Wairarapa farmer Patrizia Vieno is still in clean-up mode after Cyclone Gabrielle, but she hasn't given up the dream of establishing her own wool venture.
"We are just hanging on in there until people realise the properties of wool," she tells Country Life.
Skeins of naturally dyed wool on display in the studio at Rewa Rewa Station Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Slips and slumps on Vieno's hill country farm have not dashed the Italian-born beef and sheep farmer's woolly dreams.
Rewa Rewa Station is in clean-up mode, like much of the farmland around Tinui, after rain and wind lashed the place in mid-February.
But Cyclone Gabrielle is no match for Patrizia who is pressing ahead with plans for a paddock-to-product hub on the farm, showcasing wool.
Patrizia grows wool, dyes it, spins it and knits it, all at Rewa Rewa Station, five minutes from Tinui and east of Masterton.
Vieno and her partner Rod Clutton bought the 1000-hectare property 12 years ago after touring New Zealand in a campervan looking for suitable land to farm.
The couple had previously been living in the Channel Islands. Rod had farmed before and Patrizia had worked as an interior designer.
Now they run a herd of Angus cattle, Romney sheep and a smaller flock of coloured sheep, cashmere goats and alpacas.
The coloured sheep are Vieno's particular passion.
Her flock of Gotlands - a breed which comes from the Swedish island of the same name, Romney crossed with Corriedale and Polwarths all have earthy-coloured fleeces which wool crafters love.
"We've got from pale, pale white to almost black and every shade in between ... each fleece is so individual."
The Gotland breed has a brown-coloured fleece and is named after the Swedish island of Gotland Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
A cluster of buildings by Vieno's woolshed is home to a craft studio where colourful skeins of wool hang and a dyeing room with vats of natural pigments.
For shades of yellow, she forages for marigolds and sources onion skins from a local chutney maker.
For other colours, like red which comes from the tiny cochineal insect, Vieno goes overseas.
Patrizia checks on a vat of indigo dye used for colouring her home grown wool Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Patrizia has invested in a felting machine and also plans to buy looms for her paddock-to-product wool hub Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
In another room, shelves are piled high with fleeces, yarn and the softest fibre from her developing herd of cashmere goats.
When it's sunny, it's more of a day for dyeing, Vieno says, and when the weather's gloomy she'll be indoors knitting or doing farm administration.
When Country Life visited Vieno was in the woolshed inspecting her Gotlands and checking their fleeces before stock manager Les Eden started up the handpiece for crutching and shearing.
Patrizia Vieno with stock manager Les Eden Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Les on the handpiece Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Vieno's wool venture, which she describes as a beast with a mind of its own, is fast becoming an artisanal hub for her fellow wool-lovers.
The next step is to build a big shed that will house weaving looms and eventually process wool on-farm from start to finish.
Rewa Rewa needs to diversify, Vieno says, if the farm is to bounce back from the adverse weather events of the past few years.
Besides, she believes the future of wool is bright.
"We are just hanging on in there until people realise the properties of wool."
Patrizia Vieno and Rod Clutton moved to New Zealand in 2011 to buy Rewarewa Station Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
