Wool, wonderful wool. Just like Mary Poppins – it’s “practically perfect in every way”. (YouTube if you don’t remember this.)
Wake up, fumble my way to coffee, shuffle into my wool office. Take a sleepy look around, decide which wooly thing to start my day with. (sip, slurp, sip). Every morning. Most often it’s yarn or preparing to make yarn. While yarn is the best form of wool -hahaha- it can do so much more. This morning, I’m taking a little time to write about the qualities of wool that make it so wonderful. A nice little reminder of why I appreciate wool. Let’s take a quick look:
Wool has many qualities that make it versatile and sustainable:
Wool is strong, warm, cool, moisture wicking, fire retardant, antimicrobial and antibacterial. Additionally, it comes in a variety of lengths, crimp style, and scale texture which gives us lots of options for different uses. It can be processed and/or spun in a variety of ways depending on what it’s going to be used for. It’s organic and biodegradable, which means it can be produced without chemicals and after many many years of use, it can be returned to the earth where it enriches soil to keep the natural cycle going.
Take a moment or two to appreciate wool for all its goodness. Don’t forget the sheep! …so many different sheep for our varying landscapes and wool products and tastes in yarn… and most importantly, let’s not forget to appreciate all those ranchers who do the very hard work of caring for the animals and bringing the wool to market.
