UK Wool Week 2019 Says 'Check It's Wool'

Is it wool or a yarn with plastic in such as acrylic? That's what this year's Campaign for Wool is urging buyers to ask when they're shopping for clothes and hand-knitting yarn.

This year's campaign, whose patron is HRH The Prince of Wales, began on October 7th and runs until October 20th. It is focussing on the 'natural performance qualities' and ecological benefits of wool as biodegradable in a drive to reduce plastic and micro-fibre pollution.

Image courtesy of The Campaign for Wool

The famous woolly character Shaun The Sheep is getting involved, tying in with the release on October 18th of Aardman's latest film Shaun The Sheep Farmageddon. The campaign says: "a short special edition animation film has been created that is being used an education platform for wool's Super Natural Benefits. Products to allow children to experience the softness and skin benefits of wool for themsleves are being provided from Smalls and Mama Owl."

Fashion company Brora is joining the campaign by selling a limited edition jumper designed for Wool Week by Jasmine Cook, a student at Jordanstone College of Art and Design. The jumper costs £145 and is available in Brora stores and on the Brora website.

Image courtesy of Brora

London company Sheep Inc is launching the world's first 'carbon negative' jumper. The campaign says: "the wool jumper takes out 10 times as much greenhouse gases as was used in its making - and includes adopting a sheep from which the wool was taken. The supply chain is so transparent that a NFC chip on the hem of the jumper can be scanned using a smartphone allowing the owner to trace the wool back to the actual sheep from which it was sheared."

Image courtesy of The Campaign for Wool

Other events for Wool Week include:

• A launch on October 15th of John Hudson and Anderson & Sheppard  wool survival sweater, available in three colours
• The knitwear company John Smedley is releasing a three piece range of knitwear using Bluefaced Leicester wool, with an event on October 17th featuring ex-Blur bassist and now farmer Alex James
• Finistere, an outdoor apparel company, has launched an eco-friendly fleece made from recycled wool and manmade fibres
• An exhibition at Salts Mill in Yorkshire called 'Weaving The Future'.