All About The Little Mill

The Little Mill Over the Hill, situated in Hamurana (close to Rotorua) in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand/Aotearoa came about from a passion about wool products and the realisation that so much sheep fleece is discarded and seen to have no value. Once a midwife, but wanting to move to a lifestyle that included night time sleeping, I knew I couldn't fully retire and do nothing. I have to keep busy and learn and grow. I have always loved making things from scratch whether bread, soap, yarn etc. etc.

I was inspired by someone else's story of owning a mill and then one close by came up for sale. My husband and I went to look and I knew the instant I laid eyes on it I wanted to do this.

It took almost a year to move the equipment (we had to upgrade our shoddy shed) and then another year to learn how to use the equipment and fix/problem solve all sorts of things (I think this is the norm for all mini mill owners!). There have been times I wondered what the dream was but problems solved it all makes sense again.

At the Little Mill fleece is sourced locally. Rainwater is captured from the roof of the shed, used to wash the fleece with and grey watered into the paddock. I small batch dye the fleece or the finished yarn. Each step of the way, whilst utilising a machine, is done by hand, usually by me with occasionally a little help from my friends.

My yarn is REAL wool; it hasn't been treated and often has a slight sheep smell. I blend colours and also add alpaca and/or mohair. The mill produces small batches between 1.5 and 8 kgs. Even within a batch there may be colour variation as all colour mixing and fibre mixing is done by hand. The yarn is not for people wanting a fully commercial product but someone who wants a yarn or fibre with character. I see my business like an artisan baker rather than a franchise baker or a factory baker.

I also look for different ways to use the carded fleece and any waste product and have a Feltloom® to make felted fabric and will be offering felted goods for sale.

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