The University of Glasgow has created its own brand of knitting yarn made with wool from sheep reared on its own farm.
Cochno Wool is a wool in four colours – natural, University blue, Thistle pink and Slate grey – which will be sold through the University shop.
The wool was sourced from the Scotch Mule sheep flock at the university’s Cochno Farm.
In June last year, the university flock were sheared, and the fleeces were sent to the Natural Fibre Company for processing – cleaning, carding, spinning and dying - in September.
The idea is the brainchild of academics – Professor Lynn Abrams and Dr Marina Moskowitz – both keen knitters and historians of Scottish knitted textiles.
Professor Abrams, Head of the School of School of Humanities said: “Knitted textiles are an important and very recognisable part of Scotland’s heritage – think Fair Isle jumpers and Sanquhar gloves and the knitwear factories of the Borders – but they also make a significant contribution to the Scottish economy.
“Knitting is also back in fashion as part of the new interest, particularly amongst younger generations, in textile crafts. Our knitting wool is locally grown, meeting the desire amongst makers for materials with traceable provenance.”
The historians were inspired by their project on Scottish knitted textiles funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
The project - Knitting in the Round; Hand-Knitted Textiles and the Economies of Craft in Scotland - has focused on themes of sustainability, creativity and authenticity and has collaborated with heritage organisations, knitwear designers and makers to better understand the historical antecedents of today’s Scottish knitwear revival.
