One of our aims when starting Louie & Lola Yarns was to be as environmentally conscious as possible.
From re-using our dye water to soak our yarns and wash our utensils, being waterwise has come naturally to us after living in the country for five years and having to rely on rainfall for our water supply (we are very lucky though to get very good rainfall here in North West Tassie compared with so many areas of the country in drought). All the water we use for dyeing gets reused and is neutralised with bi-carb soda before being disposed of.
We have also made the choice to wrap our yarns in tissue paper rather than cellophane bags and have had our skein bands and other stationery printed on Envirocare paper stock, which is made from 100% recycled paper.
We're also currently researching options for compostable postage satchels, which we plan to introduce as shipping option in the future. Watch this space!
I just swatched for a very special project, my wedding shawl.
Swatching for a shawl is something I've never done before. Swatching for garments, yes, most definitely, but never previously for a shawl, since it's not a fitted garment.
Let's talk about mini-skeins, since we've just listed a few sets in the shop.
We started dyeing mini-skeins as a way of ensuring our dye baths were fully exhausted. When dyeing saturated colours (pinks and reds in particular) there can be a tendency for the dye baths to not fully exhaust, so popping a few mini-skeins in the dye pans after having dyed up our main colourways was a simple and efficient way to ensure all the dye was used up, whilst also creating some fun and one-of-a-kind minis. It's a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned, as you always want to avoid pouring left over dye down your drains.