Slow Fashion October: Known

Slow Fashion October is almost over. It's been an amazing conversation, one that I hope won't end just because October is over. 

Between being a little too ambitious with my Slow Fashion October goals and life stepping in with other plans, my Slow Fashion October making is going to bleed into November. But really, as a maker, slow fashion happens for me every month of the year.

This week's Slow Fashion October theme is Known - it's all about knowing the source of your clothing and materials, knowing how they were produced, and what environmental (and human) impact their production makes.

If you're looking for good sources for materials, there are pretty awesome lists of yarn sources at Fringe Association and Woolful. Lately I've found great organic cotton fabric, yarn, and ribbon at Organic Cotton Plus. And of course, there's also our stashes, which are probably full of yarn of unknown origin, but it would be a waste to throw it out just because we don't know where it came from.

Lately, though, I've been obsessed with spinning my own yarn and knitting with it.

Since gray and taupe are two of my favorite colors, I'm not too concerned with dyeing right now - I'm way more interested in the color combinations and patterns I can get with naturally colored wool.

I'm lucky enough to live in a region that has a pretty strong sheep farming community, though I didn't know it when I moved here.

The local wools I've found aren't super soft (the alpaca is), but they are generally hardwearing and easy to work with. And since I've made one sweater too many with supersoft yarn that ends up being way too pilly, hardwearing wools sounds great to me. 

Two local (to me) fiber farms I've found include:

• Notlwonk Springs - yarn and spinning fiber from their sheep
• Blue Moon Alpaca Ranch - yarn and spinning fiber from their alpacas

Right now I'm working on a vest made of Jacob wool. it came from my coworker's neighbor's sheep - a small flock of pet sheep and something special indeed. And it really speaks to me about the spirit of Slow Fashion October:

It's not just knowing the source of your clothes, but knowing the people, animals, land and stories behind them as well.

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