6
May 2018
TARANAKI FARMING LIFESTYLES
SHOWCASING TO
THE WORLD BY ANN MORGAN
This is part two of Cheryl Eldridge’s story of being passionate about a rare breed of grey sheep and New Zealand wool. With her husband Barry, she has diversified the farming activities on their property Stansborough Station and developed the breed, which is now called ‘Stansborough Grey’.
C
heryl and her two sons personally sort and class every fleece into three shades of grey as the sheep are shorn. This is done twice annually to keep the quality at its best for textile production. Cheryl has a background in the creative arts, along with daughter Kiri, and designs all the fabrics, accessories and finished product range. “The wool comes in dark, mid and silver grey, and within these preselected tones there is a whole spectrum, which
creates the marvelous, almost metallic sheen,” says Cheryl. “I started working alone, in a shed with one loom, and now have six historic looms and a wide blanket loom, and we are training a couple of apprentices to pass on the knowledge we have. “The yarn is better spun as fine worsted, and then it is combed to enhance the lustre. The demand for the fibre is such, that we cannot supply generally because all our yarn is used in-house.”
Stansborough station is a family business and is run with the help of the Eldridges son, Gavin
The fibre can be woven, knitted and felted, and all processes are used to produce the unique Stansborough
designs. The yarn is taken to the Stansborough Mill in Wellington for weaving. The looms at the mill weave
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