More ethical knitting and crocheting

[ISimplyDontBelieveIT]

I am a very prolific knitter and crocheter and also run a knitting group for women at a davvs centre . I have used cheap acrylics for years and years because well, it's cheap, hard wearing and easy to care for. I would like to start purchasing more environmentally conscious yarns but cost is, unfortunately, a priority. I am just wondering if there's a better balance I could achieve by buying economical natural yarns that don't require hand washing and are budget friendly. I'd love to hear recommendations from those of you that have achieved some sort of balance in this respect. I am based in south london but would much rather hear on online options. Thanks so much.

I'm not sure what you're asking for exists tbh but would be keen to know.

I switched to West Yorkshire Spinners wool for similar reasons. It's all UK wool which is hand spun and dyed in the UK. More expensive than your acrylics but beautiful. I've only ever hand washed it but because it's wool I only do big things like jumpers once per year. They don't smell and can be spot cleaned where necessary.

www.wyspinners.com/

They also have a lovely FB community where people share their work. It's stocked by all the big Yarn online retailers.

If you can be bothered with the extra work you could buy a second hand jumper and unravell and roll up your own ball of wool.

You could knit less with better yarn so the cost works out the same. What do you do with all the acrylic things you make?

Some of the bigger companies do fairly cheap cotton but I'm not sure how ethical they are. Superwash wool can be machine washed on a wool cycle - some are reasonably priced. Look at Drops.

Another vote for WYS as a well priced natural.

Istex Lopi is another well priced one but Icelandic wool is only suitable for certain projects- it’s a bit scratchy for some.

Drops does excellent value natural yarns but I admit I have never looked into the eco or ethical credentials beyond it being natural.

There’s a company that does good value undyed naturals in large quantities so that might be an option if you can order it in bulk and dye it yourself.

The most ethical and cheap thing I do is processing and spinning my own but it is labour intensive. Fleeces can be got for a few quid and spinning is a wonderful activity in its own right.

Love the idea of unraveling old garments.

Don’t forget some people are allergic to wool.

Btw I machine wash most things on a wool setting in a delicates bag, not too often, and it’s been fine, even the stuff I have handspun. Just take great care over drying. The only things that have been destroyed have been due to dh putting them in the tumble dryer.

If you are going to go ethical don't buy superwash, it's a very environmentally unfriendly process

I only knit with wool, no nylon, no superwash and I wash everything in the washing machine on a wool wash and have no issue

Drops wool is good, often pure wool none superwash

Also spinning your own as someone mentioned but if is a time consuming whole new hobby

Depending on how important the environmental aspect is, superwash processing uses a lot of chemicals and is not great for the environment. But I understand it’s all a balance of factors.

X post!

Chester Wools is the one I am thinking of that does good prices above 5kg.

If you go with the second hand jumper idea put it in the freezer for a few weeks first to kill any moth eggs.
Guarding against moth is the other thing you will have to be very conscious of with wool.

World of wool also does undyed yarn like chester wools, which can be cheaper than buying it dyed, and they make it clear which are British if you are in the UK and want to reduce your carbon footprint

I use both chester and world of wool and get great yarn from both of them