As the weather gets colder and wetter, people start to reach for their winter clothes and warm woolly sweaters. It’s hard to find a better way to warm up on a chilly winter day than by turning on the heating, snuggling up in a cosy jumper and watching your favourite television show or reading a book.
Wool is a fabric staple that has been around for millenia. It comes in a variety of types, including camel and sheep’s wool. Wool is an interesting material with many fascinating facts.
Celebrate all things wool
Every year, the Wool Week takes place in October to celebrate all things wool. This event, now in its ninth season, was created to promote the use of wool and its benefits. There are many events held across the country that promote the use of wool. For a range of merino wool sweaters women, go to shamrockgift.com/aran-sweaters/womens-aran-sweaters/womens-merino-wool-irish-sweater
A place in history
Since the Stone Age, wool clothing has been valued as a precious commodity. Cistercian Monks paid part of the ransom demanded by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1192, when Richard the Lionheart was captured. They used 50,000 bags of wool. It would have taken an entire year for the monks to clip this amount of wool from their sheep.
Perfect properties
Wool is a material with many impressive qualities and properties. Wool is both water-resistant and fire-resistant. Wool is a natural oil and has a high ignition temperature (750 degrees Celsius). Wool is biodegradable, and it breaks down slowly and fertilises the soil because it contains 17 percent of nitrogen in its fibres.
