Arctic Qiviut is owned by Vivian Osborn, who had a dream to create her own Qiviut yarn from scratch, the way she thought it should be done. She likes Wild Qiviut fiber, shed from wild animals, and didn’t like sending her fiber far away to be spun into yarn. She bought the necessary equipment, trained her neighbors to use it, and created a mill in her back yard. From carding to spinning to dying, her mill is a one-stop place for pure Qivuit yarn. Vivian is well known in Alaska, and her yarn is sold in many yarn stores we visited. We were fortunate to be able to buy directly from the mill, and the yarn I bought was hand-dyed the day before our visit. There were finished knitted items available to purchase, also, and lots of samples of gorgeous knitted items. Qiviut is the warmest fiber in the world, and it is virtually weightless. Amazing stuff. Usually it is knit in a single color, but hey…Annetarsia! So, I bought 2 skeins in different colors, and got a few mini-skeins in some other assorted colors. I envision a cowl for me and a scarf for Bill, but I haven’t thought of the perfect motifs, yet. Coming up with one will be fun!
Vivian Osborne, owner of Arctic Qiviut, came out to greet us as we arrived at the mill. The sweater she is wearing is knit from Qiviut yarn (of course!)
Piles of Qiviut roving, waiting for the next step.
Arctic Qiviut creates qiviut yarn from the muskox fiber through to the hand-dying of spun yarn. They are whole-salers, but they permitted us to buy yarn directly from them, at the mill.
