On my first visit to Tasmania, my husband and I made a special trip to Oatlands to visit a shop I had heard so much about. 

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The shop was closed. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. As a new knitter, I didn't have the confidence to make a 'special appointment' to visit the store. Apparently I told the husband, "when I own that store, I am going to be open more!" Be careful what you throw out into the universe, because when you fast forward 4.5 years later here we are, throwing colour on wool, and having a great time doing it. 

 

Yarn Bases 

The majority (but not all) of the yarn base we use for hand dyeing is Australian Merino wool. Some of our hand dyed wool is grown right here in Oatlands, about 5km from the store. We also hand dye wool from New Zealand as well as wool from the UK.  All hand dyed yarns are labeled to indicate country of origin, as well as where the yarns are processed. We always strive to keep as few air miles as possible on our yarns. Some of our yarn is purchased direct from the grower and these yarns are priced accordingly in order to pay the farmer a fair price and allow everyone to make a living.  We are a small batch dyer, which means all colour runs are limited. 

 

Fleece

The fleece you find at The Lucky Ewe is Tasmanian grown. All raw fleeces are processed by hand, and checked for staple length, soundness, colour, and vegetable matter (vm), as well as short cuts. . As sheep are live creatures with bad table manners, and shearers are human, you may find a few short cuts or some vm in your fleece. I hate a fleece with burrs, or needle grass but sometimes this type of vegetation is unavoidable. 

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