where was it made?

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

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

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.

Interesting, Doodledog, over the years I’ve used many different yarns. More recently the jumpers and cardigans I made for the DGDs have been acrylic mixtures and they have worn quite well. The last thing I knitted for myself, a cabled waistcoat in Aran wool, ended up at the charity shop after a few weeks! I do like to knit in the evening, as I can watch the television at the same time, so maybe I’ll have another go with twisted yarn. I also received the Seasalt catalogue today Ladyleftfieldlover.

I really like Seasalt and received their catalogue today. I recently learned that all their clothes are made in China. The only clue in the catalogue is that one or two of the models are Chinese. I had a run in with Woolover. The woollen cardigan I paid a fortune for bobbled badly. They sent me a bobble remover which made it worse. Only when I threatened to take the cardigan to a charity shop did they reimburse me. I used the voucher to buy a cotton and silk cardigan. They don’t bobble. In the Sahara catalogue you are are told where everything is made and it’s usually Europe.

The asnwer to good quality clothes from ethical sources being expensive is to buy fewer clothes and wear them for longer.

Oh dear, mind you, I am not that surprised to read about Woolovers, the quality recently has been atrocious at the same time as the price has increased considerably. I am sure that the cashmere & shetland mix crew necks which are now £65 each, used to be on offer at 2 for around £75. Their catalogue goes on about how the natural fibres don't bead and get into the water system, and they emphasise their brown paper, recyclable packaging; all rather hypocritical given their country of manufacture. I shall not be buying anymore of their products.

GrandmaSeaDragon, what yarn did you use for your hand knits? Some do bobble more than others. On the whole, twisted (or plied) yarns will not bobble as quickly as 'singles' (yarns with only one 'thread' that is not twisted round others.

A certain amount of bobbling is always going to happen, but a cashmere comb (easily available online for £5 or so) will remove them much more gently than a shaver, so your knits will last longer. It's not washing that causes bobbles, incidentally - its friction when worn (ie the top of the arms rubbing against the body. This is why underarms tend to be most badly affected. Washing in too hot water, or too much friction in the machine will cause felting, as will tumble drying. This is useful when doing it deliberately, but heartbreaking when done by mistake (as I found out when my daughter 'helpfully' washed and dried my newly knitted 3 ply alpaca jumper ?).

Re old or bobbled pure wool tops. Try felting ie wash too hot in a machine. It will shrink and tighten up. It can then be cut with scissors and could be re-purposed as eg a bodywarmer, slippers etc

What a great tip. I think this is the route I’m sending my Woolovers jumper down. It’s shrunk and half-felted already on a very gentle warm wash, but I still love the colour and pattern.

Had a quick look at my makeup this morning. Rimmel mascara made in England, Maybelline eyeshadow made in Italy, Hourglass eye pencil made in Japan.

I just ordered some fingerless gloves and a beanie hat from turtle doves. I signed up to their newsletter and got a very good offer on the gloves and once I ordered, there was a quick additional offer for the beanie. Delighted as I have to buy for a birthday soon

For those who use Facebook, this page might be of interest
www.facebook.com/groups/1580344648802291

I too was surprised to see that some items in Seasalt are made in China now. I have decided that I won’t buy clothes made in China anymore. Jeans from Long Tall Sally were returned last week for that reason, origin was not stated on their website. My favourite jumper from White Stuff (made in Turkey) has only just started to bobble after 2 years. Most of our clothes are washed inside out at 30 and it doesn’t seem to make much difference. Sadly I find that jumpers I have hand knitted have boobled within weeks in spite of carefully hand washing.

My first purchase from Woolovers must have been about fifteen years ago, and I still have the black cardi that was 30 cashmere and 70 merino. The label does not state where it was made, so I'm assuming it was the UK. Now, the cashmere content is less and the quality has definitely gone downhill!
How I regret taking all my hand knits to the charity shop.

The problem is not everyone can afford to buy from shops like Turtle Doves, they are expensive, probably quality and last longer, but that doesn’t help if you’re budgeting. There are other threads about cutting back on outgoings during these challenging times. For us, it’s buy fewer clothes, we have plenty to wear, so unless it’s worn out it doesn’t get replaced. When material items need replacing I’ll research the origin of products or buy second hand.

Thewarmest item in this house is an Aran-type cabled cardigan sent over from NZ 13 years ago, and looks hand made from NZ wool. It will probably last years and years, as its only worn in winter!

I like the bamboo/cotton yarn from 'Knit with attitude' as it wears and washes so well. It's not from the UK - but claimed to be ethically produced:

knitwithattitude.com/yarn.html?features=8127

For those with 'bobbly' knitwear (and other clothes) I recommend a clothes shaver. Mine's from JML and was a gift. My old but comfy coats, joggers, cotton cardigans etc. look brand new when they've had their bobbles removed.

Apparently, there's less of a problem if we turn things inside out when washing them - that's if we remember to do it.

Doodledog

Wherever the factory or company is based, the reality is that 85% of raw cashmere comes from Mongolia and China, which is where the goats live.

Such a sensible post

I have several Woolovers garments bought around five years ago when the quality seemed to be good and the prices reasonable. The prices have massively increased and I haven't bought any new tops for years. Most of the original purchases have lasted well, though prone to pilling. They have washed well and never shrunk. Two of my favourite pieces are cashmere jumpers, M&S (reduced) which predate my Woolovers purchases. These have washed and worn very well with no pilling and are good for a few more years.

Wherever the factory or company is based, the reality is that 85% of raw cashmere comes from Mongolia and China, which is where the goats live.

MawtheMerrier

To be serious- if we as consumers continue to want “cheap” it can only be on the back of low wages and mass production.
I do get cross at expensive brands sourcing their products in China or sweatshops elsewhere (and trousering huge profits) but if we want quality goods manufactured in the U.K. and for those employed to make these items to receive a decent wage we have to be prepared to pay for it.
I was brought up in the Scottish Borders where the bulk of the population in the local towns were employed in the tweed and/or knitwear industry.
Those mills are all silent and in many cases derelict as they could not compete with cheap imports.

Remember buying a cashmere cardigan from Johnstones in Elgin, and it’s still working I believe. Seen they’ve also opened a shop in London.

Just doing a random look at my ironing.

A Cotton Traders top is made in China, M&S hoodie, Bangladesh and my lovely warm, really cheap Sainsbury's jumper was also made in Bangladesh.

woolovers prices are high, I pay similar or a bit more, just for the yarn but I know I can knit a much better quality garment. I have frogged a few of my hm tops to date, to make them in smaller sizes as I lost weight

Disappointd about seasalt tbh, another company that trades on a pretty location and complacency

superwash merino does not bobble and can be washed in a machine. I knitted a small shawl with it once, hated the feel of it. It uses a very unfriendly chemical process

Re old or bobbled pure wool tops. Try felting ie wash too hot in a machine. It will shrink and tighten up. It can then be cut with scissors and could be re-purposed as eg a bodywarmer, slippers etc

David Nieper clothes are all made in England, they do some knitwear, although I haven’t tried it. I also use Celtic, they do beautiful knitwear, and every item states where it’s made. Some UK, some in Europe - their wool items are brilliant quality, made mainly in Ireland.