Tag Archives: zealana

Zealana in Italia!

November 24, 2016 Sam Gilbert Leave a comment

The tiny hilltop town of Montisi, Italy welcomes groups of knitters every Fall. Susan Wolcott, founder of Trips for Knitters www.tripsforknitters.com has been organizing these retreats for the past decade, and Zealana has been a happy sponsor for the past two years. Most of the knitters go to Montisi to soak up some of the famous Tuscan sun while improving their knitting skills, but they leave feeling a connection to the people in the town as well. It’s not usually a tourist destination, so the local merchants gear up for the extra business and welcome the knitters back for another year. The local gift shop stocks up on olive oil shampoo (it always sells out!), and the tiny grocery store even had special bags printed that could be used for knitting.

Photo source: montisifilmfestival.org — Photo credit: Elizabeth Cochran

Kennita Tully has been the teacher and designer for these retreats for several years now, and has made many friends in Montisi. She wanted to do something special for the locals they work with for the retreat, so in 2015 she started work on the “Montisi Collection”, designing garments for specific individuals around their lifestyle. She chose five people, interviewed them about their preferences in color and style, looked at other sweaters in their wardrobes and took measurements. Last month at the retreat, she presented the sweaters to their new owners.

Four of the garments were made with Zealana yarns:

Liz Cochran is a British expat who moved to Cortona to paint and is now a successful artist living in Montisi. She teaches water colour to the knitters on retreat and hosts a historic walking tour of the town on Sunday mornings. Liz is also an accomplished Blues singer with her own album. Her elegant vest is knit in Zealana Air Lace in Burgundy.

Massimo is Liz’ partner and the property manager for the villa where we stay Villa Maddalena. He also plays guitar in a rock band on Friday nights. His pullover is made with Kauri Fingering, in Blue Awa, Red Tuhi, Ashen and Dark Napo. Zampa is Liz and Massimo’s very talented dog. Since he goes everywhere with Massimo, he needed a matching sweater!

Roberto is the owner of a very unique restaurant in Montisi, called “Roberto’s”. He is a master sommelier and a follower of the slow food movement. The food he serves is all about where it comes from and how it affects us, preserving tradition and socialization during meals. Roberto sources everything he serves from local farms and orchards, teaching the guests about the slow food movement as he serves his delicious meals. Kennita designed his cardigan using Kauri Worsted in Natural, for those cool days when he’s out looking for fresh buffalo mozzarella.

Kennita’s patterns will be available in December or early January – check www.wildflowerknits.com or Kennita’s store on Ravelry for updates and her other designs. She has already chosen five more Montisi residents for next year’s designs, when the Montisi Collection will become a book!

Photography of the garments by Steve Tully.

Wool School, Yarn

Welcome to Wool School

May 18, 2015 Cirilia Rose Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered why Zealana yarns contain brushtail possum fiber? It’s a complicated and compelling story, and we share it with you in Zealana Wool School. Let’s start with a history lesson in Part 1…

Learn more about the unique qualities of brushtail possum fiber and what makes it so wonderful for hand knitting in Zealana Wool School Part 2:

For extra credit, visit our website, and if you have any questions, leave them below and we’ll do our best to share what we know.

Ria + June, Yarn

Ria + June | Episode #4 Non-Wool Animal Fibers

March 26, 2015 Cirilia Rose Leave a comment

Hiya! I’m diving back into my trusty copy of the Principles of Knitting to learn more about fibers. For the most part I’ll be reading this book cover to cover, but I’m skipping ahead to part 7 this week to learn about the materials that make knitting possible. Yarn obsessed? YES.

We’ve already heard what June has to say about wool, but there is much more to the fiber world than the fluffy stuff found on sheep backs. Chapter 27 has loads of facts about wool, the most commonly used fiber and specialty wools like mohair, cashmere, quivit and our favorite, possum. A lot of these fibers fall into the luxury category for their fineness (rated by microns, with lower numbers indicating finer fibers) and for their relative scarcity. Cashmere goats, for instance, only produce a few ounces of down per year. Some animals, like vicuña and guanaco from Peru, are only shorn every third year, making their fleeces even more precious than cashmere!

Bison fiber is on the rise and while it resembles sheep’s wool in many ways, it’s an ideal candidate for those with lanolin allergies, as it has none. The most fascinating section was the one on silk. June explains the terminology that often goes along with silk, words like ‘mulberry’, ‘tussah’ and ‘raw’; she even explains the cause of the distinctive odor of raw silk (you’ll have to read to find out).

Lastly, June covers fur fibers like Angora and possum. While the brushtail possum found in Zealana yarns do fall into this category, it’s a free-range fur, not raised for the express purpose of yarn production. Zealana yarns use brushtail possum fiber in an effort to correct an ecological imbalance. The resulting yarns are as soft as cashmere and because of the hollow core of the fiber, they’re warm and lightweight. June states that it’s usually blended with merino wool, which is absolutely true, but Zealana has expanded on that even further with unique blends like Kiwi and Kauri, which include organic cotton and silk, respectively.

These high-performance yarns prove that blending fibers is a way to coax the best from each, and to even out the inconsistencies or flaws in every fiber. A bit like a yarn cocktail, the sum is often greater than its already great parts.