We love innovation and we're always excited when someone comes to us hoping to try something new. The Dennis Family would have to be the pinnacle of innovation. Right from the start, way back in the 1800's, when Merino sheep at Tarndwarncoort were struggling with the cold, wet and windy Colac district climatic conditions, the Dennis Family began innovating and developed the Polwarth Sheep Breed.
Then in the 1970's Wendy Dennis caused some raised eyebrows when she broke with a long-held tradition in Australian wool producing sheep flocks. Instead of always culling the coloured lambs, Wendy began keeping the coloured Polwarth lambs to form a coloured flock. She built the number of Tarndie Coloured Polwarth sheep, whilst commencing a selective breeding program to produce the type of top quality, coloured wool we see today. The Tarndie coloured Polwarths produce a range of very pretty, beautiful soft handling coloured wool
The Dennis Family still farm both white and coloured Polwarth sheep on the Tarndwarncoort property today!
So when Tom Dennis called earlier in the year to discuss a new idea for a Tarndie coloured yarn product, we were excited to be a part of it. This job has come together beautifully. If you have been following us for long, you'd be aware that we love Polwarth wool, so of course, we're very taken with this lot of wool top. The natural colours are amazing, and the handle is beautiful.
We are particularly partial to the light grey wool top. The colour is a soft, subtle warm grey; beautiful as it is, but a fabulous colour for over dyeing. Tom also had us blend some silk with 30 kilograms of this top to give it a streaky effect. This top will be retained for sale to Tarndie craft customers. I doubt that this top will last long.
The bulk of the Tarndie coloured wool tops will be going to a mill for spinning into a new yarn product. To discover what the end result of this yarn will be we would recommend following Tarndie on facebook or instagram or check in with their online shop. If it works the way Tom has envisioned its going to be spectacular!
