where was it made?

I used to love Woolovers but two jumpers I have bought in the past couple of years have been very poor quality. I am unlikely to buy from them again, wherever they get their thing manufactured.

Time to start knitting again.

I am a spinner and can make my own yarn. Making yarn is quite a technical process. I spin singles to start, they have a life of their own and go every which way, can curl back on themselves. As a yarn, singles are not at all strong, would easily bobble and break. The singles are kept in order on a bobbin. I never knit with singles. Arty people might and a knitted piece would tend to twist sideways

Two bobbins can be spun together, this is a simple 2 ply. The spinning is in reverse ie anti-clockwise. It settles the singles and makes a more compliant yarn but still not incredibly strong

Three bobbins make a 3 ply and this gives rise to a stronger rounded yarn. I mostly make 3 ply. There are basically 2 types of ply, woollen and worsted, woollen is airy and light,not so many twists, excellent for cuddly jumpers, shawls, and hats Worsted is tight and more twisted and is hard wearing, very suitable for the likes of socks

Pure wool has many good properties. It only needs airing rather than washing, the air in the fibres is extra insulating. Once used, it grows again on our sheep.

There is a knitting thread in the arts and crafts forum, main thing is always but always to make a tension square, then wash and only then count the stitches and rows

Another Turtle Doves fan here - their fingerless gloves are amazing and I love their ethos and everything stand for

Globalisation, a term used by Companies to show how sweat shops can be used to create wealth for them, misery for the workers. Hopefully things have improved, but they still happen, or do we stop buying these goods, therefore losing employment for those people. A dilemma. Someone pointed out that cashmere is still sourced from abroad, of course it is, as those animals live and thrive in conditions not found in the U.K., and are looked after by herders, who receive money for the fleece, how do you check that they are not being robbed, by using firms that show certification against modern slavery, as many do.That provides income for the herders, and for the spinners and weavers in the U.K.

Horrified to see my deodorant was made in Russia , I’ll use it up but will read the labels next purchase !

It is admirable but pointless to try and stop purchasing individually from China.
Manufacturing is globalised and it is often difficult to follow the supply chain of goods. Many essential components are sourced in China, for example lithium for car batteries. Much of what we buy has components or is manufactured in China. (I’ve just bought a M&S washing up brush made in China).
Some car groups such as Volvo and MG are Chinese owned, and Chinese investors have huge assets in UK industry.

Pleased to hear Volvo are now getting rid of their Chinese partnership. Pleased because of Chinas support for Putin.
www.volvocars.com/au/about/australia/i-roll-enewsletter/2021/august/volvo-cars-to-take-full-ownership-of-its-chinese-operations

I've just checked my collection of cashmere jumpers, (10!, that surprised me) bought over the last 12 years. The oldest ones were from M&S, but unfortunately they shrank a bit, which is why I tried Woolovers The Woolovers have been worn and washed repeatedly and are still in very good condition with no bobbling at all. The last ones were bought 2 or 3 years ago.

Every single one was made in Madagascar.

It seems from their recent catalogues that Woolovers aren't offering 100% cashmere any more so I wouldn't be buying from them anyway.

(That's ten jumpers, BTW, just in case anybody reads the '!' as a 'one' . I'm not that wealthy )

I don't agree that it's pointless not to buy Chinese products Farzanah. If companies are made aware that customers are no longer buying their goods because they have switched production to China that will eventually have an effect. Nothing can be achieved quickly of course, but by making the reason you have ceased to buy obvious, rather than simply not buying, eventually the message will get through. We can never hope to completely eradicate Chinese goods from our marketplace but every little helps.

Woolovers is not cheap, so the provenance of their garments is expected to be as its advertised image.

I have two very old jumpers from them which are brilliant; but they will hear from me no more.

I agree with GSM, every little really does help and companies need to be proud and feel supported, if they do not deal with china

woolovers wrote back to me, they never gave me a reply to my e mail re china, just wanted my address for deletion. At least lands end did forward my concerns to their management team. People power rules in business

This link may be of interest

makeitbritish.co.uk/top-ten/uk-made-knitwear/

PinkCosmos

This link may be of interest

makeitbritish.co.uk/top-ten/uk-made-knitwear/

Thank you, I have joined up. Not just knitwear

I know it's not as simple as this because of globalisation, but it would be useful if all products had to have the country of origin prominently displayed on the packaging, and listed online on sales websites, so that people could decide whether or not to buy based on provenance. With a bit of imagination, lawyers could probably tighten things up so that manufacturers couldn't circumvent it by devious means (eg getting raw materials from China, making most of the item in India then sewing on a logo in the UK and saying that it was made here). Maybe we could have a formula that could show that an item had more than 50% UK provenance or something?

China and Mongolia are the main producers of cashmere. China is the largest, producing about 20000 metric tonnes per year; while Mongolia produces about 10000 tonnes per year. Mongolia is followed by Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. Producing in those quantities raises ethical concerns about combing methods and the stress and pain caused to the goats.

I recall Patrick Grant on the Sewing Bee saying there are already enough garments in the world to clothe the next six generations. I believe him. High Street and mail order brands ‘chase the cheap needle’ around the world, seeking out countries with the lowest labour standards so that garment workers can be exploited and costs kept low. In recent years, many fast-fashion brands have found the cheap needle closer to home, often in quasi-legal factories in cities such as Leicester where workers have been found to be paid under half the minimum wage. So even if you source garments made in the UK, don’t assume they are being produced ethically.

I don’t know what the answer is for the ethical consumer beyond buying less and only what you genuinely need. Cotton is NOT the answer as it’s THE most expensive and polluting fabric to produce resulting in toxic waste which poisons water and land. The cotton-wearing vegan lobby ignores the fact that cotton seed waste is sold as feed to intensive livestock farms. One answer is to buy ethically-produced wool to knit your own sweaters or ask a friend to knit for you. A hand knit in good-quality wool will wash better and last longer than manufactured short-pile fabrics which bobble after a couple of washes simply because the short fibres become loose and knotted.

Few are prepared to pay for ethically-produced goods including handknits. I enjoy knitting complex patterns: colourwork and cables. Meeting up with friends to knit and natter in coffee shops, I’m often approached my strangers who admire what I am wearing or making and ask me if I would make something for them. I refuse politely, saying that I don’t accept commissions. It saves that embarrasing conversation where they say they’ll buy the yarn and offer me £20 for my labour. Really? That sweater might take two or three weeks of hand-aching graft and close concentration to knit. £20? I prefer to donate to Knit for Peace rather than reinforce people’s ignorance about the real cost of clothes production. The last refusal caused offence when a woman told me I was trying to rip her off as she could buy a cabled dress in Primark for £5. Yeah, right and at what human cost? Don’t get me started on Primark’s part in the killing of more than 1000 people and injuring of another 2500 in the 2013 Rani Plaza disaster. Almost ten years ago now and I still can’t walk past a Primark without hating the company and the greed which lead to so many deaths and life-changing injuries.

I love knitwear but acknowledge it is an expensive fashion choice as even the top end cashmere will bobble; you need a cashmere comb on hand, always.
I used to love boiled wool; no longer seems to be in fashion, but the trend for leather bomber jackets, quilted tops and denim jackets is a more practical way to go if you are irritated by the short termish of wool.
Also, fleece is a marvellous warm alternative to wool/cashmere/alpaca and can be much cheaper.

I just ordered a lovely cushion from the canny squirrel.

Now I am about to research chocolate on that site

It is turning out to be a hedonistic day

It’s all very well to talk about ethically produced knitwear (and I absolutely agree) and the evils of cotton but what do you wear in warm weather? I have no idea about the ethics of linen but can’t stand it, creases as soon as you look at it and the ironing required must use a lot of electricity. I avoid it as much as I possibly can.

PinkCosmos

This link may be of interest

makeitbritish.co.uk/top-ten/uk-made-knitwear/

That link is interesting pinkcosmos but, at a cursory glance, isn't very inspiring.

karmalady

It looks oh so British and designed in the uk but woolovers is manufactured in china

That is another one off my list. I will send them an e mail today

I have posted about this too, karmalady

Dreadful quality too.
I expect knitwear that costs more than M&S to last, to survive the washing instructions from Woolovers and not to shrink.

I got a £20 voucher when I returned two expensive sweaters, spent it but had to send the third one back, it was itchy and certainly not soft lambswool.

I used to love boiled wool
Boz A third jumper I had bought looks like boiled wool after one careful wash but it's not meant to

Land's End sweaters are made in China as well.

Normally I wouldn't buy so many new sweaters (see other thread!) but my others were so old I felt I needed some. However, I'm back to wearing the very old ones.

linen/viscose mix hardly creases if at all. Viscose is made from wood pulp and has similar handle and drape as silk. Manufactured in many countries and eco manufacture is available.

www.contrado.co.uk/blog/what-is-viscose/

I have some fibre mixes containing seacell, which is made from seaweed. It gives a lovely drape and sheen to my yarns and is cooling

I completely endorse what you say in your post OakDryad. It is more expensive to buy ethically. I am not wealthy and it can be tricky, but try to buy as ethically as I can and only when I need.
Buying ethically is far more complex than black listing China.
I think cheap, throwaway and fashion clothing is contributing to the problem, and quite honestly I have felt disheartened by some threads on GransNet about buying clothing and fashion.

Thanks karmalady, I’ll look out for those.