We have Soay sheep and unlike most other breeds they moult, so you can just pull the wool off them in late spring. A bit tricky to spin, as it is short, but I made myself a woolly hat. No ethical problem there, the only problem is that you are restricted in colour - they only come in brown
You can get fibre made from bamboo and even soybeans but the process is not necessarily kind ecologically, as it may use toxic chemicals. As with cotton - the heavy use of fertilisers and water to grow the plants makes it environmentally damaging.
Yes, wool makes me itch too Nanny. I used to do a lot of knitting, but had a continual cold until I realized the wool was irritating my nose and throat and also making me shivery and itchy - I suppose it was caused by the loose fibres in the wool or was it the natural lanolin?
Unfortunately, Buttercupdays, wool is bad for me, it has to be cotton and occasional some of the synthetics. We bought a rough long haired collie many years ago from a breeder in Sussex, she also bred very long haired German Shepherds, had an old fashioned spiining wheel, and spin the yarn and knitted fabulous jumpers from, who knee dog jumper!
It makes me a bit itchy too, but only if I wear it next to my skin, so I just layer it over something thinner.
I'm actuallly wearing 4 layers right now - deep snow outside, still snowing, blowing a hooley and a draughty old house where the wind finds its way in through the walls!
where do you live buttercups? I have tried layering, puting t-shirt or shirt underneath wool, jumper, cardigan, (knitted by MIL) but it still managed to get its tiny itchty little fibres through to my skin, but I also come out in a rash with is proably the lanolin as well. I think we have diversed a tad from the plastic waste eh!
I live on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border, on the edge of the Pennines at 1200+ feet. We get proper winters up here
Went out to feed the sheep yesterday afternoon, it had been snowing a.bit all day, not that much, but blowing too. The snow on the way to the field was at the top of my (full length) wellies!
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or cotton, I often wear thick cotton jumpers, just as warm.
We have Soay sheep and unlike most other breeds they moult, so you can just pull the wool off them in late spring. A bit tricky to spin, as it is short, but I made myself a woolly hat. No ethical problem there, the only problem is that you are restricted in colour - they only come in brown
You can get fibre made from bamboo and even soybeans but the process is not necessarily kind ecologically, as it may use toxic chemicals. As with cotton - the heavy use of fertilisers and water to grow the plants makes it environmentally damaging.
Yes, wool makes me itch too Nanny. I used to do a lot of knitting, but had a continual cold until I realized the wool was irritating my nose and throat and also making me shivery and itchy - I suppose it was caused by the loose fibres in the wool or was it the natural lanolin?
Unfortunately, Buttercupdays, wool is bad for me, it has to be cotton and occasional some of the synthetics. We bought a rough long haired collie many years ago from a breeder in Sussex, she also bred very long haired German Shepherds, had an old fashioned spiining wheel, and spin the yarn and knitted fabulous jumpers from, who knee dog jumper!
It makes me a bit itchy too, but only if I wear it next to my skin, so I just layer it over something thinner.
I'm actuallly wearing 4 layers right now - deep snow outside, still snowing, blowing a hooley and a draughty old house where the wind finds its way in through the walls!
where do you live buttercups? I have tried layering, puting t-shirt or shirt underneath wool, jumper, cardigan, (knitted by MIL) but it still managed to get its tiny itchty little fibres through to my skin, but I also come out in a rash with is proably the lanolin as well. I think we have diversed a tad from the plastic waste eh!
I live on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border, on the edge of the Pennines at 1200+ feet. We get proper winters up here
Went out to feed the sheep yesterday afternoon, it had been snowing a.bit all day, not that much, but blowing too. The snow on the way to the field was at the top of my (full length) wellies!
Last edited: 22 January 2018 14:34:58