Le Lana Handspun Wool

Lana Odendaal, an award winning Hand-spun Wool artist, lives on the farm Steenboksfontein, 9 km South of Lambert's Bay on the R27. Ever since she can recall. Lana has loved the softness of wool (Not suprising since the meaning of her name is "wool"). Her first knitted garment was a disastrous red in an acrylic yarn. On a cold Saturday morning in the winter of the year she turned 22, she decided to

just sit and relax with some knitting. Knowing nothing of tension swatches or design, she cast on an estimated number of stitches and guessed her way through it. The garment was knitted in squares which were sewn together. The lady who worked for the family at the time fell in love with it and luckily it fit her. At the age of 39, Lana went through a personal crisis and being a Christian she asked the Lord what He would like her to do with the creativity inside her and clearly heard Him telling her to spin wool. Information about spinning was limited, but she share her experience with a friend and a couple of days later Lana's Friend asked her to accompany her to Cape Town. She had heard about the Wool Shop and that day bought Lana her first Ashford Imperial spinning wheel and one kilogram of merino tops. Lana watched the lady in the shop spinning yarn and was extremely fascinated. At home she practiced every day but found spinning quite difficult to begin with. Through perseverance, patience and practice she eventually got the hang of it. She prefers spinning a soft yarn. "The wool should be light and airy to create a soft garment"

Lana built up a small business supplying spun wool to a number of different outlets and also on order to individuals. Lana does all the dyeing using her own recipes to create beautiful rich colours. She preferes the natural colour of wool but concedes that beautifully coloured yarn is always good for the creative mind. The 100% merino wool tops are Herco treated, which means that the wool is protected against shrinkage and are between 18 and 21 micron - very high quality and very soft. The yarn is sold in 100g skeins and is a pleasure to knit with. Read more about this remarkable lady and this wonderful craft - A Knitting Adventure with South African Yarn by Dana Biddle.