Olann Meara Mill Yarn

olann [uh - lan]

noun / feminine

1. wool

...Olann was born out of a desire to create a range of sophisticated colours on ethically sourced yarns. The process of producing quality hand dyed yarns was never rushed, but rather slowly developed to be highly desirable, inspiring and harmonious. We believe in doing things the proper way.

In our small workshop we dye yarn in small batches, the emphasis on material and process. Knowing and caring where our materials come from is the bones of our business. Small is good, individual is good.

Values

Make Well. Choosing the proper way over the easier way. That is why we ensure our yarn comes from farms with ethical practices in Argentina and Uruguay. The farms guarantee mulesing free processes of obtaining the fibres which means a fair and humane treatment of their sheep.

Slow is good. Slow to perfect our colours, with thought and care. Slowly experiencing the simple pleasures in life which ultimately fuels the big ideas behind Olann.

Slow living allows us to connect more meaningfully with our product. Getting outdoors and exploring the Irish countryside, the mountains, valleys, forests and the sea to feel the inspiration for our colours emerge from our surroundings.

Process

Our yarns come from little farms in South America that guarantee fair and humane treatment to their herds of sheep. We pre-wash our yarns to remove lanolin and any dust that may have been caught during the spinning stage.

When the undyed hanks are delivered to us we store them carefully, in dry conditions and away from light. We only dye in small batches, this ensures each skein that passes through our hands gets the full care and attention it deserves.

We use non toxic acid dyes and a food grade citric acid as our setting agent. All the dye is exhausted from our dye pots so that there is zero nasty stuff being poured into our drains. Citric acid also looses its potency as it helps the dye absorb into the fibres. Rest assured, we are environmentally friendly. Water is often re-used to also minimise our water usage and wastage.

After the dye process is completed, our freshly dyed yarn takes a long nice soak in gentle wool wash to ensure all that citric acid water is scrupulously rinsed from the yarn. Our yarn is now super clean and super soft and is ready for your crafty hands.