Peregrine, the adventure of local and ethical wool

Peregrine finally reveals himself.

In this article, I tell you about the three-year process necessary to obtain local and ethical wool.

Peregrine, the birth of local and ethical wool

Three years ago, after several contacts in the world of wool to be able to create a yarn, I crossed paths with the Filière Laine belge and its coordinator at the time, Ygaëlle Dupriez.
The possibility of creating a local yarn with sheep from Eastern France quickly came up.
But it was a complete unknown. This type of fleece had not been combed for at least 50 years.

In Europe, the know-how surrounding wool has been forgotten or painfully maintained by a few convinced individuals and a few artisans.
Currently, it is important to know that sheep fleeces are shorn and then sold to large traders who send them to Asia to be washed.
These fleeces are neither sorted nor selected according to breed.
We therefore lose all traceability, everything that makes certain wool breeds unique, the wool is mixed and resold in Europe in the form of low-quality, low-priced products.

Working with the wool industry has allowed us to establish privileged contact with sheep breeders, here breeders from Est A Laine Merino, this has allowed us to highlight their work and make them aware of the qualities of this breed of sheep.

The Eastern Merino wool sheep is bred specifically in eastern France and is a cross between a local Germanic sheep and Spanish Merino sheep. This sheep is particularly resistant to weather and walking. This breed is currently used primarily for butchery.
Unfortunately, one of the main reasons why this sheep was selected has been forgotten: a sheep producing fine, abundant, long and strong wool.

Knowing the particularity of this breed, also knowing the fact that the wool of Est A Merino wool was more than 50 years ago better valued in the wool trading markets, we embarked on the adventure.

Thus Peregrine was born.
Peregrine is a fingering yarn, so it is a yarn to be knitted with needles from 2.5 to 4 mm depending on the desired result.
It is spun in 4 strands to give it strength and combed to obtain a clean, round yarn that is perfectly suited for accessories as well as for children's and adult clothing. It is not superwash treated to maintain all its authenticity.

The fleeces were selected and sorted by two French breeders in Moselle and Haut Rhin. They were then sent for washing in Verviers, Belgium, the cradle of the Belgian wool industry.
Once this stage was completed, the wool returned to the North of France in the cradle of the French textile industry to be transformed into combed ribbon.
It was then sent to Switzerland to be transformed into thread. And finally returned to Belgium to be dyed in the Tournai tapestry workshops.

Each step was a roll of the dice, not knowing what the yarn would look like after washing, after combing and after spinning.
I think the bet was successful.

Peregrine is available in seven carefully chosen colors to satisfy knitters and crocheters: one natural color, three pastel colors, and three bright colors that complement each other.
The colors have been worked to be as uniform as possible without any variation.
When working with these colors, we were surprised to find that the result was very close to the color rendering on Blue Faced Leceister. The result gave muted colors with a touch of light depending on the exposure. These colors give the wool a certain timeless sobriety while being original and elegant.

By creating this wool, we hope to raise awareness about the importance of wool. Wool is a noble, healthy, biodegradable, and renewable material. It therefore has its place in today's world, which is seeking ecological awareness and respect for nature.

Peregrine can be found for sale here: Shop and in a few days, I will share with you two new designs created with Peregrine.

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See you soon,

Christelle