The Knitwit Stable and Zeefier have joined forces against fast furniture.Their first joint project, the carpet "From Dutch Wool and Seaweed," demonstrates the potential of local resources and industrial craftsmanship, with a focus on innovation and respect for local communities, animals, and the sea
Seaweed and wool come together on an industrial scale, without ecological impact.
Revaluing Wool
The project "From Dutch Wool and Seaweed" aims to revive the value of Dutch wool by transforming it into high-quality, sustainable carpets. Despite the excellent properties of wool—such as insulation, recyclability, biodegradability, antibacterial effects, and fire resistance—each year, the wool from over 800,000 sheep in the Netherlands remains partly unused. There is no market for it, and in the worst case, it ends up in landfills. The mission of The Knitwit Stable is to produce fair wool (textile) products with respect for nature and community, seamlessly combining craftsmanship, tradition, and sustainability. They achieve this by restoring the value of Dutch wool as a raw material.
Seaweed as an industrial natural dye.
**Seaweed as an Industrial Natural Dye**
Where wool is a rich but underutilized natural resource from the land, seaweed is its counterpart from the water. It grows abundantly in our oceans without the need for agricultural land or freshwater. Zeefier, a producer of natural textile dyes, has developed a natural dye from seaweed as an eco-friendly alternative to chemical dyes. Through this innovative approach, they can create aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible colors. The wool in “From Dutch Wool and Seaweed” was entirely dyed locally using eco-friendly seaweed dye harvested from Dutch waters. The project focuses on minimizing the ecological footprint through local production in the Netherlands and the EU, with a 100% traceable supply chain. By using fully traceable local wool and seaweed, “From Dutch Wool and Seaweed” is designed with the smallest possible ecological impact.
The carpet "From Dutch Wool and Seaweed"
The carpet "From Dutch Wool and Seaweed" was designed by Nienke Hoogvliet, co-founder of Zeefier. She gained recognition in 2014 with her project *Sea Me*, a rug made from seaweed yarn, hand-knotted into an old fishing net. Her work captures the contrast between contemporary environmental issues and the world of wonders the sea offers. The project *From Dutch Wool and Seaweed* is the first joint project by Zeefier and The Knitwit Stable. Each carpet tells the story of sheep grazing on the Dutch heathlands, the seaweed growing in our waters, and the carpet tufted on Dutch soil; a symbiotic collaboration between nature, local production, and innovation.
