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Tales of a Yarn Maker

Olann

After Rain

GATHER – an autumnal yarn collection

SEEP – Autumn/Winter Collection

7 June 2022
Mill . Patterns . Yarn

But here in the Advent Darkened Room

Yarn Calendar 2022 Our theme for this year is the beautiful poem ADVENT written by Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh. I think it is imperative to remember that this poem was […]

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1 June 2022
Mill . Patterns . Yarn

The Wonder of the Winter Solstice

Solas: Return to the Light I wanted to take you back to last year’s yarn calendar and thank you again for your support. Last year’s inspiration and theme came from the wonder of […]

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28 April 2022
Mill . Yarn

Croí is crafted incorporating mill-ends and fibre

Croí is crafted by incorporating our mill-ends, fibre that would otherwise be discarded, with our Méara and Cór. Each colour is 50% recycled fibres resulting in an even more eco-friendly […]

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20 April 2022
Mill . Patterns . Yarn

Our Sidetrack is a pattern of a Möbius Cowl

Sidetrack Welcome to the very first Pattern by Olann in collaboration with Cris Altamirano. Our Sidetrack is a pattern of a Möbius cowl, beginner friendly knitted in the round, with […]

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8 March 2022
Mill . Yarn

Here in Ireland, we call rainy days “soft days”

Soft Days and Soft Nights Back in mid 2021, we created new colours for Autumn/Winter and based it on the idea of “soft days”. Here in Ireland, and I’m sure […]

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1 March 2022
Mill

Our mission is to make beautiful, delicately dyed yarn

Our Mill Our mission is to make beautiful, delicately dyed yarn. Often veiled with subtleties, beckoning you to look closer. To create yarn that feels soft yet strong, that builds […]

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About Me

Jess Kavanagh - Creative Director, Maker & Founder - Cavan, Ireland. Jess Kavanagh is the creative behind Olann. Small batch fibre processing, considered and delicate dyeing and thoughtful colours are the essence behind Olann, while sustainable sourcing and a move to local materials is a core value in our mill and dye studio. With a background in fashion and textile design she has always been interested in hand made, meticulously crafted and well made products.
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olannmills
Most of you will know I’m not really a blue fan, Most of you will know I’m not really a blue fan, but this is just the right amount of green for me to absolutely swoooooon for this colour. Lost Spell is actually a “recycled” colour, in that all the ends of our blue/green colourways for our new Draíocht yarn was carded and blended together. Same with our colour Book of Spells, we collected all our warmer tones and blended them together too. I’m really proud of how beautiful this yarn is! Our Draíocht base launches on December 9th, and is 70% Corriedale, 30% Rambouillet, 3ply spun DK weight with 220m/100g ✨
Hello all, It's hard to pick favourites in this ad Hello all, It's hard to pick favourites in this advent, as they're all so special. But.. this colourway has a very special place in my heart. I instantly knew what this would look like when I began truly connecting with the poem. It reminds me of being in a very old Irish pub, trad music playing in the background, turf fires keeping us toasty, and the lone man sipping on his pint. Not to insinuate he is an old fool, as such, but often these men can be forgotten about, a part of the furniture. Sometimes they hold a special knowledge. Have seen and experienced many many things. I have had many conversations with these Old Fool's, they're not foolish at all. So many of them, after they learn about what I do, reminisce about how they learned to spin yarn from their mother, or how they would help hand card her fibre. So many of them knew how to use a spinning wheel as a child and we would sit and chat for ages talking about this. I love this part of connecting with someone, you never know what you may learn. We have tested and tasted too much, lover- Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder. But here in the Advent-darkened room Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea Of penance will charm back the luxury Of a child’s soul, we’ll return to Doom The knowledge we stole but could not use. And the newness that was in every stale thing When we looked at it as children: the spirit-shocking Wonder in a black slanting Ulster hill Or the prophetic astonishment in the tedious talking Of an old fool will awake for us and bring
We’ve two free patterns to release to coincide w We’ve two free patterns to release to coincide with our Draíocht yarn launch! This is Súile, fingerless mittens with small cable details! I’ve been wearing these since I saw @crisaltextil in Barcelona in November and omg are they keeping my hands toasty! Non scratchy and knit in a lovely colour called Grimoire. ✨ available on 9th December at 9pm GMT
Interrupting our advent to share with you our newe Interrupting our advent to share with you our newest yarn! Say hi to Draíocht. Draíocht is the Irish word for magic, which this yarn is nothing short of. It’s composition is 70% Corriedale and 30% Rambouillet and entirely dyed and spun in our mill. We created this base as a 3ply DK weight, 3ply being a beautiful rounded yarn and DK being an amazing all round weight of yarn to work with. It’s bouncy yet incredibly sturdy, and very very warm. It’s not as soft as Merino, no doubt about that, but it is wonderfully soft for a more rustic feel yarn. I’ve been wearing this for weeks with no itch on my skin. We are releasing 35 new colours in this base, 12 are dyed in the wool and spun through our mill, 12 are spun and then hand dyed in semi solid colours and 11 are spun then hand dyed with speckles (which because of its Non Superwash nature, melts a little like watercolour!). We are so excited to introduce Draíocht to you, and open up more than just Merino based yarns from our small but mighty mill! We are releasing this on Friday 9th December at 9pm GMT! This colourway is called Book of Spells, and is a gorgeous heathered semi solid! ✨ #woollenmill #handdyedyarn #indiedyer #yarn
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