Petra Baker, a spinner and weaver based in Cockermouth, has joined The Wool Clip co-operative as its newest member. A selection of Petra's textured yarns, many of them coloured using natural dyes, is now on sale in our Caldbeck shop, as well as her woven shawls, wraps and soft furnishings.

Petra's first experience of spinning was when her father, a woodturner, built his own spinning wheel when she was a child. "Mum would knit accessories using his yarn," she explains, "but I've never been sure where he sourced the original wool. I inherited that spinning wheel when he died and I still use it today."

"I got into weaving after a much more recent visit to Iona with my husband," she says. "I bought a lot of wool in the colours of the landscape and the sea but didn't really want to knit or crochet with it. He managed to find a hand-made loom, called a rigid heddle loom, for me as a present and the weaving has developed from there."

"I love the fact that I can source raw fleece from a farmer and then go through the whole process to a finished item. For most of my wool, I clean and hand-card it, dye and spin it, and then weave it into textured fabrics that really show off the wool itself. I also buy dyed batts from elsewhere to supplement that supply and now, as a member of The Wool Clip, I am hoping to work with some of the other members' wool in future." 

Petra Baker, spinner and weaver

Petra's colour palette is inspired by nature and the colour combinations of her wraps tend to reflect that too, with names like forget-me-not and bluebell. Her cushions and soft furnishings tend to use more neutral shades.

"My yarn that is for sale in the shop is a whole mix," she says, "including the brighter shades and textures that people seem to love. It will be interesting to see what sells best via The Wool Clip and I'm looking forward to meeting the people who buy my yarn and finding out what they create with it too."

Jean Wildish is Petra's initial mentor at The Wool Clip: "We've been hoping to add another spinner to our Wool Clip co-operative ranks for some time and Petra's work complements the other hand spun yarns in the shop. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and seeing how we can work together in future."

On Petra's days in The Wool Clip shop, she is likely to be found using her drop spindle to spin and she'll happy to talk to visitors about her work and inspiration.