WOVEMBER WORDS #28

In the late 19th century, Dr Gustav Jaeger developed a philosophy of ‘sanitary clothing’ in which wool is given the spotlight. In contrast to ‘chilling materials’ such as linen and cotton, wool could absorb and pass away the ‘noxious exhalations’ of the body. In 1884 the Dr Jaeger’s Sanitary Woollen System was founded by English… Continue Reading WOVEMBER WORDS #28

Wearing Wool… The House & Garden Special!

Wool is absolutely essential to life, kind of like milk. We begin with this quote and image from Audrey Nicklin, submitted last year to our photo competition, because researching this bit of WOVEMBER has revealed so many diverse ways that WOOL can enhance life when used to ‘clothe’ the house and the garden! Today we… Continue Reading Wearing Wool… The House & Garden Special!

Colleen on Wearing Wool…

Colleen’s blog is a treasure-trove of thoughtful writings on many everyday things, but perhaps most especially on various shoes, hats, clothes, quilts and other things that are worn. Colleen writes of the amazing memories connected with such objects as a fine pair of boots; a jubilant turban; and a quilt that she made for her… Continue Reading Colleen on Wearing Wool…

Kata on Wearing Wool…

Continuing on from her post on Working with Wool, here is Kata, writing this time about Wearing Wool – or, perhaps more specifically – her philosophy of mending and repairing the woollen clothes so distinctive and important to Estonian life. In Estonia the Winter is extremely long and extremely cold, so ‘Wearing Wool’ is not… Continue Reading Kata on Wearing Wool…

WOVEMBER WORDS #27

Wool has some amazing qualities, all in one fibre, grown naturally: The first thing to know about wool is that it is hygroscopic – a great trait for clothing and an equally great word for your next crossword puzzle or cocktail party. Hygroscopic means that the fiber is able to absorb up to 30% of… Continue Reading WOVEMBER WORDS #27

Deb Robson on Wearing Wool…

Completing the quintet of posts from Deb Robson which so far has included ‘Growing Wool’, ‘Harvesting Wool’, ‘Processing Wool’ and ‘Working with Wool’, we have the final instalment – ‘Wearing Wool’. This wonderful collection of projects shows the versatility of WOOL and how knowing your breeds and being clear about which fibres are better for… Continue Reading Deb Robson on Wearing Wool…

Wearing Wool

We are into the last 5 days of WOVEMBER! This means we are into the last topic of our five phases of WOVEMBER blogposts – ‘Growing Wool’, ‘Harvesting Wool’, ‘Processing Wool’, ‘Working with Wool’ and ‘Wearing Wool’. I hope it is by now clear why we chose this structure for organising all the pieces this… Continue Reading Wearing Wool

WOVEMBER WORDS #26

The first Wovember Words on Wearing Wool come from Elizabeth Zimmermann, believed that you can’t start too early with wearing wool. Here she is on making babies’ things: Although babies rarely, if ever, express their pleasure at being dressed in wool, it is surely manifest when you dote on a small plump person soundly and contentedly… Continue Reading WOVEMBER WORDS #26

Amy Twigger Holroyd on Working with Wool…

To round up our “Working with Wool” phase of WOVEMBER and to set the scene for the last and final theme for our month-long celebration – “Wearing Wool” – we have a Q&A with the founder of Keep & Share, Amy Twigger Holroyd. Keep & Share is the umbrella term for Amy’s research, knitting activities… Continue Reading Amy Twigger Holroyd on Working with Wool…

Tom van Deijnen on Working with Wool…

As anyone who reads Tom’s blog will know, this member of TEAM WOVEMBER is a very keen mender of clothes! Tom is interested in textile traditions as well as in the physical characteristics of wool, and his mending practice often utilises wool for both its referential and material properties. For instance in the case of… Continue Reading Tom van Deijnen on Working with Wool…