Who We Are
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Our Story

We are Clive and Laurence, a husband and wife team and we formed Gongcrafts from our wee croft house in a remote village nestled along Scotland's most northerly coast in the county of Sutherland.
Sutherland, with a population density of one person per 25 square kilometres, is probably one of Europe's last remaining wilderness-type environments. It offers the opportunity for experiencing true silence and observing the subtleties and mysteries of Nature.

Laurence Shepherd

Clive Shepherd

We are passionate about the extraordinary landscape in which we live and many of our works are inspired by the colours and places we explore here.  We are keen that all our products “tread lightly upon the Earth”, hence our adventures in botanical dyes and a desire that all our materials are from a sustainable source.
As a truly sustainable way to clothe ourselves, all things wool are our biggest passion from hand-spinning our vibrant mixed fibre “art yarns” to hand-dyeing standard gauge knitting yarns using locally harvested plant material and botanical extracts from sustainable sources.  

We also hand-spin yarn from some of the wonderful native breeds of sheep found in the Highland areas of Scotland which have subtle and evocative shades reflecting our landscape.
Most of the textile products we offer for sale use our yarns.  We create with love and hope our customers receive the same joy in their purchases that we experience in their making.

Creating the Colours

Our luxury botanically hand-dyed yarns are produced in our home as a cottage industry using plant materials from sustainable sources and washed in clear Highland water. We order the undyed yarns from British mills and then play and explore the beautiful colours Nature has to offer!
Detailed records are kept for future use and therefore colourways can be reproduced within single dye batches. Each skein is hand-dyed, washed and rinsed, dried and reskeined by hand and therefore receives intimate attention and care.
A stack of undyed yarns arrives from a British mill ready to receive the Gongcrafts' treatment
Skeins previously mordanted receiving their first dip on our home range ready to turn into a multi-coloured yarn.
Onions - Blue Faced Leicester hanging to dry in the fresh air.
Yellow: ready to skein and wrap.