Introducing Wollemi: our first farm-to-yarn creation at Bendigo Woollen Mills and a celebration of Australian wool.
Inspired by the unique natural beauty of Australia, we’ve worked with single-origin Corriedale fleece, sourced from Tony Manchester’s Roseville Corriedales in New South Wales, to create a soft, stunning yarn range that is available in both 8 ply and 12 ply.
Tony Manchester & Roseville Corriedales
Read on to learn about Tony Manchester, Roseville Corriedales, and our favourite new yarn!
Tony Manchester (pictured above) has been raising Corriedale sheep on his family farm in Kingsvale, NSW, for over 60 years.
At Roseville Corriedales, Tony and his team breed and exhibit champion Corriedale sheep and fleece at agricultural shows across Australia. Through many years of careful breeding, broad research & education, and meticulous long-term planning, Tony’s Corriedales are healthy and high-quality, regularly winning blue ribbons at events nation-wide.
The outcome? The stunning Corriedale fleece that’s become the foundation for our Wollemi yarn.
Corriedale Wool
The Corriedale breed has been around for over 100 years, and was originally developed to create a hardy, dual-purpose breed suitable for Australian and New Zealand conditions.
At Roseville, the focus is on improving wool production yields & creating soft-yet-sturdy fleece with a low ‘coefficient of variation’ - meaning that each fibre is close to the same micron count (around 25 microns), so it can be spun into even, smooth woollen yarns like Wollemi.
The crimp in Corriedale wool fibres gives the yarn excellent bulk and warmth, perfect for garment knitting or blankets (that's why we chose it for our Cosy Knit Blankets!). With long staple lengths, this wool is popular with spinners too: it makes an excellent addition to handspun blends that need a bit of extra strength and softness.
Wollemi 8 and 12 ply
We have loved working with Tony on this collection, and our design team spent many afternoons choosing the perfect construction, ply and shade options to delight and inspire our community to new creations!
Wollemi yarn features a fingering twist (like Luxury 8 ply), which gives a smooth, soft handle that’s a dream to craft with. It’s soft to the touch and so smooth when spun, catching the light beautifully in both the yarn and in finished projects.
It feels similar (or perhaps softer!) to Luxury, but comes in 12 ply too! You can easily pair Wollemi 8 ply with Luxury 8 ply for engaging colourwork with a down-to-earth feel.
Each of these 12 blended shades is top-dyed (dyed before spinning), creating stunning heathered shades with an earthy, sophisticated feel. We were inspired by the flora and fauna of Australia when selecting and naming these shades – from stunning eucalypts to delicate flowers, this range has a shade to suit everyone.
Ready to become part of the story? Explore Wollemi now in 8 ply and 12 ply, and start your next project with this stunning single-origin Corriedale wool.