EVENT – Meet London Wool

London City Farm Yarn is collaboration between Ossian Knitwear and London city farms, to produce wool products to help raise funds and awareness of urban farms, resulting in the most hearty London Wool - residing on the shelves of Knit With Attitude. We love this yarn so much, not just because of its exquisite quality, but just as much for the initiative, passion and story it carries with it. We are delighted to invite you to an evening sharing this fascinating story with you!

UK WOOL
Between the 12th and 18th centuries the UK produced some of the finest wools in the world. During the Industrial age, the popularity of wool diminished due to the arrival of new fibres such as cotton and synthetics. Now we know the damage caused by these fibres, we need to take a fresh look at one of the UK's finest fibre resources, wool. Tracing the lineage of these fine yarns reveals that many of the sheep breeds that produced it still exist. By using a diversity of breed types, we can help maintain this invaluable gene-pool of our 62 pure breeds of sheep for future generations.

FROM CITY FARMS TO COSY KNITS
The majority of London City Farms keep sheep as part of their educational programmes, teaching children and adults about the production of meat, cheese and wool. Each year more than half a million Londoners will visit a city farm. Sheep must be sheared for their wellbeing, but the amount of wool from each farm is too small to process commercially. Combining their wool to a sizable amount (1 ton) for commercial processing. The finished yarn and products are offered back to the farms at cost, generating vital funds to support their running costs.

Justine Lee, the mastermind behind the London Wool, will share with us her story from designer, to researcher of all British breeds of sheep and their origins, the monumental publication of her work in The Wonder of Wool, and how all this came together and resulted in the London City Farm Yarn project.

This event coincides with our monthly knit night, so after Justine's talk we'll transition into our regular evening with plenty of room to reflect and discuss further. The event is ticketed so we can keep track of seat availability. The symbolic sum of £3 will go towards snacks and beverages for the evening.