The wool from our own flock of Merino sheep is triple-washed before the ladies of Handspun Hope begin creating yarn using the age-old craft of spinning with only wheels and hand tools. The yarn is hand-dyed in a bath of natural indigo. This project gives over 120 women, most of them widows and orphaned survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi, dignified employment.

Handspun Hope is a certified member of the Fair Trade Federation, which guarantees fair wages and working conditions for the artisans.

Please note, due to the characteristic of natural fibers, actual color may vary between skeins and within a single skein. We recommend alternating skeins during knitting. 

Bulky Weight #5 Approx 100 gm / 3.53 oz Approx 55 m / 60 yds WPI 6 to 8

Hand wash Dry flat in shade. Do not iron.  

Handmade in Rwanda
*Woman Owned Business
*Fair Trade Organization

Handspun Hope is an ethical artisan brand empowering more than 209 at-risk women in Rwanda with dignified employment. Together, using sustainably sourced wool from our own flocks of Merino sheep and German Angora rabbits, the women working with Handspun Hope handcraft a beautiful line of organic, naturally dyed products. From handspun yarn to needle felted sculptures, we take pride in our creations being just like all of us—perfectly imperfect. Our social business model addresses the generational cycle of poverty by uniting work-based solutions with holistic care programs. In addition to fair, salaried wages, all of the women working for Handspun Hope receive regular mental health counseling, family health care, child education scholarships and more. We value holistic creative enterprise as an effective solution to poverty, and are proud to have all of our fibers ethically sourced and handspun in East Africa. Beyond our own flocks of Merino sheep and Angora rabbits in Rwanda, our fiber offerings have expanded to support women collectives in Ethiopia and Madagascar. Our partner collectives hand spin cotton and wild silk before it is imported and dyed naturally at our center in Rwanda. Handspun Hope is a proud certified member of the Fair Trade Federation.