An exclusive collection of handspun yarn and hand-blended batts for spinning and felting, made with locally sourced Haunui wool

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At the start of 2025, I kicked the year off strong, launching

The Coffee Collection

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The Coffee Collection is my first series of undyed hand-blended batts and handspun yarn. Made entirely with locally sourced Haunui wool, featuring their impressive range of natural colours, each batt is hand-carded on my old drum carder in my studio by the sea.

An excellent entry to working with artisan fibres, the Coffee Collection is composed of 27 micron Haunui wool in all natural colours.

These blends spins delightfully into next-to-skin soft wool, perfect for knitting or crocheting into beanies, sweaters, scarves and gloves.

The Details

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Handspun Yarn

Price – $60NZ per 100g skein of handspun yarn
27 micron, Aran weight, 100% Haunui wool

I would be delighted to handspin any colourway in the Coffee Collection for $60 per 100g skein. This handspun yarn, spun from my batts, has great loft and handle. It’s super plump and soft.

I much enjoyed weaving it into a delightfully squishy scarf on my rigid heddle loom.

The Beginning

Until this year, I exclusively made one-of-a-kind art batts, vibrant and unique blends of wool and silk that were never intended to be repeated. Seeking more sustainability in my creative model, as it is not wholly possible to constantly create new originals without draining yourself artistically, the idea of creating staple colourways occurred.

In my quest to create a truly locally sourced yarn, I came across Haunui Wool – a family farm producing and processing wool within my region of Waitaha Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Haunui Wool: The Backstory

Haunui are a local-to-me sheep farm, specialising in fine coloured wool. Nestled in the hills of Southern Waitaha Canterbury, they have developed their very own, very special breed of sheep – Haunui.

Starting in the 1980s, the family bred together different breeds of coloured wool sheep with the aim of creating a fibre especially for craft spinning, one which would create glorious yarn at any micron count (fine vs coarse wool).

And thus, Haunui was born, with all the characteristics of a perfect handicraft spinning fibre – soft and delicate like merino, with a long staple for excellent loft and handle.

I first came across Haunui in late 2023 via an Instagram ad, and have been smitten ever since.

It feels great to support a nearby farm, and the local businesses in the supply chain of farm – wool scourers in Timaru – Wild Earth Yarns mill in Ōtautahi Christchurch, then of course, to me in Birdlings Flat.

The Coffee Collection Colourways

In November 2024, I ordered a range of natural colours in 27 micron medium wool combed top from Haunui, and got to sampling some potential colourways for batts and yarn.

I cooked up the recipes one by one, blending batt then spinning yarn, over a series of days and weeks through Nov, Dec and Jan of 2024. Here’s roughly how it went:

1. Espresso

The rich, deep browns of Haunui sheep were the initial inspiration for the Coffee Collection. As an avid drinker of long blacks, compulsive in my daily ritual, it seemed the natural first destination.

With a freshly brewed black coffee in hand, I got to blending a dark brown batt, with a splash of toffee mimicking the dreamy crema atop a perfect Espresso.

2. Latte

The next order up off the menu was, of course, a creamy, milky Latte to contrast with the rich Espresso. I blended the fibre to have a range of brown and grey flecks of coffee peeking through the creamy oatmeal foam. At this stage, I had no idea what I was building.

3. Macchiato

Delighted by my progress, I was inspired by the splendid golden candy tones of Haunui’s natural Toffee colour. This, my friends, is where Haunui really shine – their saturated colours are unlike any other.

I drafted the title as Caramel Latte. In the end, the blend was so divinely delicious, I had no choice but to lean all the way, head first, into the increasingly Italian coffee theme that was brewing, by naming this beauty Macchiato.

4. Moka

Feeling very pleased with the rich yet creamy collection I’d developed, one final colourway idea was singing to me, a blend that would tie it all together, the cherry on top.

Selecting mostly silver-grey tones and giving a nod to the Bialetti stovetop coffee perculator I use daily, Moka was brought to life.

Secret Tip: I have available now, 9 Moka batts with fine 20 micron Raven (an almost black colour by Haunui that is now sold out) in place of the original brown, so once these 9 batts are gone, the recipe will revert back to original.

Ordering The Coffee Collection

Good news! – I have a supply of Coffee Collection batts ready to ship. You’re most welcome, and encouraged, to mix and match between the colours.

All batts in the Coffee Collection are 50 grams and $13 each.

All handspun yarn from the Coffee Collection is 100 grams and $60 each.

How To Order

So far, the Coffee Collection has been sold via direct message on instagram or by email, which are currently the primary methods to purchase and make orders. Or, you can visit the Contact page right here to send me your order or ask a question.

Just let me know how many batts or skeins you’d like and I’ll send you the details. Shipping starts at $8 within NZ, overseas starts at $20.

Full Disclosure:
I’m aiming to smash out one final instagram drop this weekend: 4th, 5th +6th July, to gather the $417NZ needed to upgrade this website I’ve assembled (isn’t it great!?) to an ecommerce plan.

If you’ve had your eye on my batts, or maybe even had the pleasure of spinning with them, now is a fantastic time to make an order – it is Tour de Fleece season, after all. (Oh, and if you’ve never seen my batts before, welcome!)

Pro Tip: buy 2 batts of a colourway, and enjoy spinning one batt onto each bobbin (for a two-ply), safe in the knowledge there will be 50 grams on each bobbin.

A Final Note

If you’ve made it this far, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here. One part of this story yet unmentioned is that the Coffee Collection came about off the back of a terrible encounter with covid, which some of you will remember, that left me disabled by intense neurological symptoms for 6 months.

I created this collection of spinning fibre as a means of providing income in the face of not being able to work a conventional job. The success of the Coffee Collection has enabled me to go ahead with launching this website, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to pursue textile and fibre work in a more formal capacity.

I am so grateful and proud of the Coffee Collection, and I hope you love it too. Thanks for reading!

Catch you again soon, Charlotte