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I'd like to present my first collection of handwoven bracelets from local wool from the Pyrenees. These bracelets are unique pieces of jewellery, reflecting the local terroir and combining pleasure and eco-responsibility as far as possible. These bracelets can be worn all year round and can be combined with all types of clothing and textiles. What's more, the neutral colours can easily be combined with many of the colours in your wardrobe. This collection, which I've named Pyrénées, is the fruit of a great deal of thought and hard work in my studio. Let me tell you the story. Wool Wool, at the heart of the Knitty and Woolly story, is the main raw material for these jewels. It's wool that I harvested in the Val d'Azun in the Pyrenees, where I'm originally from, from lourdaises and tarasconnaises ewes. I wanted to show the full potential of these wools in handmade creations, particularly the wool of the endangered lourdaise ewe. The wool is sorted by hand and then sent to the Filature de Niaux in Ariège to be washed. I then take the wool back to my workshop in Belgium, where I live, and transform it into yarn. The wool is natural and has not undergone any chemical treatment. Making the weft thread There are several stages involved in making these woven bracelets. First, the wool has to be transformed into yarn! To do this, I first card it by hand, then spin it on a spinning wheel. It's quite a long manufacturing process, to obtain small quantities of unique yarn. Whether it's the number of strands, the thickness or the spinning parameters such as tension and twist, I carried out several trials to create the ideal yarn for weaving these bracelets. Research and development, so to speak! Inspirations et couleurs For this first collection, I wanted to create bracelets in raw, natural tones, inspired by the natural colours of nature in the Pyrenees. These raw tones, in shades of ecru, grey and dark brown, refer to the colour of sheep, mineral materials such as rock and slate, and the earth. The different colour tones are obtained by mixing dark brown fleece wool with ecru wool. This enabled me to create a range of greys to enrich the palette of natural colours offered by the sheep. Each yarn created is unique and authentic. Traceability As with the production of Azun knitting yarns, the question of the traceability of raw materials was essential. That's why I chose a warp yarn from the Fonty spinning mill in France. It's a 100% wool yarn, fine, soft and strong at the same time, which I really appreciate for my weaving. As for the finish on these bracelets, I opted for classic jewellery clasps. I love the finish given by the metal. The clasps are gold- or silver-plated, and made in Europe. The sizes Each bracelet has a lobster clasp and a small forçat mesh extension chain that can be used to vary the size of the bracelet. Each length is indicated in the bracelet description. I can also adapt to your needs. If the proposed sizes do not suit you, we can discuss together the creation of a made-to-measure bracelet. Don't hesitate to contact me by email at knittyandwoolly@gmail.com or via the contact form, I'll be happy to help! Packaging your bracelet Each bracelet is first protected by a sheet of silk paper, which is recyclable and contains no chlorine or acid. The bracelet is then packaged in a European-made box, made from FSC-certified natural cardboard and water-based glue. These boxes contain no foam, which I don't find useful here. The boxes are therefore recyclable, but the main idea is that you can reuse them to store your bracelet or other items of jewellery. Finally, each box is slipped into an organic cotton pouch that you can also reuse to carry all sorts of little things. I really like these pouches, which can easily be slipped into a toiletry bag, for example. I also use them to store my knitting accessories! You now know the story of these handwoven wool bracelets and how they are made. I hope that my approach has spoken to you and that these values mean something to you. See you soon! Fanny from Knitty and Woolly Choosing a woven bracelet created by Knitty and Woolly means : -adopting a little piece of the Pyrenees, wherever you are -giving yourself or a loved one a unique piece of jewellery, handmade with passion, that has meaning and tells a story -Treat yourself or others while understanding the manufacturing process and the raw materials used in the product. -support craftsmanship and my commitment to the wool sector Advice on caring for your bracelet What should I do if I get a stain? Wool is an exceptional natural fibre with many properties (see the Wool properties page on my website). One of them is its ability to be self-cleaning and extremely dirt-repellent. It doesn't retain stains like other materials. If for any reason a stain gets on your bracelet, you can follow these recommendations: Soak the bracelet in cold or even lukewarm water (but not warm, and possibly with a mild soap-free detergent or a detergent compatible with wool), and rub very gently with your finger to remove it. Rinse with clean water, without rubbing. -Spin-dry the bracelet by sandwiching it in a towel and pressing it gently, without wringing it. -Dry your bracelet flat. Other tips for looking after your bracelet -It's best not to shower while wearing your bracelet. The combination of hot water and rubbing will cause the wool to felt. Soaps such as shower gel could also damage it. -As with other items of jewellery, avoid pulling hard on it to avoid breaking the fasteners or deforming it.

In this article, I'd like to explain why wool inspires me so much in my day-to-day work, and share with you the values I uphold. Wool, and more specifically sheep's wool, has been used for thousands of years in the manufacture of textiles. Easily accessible, it is naturally renewable because it always grows back after being cut from the sheep's back. Made up of protein fibres (keratin), wool products can easily be biodegraded at the end of their life cycle by micro-organisms [1]. Its physico-chemical properties make this fibre very interesting and unique. For example, its scale-like structure increases its surface area in contact with the air while slowing down its circulation, over a wide range of temperatures. So it doesn't just keep you warm, it keeps you cool. It can also absorb up to 35% of its weight in moisture, which is then released as water vapour into the air [2]. So we stay dry too! Despite their many advantages, cheaper synthetics have gradually taken over from wool and other natural materials in the global textile market, and are now making their way into our wardrobes. And yes, most of our clothes are now made of plastics! Synthetic materials, produced from hydrocarbons, are also dyed with chemical dyes derived from petroleum, which have direct and harmful consequences for the human health of workers and consumers, and of course for the environment, which is greatly impacted. According to ADEME, dyeing alone is responsible for 20% of the world's water pollution. Wool, on the other hand, has become a noble material, used to make mid-range and top-of-the-range products. So what do we do about it? Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom, as some voices are speaking out in favour of change, in terms of both practices and attitudes. Many players have decided to (re)turn to natural raw materials that respect the environment, animals and people. Wool is one of them. But we have a long way to go, because the wool industry in France and more widely in Europe has seen a drastic decline in activity over the last few decades. So we need to rebuild, to recreate the link between the land, the animals, the breeders and the new players in the industry. We also had to recreate the link with the machines and the technical know-how that had been lost or forgotten. All this is taking shape again now, and it's an incredible source of energy. Together, I'm convinced we can do a lot, and there's so much to do! All these ideas about the environment, biodiversity and our way of life are fundamental to me and guide me on a daily basis. They were passed on to me by my parents and grandparents, and by the place where I grew up, the Pyrenees. An area that is still partly unspoilt, but that needs to be protected. That's where the Lourdaise ewe comes in. A breed of ewe that is emblematic of the Pyrenees, yet still endangered to this day. So when my father undertook to help save it over thirty years ago, he may not have imagined that I would be continuing the fight in my own way: by adding value to its wool. This material, which is harvested every year (because it is essential for the health of the animals), generally earns nothing for the breeders, who are faced with competition from foreign wools. As a result, the wool accumulates and the breeders, no longer knowing what to do with it, even come to describe it as waste. Faced with this situation, I wanted to get involved in the wool industry to promote this noble material and give it back its rightful place. Wool itself fascinates me. Its feel, its structure, its shape, its colour. Its many properties too, which demonstrate the power of this natural fibre. And all the things you can do with it. As I said earlier, wool has been used for thousands of years to make clothes. And back then, it took so much time to spin yarn on a spinning wheel or spindle that the rare garments that were created were precious and darned as much as possible when needed. Nowadays, spinning mills and industrial spinning mills can produce yarn in larger quantities and more quickly than by hand. All the wool needs is to be processed. So we have yarn available to us, ready to be knitted, woven, crocheted... It's no less important to reuse and repair as much as possible. My positioning in this sector was clear from the outset: I wanted to offer a natural, traceable wool yarn that reflects its terroir and is produced in a way that respects animals, people and the environment as far as possible. By natural wool, I mean: -wool that has not been carbonised (a chemical process requiring sulfuric acid to destroy plant debris), but simply subjected to the mechanical action of machines to remove as much of this debris as possible (not forgetting the little hands at the sorting stage) -wool that has not been treated 'superwash', a process that involves applying a resin to the fibre to prevent it from felting when the garment is washed (at the same time reducing its insulating properties) -wool that has not been dyed with synthetic dyes, but rather with vegetable dyes, by hand and without the use of synthetic alum mordants. In this way, the wool retains all its natural properties and the resulting yarn is all the more authentic. When I was looking for partners to take care of the various stages of processing, I wanted to turn to local, artisanal companies that have all these skills. There aren't many of them, but they do exist. And thanks to the Filature de Niaux in Ariège and the Myrobolan workshop in Creuse, the result is there. I'm so proud and happy. Now we just have to keep going - it's only the beginning! On the other hand, I wanted to offer hand-spun wool creations. For me, working with this fibre by hand from A to Z is essential. It allows you to connect with and understand the material, to acquire skills and techniques, and simply to take the time. What's more, a handmade creation tells a story, reflects the personality of its creator and reflects values... Values that I can share and pass on during creative workshops, which are also rich in human encounters. I hope that these few words have aroused your curiosity and that you have found yourself somewhere in all this. I look forward to hearing from you, so don't hesitate to drop me a line! Références [1] The wool handbook, Morphology, Structure, Properties, Processing, and Applications The Textile Institute Book Series, 2024, Pages 401-440 [2] J. Chybik, Natural Building Materials, 978-80-247-2532-1, Grada Publishing, a.s., Prague, Czech Republic (2009)

s you will have noticed, it is rare to finish all your balls of yarn after a project. This is particularly true for jacquard, as the yoke patterns do not usually require a whole ball! But then, what to do with these leftovers of wool? There are several options, and that's good! There are plenty of small knitting projects that require little amount of yarn. There is of course the headband, an essential accessory to keep your ears warm! But it is also possible to make jewelry such as earrings. I show you a photo example here. Finally, when there is a little more wool left, you can make a hat. It's quick to knit and so useful for winter. It's the kind of little knitting project that makes you happy! I also have the idea of ​​knitting a sweater when I have enough leftovers of yarn that can be combined together. But it's not for now :)

I told you about it the first time a few months ago, here it is! The pattern is finally available in French and English on Ravelry.com. Thank you once again to my testers, who knitted the sweater in all sizes to correct any possible errors in the pattern, but also to show you what it could look like in other colors and sizes! All versions are available in pictures on my Instagram account (#aspinsweater) and Ravelry, so be sure to check them out! But by the way, why the "Aspin" sweater? I couldn't quite decide on a name. It's not so easy after all, although it may seem obvious. So I called on my knitter friends and thanks to their ideas, I finally managed to find it! Aspin refers to a famous pass in the Pyrenees, where I grew up. I wanted to give a name that looks like me and that speaks to me, so here it is, the choice has been made! I then worked on a second version, with the contrasting color only used for the jacquard. Once again I used a worsted weigh yarn, Gilliatt base from De Rerum Natura, a safe bet for a cozy and warm sweater! Aspin is a loose, very comfortable and fluffy sweater with dropped shoulders. Its turtleneck brings a lot of warmth. It has a nice finish on the shoulders and pretty jacquard details on the body and sleeves that give it a little Nordic and wild side. The Aspin sweater is worked from bottom to top, without seams. We start with the body in the circular, then the front and back are worked in back and forth rows after separating the sleeves from the body. The shoulders are then sewn with the 3-needle bind-off method for a nice finish, then the collar is made in the circular. Finally, the sleeves are also worked in the circular, after picking up the stitches around the armholes. Do you have any questions about this pattern? Contact me by email or see all the detailed information on Ravelry (needles used, yardage, gauge etc...). See you soon !