What is a sustainable knit yarn?

Dear Friends,

Long time no see! Well, there is a reason for that…we have been working on some exciting projects and as we are always striving for the perfection, it has taken up a lot of our time.

A quick insight before we start, we have just restocked a limited number of our best-sellers polo shirts on popular request so don’t miss the opportunity to get one or more pieces for you and your loved ones. 

Pulling back to our new projects, as winter sets in, our minds naturally turn towards knitwear. After a long summer of climate-crisis headlines, sourcing sustainably has become and is becoming a priority for more and more people everyday. It has always been a priority for us at TFM and that is why we are welcoming the fall-winter season with the launch of new products that will place the focus on one of our core values: sustainability.

You will still have to wait a little more for the unveiling of the surprise, but we promise it won’t be too long. In the meantime, we would like to tell you a bit about sustainable yarns. The longevity of wool, for example, makes it one of the most environmentally-friendly natural fibers around, but then you may ask yourself the question: What actually make a yarn a sustainable yarn?

 What is sustainability?

Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In addition to natural resources, we also need social and economic resources. By ‘sustainable’, we mean products that place little or no burden on nature, the environment, and all who live in them and allow for the lifecycle of nature to run its course and not be accelerated, interrupted or altered by an artificial intervention. As a consequence, there is no unique definition of what is sustainable. Sustainability can be achieved in multiple ways, and we’ve tried to set out below only few examples of how you can achieve a sustainable yarn.

Different ways to obtain sustainable yarns

Natural and organic yarns

Organic

The impact on the environment and animal welfare are explicitly taken into consideration in organic farming. Organic yarns—such as organic cotton—are produced without the use of genetically modified organisms, fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals.

Are you using organic wool? The sheep, llama, or alpaca that produced the fiber for your organic wool, have been given more living space and allowed to exhibit natural behavior only.

Natural

When we talk about natural yarns, we are talking about yarns made from natural materials and fibers. And by this, we mean, for example, plant-based material such as cotton, jute, hemp, and lyocell.

Recycled yarns

Yarns made from recycled materials are increasingly on the rise and are being labelled as sustainable. A yarn is considered ‘recycled’ if it is (even partly) spun from waste materials. It is a sustainable choice that reuses old materials and reduces landfill waste. For example, yarns can be made using fibers recycled from old jeans and used cotton, as well as polyamide or polyester fibers recycled from plastic bottles. Our upcoming collections will be made of recycled cashmere yarns, featuring a soft hand thanks to our experienced Italian artisans.

Naturally dyed yarns

Natural dyeing is the process of using natural dyes that are extracted from natural sources, such as plants, minerals, and insects. You’ll be amazed of how many beautiful colors you can extract from leaves, flowers, bark, roots as well as rocks, fruits, and veggies.

Many people often overlook the dyes used in fabric. Dyeing process is actually one of the most polluting and detrimental aspects of garments production. The toxic, chemical dyes get often washed off into rivers and streams which people and animals then drink or wash themselves with.

Now that you know a little bit more about sustainable knits and yarns, we hope you’ll be able to appreciate the values and the effort we have put into our new collection that we will unveil very soon. Stay tuned for more...and drop a comment below if there is any other (sustainable) topic that interest you!