Feature
| crochet green
In practice
Julia hopson is a director of Cornish organic Wool
(www.cornishorganicwool.co.uk), the Uk’s biggest and
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To achieve certified organic status
by The Soil Association, not only
best known company producing certified organic wool.
do the farming methods have to
she explained that organic farmers rely on developing
a healthy, fertile soil and growing a mixture of crops;
be certified but also the spinning
animals are reared without the routine use of drugs,
processes and the dyeing.
antibiotics and wormers and, in the case of sheep,
organophosphate dips common in intensive livestock
farming. genetically modified (gm) products are
not allowed and – as a last resort – only seven of
the hundreds of pesticides available to farmers are
permitted (The soil association only allows four).
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Cornish organic Wool is certified organic, which
means that in addition to the above, detailed records of
every stage of production must be kept and, crucially,
everything is inspected annually by a third-party
certifying agency (such as The soil association).
Julia Hopson
a crucial difference between the Us and Uk is that
on Bodmin Organic wool
Moor being spun.
to achieve a certified organic status by the Uk’s best
known and most stringent certification body (The soil
Scarf and
association), not only do the farming methods have bag designs
to be certified but also the spinning processes and the
from Cornish
Organic Wool.
dyeing. in addition to being fully certified at every
stage of production, Cornish organic Wool also trace
every skein of wool back to the farm of origin and the
shearing date.
Julia hopson agrees that if a product says ‘organic’
but it is not certified, it’s time to ask questions. it
appears that, on both sides of the atlantic, there is a
problem, where companies are trying to claim organic
status when they have dubious or, indeed, non-existent
certification. in the Uk, trading standards officers
work increasingly with organisations such as the
soil association to stop these spurious claims but,
ultimately, it is up to the customer to ask questions
and not buy products that aren’t certified.
organic yarn shopping
Here are a few online stores that offer a great range of organic yarns:
Farm Yarn BlaCker Designs
www.farmyarn.co.uk www.blackerdesigns.co.uk
Cornish organiC Wool eCo knits
www.cornishorganicwool.co.uk www.ecoknits.co.uk
garthenor organiC Yarn great British Yarns
www.organicpurewool.co.uk/ www.greatbritishyarns.co.uk
Organic
fleeces are
the neW lanark
chemical free.
www.newlanarkshop.co.uk
14 | INSIDE crochet
IC1.feat.greenfibres.FINAL.indd 14 16/3/09 12:23:03
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