Spinners and weavers helping to understand fibre production

For Jackie Made This owner, Jackie Moscovitch based in Melbourne, knowing exactly where her wool comes from makes her craft all the more special.

She sources her Merino wool yarn from Leahcim stud, Snowtown, South Australia, and has an appreciation for the softness of their 17.4 micron wool.

"It's lovely to be able to say I know where that farm is, I've been there, I've met them and I've seen their sheep and it's all been processed in Australia, so it's really lovely to be able to work with Australian product," Ms Moscovitch said.

Leahcim Poll Merino co-stud principal Rosemary Michael, Snowtown, SA said they had their first lot of 99.7 per cent comfort factor wool processed in 2019 and had grown in popularity since then.

"People want a natural fibre, that's not super washed, it's straight from farm to yarn, to you," Ms Michael said.

All of their wool is sent from SA, across the border to be processed in Victoria, first heading to Geelong for scanning, then Bacchus Marsh and on to Bendigo Mill to be spun into four, and eight ply yarn.

"We met Jackie from Jackie Made This in Adelaide in 2020 and she's been buying our wool to weave her scarves since our first meeting," she said.

Leahcim shears about every six months, gaining a wool length of 80 to 85 millimetres to be sent for processing to Victoria.

Their flock is spread across three properties in South Australia, and they run about 3000 stud ewes, with their processed wool coming from mainly ewe hoggets.