Traditional Knits from the Faroe Islands - Hardcover

Navia was founded in 2004 as a business-college project for 22-year-old Óli Kristian á Torkilsheyggi, now the founder and CEO. Navia is a family-run company that continues a long tradition of sheep-rearing and wool-spinning. Óli Kristian's great-grandmother, Suffía Gregersen, employed women to knit for her and sold sweaters in the Faroese village of Syðrugøta, where the family had a spinning mill; and the family's farm had a flock of 200 sheep, so Óli learned about wool at an early age.
The first items produced by Navia were 1, 2 and 3-ply yarns in six natural colours, and a small amount of plain-coloured sock wool. These were sold to yarn shops, cottage industry associations and others who dealt with yarn, and even to small supermarkets all over the country.
In the years that followed Navia grew bigger and produced a wider range of yarns. A new knitting book came out each year, more colours were added to the palette of yarn colours, and the yarn began to be sold overseas.
Since 2004 Navia has grown from a one-man enterprise with only a few different types of yarn to a big company producing clothes, exporting yarn and selling a wide range of goods through its two shops.