These garments hold a story. It hides in the seams and whispers from the folds.
Look close, a Corriedale sheep is grazing on Marlborough hill country, an Angora Goat is frolicking in Auckland sunshine.
A craftsperson is spinning yarn in the Hawkes Bay and colour is being added here in Wellington with dyes that let the water run clear and clean.
The clicking of your needles makes a song as you make a garment for someone you love.
When Neville and Ruth-Mary Beach returned to Wellington after several years overseas following large engineering projects, they bought 12 acres of land on the outskirts of the city.
Alongside Neville’s engineering work and Ruth-Mary’s work as a secondary school teacher, they brought up their four children and to fill in their spare time(!) they became enthusiastic sheep farmers and one of the first people in New Zealand to breed angora goats. As the fibre of the goats improved they looked for ways to use it. Ruth-Mary was interested in needlework and learned to hand spin the wool and mohair grown on their property. She decided to develop a unique thread and so this business was born.
Strand is a unique yarn was developed at the Wool Research Institute that combined the softness of the mohair from Angora goats with the strength of fine Corriedale wool. The Corriedale wool enhances the lustre of the mohair in a way that other wools couldn’t. The yarn is a worsted spin (rather than a wooly spin) which gives a yarn that will wear extremely well, whether it is being taken through canvas numerous times while stitching or can be worn as a knitted garment for a long time with minimal pilling.
The yarn was initially developed as an embroidery thread used in needlepoint and crewel embroidery but its use spread to weaving and knitting. It is also used for Persian rug restoration and has even been taken to Iran as presents for rug restorers there.
Strand has now found a new home at Mary Self Textiles. Mary, the previous owner of Nancys, has been using Strand yarn in her needlepoint kits for over 20 years and still loves the vibrancy of the colours that Ruth Mary developed. The embroidery yarns are hand dyed with an exhaust method which results in clean water at the end of the process in small 300gm batches.
Once we discovered that it could be used as a knitting yarn we have been selling very cute 25 gram balls. We felt that there was an absence of 3 ply yarn available in an interesting range of colours. People have been knitting with this yarn for a while now and are enjoying it. The knitting yarn was dyed locally at Woolyarns also using an exhaust dying process.
The exclusive colour range for Strand Natural Fibres has been developed to reflect New Zealand’s unique light and landscape colours.