Our first official collection of baby hand knits dropped last week and we were absolutely blown away by the interest and support for these pieces, with most styles selling out over night.

Turns out hand knits are reasonably hard to come by and with ours having a certain aesthetic and being 100% natural we offer new parents something special; pieces that aren't just practical in warmth and quality but pieces that are sustainable, completely unique and made for just one lucky bebe.  

Sheep are a huge part of New Zealand culture and their by product wool is closely intwined into our heritage; we are so proud to be offering sustainable hand knits to parents of the 21st century and to be doing so with New Zealand wool, that has been processed and naturally dyed locally. 

Wool is a wonder fibre; it's unique properties make it soft, flexible and particularly strong. It is naturally fire resistant, odour resistant, and provides both insulation and breathability. It is incredibly durable and is said to be comparatively stronger than steel [source: Wools In Schools NZ]. A single fibre can bend back and forth up to 20,000 times without breaking, in comparison cotton can only bend 3000 times. This gives wool fibres the ability to retain their natural shape after stretching comfortably with the wearer. On top of all of this, wool is biodegradable, taking as little as one year to break down. 

Our mother (one of our knitters) has always knitted but her efforts doubled, plus some, when I (Brooke) had my children and like our customers I loved these pieces and my appreciation for hand knits grew... a lot! She is always telling me knitting is a labour of love and I couldn't agree more. One beanie can take up to 6 hours to knit; so we are blessed to have a team of knitters who appreciate what we are doing and who enjoy the craft. 

We reached out to them (our knitters) to ask some questions on the topic at hand;

Why do you knit?

"My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was about 12 years old. At that time in my life three things were clear... I was naturally drawn to babies, I loved giving gifts and I was quite good with my hands.Over the years I have knitted so many things; some of them very big and complex but knitting for babies remains my favourite, it has the advantage of producing results quickly and knowing that people treasure hand knits and that they are not something readily available to everyone encourages me" - Sue

"Why do I knit?.. Sanity!!! But also, I love being creative and being able to do so anywhere. I knit while commuting to/from work or while enjoying brunch with friends. I also have an extensive yarn collection; the textures and colours are all part of what I love" - Renee 

What is your favourite piece of our collection and why?

"That is such a hard question for me because I honestly love them all and in every colour. The softness of the wool and the unique colours from the natural dyes makes them such special pieces. But I do work at a postnatal facility and I know the importance of keeping a new born warm, so if I had to single out an item it would be the lotte vest" - Sue 

"My fave piece would have to be the socks. I absolutely LOVE hand knitted socks and these tiny ones are perfect for tiny toes" - Renee 

 For those of you wanting to purchase one our hand knits; we will continue to drop collections approximately every three months. At this stage our styles will stay the same but the colour options will change with each drop and due to the nature of natural dyes we cannot guarantee an exact same shade again. 

We so appreciate your love and support for these little items, 

Brooke and Elise x