Sustainable Wool Processing

12 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Knitting Industrial knitting in the UK used to be centered in the North of England and the border regions of Scotland. Since the 1980’s much of this industry has moved off shore to the Far East, causing loss of jobs including many skilled workers. As […]

11 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Spinning Hand spinning has been used as a process to make yarn from fleece for thousands of years, originally using a stick known as a spindle. The hand spinning wheel was invented around 500-1000AD, the origins are still being debated. This simple hand machine enabled

10 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Carding Carding, is essentially a process of combing the washed wool, aligning all the hairs to sit in one direction in preparation for spinning. This process creates a loose, light roll of soft wool, known as roving. This can be done by hand or machine.

9 of 20 Stages of the Evolution of British Wool Washing and Processing On the 23rd of June I visited Haworths the wool processors based in Bradford. Haworths are one of the largest scourers in the country, processing up to fifty million tons of wool per year. It was here I learnt about the scouring