Much of the wool we wear comes from sheep reared outside the UK. Merino wool, ideal for both knitwear and cloth, comes from sheep that are found mainly in Australia and New Zealand (although a few small herds are being developed in the UK). However, a couple of examples of products made from British wool were highlighted recently during Wool Week, organised by The Campaign for Wool, an international organisation supported by HRH The Prince of Wales.
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| Tweed from British sheep: Dashing Tweeds x Charlotte Chaplin Tweed |
I've already covered the tweed developed by Charlotte Chaplin (pictured above) from the Herdwick sheep on her Cumbrian farm. You can read about those in my recent post, so I won't give more detail here, but Charlotte has made Herdwick wool into a beautiful undyed cloth.
To celebrate 235 years making knitwear in Derbyshire, John Smedley has developed a 235 Legacy collection of knitwear (pictured below) made from British-farmed Blue Faced Leicester sheep, the rare guanaco (the first branded products from the very fine wool of this camelid in the world) and alpaca.
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| At the recent launch of John Smedley's 235 Legacy Collection |
All are undyed, showing the natural colours of the wool: soft creams, browns and greys. They are knitted to the highest quality in attractive cable-knit heavyweight patterns. I haven't tried any of these products on, but they feel soft and chunky. Prices for jumpers, hats and scarves vary between £70 and £450 for men and women.
Links:
Charlotte Chaplin
Dashing Tweeds
John Smedley
The tweed jacket was gifted to me for review but none of the brands mentioned here have otherwise sponsored this blog. All views are mine. I support British brands and manufacturing.
Comments: Please note that I have now disabled comments on my blog because of the unmanageable volume of spam. However, I welcome and encourage discussion on my Instagram feed where you can leave your thoughts and queries and where I will respond as soon as I can.
Charlotte Chaplin
Dashing Tweeds
John Smedley
The tweed jacket was gifted to me for review but none of the brands mentioned here have otherwise sponsored this blog. All views are mine. I support British brands and manufacturing.
Comments: Please note that I have now disabled comments on my blog because of the unmanageable volume of spam. However, I welcome and encourage discussion on my Instagram feed where you can leave your thoughts and queries and where I will respond as soon as I can.
