Despite its benefits, dressing a child entirely in high-quality wool is a notorious financial challenge for young families.
True wool gear is expensive. Parents are often forced to choose between steep retail prices, scavenging thrift stores, or spending dozens of hours meticulously cutting up and sewing together old adult sweaters.
My goal with this project is to bridge that gap by creating exceptional, functional gear while honoring a deeply sustainable, regional supply chain, creating simple designs that come together fairly quickly in a cottage industry fashion, allowing for knitwear that is high quality but reasonably priced.
In addition, the knitwear is specifically designed to be worn for many years, be durable and easy to repair, and is of a material that is naturally self-cleaning.
The foundation of these sweaters is a highly specific, American-raised wool spun on a historic piece of machinery: the oldest operating mule spinner in the United States, and the only one of its kind left in existence. The mule spinner is revered because it beautifully mimics the characteristics of hand-spun yarn. It produces a soft, intentional two-ply wool that traps an extraordinary amount of airspace within the body of the strand itself.
In the fiber world, we call this quality loft.
Because of this loft, the finished fabric holds vast pockets of dead air, acting exactly like the down feathers in a high-end jacket. The result is a sweater that offers immense thermal insulation while remaining incredibly lightweight. Heavy, dense wool sweaters might feel cozy to an adult, but they actively weigh down a small child, restricting the very movement required for play. This yarn solves that completely. It protects without restricting.
The aesthetic life of the garments is just as intentional. The wool is offered in two distinct styles. The first is a collection of natural, un-dyed colorways that purposefully retain their original lanolin. It is an element I adore; the subtle, clean scent of the sheep remains intact, providing the garment with its own natural, water-repellent oils. The second is a vibrant palette of joyful, dyed colors, proof that functional utility doesn't have to sacrifice a child's sense of fun.
The inspiration for the silhouette comes from a single heirloom: a lightweight, minimal roll-neck sweater hand-knitted by a family member for my youngest brother. He wore it for three straight years. Despite being a child who complained that all other wool was "itchy," he lived in this piece because the clever roll-neck design never rubbed against his jawline. Today, that exact sweater is being worn by my eldest child for his third consecutive season. Its durability is remarkable. After tracking down the specific mill that spun that original yarn decades ago, I secured the exact same fiber for this collection.