July 27th, 2026A family affair

A bracing wind whips around Sandra and Sue Morris as they introduce me to a few of the much-loved sheep on their family farm just outside Trentham.

After giving Lewis, Hank, Clyde and Clarence a treat we head indoors; it’s good crafting weather.
The industrious mother and daughter sit beside the wood fire, and a spinning wheel begins to turn; knitting needles serving as an accompaniment.
I enjoy the warmth, watching wool shorn from the family’s flock of 90 or so sheep slowly but surely take shape.
Sandra tells me she has been hand spinning wool grown on the family farm, to knit and sell garments, for about 20 years.
With her daughter Sue now onboard, Sandra shifted her attention from farmer’s markets to showcasing bespoke knitwear at the Daylesford Regional Visitor Information Centre and through their Cranneys Lane Corriedale Esty store.
“We stick to little things like hats, neck warmers, fingerless gloves and baby booties, we like accessories.
“Up on our Etsy site I have pictures of the garments and the sheep the wool came from and most of them have names, so people see the particular sheep that the wool for their garment was stitched from which makes it really personal – they love it.”
Sandra said her mother taught her to knit many years ago but enrolling in spinning classes helped develop the handcrafting arm of the family’s farming business.
“We always loved the coloured sheep, but you have to do something with the wool to keep them.
“You couldn’t sell the black wool in the market, they’d give you nothing for it, so we decided we’d value add. And we’ve just sort of gone from there really, it’s an out-of-control hobby.”
But that hobby helps keep Sandra, Sue, and otherwise abandoned sheep, right where they want to be, on the land, in the area Sandra’s maternal family has called home for five generations.
Sandra said they couldn’t do it without her youngest daughter, Emily, and son-in-law, Kyle helping with heavy farm-maintenance work, particularly in the shearing and hay seasons.
“At lambing time, we set the shearing shed up as a maternity ward and they all lamb in there,” Sandra said, with Sue describing wintery conditions on their property where predators like foxes wait in the wings as “hardcore”.
Fortunately, Sandra and Sue love their animals as much as their craft and do their best to raise and name every otherwise abandoned lamb.
“Serious Black was born jet black, lovely shiny wool and we called him Serious Black, but over about three years he slowly lightened and he became seriously grey, so now he’s just called Serious,” Sandra says fondly recalling names.
“Lewis was an orphan, his mother didn’t want him or died or something. Little Bubby would just sit in your hand when she was born because she was premmie.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it.”

Words & image: Kate Foulds