YARNS on Collie is your one-stop-wool-shop, stocked with everything from alpaca to possum wool.

East Fremantle resident Caroline Kindt was looking for a business where she could unleash her creativity 18 months ago, when she came across Yarns on Collie and couldn’t look past it.

The business had already been running for nine years when she bought it and took over.

Located conveniently on Collie Street in Fremantle, many of Ms Kindt’s customers are tourists.

“They like Australian wool, they come for the alpaca”, she says.

When a bank report came in last year, Ms Kindt discovered that excluding tourists, most of her customers were women residing in Hamilton Hill and Hilton, aged between 20 and 30.

Surprisingly, she also has a lot of teenagers come in.

“People are starting to pick up knitting again…they are over the internet phase, and like to start doing things again,” she says.

Before moving to Fremantle, Ms Kindt lived in Carnarvon for 12 years and owned a sign-writing business.

“I was getting a bit tired of climbing across roofs and scaffolding,” she laughs, “so I decided to move down to Freo and try my hand in the knitting trade.

“Putting balls of wool on the shelves is a bit easier on the body.”

Ms Kindt has been knitting since the age of four and sells clothes she knits in her spare time in Yarns, including beanies and babywear.

“One of our most popular products is balls of variegated wool,” she says.

“They’re really in at the moment.”

During the day Ms Kindt also runs knitting and crochet masterclasses at her shop.

Yarns on Collie is one of only two wool specialty stores in Western Australia.

It is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm, and Sundays, 11am-4pm.

by OLIVIA MITCHELL

Yarns on Collie
19 Collie St,
Fremantle
9335 4455