Do you remember this post? Well, in response to all your wonderful comments, Felix and I have launched WOVEMBER — a grass-roots, month-long celebration of all things woollen and woolly. Please pop over and have a look at the website, sign the petition, and join us, in whatever way you like, in the shared appreciation of 100% wool. Plus, there is a competition! With 100% woolly prizes!
To quote from our statement of purpose on the WOVEMBER website:
WOVEMBER is about:
* recognising that WOOL is a premium textile which comes from an actual sheep, and that – as such – the terms WOOL, WOOLLY and WOOLLEN should only be applied to real WOOL and not, for instance, to polyester or viscose.
* celebrating the important heritage and contemporary value of WOOL through our 100% WOOL stories, blog posts, pictures, textiles, and garments.
* educating and informing the wider public of the wondrous qualities of WOOL.
* creatively pushing the idea that the word WOOL should refer to sheep’s WOOL only.
* reconnecting the idea of WOOL to the animals and people involved in its creation and manufacture.
* campaigning for a clarification of trading standards to prevent further misuse of the term WOOL.
To involve yourself with WOVEMBER, you can:
* endeavour to wear as MUCH WOOL AS POSSIBLE throughout the month of WOVEMBER, and tell everyone about the unique qualities of WOOL.
* sign the WOVEMBER PETITION to support changes to textile trading standards and product descriptions.
* Talk about what wool means to you throughout WOVEMBER on your blogs, sites, facebook pages, twitter feeds, and other social media.
* Publicise WOVEMBER by sharing our button (below) and linking to the WOVEMBER website.
* send us WOVEMBER stories about sheep, wool, knitting, weaving or other endeavours which celebrate WOOL in all its sheepy glory!
* Enter the WOVEMBER COMPETITION by sending us a 100% wool photograph for the WOVEMBER gallery. (Sponsored by Jamieson & Smith – 100% WOOL prizes on offer!)
* Have fun.
KDD & Co 
Woe is me that I am entering the spring/summer months! But, as a person who lives in a not-that-cold climate and yet still feels the cold like a mofo, wool is IMPORTANT to me. And because I want it for specific qualities – namely warmth – then yes, ‘wool’ HAS to denote sheep, or it doesn’t have those qualities! Who are these nay-sayers? My relatively recent motto regarding winter clothes – if it ain’t wool, I ain’t buying it. Severely limiting to a non-knitter but worth it. I appreciate this – boo to bollocks labeling!
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Late to the game, but IN all the way! Have ordered my badge, and am working on my first blog post.
What a great idea you have here!
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Thanks for doing this
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Thought of you today when our school took part in St Mungo’s Woolly Hat day in aid of the homeless charity. I wore my (genuinely) hand-knitted 56% wool, 40% acrylic, 4% viscose beret – yes, I can see that it’s not the best yarn but I love the colours – and you may imagine the selection of headgear that the pupils wore. I think, Kate, that you may have lain down and wept!. However, at the end of the day there was a bucketful of donations, so the loose terminology served its purpose for a good cause.
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Since Wednesday afternoon, the kids in my class know the difference between yarn and wool. I was teaching them how to make Ojo de Dios and they all looked at me blankly at the beginning of the lesson when I used the word yarn. Wednesday…..twenty six eight eayr olds…..Next year the world!
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While idly browsing the web just now I found a site selling yarn whose “double knitting wool” section contained 12 items, of which 1 contained wool (15%) The rest were mostly 100% acrylic but there were a couple containing bamboo or cotton. I half expected what I found – but I was still shocked!
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Thanks for doing this — I love it and am so happy to participate!
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Great! Support this whole heartedly – and will be sharing on my blog etc, and it’s certainly time for woollies here in Edinburgh!
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Viva wool…..I bought some organic Poll Dorset wool from a dyer that Kate mentioned quite a few blogs ago – its pure woooliness is a real pleasure – no silk, no spangles, no seaweed – and it knits up into the most wonderful fabric. Support sheep I say!
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Yay!
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i am not the “woolier” in our family, my sister who i blog with is. i will be sending her over here right away.
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Whats up with the idea to use the word WOOL for sheep’s WOOL only? Is it not a little bit too dogmatic? Whats up with Mohair-Wool from goats and Angora-Wool from rabbits? Or all the other animals which give their hair for wool such as the lama?
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I agree.
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It’s still too warm to wear wool in Texas–83 degree yesterday–but I’m with everyone in spirit.
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That’s 83 degrees Fahrenheit.
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What a great idea! I’ve just entered the competition :)
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Well look at that — I am already succeeding at this Wovember thing without even trying. Two days in a row in wool socks! Must come up with something for tomorrow….
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Its going to be hard to wear wool every day as I live in Tropical North Queensland in Australia but I have purchased one of Felicity’s badges and will wear that everyday and continue with my knitting/crochet which is almost like wearing it :-)
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Off to repost right away. My Mom and I just started a wool project as a wedding present for my sister, a red wool felt tree skirt. You can see pictures on my blog: http://www.peerieflooers.blogspot.com Where would we be without all the gifts of wool?
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This IS exciting! i am definitely in. Well done you for being so pro-active – not that I expected anything less:-)
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That’s a great idea! I’m in.
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Wonderful idea! Because it’s Wovember, I’m planning to visit New Lanark this weekend and spoil myself with some woolly goodies :)
Happy Wovember!
Kasia
x
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I’m not sure how you feel about Facebook, but it could be good to enable sharing with Facebook on this one? I’m sure a lot of people would gladly share it on their account.
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Oops! I see it’s on the Wovember site. Excellent work!! It looks great.
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Wow – I love the idea. I’ve started well by donning my lopi-vest today but as down under we’re rapidly approaching summer it’s going to be a bit of a challenge for me :) Will give me a great excuse to write up the post on the science of wool that I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while!
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Great ideas! The petition is signed. It will be interesting to follow you and Felix because you are making a difference. And I adore the sheep trio above. They are smiling!
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Last week I made a long skirt out of a piece of wool I found clearing out my mother’s fabric. I wore it as part of my Halloween costume last night (Molly Bloom. Nobody guessed.) I wore it again today, and may wear it again tomorrow. I, for one, am all for wool.
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Echoing Donna, it IS sad that we need this– that “wool” has been co-opted by the fashion industry as an evocative– not technical– term, and that the sheep, shepherds, and mills are completely left out of the picture. However, what a wonderful way to put WOOL & SHEEP back into the spotlight– I can’t wait to see where this goes. Thank you so much for giving us WOVEMBER!
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already signed and my 100% wool thing is already in the process of being made.
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Wovember rules in Italy too ;)
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Thats what the wool mark here is all about. Would be nice to see something of the sort for all wool products where ever they come from.
I just found this site – very much like :)
viv in nz
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super! my blog has been hibernating, but i will add the button. maybe a wooly post soon…? thank you!
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Amazing idea! I think something less corporate and fashion-y than Wool Week is definitely needed. Have signed the petition.
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Totally behind this. Have already put the button in my sidebar. Blog posts and more to follow :D
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I’ll definitely support Wovember! I’ve put the button on my blog and will be sure to blog about it. I’m hosting a week-long knitting celebration on my blog just now, so can follow it up with a Wovember-related post. Love the idea of the competition too – will get my thinking cap on.
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Brilliant! I will definitely support this and big it up in my blog.
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Splendid idea. I thought of your last post on this when I saw on (naming and shaming) the Jigsaw website a dress that claimed not merely to be wool, but ‘fine merino wool’, but was actually made of nylon, viscose, and … angora…
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So sad this we need this! Thanks for being proactive about change and helping the rest of us! :)
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Wovember! What a wonderful idea – let’s see what the blog / knitting world can do to support 100% Wool!!!
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Ahhhh, the Wovember.com site is locked? Can someone loan me the key?
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Found the key!
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