Locally-grown

Locally-Grown

A Navygrey first. Two wool yarns created by us to celebrate the beauty of the home-grown.

Heritage wool + MODERN style

Our Locally-Grown Collection

A great British knit. That feels good. Like really good. A proper jumper, just like your grandparents would have worn.

Real, natural, locally-grown wool from farms in England, Scotland and Wales. Blended together to create two distinct new wools.

Our Locally-Grown collection is available to shop now.

EXPLORE THE FULL COLLECTION

REAL & AUTHENTIC

Modern British Knitwear

This collection forms part of our continued quest to demonstrate the great potential of British Wool - to showcase the passion, craftsmanship and skills within the wool community.

We start with the fibre and work with the natural dynamism and textures of the wool fibre - designing carefully to create warming pieces to really love.

A celebration of Britishness.

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HERITAGE WOOL + MODERN style

Close knit

Two yarns, a recipe created by Navygrey in partnership with our spinners and British Wool. A British supply chain.

Local people + Local product.+ Local purpose = Great British Jumpers.

In addition to these two new wools, we also create knits with a hearty British Wool created by the Yorkshire mill Laxtons and a real Shetland Wool from the Shetland Islands - more details on that very special wool will be coming soon.

IT STARTS WITH the sheep

+ The Ingredients

These two new yarns harness the softness and durability of three types of British sheep breeds - the Cheviot, the Masham and the Bluefaced Leciester.

+ Navygrey x The Cheviot - blends 30% Cheviot Wool with 70% Bluefaced Leicester Wool.

+ Navygrey x The Masham blends 25% Masham-type Wool with 75% Bluefaced Leicester Wool.

our wools

From across the British Isles

The north, south, east and west of the British Isles, working with our spinners and British Wool.

Our Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) Wool in our Cheviot blend comes predominately from Wales. Our Cheviot Wool from Aberdeenshire and the Orkney Islands. Our Masham-type from Yorkshire and the northern parts of England.

Take a closer look at the breeds.

The CHEVIOT

The Scottish beauty

I

LEARN MORE

The Cheviot sheep is known for its soft, resilient and sturdy fleece. With a staple length of three – five inches, this wool produces yarn that’s lofty, springy, and just the right amount of crimp for durability.

We have previously used a 100% Cheviot Wool in our Hottie. One of the whitest wools within the British Isles, our Cheviot wool comes from farms in Aberdeenshire and the Orkneys.

The CHEVIOT

The Scottish beauty

The MASHAM

Hills and heritage

II

Learn more

For over a century, Masham sheep have ruled the rolling hills of northern England, particularly in the rugged Yorkshire Dales and the Forest of Bowland.

Renowned for its resilience, lustre and durability - we've used this wool before and added it into the recipe to provide both strength and substance to the softer Bluefaced Leciester wool to give the garments more structure.

The MASHAM

Hills and heritage

The Bluefaced Leceister

The fashionable flock

III

LEARN MOrE

One of the finest and most distinctive breeds in the British sheep kingdom - renowned for their striking appearance with grand Roman noses and long pointy ears. Their black skin and thin white wool on their faces gives them the name Bluefaced Leicester.

They are thought to be descendants of the sheep brought to England by the Romans and the breed's development apparently helped to inspire Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

With staple lengths extending up to six inches, it is one of, if not the finest wool in the British Isles.

The Bluefaced Leceister

The fashionable flock

LOCAL PRODUCT + LOCAL PURPOSE

A very good wool

A celebration of our local resources - we actually created one of our first jumper samples (with mixed success!) with a British wool - as we sought to recreate the one owned by our Founder Rachel's mother.

Wool has always been at the heart of Navygrey. It is a natural, inherently sustainable fibre that keeps us warm and the heating down - and it's right here on our doorstep. Homegrown wool has real value. Around 14% of British Wool is now used in knitwear-type products with the potential to increase further.

Mixing a heritage traditional feel, with relaxed, modern silhouettes - that is our approach. The skills involved in turning fleeces into finished pieces are highly impressive. The wool graders, the spinners and the knitters. And it is a joy to play our small part in the process.

WORDS MATTER

'British Wool' vs 'British Spun'

'British Wool' - well, that's wool from Britain? Well, yes and no.

Many brands, across multiple sectors - label their products as using ‘British Wool’, but often their version of 'British Wool' refers to wool that is spun in Britain only. The wool initially originates from another country - most likely New Zealand, South Africa and Australia - the home of Geelong and Merino wools - and that of our own Scottish-spun wool yarn. That yarn is washed, spun and dyed in Scotland.

Much like Scottish cashmere - Scottish cashmere is 'spun' in Scotland, but the goats from where the cashmere originates are roaming the plains of Mongolia and not the highlands of Scotland.

These wools are beautiful, soft and smooth (it's why we use them and support both the skilled spinners in Italy and Scotland). They harness brilliant washing, spinning, dyeing expertise and skills within Britain and Italy but they are not sourced from British farms.

Also, look out for the term 'locally-sourced' too. This can be used to describe wool or cotton that has been sourced via a spinner or agent who is 'based' in the British Isles, or Europe, but the actual fibre is not local - it's imported.

We'll always endeavour to be as clear as possible. To us, British Wool is wool that is British from the sheep, right through to the final sweater. British at each stage. It's why we call it Locally-Grown.

GIVING BACK

The Future Farmers Fund

£10 from every jumper purchase from our CHEVIOT and MASHAM Collections goes towards our Farmers Fund, distributed amongst those farmers that look after the breeds of sheep that have gone into creating each piece.