A beautifully curated selection of some of Aotearoa’s finest small yarn businesses.
Dark Harbour Yarn
Dark Harbour Yarn is run by Nikki Jones and is based in stunning Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington – where there is a lot of need for sensibly woolly items.
She dyes a range of bases and specialises in yarns with great depth of colour. She also makes bags and needle rolls.
Dye Studio 54
Aleisha has been a passionate knitter for over 20 years, knitting garments for the people she loves.
Dye Studio 54 was created as a part of her desire to knit with beautiful yarns that are as colourful, and unique as the people she knit for.
Aleisha hand dyes all her yarn in small batches in her studio behind her home in Greymouth on the West Coast.
Frances Stachl Jeweller
Hand made contemporary jewellery by Frances Stachl (Ngāpuhi) in precious metal and a variety of other materials.
Frances is a knitter whose day job involves making beautiful things from metal. She is based in Whanganui.
Yarn is very nice, but a permanent souvenir of your Unwind experience in silver is a glorious thing too.
Heavenly Wools
Heavenly Wools is run by Kate Mahoney. Spinners love the luxury of her beautiful Haunui and Polwarth combed fibre and luxurious silk blends – sourced directly from South Island growers, dyed in unique colourways.
Holland Road Yarn Company
Holland Road Yarn Co is all about bright, delightful, joy-bringing yarn and craft supplies. They celebrate the connection between making and wellbeing, embracing the mistakes and making things up as you go.
Joy of Yarn
Welcome to the relaunch of Joy of Yarn!
Be tempted by hand-dyed yarns and pattern knit kits with a rainbow twist. Knitting should be about Joy.
JOY is run by James Herbison, he is based in Carterton.
Maniototo Wool
Maniototo Wool is 100% New Zealand produced and processed with full farm to yarn traceability. The result is a truly unique and special product.
The yarns are hand dyed by Maniototo owner, Hannah, at her home in Invercargill, Southland.
Miss Muffet’s Knits
Elisha Orchard is the face behind Miss Muffet’s Knits. She makes ceramic buttons by hand at home in Mayfield, New Zealand while being a stay at home mum.
Elisha has been producing ceramic buttons for over 4 years and provides the crafting market with high quality, naturally made and one of a kind unique ceramic buttons that are machine washable and durable which add a touch of something special to any creative endeavour.
Newtown House
Newtown House is all about celebrating craft and passion.
Amy and Nick import incredible yarn brands: Rosa Pomar, John Arbon, Garthenor, Biches et Bûches, ITO, Daruma and De Rerum Natura. They also cater for sewists with patterns and haberdashery.
Sand Coast Skeinery
SandCoast Skeinery is Kerry and Talei Langley – a mum and daughter duo, originally from Vancouver, Canada, who live on the Kapiti Coast. SandCoast Skeinery is a tiny business with our dye studio in Kerry’s home.
SandCoast Skeinery exists because Kerry and Talei just love playing with fibres and colours.
Shoe Box Sally
Shoebox Sally is Julia Davies. She makes thoughtfully crafted bags for all your fibre project needs. They are handmade in Ōtepoti Dunedin by a maker for makers.
Notion bags for all your bits and bobs, box bags for one-skein projects, and bigger bags that have a wrist strap and optional shoulder strap.
All bags are fully lined and made from quality fabrics in limited editions with unusual, striking designs.
Starcrest Farm
Starcrest Farm is a smallholding in Oxford, North Canterbury, growing premium white and coloured Polwarth fleece tailored to producing fibre and yarn for handcrafters.
All their fleece is grown, scoured and produced in Canterbury, New Zealand. Their fibre is turned into combed top, silk blends, and worsted and woollen spun yarns by Wild Earth Yarns Mill.
The Yarn Queen
The Yarn Queen is run by mum & daughter duo Joy and Ruth.
Create something amazing that you wish existed with The Yarn Queen’s curated selection of highest quality local and hard-to-find yarn, tools, notions, patterns and books. We don’t stock anything we wouldn’t use ourselves.
Vintage Purls
Located in Ōtepoti, Dunedin, Vintage Purls has been dyeing, designing and serving the knit community for 15 years. VP specialises in finer weight yarns. Morag hand-dyes yarns, stocks some imported beauties and has a large range of ChiaoGoo needles and a variety of brands of knit accessories.
Morag is also the creator of Unwind Retreat.
Yarn Therapy
Jo Campbell of Yarn Therapy loves to make yarn sing with the application of colour. She uses multi layered dyeing techniques that she has perfected over the past 15+ years to create colour stories that you’ll love to look at, on yarn bases that you’ll love to work with, and to wear.
Yeah Yeah Yarns
Yeah yeah yarn is hand-dyed at home by Caroline in Otepoti. Caroline specialises in bright, vibrant and contrasting colours on a wide variety of different yarn blends.
Also representing fabulous yarns of Aotearoa at Unwind 2024:
Wool on Wheels
Wool on Wheels will be joining us with something special – Julie is switching out wheels for wings so in order to navigate limited luggage she is bringing all things Teal! Pontini is very excited to be part of something that Ponty missed out on and is looking forward to meeting you.
Julie always says that Teal will take you home… perhaps it will!