Whilst on my continual hunt for yarn I came across an amazing Australian company which have invested in their own electronic knitting machines and manufacture their own designs in their own little factory and from a machine knitters point of view, it’s a dream setup!

It totally reminds me of the computerised knitting machine room in Nottingham Trent University back in the day when my eyes were first opened to the world of knitting.

Photo by Brooke Holm for The Design Files.

The brand is called Uimi, and luckily for us the Design Files went to meet and interview husband and wife team Feeona and Troy to check out their knitting and take some gorgeous photos too so head on over and find out how they did it. I love the bit about the technical engineer popping to the factory every week so they can try out new designs.

They use a gorgeous bright colour palette and make cushions, throws, blankets, scarves, hats, and clothing for women and children. There are lots of positive comments by people reading the blog who love the knits. Within the comments a few people mentioned Uimi’s use of Italian merino wool and what a shame it wasn’t Australian.

Well, Uimi replied saying they import Italian merino wool which is Australian, as spinners in Australia are non existent and if they could buy locally they would do it in a heartbeat. This is really great to hear as it means I haven’t been going loopy in my quest, and that I too might have to ship yarn to Australia if I want to knit products which is not what I wanted to do at all. Australian fibre gets shipped to Asia or Europe to be made into fibre and then has to come back again to be made into products, it’s crazy!

Anyway, I have put the last few bits of my knits back on Etsy, this is it, the last few pieces now so bag a hot water bottle & woollen cosy for those cold nights like we’re having over here at the moment.