About Us
First things first: we aren't farmers. But we are family of farmers, friends of farmers and overall supporters of farmers. Thats why everything we source is farm fibre. We go for sheep with names as a preference, but won't deny a steamy pile of nameless mutt sheep fleeces when offered.
We buy raw wool and process it ourselves by hand - gently and slowly - in our medium-sized townhouse and surrounding yard (the neighbours are gracious, thank goodness). Alpaca and llama fibres we usually buy as milled rovings directly from local farms, but all the wools in our batts are completely hand washed and carded by us.
We source our wools from local and international shepherds. We love supporting the producers that are geographically near to us and also supporting the far-away folks with some amazing breeds out of the USA, Australia and New Zealand!
We live big, beautiful, fulfilling lives full of family and friends, jobs and hobbies - this is just one facet of that. And while MellyKnits is fun and makes life more interesting (and squishy and warm) its not everything, and that means that what we do produce here is from a place of creative overflow, a desire to experiment and for the pure enjoyment of it all. We hope that comes across in the things we offer, and that you too will feel the urge to create, experiment and enjoy!
You've just read the "Why", now read the "Who"
Meet the Makers: A most excellent biography written in the third-person
Melissa grew up all over the place, playing Barbies on the patio, wearing her headgear to school, skipping important adolescent events in favour of watching a solar eclipse, and endlessly willing her figure to fill out. She is an adrenaline junkie and loves base-jumping, wrestling gators, cage fighting, big wave surfing and driving solo in the HOV lane. And while she's never done any of those things (except the HOV lane thing, that's true), she does do a lot of knitting and drinking coffee.
Melissa spends her time being a mom to three kids, playing her guitar and spying on her hubby when he’s in the shower. She feels uneasy with writing her biography and is currently looking for an excuse to eat chips.
The Idea Moderator / Emotional Support Director / Builder of Things:
The Hubby is *essential*, in that all ideas get bounced off him and his opinion MUST be given, as his opinion is supreme above all others. He is extremely well thought of by his wife Melissa, who can - but doesn’t want to - do anything without him.
He is a quiet guy, well loved by his community, service-orientated and a big butt kicker at his job. His favourite things are creating systems, playing games, family, the family dog and the fact that he has lost his wallet a million times but it keeps finding its way back to him.
The Hubby also builds excellent fibre tools for his wife, including but not limited to: cedar wood skirting tables, drying racks, storage shelves, ball winders, yarn swifts and an entire wool room. She is currently rooting him on in his sheep shearing journey because she knows he can do anything and it'll be the very best.