For July the Indie Shelf sees us with the beautiful naturally dyed Romney yarns of Rosewood Wool. You can find their online special gradients for sale now (while stocks last!)

How did Rosewood Wool begin?

We had the unique opportunity to buy a reasonable amount of Romney lambswool from a couple who bred their own small flock of sheep and had it processed here in New Zealand. They were retiring and we were lucky enough to be able to purchase their remaining wool.

We had bought wool from them over the years and had enjoyed the quality of their pure wool, and were excited at the prospect of being able to dye it ourselves and share it with others. We set about playing with colour. First with natural dyes, and then with more traditional wool dyes.

Tell us a bit about Romney Wool? 

It’s good honest wool that does as it’s told!

We’re delighted to be part of the resurgence of knitters appreciating pure untreated wool again and designers such as Kate Davies and Ysolda Teague are spearheading this and we are excited to see more people coming on-board to appreciate and see the true value of real wool.

Romney wool wears very well, the fibres bloom and fill after washing and this means your garment keeps you extra warm. Romney wool pills very little and softens with wear.

Can you tell us about the selection you've sent in for the Indie shelf 

 All the yarn we've sent to HRYC has been dyed using only plants, natural materials, and processes. Most of the wool has had a mordant used first to ensure the colour adheres to the wool fibres. Some processes don't require a mordant, such as indigo, and adhere through oxidisation. Each process is different and we have enjoyed each of them as we went along.

We have used indigo, cochineal, turmeric, dahlias, tansy, cabbage, onion skins, calendula, nasturtium, henna, avocado skins and pits and walnut.

Dyeing with natural materials and ground powders is a labour of love and an experience of aromas! Dyeing with the flowers was our favourite aroma.

We have really loved over-dyeing to bring about complex complementary colours that are just too good to be true.

We're very proud of our yarn and the results we have achieved.

And what about the online special you have designed for us in July?

We played around with this idea for a while to really create something special, that is ultimately very usable, and we really feel that with 150gm of 3 ply yarn you can make a decent sized garment. We got absolutely hooked on dyeing with indigo once we mastered the process, which was a journey in itself and took us quite a few times to get right.

We then focused on dyeing a range of gradients varying the depth of colour in indigo blue.  We've then created gradient sets from white through to the navy.

We look forward to seeing this good honest and very special wool winging its way to homes where it will be appreciated and enjoyed; worn and admired.

Thanks for having us.

With two HRYC babies on the way, we need some new hands to join the crew! 

Does the thought of opening giant boxes of squishy smooshy wool sound like Christmas to you? It does to us! And we're looking for a like-minded person to join the team in our Willis St store, hooray! 

Holland Road Yarn Co isn't just a shop, it's a place where we build a community of knitters and crafters. We really love our customers and bend over backwards to bring them the best possible yarn buying experience. We are a 21st century business who use all the technology at our disposal.

Our ideal colleague is:

- a true yarn-lover, a passionate knitter and well-versed in all things woolly

- can talk about knitting and projects until the cows come home

- knows Ravelry backwards and believe technology is essential to daily life

- can wrangle google docs and share inspiration in 140 characters

- crochet and /or spinning skills would be a bonus

- constantly looking to learn more about the craft

- comfortable with money handling and sales

- and, most importantly, have amazing people skills.

There is one position available, on a casual contract to cover maternity leave. There is potential for it to become permanent, depending on how 2017 turns out for us. The role is sole charge, so we need someone who can take the initiative but isn't afraid to ask questions if unsure about something.

It's been a long time between blog posts, which isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world as it means we have been wonderfully busy sharing lots of great yarn with you, our excellent customers!

But it's definitely time for some updates, and first up: Brooklyn Tweed! This yarn has been on my bucket list for what feels like forever, so being able to bring it to NZ is a huge delight. We are the exclusive stockists in this part of the world, and it's a real honour to join the BT family.

Almanac and Button Jar in Brooklyn Tweed

So, of course the first thing to do is a hunt for patterns...

Wyatt, by Michelle Wang in Shelter is my next project on the needles, in Button Jar.

Bough by Leila Raabe shows off BT's gorgeous stitch definition with loads of cables.

Gyre by Bristol Ivy in the glorious colour that is Hayloft 

and how lush is the Guernsey Wrap by the man himself, Jared Flood?

We have plenty of stock in now, and another order due to arrive in few weeks, which will include the exciting new lace weight yarn, Plains. One of our favourite local(ish) designers, Amy van de Laar, designed one of the latest Wool People patterns with it, hooray Amy!

Amarilli, by Amy van de Laar

More on Amy in a future blog post...

Sign up here from 9am Monday 4 April!

With things shifting and changing over the last wee while, it's come to our attention that we need a better shop couch set up. Our current one is huge and comfy, but the hugeness has become a bit of an issue. We need to rearrange the shop in order to get all the new stuff to fit, and that means new couches.

There's one problem though: we spend every spare cent of our turnover on yarn. When it comes to making a choice about spending money, yarn will always win out. It's what we're here for, it's what we love, and it's what we want to share with you. 

So we're doing something a bit different: inviting you to join our Yarn Couch VIP club. 

What on earth is that?

Yarn Couch VIP will cost you the small sum of $35

it will gain you:

• 12 months of 10% off every purchase in store or online (some exceptions, such as indie shelf yarns and vouchers, will apply)
• First dibs on every shipment of special yarn and new stock (yep, that's Madeline Tosh!)*
• Sneak previews of Indie Shelf yarns* 
• Priority dyeing on any Knitsch Sock - so if you're after a colour it will be bumped to the top of my dye list
• Two special shopping nights during the year with extra treats
• Your name on the couch! Yep, we'll embroider your name on the couch to say thanks for being the excellent supportive person you are.

* via a special VIP email list

There's a strictly limited number of VIP spots available - just enough to allow us to buy two new couches that better suit the space we're in. 

All proceeds from the club will go directly to buying a couple new couches for you to enjoy! If we have any spare cash it'll go on other homey touches to make the space more comfy. 

Sign up here from 9am Monday 4 April! 

When you aren't busy dyeing yarn, what do you do?

How did you get into knitting? Are you a process or a product knitter?

Do you have a particular fibre or fibre blend you love to dye more than any other?

We all have colour tendencies - what's yours? Do you find this comes through in your dyeing?

If you could go on holiday anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?

Anything else you want to share with us?