become connected with the land and what we are trying to achieve here through this flow of positive energy.