Blackwattle Yarn and Fibre is the creation of me, and along with my husband, Matthew, which we run the business from our farm called “Blackwattle”. Our farm is named after the native black wattle trees that grow across our property.

My love affair with fibre started in 2007 when we purchased our first 3 alpacas: Indie, Two Socks and Mickey. We actually went to purchase 2 goats and came home with 3 alpacas instead! In August 2010 we moved to our current property and Matthew purchased another 6 alpacas as a ‘moving in’ present. Our little herd was growing. The following year we rescued a herd of 72 alpacas and overnight we became the second biggest alpaca breeders in the region!

From our herd, we collected lots of fibre and I was wondering how I could use it. I started dabbling in dyeing some of the raw fibre and some skeins, milled using our own fibre, in our kitchen and I fell in love with the process.

I’m a self-taught dyer, using colour theory learnt whilst completing a Bachelor of Visual Arts, to create master pieces on yarn. During the ‘learning’ process of applying colours to yarn instead of on a canvas, I was working full time as a WHS Advisor for a Federal Government Agency, often travelling for work. During my travels I would pack my crochet and I remember many a time sitting looking across very remote but pretty views, whilst crocheting.

The business continued to grow and I moved my ‘dye studio’ to the garage, eventually taking over my husband’s man cave, which I turned into our Farm Shop. In 2017 I took the plunge and resigned from my job to work full time in my business. With a small team of dyers and dye assistants, I worked in the garage until 2022. During 2021 we built Blackwattle Headquarters, a purpose-built facility that has my dye studio, training room, office space, Farm Shop and a small café. We moved in and started trading in September 2022. My commute to work is a short 2-minute walk from our house, with my ‘traffic jam’ being my 3 dogs: Ruby, Toby and Squid.

We spend 3 to 4 days a week in our dye studio, working with yarn bases sourced from ethically produced farms and mills. Our suppliers are dedicated to sustainable practices and ensuring that no mulesing is involved. We also mill a small amount of our own fibre from our happy herd, choosing local Australian mini mills.