It is such a wonderful feeling to be back at the dye pots! It has been an eventful 2 years and that time has absolutely flown. I am now in new digs and with a designated dyeing space, now that the renovations are finished. So! What is happening with Lowanna now? Read on!
What is the same?
Ethical and environmentally friendly:
I am still providing an essentially ethical product. Silk is still the hold out while labour conditions are not shared from the countries that process the silk.
All my fibre comes from White Gum Wool here in lutriwita. Nan Bray runs an amazing outfit there, with the care of the animals her first priority. The sheep are non-mulesed, unlike many Australian Merino suppliers. Thankfully that practice is being phased out slowly, as pressure from the rest of the world impacts their ability to secure contracts.
My yarns come from both White Gum Wool here and Chester Wool Company in the UK. Chester have a number of social projects underway in South America. These are aimed at encouraging local women to be able to continue their skills with fleece processing and spinning while staying at home. This means the women no longer have to leave their villages to work in the city and send money back to their families. A wonderful initiative. Chester also use beetle resin rather than plastics for their superwash wools. This gives a completely biodegradable product that resists felting and will give your garments a better chance at surviving the accidental wash in a washing machine!
Pricing:
While prices for every part of this process have increased, I am continuing to keep the prices as low as possible. For this reason, I don't run competitions or giveaways, as to do that I would need to charge more overall. I don't feel I should be charging you more to cover the cost of someone else getting something for free. You will see that my prices overall are mid range for handdyed yarn but I would argue the quality is higher for the price.
What has changed?
Our packaging!
Gone are the cellophane bags, unless specifically requested while I have existing stock. I am now sourcing my mailers from Heapsgood and Heropackaging. Both are 100% home compostable. No breaking down into microplastics! Even the address labels will be home compostable so you can feel good knowing the earth is not made worse by your purchase.
Extra base yarns
There are some new and exciting base yarns on the way. I will write a separate post about the base yarns on offer and how to make sure you are using the best yarn for your project. Some of the new yarns include baby llama and boucle! Both as soft and delicious as the rest of the yarns.
Ordering through the website
Ordering will be available through the website. This will include delivery costs via Australia Post. I am no longer using the prepaid Australia Post satchels and am looking to cap postage at $15 regardless of weight. In 2025, I am looking to return to Kingston Beach Market where you will have the opportunity to feel the yarn and see the colours up close.
Colourways are sneaking their way in!
While I am still not looking to provide colourways as a rule, there are a couple of colour combinations that are continually being requested. So for those colours that will be around for a while to come, I will give them a name so you can quickly identify them when they come into the shop.
No custom orders
I will not be providing custom orders for the forseeable future. This will allow me to plan out my dyeing schedule, knowing I have enough base yarn to fill those targets. It also means I will be ordering larger amounts, less often, which allows me to keep the prices down.
Experimenting!
I have put on my mad professor cap and am experimenting with colours and techniques. Often the best results happen by accident, such as the beauties in the picture above. I have also found some colours changing to different tones depending on when I add the acid. This has been an exciting adventure, with some of the colours staying in the rotation and others a definite no! This is why I like using dyes that don't include the acid, as they are more suitable for fun experiments!
So when is this all happening?
The shop will be live at 9am on January 1st, 2025. I am so excited!
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