Otto and Spike is as much about a place as a product. We have been knitting in Brunswick (an inner suburb of Melbourne) for the last 40 years.
Melbourne is a great place to knit because you never know when that scarf or beanie will come in handy!
Wearing warm woollies is part of life for the Melbourne dweller and they love rugging up in winter to go see the footy.
Back when we first started knitting, good ol' Brunnie was the centre of Melbourne's textile industry. Nowadays things have changed hardly anyone knits in Australia.
Companies chasing cheaper prices moved their production overseas. Gone are the days when we made custom cardigans for the Sharpie Gangs in 1970's Melbourne. The Sharpie's and most of Melbourne's textile producers maybe in the past, but we are still here, designing and producing fine knitted goods.
At Otto and Spike we admire well made, well-designed stuff, that you'll love to wear on your head, around your neck and out on the town. We use a combination of beautiful pure lambs wool and the best technical man made fibres.
What we make consumes very little. This is because most of the yarn and wool we use is surplus from an industry that has gradually disappeared from our country.
Seems pretty crazy since Australia produces some of the finest wool in the world.
As well as taking great care with our choices of yarn, each of our machines has a special role in the making and creating of our knitted pieces. We have an amazing collection of knitting machinery, enough to document the last century of knitted history.
Otto and Spike a product of a place.
Proud to be producing knitted accessories in East Brunswick 3057.
Products include
Clothing
Homewares
Hats and Beanies
Scarves
Gloves
Cycling accessories
Collaboration
