About us
Nau mai, haere mai ki Joy! Welcome to Joy of Yarn (Joy)
Joy of Yarn celebrates our shared love of fibrecraft as well as the diversity of crafters. We firmly believe in the emotional benefits of crafting and community which is so important in today's fast paced world. Based in the beautiful Wairarapa region we only source New Zealand produced yarns and hand dye them with harikoa (joy and happiness) to add additional colour to your crafting life.
You can view and purchase our products online from the webstore here on our website but if you're a proud public yarn fondler the ultimate temptation awaits you in our petite physical shop located in Lemon Tree Cottage on Greytown's Main street. There is nothing better than seeing the yarns and touching them prior to purchase.
Our focus is on our own Joy of Yarn branded fingering weight yarns which feature blends from the following sheep breeds... Arapawa, Corriedale, Lincoln, Perendale, Polwarth, and of course Merino. The range will grow over time to include additional sheep breeds and thicker gauge yarns.
We are also building up a selection of knit kits which we call 'joyful boxes of creativity' featuring designs from our inhouse designer along with the required yarn and treats.
Joy of Yarn will also become a hub for a range of yarn experiences... Watch out for more information coming soon on the Wairarapa Wool Weekend
Mahi toi harikoa - Happy crafting
Meet the team
i.e the general Dogsbody and Regal Masterclaw who keep Joy of Yarn knitting along...
James Herbison
James is a knitter who believes in the benefits of a high fibre (yarn) diet... and has a healthy (yarn) appetite to match!
Knitting is in his blood as both his parents were knitters, as were his Grandmothers, and they encouraged him to learn the craft from an early age. Once the knitting training wheels were removed there was no stopping him, colourwork and cables became his main focus. Almost five decades and thousands of kilometres of yarn later nothing much has changed but recently James started researching his family tree and is enjoying being able to explore the knitting traditions of his ancestors from ethnicities both expected and unexpected.
At Joy of Yarn James keeps himself busy hand-dyeing yarns while running both the online webstore and physical store in Greytown village. Oh... and he is kept very busy being at the beck and call of Lord Ruffie the yarn cat.
James is easily distracted by food and yarn!
Lord Ruffie
Lord Ruffie is our resident yarn cat.
This feline beauty allows James, his human servant, to work at Joy of Yan on the proviso that there is no disruption to the attention and creature comforts to which he has become accustomed. Failure to meet Lord Ruffie's requests in a timely manner will naturally have consequences for James.
At Joy of Yarn Lord Ruffie contributes by overseeing quality control, accepting public adoration, reminding James when it's time to go home and on occasion making royal visits to the Greytown store.
Lord Ruffie is also easily distracted by food and yarn which is why he and James make a perfect team.