The ALONG AVEC ANNA yarn are natural fibres, available in three bases: Silk Mohair (lace), Merino (fingering) and Double Merino (DK), of superb quality and softness, at an affordable price. An ethically produced yarn, which will allow you to knit wonderful projects! They are currently available in 18 beautiful colours that are both modern and timeless.
We want to be as transparent as possible about our products and so I will explain them to you in detail in this article.
We are very demanding on the conditions for creating our yarn, and on its quality. So that’s what took the longest when developing this project: finding the yarn that really meets our expectations and that you’ll like.
The raw materials for these current yarns come from South Africa. Why South Africa? Quite simply because merino sheep and angora goats are not native to Europe, and these raw materials are almost always sourced in South Africa or South America mainly (but also in Australia or New Zealand). There are a few farms in England or France (Merino d’Arles for example), but not necessarily enough to be able to develop a specific wool for all brands wishing to launch, at an affordable price and with the quality that we want to offer you. Note that it is not because a wool is noted as spun or dyed (or both) in Europe, that the raw material comes from there.
We work with certified spinning mills (RMS/RWS/REACH and OEKO-TEX, see below), and thanks to it, we have been able to develop our own exclusive yarn, choosing the bases and creating our own Along Avec Anna colours!
This spinning mills allow us to work with farms whose practices respect the certifications mentioned, and which ensure the well-being of animals, humans and the environment.
The dyes used for the colours are APEO-free and meet REACH standards. “Green” alternatives are therefore used to dye our yarn and real efforts are made by our spinning mills to reuse and save water during all the processes of creating the wool. A truly sustainable approach has therefore been put in place to preserve local and global resources.
What do the mentioned certifications mean?
RESPONSIBLE MOHAIR STANDARD (RMS) & WOOL (RWS)
The Responsible Mohair Standard and the Responsible Wool Standard make it possible to ensure the well-being of goats for the production of Mohair or of sheep for the production of wool.
These labels guarantee:
- A best practice in land management
- Respect for the welfare of goats (breeding, shearing, end of life) & respect for the animal welfare of sheep (breeding, ban on mulesing, shearing, end of life)
REACH STANDARD
REACH is a European regulation (regulation n°1907/2006) which came into force in 2007 to secure the manufacture and use of chemical substances in European industry.
Its goals are to:
- Protect human health and the environment against the potential risks of chemical substances;
- Establish identical and transparent information on the nature and risks of substances, as such or in a mixture, from the supplier to the end customer;
- Secure the handling of chemical substances by employees;
- Strengthen the competitiveness of industry, in particular the chemical industry, a key sector of the economy in Europe.
OEKO-TEX
OEKO-TEX is a quality label comprising several technical standards, aimed at certifying the sanitary and ecological qualities of textiles and leather, guaranteeing the absence of toxic products for the body and the environment.
So what are our bases and their specificities? We currently have three, which can be used together or separately, to knit all the Along avec Anna patterns.
With MERINO (fingering), you can knit the Margot cardigan, Dandelion (Lady Mademoiselle), the Posy Tank top, or even the Camellia Tank Top (and many others)!
If you want to knit two strands of Silk Mohair held together, you could knit our Rosa Bridal, or Snow Drop Cardigan.
And a single thread of Double Merino? You could knit all of our children’s patterns!
What about using Double Merino with Silk Mohair? You could knit the Blossom shawl or Jumper!
We hope that we have answered most of your questions.
on our wool and that you will like it!