Woolly Wovember

Have you heard of Wovember?

Well, as you might have guessed, it takes place in November and it's a collaborative celebration of my favourite fleece, wool!

There are retailers out there who use a pitiful quantity of wool in a garment (say 5%) and somehow feel they can still justify calling it woollen or misleadingly marketing it as "wool". Wovember hopes to reconnect consumers with *real* wool, its beauty and rather marvellous properties, as well as educating them on the process behind creating different woollen yarns and fabrics, from fleece to finished product.

Image via Wikimedia

How can we support Wovember? It's really simple, actually! You can wear woolly things - and believe me, I have been... there's a definite chill in the air and what better way to stay cosy really. Also by spreading the word and generally helping to raise awareness of the wonders of wool.

If you've read my blog before, you will probably know just how passionate I am about wool. As a knitter, consumer and textile designer, I would definitely feel cheated if a piece of clothing (or yarn, for that matter!) was sold to me as wool but had little to none of the real deal off of an actual sheep's back in it.

Almost everything I make for my WildCat Designs label is made from wool. The majority of my accessories are handmade by me from gorgeous 100% bona fide Merino wool, which I carefully sourced from a UK woollen mill. One thing I wasn't willing to comprimise on was quality.

One of the reasons I love wool, as I'm sure I've probably said many times before, is its versatility. The folks at Wovember are celebrating wool in all its glory and variety by hosting an Instagram competition this year - you can join in the fun and submit your woolly pics using the #WOVEMBER2015 hashtag. You could even win a wool-themed prize if you're lucky!

Find out more about Wovember and how to support the campaign on the wovember.com website.