VERA Platform_2076 Annette Sopata "" iain English Artisan TEXT University of St Andrews VERA Platform "" "Woollen cloth handwoven on a single width Hattersley Loom by a weaver in the Isle of Harris. The wool used in this cloth comes from a flock of Hebridean sheep owned by AAS_PR_06. After shearing it was washed, carded and spun at Uist Wool micro-mill and then woven into Harris Tweed. " Movable Heritage "Sheep Shearing is a process used by crofters in the hebrides to remove the old wool or 'fleeces' from their sheep when the new groeth starts to 'rise' in the late summer. The traditional method of shearing is to use hand-held shears \u2013 this is till practised by some crofters in Ness, but there is also travelling shearer who can be paid per sheep to shear using elctric clippers. Tradiotnally the shearing process would have been conducted at the village 'fanks' \u2013 commnical handling areas for livestock that sit on the common grazing land. As the sheep are sheared a team of usually woemn, would clean off, roll up and bag the fleeces ready for the wool board to collect. Alternatively, the wool can be kept and processed at micro mills on behalf of the crofter but this is very rare and an expensive process to complete. " Intangable Heritage 58 6