As the studio in Māwhera Greymouth gathers speed – pictures to follow soon – so the hunt for wool yarns continues.
Wool in Aotearoa New Zealand used to be Big Business. It still is sizeable but is nowhere near as successful as it used to be. Part of that problem is the rise of artificial fibres; sheep wool accounted for 0.9% of the global fibre market in 2021. This is a staggering statistic. With its unique properties, wool is ideally suited to many different climate types and situations yet artificial fibres win out over the natural.
Have a look at this interesting map that shows wool production across the globe. While China and Australia produce the majority of the fibre, New Zealand comes in third, a reflection of its size and population.
The wool industry, particularly for what is called “strong” wool, ie wool that is coarser than “fine” wool like merino, is struggling. The demand for this type of wool is slowly returning to the manufacturing of carpets but the rise of synthetics has caused farmers in Aotearoa to switch to meat production rather than raising sheep for fibre. It has even been said that the shearing of the sheep is a problem rather than an opportunity; it costs more to shear the animals than the sale of the clip raises.
Over the next few months the search for a suitable wool yarn to use in our production will continue. With the decline in the industry has come a decline in the number of mills producing yarn, the loss of scourers and spinners, and the inevitable shrinking of the types of yarn available for manufacturing purposes. That is a problem but perhaps the studio in Greymouth will help to increase the appreciation for this wondrous fibre.
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