The Campaign for Wool

Oct 13, 2021

My passion for this amazing, sustainable resource explained.

Sometimes when you’re aimlessly scrolling or searching, you come across an image/logo that makes you stop and take notice. This happened recently when I found a tag on an Instagram post via one of my scrolling sessions [or research as I prefer to call it] and I just had to check it out. It was for The Campaign for Wool.


I’m passionate about wool, it’s the most natural, sustainable and clean resource that any textile artist can use. Beautiful sheep grow it effortlessly and clever humans worked out that it could be put to good use.

“Sheep are required to be shorn of their wool once a year for their own comfort and health. Hence, wool is a naturally occurring by-product.” (British Wool)

British sheep are all reared outside, in natural pastures so they are not considered as intensively farmed. This makes a difference to the quality of their wool and also means they are happy sheep.


My passion for wool came from a very early age, my Dad was a wool classer by trade. A wool classer’s job in the shearing shed is to assess the fleece for length, strength, colour and fineness of the wool. The aim is to maximise the value of each fleece prior to sale. I have vague memories of small amounts of freshly shorn wool that Dad would bring home and being shown how to check if a fibre is wool or synthetic. Wool has a unique texture that can’t be created in a manmade yarn. The smell and feel of pure wool is something I will never forget - there’s something very special about that.

A basket of skeins for wool in grey, blue and pink

In the town where I grew up in Australia, we had a Woollen Mill. I started knitting at an early age (I think I was around 4 years old when my Nana taught me how to knit), I really don’t remember what I knitted back then, but as I got older there was nothing I enjoyed more than heading to the Woollen Mills to choose some new wool for my next jumper project. Being able to buy straight from the mill meant it was a bit cheaper than buying standard balls of wool from a retail shop, but it also meant I had to roll my skeins into balls before I could start knitting. I remember using the back of our kitchen table chairs to hold my wool while I wound it into a ball. These days I have a proper wool winder, which I love! It’s so much quicker and so very satisfying.


Anyway, back to The Campaign for Wool. When I read about their story I decided to contact them to see if they would accept me as an official supporter. They did!! I’m now officially allowed to display their logo on my website, social media etc and will be singing the praises of British Wool even louder from now on. 

I must admit, I haven’t used a lot of British Wool over the past few years, my suppliers mainly source their wool from sustainable sources in South America, Peru in particular. But I’m always on the look out for British Wool when I can get my hands on it at a price that doesn’t mean I have to bump up my prices too much. 


Sourcing materials when you have sustainability, animal husbandry and fair treatment of employees at the heart of your product, means a lot of extra research. From what I’ve seen and read of the British Wool industry, they are as determined as me with that mission. I’ll be actively seeking out more British Wool from now on. I really want to support this very important industry.


There’s a lot more I could waffle on about with regards to the merits of wool, but I’ll leave that for another day. If you have any questions about any of my products or the yarns I use, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.  If you’ve got any good tips with regard to wool suppliers I’m always thrilled to get a new supplier to try.

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