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Blog - Latest News
Isabel and Nick

In the beginning!

January 30, 2020/in Uncategorized /by AWDg0Rwm83736

In the beginning!  Two people met, fell in love, bought alpacas and started an amazing journey!

I, Nick, grew up just down the road and whilst I always had a great affection for the rural world I was a bit of a “townie”.  Isabel, too was by no means a country girl, growing up in the “small” German city of Wuppertal. As people often do, you travel, you meet new people and occasionally, very occasionally, you meet your soul mate. This happened to us whilst we were both in Thailand. The Boxing Day Tsunami had devastated much of Thailand  had inspire us, separately, and we both ended up there helping to rebuild villages that had been effected by that horrible event.  It was one of my final nights there when our paths crossed and the rest they say is history! We talked, we laughed, we fell in love.

We went back to Europe for a while, then one sunny day, whilst on bended knee I proposed, she said yes of course, and we planned to move to Australia. Like many, we longed for a little piece of land to call our own, grow veggies and fruit trees and maybe even a few chickens. Well we found that little piece of land, just north of Timboon and whilst it was a little larger than we were thinking of, it turned out to be perfect.  Soon after moving out we came across alpacas and thought, why not! Shortly after, 2 boys turned up and the fibre journey began.

Now alpacas get shorn every year and we thought we should turn their fibre into something, well that’s easier said than done. The more we looked, the more determined we became that this was something that Australia was lacking. More investigation and a fair amount of red wine later we decided to pour our life savings into a mill. Now we had no experience, no knowledge, just a belief that we could and should do this.

It wasn’t easy. There wasn’t really a manual. We got some training from the machine manufacturers and the rest was, well, trial and error, swearing, practise, refining, swearing, a little bit more red wine and voila YARN!  (Sounds easy in reflection) Well that was the last 4 1/2 years and we are so proud of what we are doing, creating and how we are creating these gorgeous yarns. We get so excited when people show us what they have created out of our yarns, the sense of achievement that comes from taking an idea and making it reality, that sense that what we do is something special.

If you have ever used our yarns, thank you. If you haven’t jump over to our store and try them and know that these have been made by two very passionate, very determined and very proud people.

Thanks for reading. These blogs are going to become somewhat a journal of how we do things and why we do things. So keep following our story, it isn’t over yet!

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https://gorwm.com.au/wp-content/uploads/About-Us-1.jpg 533 800 AWDg0Rwm83736 https://gorwm.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Great-Ocean-Road-Woollen-Mill-Logo.png AWDg0Rwm837362020-01-30 15:38:532020-02-12 16:06:48In the beginning!

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  • YarnsOur Yarns: Sustainable, Luxurious.January 30, 2020 - 3:39 pm
  • Isabel and NickIn the beginning!January 30, 2020 - 3:38 pm

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This beautiful light grey merino/ alpaca vest is a This beautiful light grey merino/ alpaca vest is also now available in our online store ☺️
It is natural in colour, 100% Australian and ethically made all by us. 😊
Perfect for almost any occasion ☺️
🦙 
🐑
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#ethicalclothingaustralia #ethicalclothing #australianmade #australianfashion #ethicalfashion #slowfashion #sustainablefashion #ecofashion #ecofriendly #outfitoftheday #fashiongram #streetfashion #trend #lookoftheday #ethical #smallbusiness #artisan #cottageindustry #greatoceanroadwoollenmill #zauber_knitwear
I thought to share with you the release of our Sum I thought to share with you the release of our Summer Tee. 🥰
Ethically made here in Victoria by us - including the yarn 🧶 
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#summertop #knitwear #madeinaustralia #madebyme #ethicalclothingaustralia #ethicalclothing #summertime #slowfashion #sustainablefashionaustralia #sustainablefashion #sustainablefashionbrand #australianmade #shoplocal #artisan #greatoceanroadwoollenmill #zauber_knitwear @missfarmerjojo
🖤🦙🖤🦙🖤🦙 This little cutie was bor 🖤🦙🖤🦙🖤🦙
This little cutie was born late afternoon yesterday. 
In case you are wondering why she is wearing a little coat... it is unseasonably cool here at the moment. 🥰
🦙
#alpaca #alpacasofinstagram #cria #farmlife #countrylife #countyliving @nocturne_alpacas
We find it always exciting when we get fibre.... G We find it always exciting when we get fibre....
Got more beautiful black alpaca fibre today. 🖤🖤🖤
This time from Sue and John from Onyx Alpaca 
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#alpaca #nautralfibre #shearingseason #australiangrown #australianalpaca #yarn #lotsofnewprojectsahead #yarnsddict #yarnporn #fibreporn #knitwear #sustainablefashion #slowfashion  #ecofashion #greatoceanroadwoollenmill
The joys of a new paddock... ☺️🦙. . . #alp The joys of a new paddock... ☺️🦙. 
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#alpaca #alpacasofinstagram #newpaddock #farmlife #countryliving #countrylife #lifestyle
And this is how you knit a button hole on a knitti And this is how you knit a button hole on a knitting machine 🤩 
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#whomademyclothes #machineknitting #stoll #australianmade #productdevelopment #sustainablefashion #slowfashion #ecofashion #ethicalclothingaustralia #greatoceanroadwoollenmill @fran.pedrini
Nick and I wish you all a merry Christmas and love Nick and I wish you all a merry Christmas and lovely holiday season from our family to yours. 
🎄
In a year which has been difficult for many we would like to express our gratitude to all of you who have continued to support us. 
Thank you 🙏 
🎄
Stay safe, stay well. 
🎄
Merry Christmas 🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄
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#christmas #christmas2020 #holidayseason  #happyholidays
Hi everyone, we have decided to open the 1st Satur Hi everyone, we have decided to open the 1st Saturday of each month from 11-3pm. 
So, the next time we’ll be open is on 2nd January 😊
Mill tours can be booked through our website 😊
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#localyarnstore #localbusiness #smallbusiness #lys #yarn #yarnlove #australianmade #australianmadeandowned #visit12apostles #otwaysharvesttrail #visitgreatoceanroad #victoria
Just getting our mini-collection ready for the pho Just getting our mini-collection ready for the photographer @missfarmerjojo 😊
Just loving these colours 😍
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#knitwear #slowfashion #summertee #australianmade #shoplocal #sustainablefashion #sustainablefashionaustralia #localbusiness #local #ethicalclothingaustralia
These are the 4 colours of our Tee which we will b These are the 4 colours of our Tee which we will be releasing soon. 
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Apart from the linen these are Victorian grown, spun, dyed and knitted garments - all natural fibres. 
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#knitwear #fashion #sustainablefashion #ecofashion #slowfashion #ethicalclothingaustralia #australianmade #australianmadefashion #artist ##australianfashioncouncil #zauber_knitwear #geelongdyeing
Gudrun from @gk.knits is kindly offering a 20% dis Gudrun from @gk.knits is kindly offering a 20% discount for the following patters on Ravelry for our customers. 
🧶 Infinite Columns
🧶 Insieme 
🧶 Puro Hat
🧶 Twins in Mind 

(In the photo are Infinite Columns and Twins in Mind knitted with our La Bella Fingering yarn and the beanies will work too 😉)

So, with every order from us before Christmas 🎄 we’ll include the code (valid until 31/12/2020) 
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Thanks so much Gudrun 🙏🥰
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#gkknits #knitting #knit #knittersofinstagram #knittersoftheworld #knittersofaustralia #stricken #strikke #christmas2020 #giftideas #ravelrypattern #ravelry #greatoceanroadwoollenmill
A special thank you goes out to these wonderful sm A special thank you goes out to these wonderful small businesses who helped us making this a fantastic day 🙏😊: 
@tarndie 
@thelittleststitch @spincushions 
@timboonicecream 
@greatoceanroadpaddock2plate 
@geelongdyeing 
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#supportsmallbusiness #thankyou #local #localbusiness #greatoceanroadwoollenmill

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