Biennial fashion design competition WoolOn has been a fixture on the Central Otago calendar for 20-plus years and this year some locals were joking that it was Daphne Randle’s event.
Randle entered almost every category and blitzed the competition, taking out the Supreme Award as well as the Second Runner-up, Hand Crafted, and Special Occasion awards, taking home more than $6,500 in prize money.
Daphne Randle’s ‘Highland Warrior’ winner of the WoolOn Toi Tu Ki Uruuruwhenua category and Supreme Award. The hand knitted design honours NZ’s Māori and Scottish heritage and draw inspiration from mountain horizons and warrior motifs, celebrating the shared strength and resilience of our common ancestors. Photography Lisa Hill
One of the WoolOn judges found it almost impossible to find the words to describe Randle’s extraordinary talent saying she was “a freak of the highest order” (as a compliment) when it comes to her skill, design and modular knitting technique.
There are only ever about 15 stitches on her needle and she builds up her intricate designs like patchwork – making them bigger or smaller depending on the patterns she is creating.
Drawing up her ideas in a grid maths book, Randle keep notes of everything she makes which totals five volumes of the patterns.
This Daphne Randle entry – Land – Sea – Sky – won the Collections category and came 2nd Runner Up. It’s inspired by the Central Otago landscape and captures morning (land), noon (sea) and night (sky). It is seamlessly modular and knitted from pure NZ merino wool. Photography Lisa Hill
It’s rare for Randle to not knit daily. It’s an all-consuming passion. Her unique style of knitting is a technique she developed in 1992 and she’s “just been experimenting ever since”.
“Back then there was no such thing as the internet, and I hadn’t seen [this technique] before, and I thought I was inventing something,” says Randle. “I [later] found I’d reinvented the wheel, but I did it my way which is different to how other people do it.”
Daphne Randle’s – Land – Sea – Sky. Photography Lisa Hill
She continues to knit for the joy and fun of it, and over the years eliminated things she didn’t love about knitting which contributed to her style.
Number one: sewing up. Number two: running out of wool at a very awkward time (but with this technique you can think on your feet and easily go back). And number three: knitting long rows that are boring and tiring.
Her designs are seamless, no sewing up required!
“I only use short needles and do short rows. So, it makes it fun and it’s very addictive,” she says.
Daphne Randle’s ‘Candy Floss’ entry which won the Hand Crafted category. Photography Lisa Hill
Her designs used to be sold at the Queenstown Market – labelled Daphne Randle, Alexandria NZ. She also has a Facebook page Fernzwear, named thus as she thinks her technique looks a little bit like ferns, where you can check out more of her work.
“I’ve got nine granddaughters and I’ve got six children, and all their extended families. So, they come and raid my suitcases all the time. And every so often, someone asks me to make something, or they come and say I want to buy one-off.”
Randle cannot recall a time when she couldn’t knit and estimates she was probably four when she first held a pair of knitting needles.
“I lived on a sheep farm and had a maiden aunt across the way who was quite crafty. I think she must have babysat me quite a lot and taught me to knit because I can’t remember not being able to knit. I used to do doll’s clothes when I was six and seven.”
Daphne Randle’s Streetwear category entry titled ‘Street Smart’ – an empire line dress hand knitted in pure merino and jacket with cape sleeves inspired by Central Otago’s snow-capped mountains. Photography Lisa Hill
She is also a collector of yarns and has a shed at home filled with suitcases of balls of wool.
“I have the equivalent of a well-stocked wool shop at my back door at the moment,” she laughs. “I just go out to my shed and think, what will I do today?”
Randle turns 88 in November and has no plans to slow down on the knitting needles.
Her inspiration is found in the surrounding landscape. “The colours change all the time. We look out over the river to the mountains and the colours just come and go and the shapes come and go. And the seasons.”
Daphne Randle’s award winning Special Occasion entry ‘Prime Thyme’ – a hand knitted menswear outfit in pure merino that captures Central Otago’s thyme covered terrain. Photography Lisa Hill
Her winning garment from WoolOn 2024 which won the Special Occasion and Technical awards also featured on the cover of this year’s WoolOn 2026 programme.
Daphne Randle with her daughters at the WoolOn Awards gala night on 29 August 2026. Photography Lisa Hill
Full list of WoolON 2026 prize winners here:
STREETWEAR
Sandy Austin-Fraser – Imposter
Tall Poppy Real Estate
ACCESSORIES
Joy McDonald – The Cutest Sheep in the World
Ida Valley High Country Station
REUSE/RESTYLE/REPURPOSE
Laurel Judd – Faceoff – Waste Not
Flooring Xtra Alexandra
MACHINE CRAFTED
Laurel Judd – Tropicana
Custom Mortgages
HAND CRAFTED
Daphne Randle – Candy Floss
Duncan Anderson Dental Surgeons
COLLECTIONS
Sandy Taing – A Radical Jesters Guide to Fashion
AWS Legal
SPECIAL OCCASION
Daphne Randle – Prime Thyme
Creative Fibre New Zealand
TOI TU KI URUURUWHENUA
Daphne Randle – Highland Warrior
Aitken Joinery
AVANT GARDE
Rodney Leong – Just Add Water
Barrett Homes
AWARDS
NOVICE
Kim Priest – Birds of a Feather
LJ Hooker
COMMERCIAL VIABILITY
Ryan Shepherd – Liminal Lines
Perriam
MENSWEAR
Ryan Shepherd – Liminal Lines
Peter Lyons Shearing
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Viv Tamblyn – Ride the Waves One Day at a Time
Braeside Farm
2ND RUNNER UP
Daphne Randle – Land – Sea – Sky
Maitai Insurance with Accelerate Engine
1ST RUNNER UP
Viv Tamblyn – Ride the Waves One Day at a Time
Hawkeswood Mining
SUPREME WINNER
Daphne Randle – Highland Warrior
Devold of New Zealand & Norway
YOUTH AWARDS
U13 STREETWEAR – Orla Galbraith – Colourland
U13 REUSE/RESTYLE/REPURPOSE – Maddie Peterson-Young – Floral Maze
U13 HAND CRAFTED – Adalyn Blakie – Cherry on Top
U13 TOI TU KI URUURUWHENUA – Marli Sole and Jahleigha Nichols – Piu Piu
PINK PLASTER CHALLENGE – Ava Snyman – Go & Come
Wool Aid
LOCAL YOUNG DESIGNER AWARD – Henry Paterson with Teo Leyser & Deason Cowley – The Shearing Sheep
Alexandra Rotary Club
SPECIAL FELTING PRIZE – Wandi Ncube – Moonlit Cascade
Felting Frenzy
LOOK OUT WORLD – Claudia McNally & Alice Wing – Clyde Dam
Earnscleugh Castle
UNDER 13 RUNNER UP – Mia West – The Butterfly Catcher
PRIMARY UNDER 13 – Leanne Kamota – Heritage Roses
Southern Lakes ITM & Singer
SECONDARY UNDER 18 – Bella Donaldson – Inherited
Checketts McKay Law
TERTIARY UNDER 25 – Marlena Koeninger – Off the Loom
Matakanui Station
