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'Mulesing-free' - a few months ago, when I asked on Instagram what you, our lovely readers, look for in a sustainable yarn, that was by far the number one answer. So today we're taking a look at what mulesing-free yarn is, and to do that, we're going to dive headfirst into the world of sheep farming!

'Mulesing' is the term for a procedure developed by JHW Mules in the 1920s. During this procedure, strips of skin are removed around a lamb;s butt, usually when the lamb is between 6 and 10 weeks old.

Welcome to this weeks blog post, where we continue to delve into the confusing world of sustainable knitting. Today, we are getting to grips with local yarn, and what the heck that actually means!

When it comes to our yarn - the term 'local' can be a little confusing. Does it mean yarn from my 'local' yarn store? Is it yarn that is made in my country, region or street? Does it have to be made locally, or does it count if it's just a yarn I can buy locally?

'I only buy local yarn' - 'Superwash is really, really bad for the environment!' - 'What on earth is GOTS certified?' - 'I want to know exactly where my yarn comes from' - 'What is better, natural dyeing or acid dyeing?' 

Welcome to the wonderful and deeply confusing world of sustainable knitting! I'm Hanna Lisa, and I'll be one of your tour guides through the twists and turns of this exploratory journey. Without aspiring to know everything  - in truth, I know very little and will be learning alongside you on the way - I promise I'll do my best to help us not get lost on the way and shed a bit of light on what sustainable knitting actually IS. 

Hello folks! It's Claire here, and I'm so excited to be coming to you today at the beginning of a brand new blog series. Here at Making Stories, knitting sustainably is something we are wildly passionate about, but putting that into practice can leave your head spinning. What does it really mean, and how do you know if that skein you are holding is sustainably made? Over the coming months, this is what we are going to tackle - We're going to demystify what it means to knit sustainably. Are you excited? I am!

It's finally here - Issue 3 is live, and we could not be more excited to share it with you! To celebrate, we thought it would be fun to explore some of the designs in Issue 3, exploring their journey from swatch to finished sample.

Issue 3 centres around the theme of Growth and our designers have been kind enough to share a few words about how this influenced their work, and where else they draw inspiration.

I hope you're as well as one can be in these days, and staying safe, especially if you're in a country or working in a profession that's even more affected by Sars-CoV-2 / Covid-19 than most.

I'm popping into your inbox today to share two things: an announcement on what we're doing to make sure you get what you order from us, in these rapidly changing times, and a few thoughts on how you can help other small fibre businesses in these times.