Wool prices have dropped
This isn’t necessarily a good thing. I remember being thrilled at the chance to get a free fleece because I was poor and wanted to spin yarn. I participated in Spin-a-Fleece, Get-a-Fleece with alpaca owners a few times and was happy to roll around in my own mini alpaca herd. My first experience with processing wool was with a free cotswold fleece from a local farmer. It was free, dirty, and not great quality. I learned a lot from those experiences, including what to expect from a fiber show versus a farmer trying to unload unwanted goods. Before you dig into this post, please read about the sheep prices of 2021 here. It’s a five minute read. Come back here when you’re done.
I was happily watching Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear fame) fail miserably (mostly at his own behest) at running his own farm. Of course, my interest was piqued when he mentioned wanting to raise sheep. Throughout the course of the season, the viewer would tag back to the frumpy little sheep and what they needed: pasture, water, sexy times, maternity, and lambing. I was particularly moved by Jeremy’s reaction to lambing. Unbelievably, the show has a whopping five stars and over 3000 reviews. If you have Prime, and can stand listening to a crochety old British man, please watch it. The point I want to raise here, however, is the shameful price of wool fleeces. Now, the documentary tracks the course of Jeremy’s adventures since the conclusion of the latest (at the time) Grand Tour special (2019) until early 2021. Throughout the bulk of this show, Jeremy had to deal with the pandemic and being a new farmer. When he decided to raise a flock of sheep, the price of meat was good; it didn’t take long for the prices to fall because pubs weren’t open and serving their Sunday roasts (think Thanksgiving, but it happens every Sunday). He hired two expert shepherds to shear the sheep and was immediately confronted with the dismal price per fleece: about 90 pence (about $1.10).
My first two yarns: alpaca (left), cotswold (right). Both were dyed with cochineal with an alum mordant.
On the bright side, the pandemic brought out the need to create. This was partially a way to stay engaged during those periods of time when we would have been commuting to/from work, hanging out with friends, or traveling to exciting/favourite places. I remember there being a lot of pressure to ‘stay productive’ which induced anxiety in some people, but on the whole, crafting shops were being rifled through as wool, yarn, and other crafty stuff was snapped up by enthusiastic buyers. Many local UK shops did very well, especially if they had an online presence. In Sweden/Denmark, there was a yarn shortage during the first lockdown period.
What else have we learned during this period? There still isn’t a high enough demand for wool products commercially. Society is a huge system and as such, there are many dimensions that wool can be useful in commercial markets. Problems with fast fashion always comes to mind. Do we really need 8 tank tops in different colors and the same style? Do we also need 12 pairs of pants a year? In the days before Expertly Dyed, I would buy 1-2 new shirts a month and a new pair of jeans/pants/trousers about every 3-4 months. I felt this was a conservative way to keep my wardrobe updated and avoid the look of worn out clothing—you know the kind of mean, where the stitching is coming undone and there are a couple of tiny holes, and the cotton has gotten stretched out a bit. Fifteen years later and I probably buy new clothing about once a year, and it’s usually jeans, underwear, and bras. During the pandemic (from early 2020), I have bought no new clothing. Maybe I’m lucky and I’ve been able to find decent items from the local charity shop. There aren’t too many down cycling options for my clothes, except for making rag rugs.
Curing ourselves of the hypnotic effect of fast fashion is one approach, but certainly not the only one. Wool will continue to decline in importance as we continue to buy acrylic-based goods. I looked everywhere for an environmentally friendly cat tower and had to settle for one that would allow two moody girls to have their own space but contained polyester and acrylic faux fur in some parts. I have thoughts to make wool pillows for it, whenever I get some time; the plan is to down cycle old sheep skins that are starting to fall apart. By far, both my cats prefer to settle into wool than they do polyester when given the choice.
We need to be mindful of the origin of our goods and the environmental impact of those goods. I could wax poetic on the reasons why this is important, but I’m speaking to those already in my camp. We need to make our points actionable. It is no longer acceptable to merely state that ‘wool is great and it keeps you warm!’ Sheep are essential in landscapes where soils are prone to exhaustion. We can’t expect to use synthetic fertilizers forever, so why not look into alternatives now. I was only able to kiss the subject of sheep husbandry in my PhD thesis but that small study I was able to do really made me understand how sheep are inextricably involved in our modern lifeways.
How do we keep traction of this new trend where people knit/crochet, post pandemic? We’re not clear of the devastation yet, but we still have time to think about it. Is it simply encouraging our new friends? Is it about accessibility? My video library is vast at this point, and I know I’m not alone in making tutorials, but is it still too niche? How do we encourage people to care? I’m sure that most people in the UK are very aware of sheep and their products—last I heard, there were 4 sheep to every 1 Brit—but do they care that sheep are so important? Do they know that different sheep breeds serve different purposes? Changing people’s habits is the most difficult challenge. The best I have done is influence, subtlety, on a regular basis. I don’t think this approach will work anymore. We need to be loud, very loud, and open to discuss our views and provide education. We need to be inclusive and unbiased. Instead of pepper in the stew, we need to be the broth.
And…I should stop there for now. It’s a huge topic and it connects with other themes about which I am very passionate. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
