"I dreamt of using and clothing my children with beautiful and quality yarn. I wanted to believe that we didn’t have to close our eyes on the unknown sources of yarn, on its disastrous carbon footprint and the questionable breeding conditions of sheep in order to enjoy the exquisite sensation of smooth thread on our needles. I’ve met breeders and industrial yarn makers bursting with ideas to work and create differently. So in times when words fail to bring transformation, maybe our hands, our hearts and our minds can help build another world… "

Solenn Couix-Loarer

These are ethical and environmentally friendly yarns, beautiful and soft to knit with and also to wear. They have been created to reinvent local yarn and shape a future where there will be more sheep in our mountains, small and flourishing yarn mills in our towns and countryside and a diverse population of happy knitters…

Gilliatt, Ulysse and Cyrano are woollen yarns made from a blend of Merinos d’Arles wool (a breed from the South of France in Provence) and of black Merinos Pétra wool (from Portugal) for its heathered shades.

How wool becomes yarn : Fleeces are washed and combed to get rid of as much dirt and plant residue as possible. Fibers are then carded to increase the amount of air in them, some are then dyed and blended to obtain the perfect shade.

Carded fibres are initially spun into one single ply and then twisted two, three or five times depending on the type of yarn.

Yarns are put into hanks to be dyed or washed depending on the shades. The mill uses a completely biodegradable and environmentally friendly conditionner. Hanks are then put in balls and labelled before being sent out to you!

Gilliatt has been named after the strong and tenacious hero from the novel “Les Travailleurs de la mer” (the Sea workers) by Victor Hugo, Ulysse after the Greek Odyssey hero, lover of Penelope, and Cyrano after the famous author of “Etats et Empires de la Lune et du Soleil”. These are warm and fluffy yarns, beautifully rustic but still amazingly soft.

Pénélope and Albertine are made from the thin and elastic organic wool of Merino d’Arles sheep (raised in Provence near Arles), enhanced by a luxurious touch of silk.

These fibres are combed and spun in Italy, just on the other side of our border, where these specific techniques are still practiced. The alignement and combing of the fibres creates a worsted yarn with a splendid softness and a greater strength as well as more defined stitches than a woollen yarn. This unique material is then twisted into a 4 or 6 ply yarn before being dyed and skeined at the mill in Rougnat (in Creuse, in the center of France).

Pénélope owes her name to the beautiful, clever and determined wife of Ulysses, as a tribute to the small Odyssey which led to the birth of this yarn; Albertine has been named after Marcel Proust’s fascinating and elusive heroine.