stellie | (no subject)

I find it incredibly distressing that some people refuse to use wool as a source of fiber in knitting, weaving and other forms of fiber craft.

Most of these people are 'vegan' and do not believe in using animal products what-so-ever. I wonder if any of them use lanolin-based hand lotion. If so, they are using a by-product of wool and, therefore, are using a product made from sheep.

Wool has an elasticity that cannot be found in plant fibers; cotton, flax and hemp all fall short in this area. They also fall short in the realm of warmth and insulation. Wool is a natural insulator that keeps warmth in, keeps outside temperatures out and still, actually, breathes.

Try this with any poly-fiber and you will find it to be lacking quite a bit in comparison.

Incredibly distressing, indeed :\

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I seriously don't think that most vegans really stop and think about the fact that sheep *have* to be sheared in order to be healthy. As the shearer I watched at MDSW said, we've bred these animals to produce much more wool than they would ever have produced on their own, so it's incumbent upon us to take care of them as best we can. And part of that includes shearing.

And, you know, wool is awesomely warm and squishy.

I often come up against people who think that husbandry practices in the sheep industry are done for the hell of it; many people do not understand what they have read or, if they do, they have read mis-information and take it as pure truth.

Docking tails is wrong. 'Docking' (Notching) ears is common-place. Sheep have to die to give us wool. Lanolin is a by-product of DEATH.

I adore that shearer and I adore you =D