Big Merino on the move!

One of our Mongrel Sock stockist's has had a hair-raising time lately. They have had to shift a 15 metre tall Merino Sheep replica. The logistics must have been a nightmare. A crew of hundreds coordinated the move, using an 85-tonne and 620 horsepower truck with 96 wheels to move the massive 97 tonne structure. We're so glad it went with out a hitch, and the BM is happy in it's new home.

Mongrel Socks on the go!

Our Pure Wool Mongrel socks are great! We enjoy making them, creating new colour mixes, and to be quite honest, they are all we wear, ever. One of the best things about making great socks, is seeing them on other Mongrel lovers. It is such a buzz for us. It always makes me feel like I'm doing something right.So I thought I'd share a few pictures of Mongrel socks I spotted when I was out and about. These people have incredibly good taste in socks!

The wait is almost over!

Finally the Possum Wool Sock drought is over (nearly). Our great range of Possum Wool Socks is soon to be replenished. The possum’s plucked, the sheep’s shorn, yarn's spun and landed at the factory door, are being knitted and finished as I write. The yarn we commisioned is 30% Possum Fur and 70% 19 micron superwash Merino Wool. We are very happy to be adding another colour to the range too. These socks are a fine, incredibly warm dress sock. These babies are so good, our Salamanca outlet customers will purchase and put them straight on!

80 years old-as good as new!

We love our old sock machines, they are vintage machinery as good today as they were in their heyday. These babies will be still going strong long after today's new fangled sock machines have given up the ghost. They were built in the 1920's and have been in service ever since. They are a tribute to their maker, The Bentley Company, who ironicly went from being the world's biggest sock machine manufacturer in the 1960's to receivership in the 1980's. We are so happy we've got them and will continue to make great socks today and in to the future, well, 'til we give up the ghost. We have no doubt it will be us who'll grow too old to work anymore not the Bentley Komet's, they'll still be thumping along.

A good honest living!

Working from home is great, I'd highly recommend it. When we first stumbled across possibility of making a home based living, we wanted not only to minimise the impact of work to our lifestyle, we wanted something that wouldn't impact badly on the world around us too. We were actively seeking our own small business so we could dictate our own work conditions, ethics, hours etc. Our reality is we need to earn a living, not to accumulate wealth but to live comfortably and honestly. With Mongrel Socks we found our niche! Ten years on, we haven't looked back. Starting our business from scratch was a challenge! But it was great to have ultimate control. Early on we made many mistakes, but learnt(sometimes painfully) from each one. One thing we did learn early was, that many decisions we make impact far wider than just us. Particularly our work practices. We have tried to always reduce waste in both materials and time, we recycle as much as we can. We re-use the majority of our packaging materials. We use natural lighting and drying processes. Minimise vehicle movements, and run LPG in our delivery van. As business owners we know we need to keep our costs down, and we have found that with care, we have been not only able to reduce the impact that our business has on our local environment but this has also kept our costs down. Yay! One thing we are very proud of is our tree planting program, we have planted upwards of 200 multi species endemic trees on our 9 acre property, and will continue until we can't fit any more. This is our small contribution to minimising the impact of our carbon footprint on our local environment. Our property is located on the outskirts of the city, backing on to bushland, the urban sprawl is ever encroaching. If in some small way we can foster an environment that is a safe haven to the many types of native animals we have here in Tasmania, when their natural habitat is not under threat from us or any thing we do in their backyard, we'll consider that an environmental job well done!