Moving to Tiree made us look at the world through new eyes

During our crash course in crofting, with the smallest of c’s, we discovered that every year thousands of fleeces leave the Isle of Tiree never to be seen again and this just didn’t feel right.

It, sort of, made sense that with all the newfound wool and crofting information floating around in our heads something interesting would happen.

Something interesting did happen. We developed a method for making your woolly hat which embodies our Tiree Made thinking. Ethical, local, lasting.

We went back to basics:

• We collect rainwater to cold wash the newly cut fleece. Rainwater is something we have in more quantities than most on Tiree  

• We air-dry the fleece – lots of breezes here, otherwise known as storms on the mainland

• We pick the fleece ready for carding - opening up the fibres

• We card the fleece - aligning the fibres into woolly clouds called batts

• Sometimes we dye the carded fleece - no nasties used

• We hand spin the batt into a two-ply yarn 

• And finally we make your WELAN Tiree Made Woolly 

The only thing we need help with is getting it to you.

We love making, and we really love hand spinning Tiree wool

We love wool. It’s what we work with every day. But, we didn’t always and frankly, it turns out we didn’t actually know very much about wool. However, a year later and many books and conversations with amazing people, here’s a bit of the stuff we’ve learnt:

• It’s renewable and never stops growing. Shearing the flock once a year is actually good for them.

• Wool is biodegradable breaking down over time. Great in your compost heap if that is your thing.

• We don’t expect you to burn your hat, but if you did accidentally put it near a flame, you’d find it doesn’t ignite easily. Wool is flame resistant and has self-extinguishing properties.

• Wool doesn’t need washing often. It prefers to be aired and spot cleaned as dirt stays on the surface (we could give you some complex science, but just trust us on this one).

• Like the look of your hair standing up straight? Wool won’t help you with that. It’s anti-static. Another reason why it doesn’t attract dirt.

• Love being warm in winter and cool in summer? Us too. That is why we wear wool. It has thermal insulation properties that do just that. You could wear it in the desert if you felt like it. Bedouins do. And as an added bonus it’s UV resistant too.

• Wool is breathable and absorbs moisture – a third of its own weight in water in fact. A bit of rain is not going to hurt it. It simply evaporates into the air.

• Don’t like ironing? Neither do we. Wool doesn’t wrinkle (it’s the springy bit that helps here) so one less job to do.

• Wool is hypoallergenic and won’t attract dust mites. However, we know some people don’t like its feel, so if that is you, we created a synthetic fibre range alongside our 100% wool ranges, just for you:

Lanolin?

Wool naturally contains lanolin, which is a natural oil in woolly animals. It’s a bit like a wax that protects each strand of sheep hair. It’s used in many products in the skin and cosmetics industry as it has moisturising properties, for example lip balm.

Most commercial wool yarns, like our Highlands range, have all the lanolin removed by washing it at a very high temperature, but we prefer to keep some lanolin in our 100% Tiree wool. It makes the wool softer and more waterproof and is a more sustainable way to treat wool. We know that some people are allergic to lanolin and for that reason we have added a hat range made from synthetic fibres.

Lanolin tends to have a natural smell, which many compare to the smell of sheep – or almost metallic-y, but sweet, grassy and perhaps a little sour. It isn’t offensive to most people. Wool that has a smell of lanolin tends to be of high quality. If you find the smell of your 100% Tiree hat not to your liking, air it for a couple of days outside or near a window and it should clear. Keep it in a drawer with a scented sheet, or dab a little of your favourite essential oil on a cotton ball and store it inside the hat while you’re not wearing it. We like to dab a drop of essential oil to the cotton storage bag that came with your bag.