Wool

Which wool do we use for our wonderful cardigans, shawls and woven fabric? Wool that is produced by hurting the sheep with chemicals, such as much of the merino that comes from Australia? Or hand shorn wool locally produced? The everlasting dilemma; how much is needed and how do we produce? The use of wool for clothing dates back 6000 years. Its insulating and absorbing qualities have made it a very useful fibre. It is also copied in synthetic fibres, but they can never be as good as real wool. Cheaper however, that is.
It takes a year for a sheep to grow a fleece. Then it is shorn off, carded so that the fibres are easier to be used. Then it is spun, and either woven into a fabric, knitted or crocheted into a garment. The craft way to do this is very time consuming. Originally this was done next to all the other work on a farm, after the industrial revolution it became possible to do all this on machines. Which made garments cheaper. Good in one way of course; more affordable for everyone.
But it has gone out of hand. The clothing industry that is. As a result wool has lost its value and is often destroyed on farms. Sheep need to be shorn, but the market price for wool is so low it is cheaper for farmers to destroy the wool rather than sell it.
Only the better brands such as Rowan have their wool from local (British) farmers. I like working with their organic wool which is also organically dyed. I'm also happy to have found some farmers from whom I can buy fleeces for spinning myself or use as a filler for my knitted collection items. So wouldn't it be good if all designers and crafters that love wool go to the farmers and collect the wool before it is thrown away? And we should reuse recycled wool as well!
The amazing sense of the utterly natural product, the many possibilities to use it, the smell, the heritage.... it's my favourite fibre.
In the previous issue of Bloom (from which the images are derived) the mohair wool was celebrated. It's rare and not easy to produce, we should not forget that. But as long as it's don fair and organic it's fine .