The Wool Club is a Berlin based company focusing on sustainable, fair and eco-friendly living & modern, minimalist knitwear designs for everyday favourite pieces.
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Back in April, I first talked about a then new design in the works, our Highlander pullover. Maybe you remember how I shared that I’ve been wanting to design an Outlander-inspired piece for the longest time (our friends and I are huge fans of the show and the gorgeous knitwear it often features!), and since Highlander was just published, I’d love to share a bit more about its story with you today.
Read MoreIf you have followed a knitting pattern before, you probably came across the term gauge, usually followed by a couple of numbers. You might not necessarily remember – gauge is one of the most overlooked pattern parts – and I don’t blame you if you don’t. The fine print isn’t necessarily what catches my eye at first sight, either. But here’s the thing with gauge: if you ignore it, there might be a tiny chance that you’re lucky and everything works out just fine, but far more often than not, what you’re knitting won’t fit or turn out the way you want it to in the end.
Read MoreMid September, Malte and I went on a trip with my parents and brother that our family has been wanting to do for the better part of the past 10 years, and those three weeks were nothing short of wonderful! We watched the sun rise over Monument Valley and saw the sunset in Venice Beach, ate our way through L.A., visited several national parks and saw the most beautiful nature in California, Arizona and Utah, did quite some work & research, learned about culture and history in Navajo Nation, met so many kind people, celebrated two birthdays, tried our luck in Las Vegas, had great conversations and so much fun making plans for the future, and spent the last week in New York City, just us “kids”.
Read MoreThe leaves are turning, it’s slowly, but surely feeling a lot like autumn and tomorrow is World Porridge Day - what better time to share the recipe for our favourite quinoa porridge!
Read MoreIt’s my first day back at work after a wonderful vacation, and I wanted to jump in feet first and address an issue we care a great deal about! Malte and I spent three weeks in the States with my parents and brother and while I didn’t get around to talking about it much before we left, the fact that we had to take a plane to get there is something that we’ve been thinking and talking about a lot. Now let me preface this post by saying that like with many other things, I do think that when talking about a sustainable lifestyle, it’s very important to acknoledge that we’re all constantly learning and to not get discouraged. Everything is a work in progress, no one is perfect or able to choose the most sustainable option 100% of the time, and every step in the right direction is important. Another thing I want to add is that the impact of planes on the climate is complicated and there are still questions left to be answered, but that shouldn’t stop us from caring about the negative effects that we do know about. For us, there are a few experiences we would consider flying for – such as this trip that our family has been wanting to do together for the better part of the past 10 years – but we never take the decision lightly. Whenever there’s a reasonable alternative, which is pretty much always the case within Europe, we use other forms of transport, and we’re lucky to be in a position where our family and friends all live within a distance that doesn’t require flying. Read on to find out how flying compares to other personal lifestyle decisions in terms of its impact on climate change, what we can do to slightly lessen the harmful impact when we fly and our plans for next year!
Read MoreFor the longest time, I’ve been wanting to do more community oriented projects, and on our end, #SustainablistDesignVote has been nothing but a wonderful expereince. I really enjoyed sharing more insights into our design process, and seeing so many of you share your thoughts in our votings and the comment sections.
Since the first round of #SustainablistDesignVote was so much fun, I would love to make this a regular thing, and before I get started with planning the next rounds, I’d love to hear any comments and suggestions you might have to make sure we’ll make this the best experience possible for everyone! If you have a couple minutes to spare, it would be absolutely wonderful if you could fill out the little questionnaire I set up here. Your help is so appreciated!
Read MorePreviously on #SustainablistDesignVote: starting at the very beginning of the designing process, you helped us make some of the most important decisions: selecting a type of garment (you voted for a cardigan!), an inspiration story that we’re aiming to tell with the design, construction details (you went for a top-down raglan construction!), then the final design and last week a yarn base, Blacker Yarns’ Mohair Blends 4ply. Now before I tell you about our last voting, can I just say how much I enjoyed teaming up with you to create this new cardigan design? I’ve been wanting to do more community oriented projects for the longest time, and #SustainablistDesignVote has been an absolutely wonderful experience. I’m looking forward to sharing more insights into the next steps we’ll be taking with this design here soon, and if this is something you’d be interested in, I think I’d love to make #SustainablistDesignVote a regular thing! Please feel free to tell me in the comments if this is something you’d like to participate in again, and I’ll set up a query for more detailed feedback soon, too.
Read MoreNow before we get into the yarny details, let me introduce you to the final design you picked! Here’s what I had in mind when coming up with the design idea: “This cardigan is meant to be the epitome of comfort. Allover brioche or fisherman's rib makes for the squishiest fabric, adorned with a diagonal detail that travels from the raglan line towards the sides of the fronts. Subtle balloon sleeves add to the cardigan's modern feel and cosy factor. As for construction, you begin with the back neckband, then pick up stitches for the body and continue to work body, sleeves and neckband in one piece until you divide body and sleeves at the underam. Once you completed the body, you'll only have to work the sleeves in the round to the cuffs - no seaming, no attached neckband! If you haven't tried brioche just yet, this would be an excellent first project. Knit up during the colder months, infused with dear memories, this design will be perfect to cuddle up in at home and for everyday outfits just as it'll work beautifully with for a night out and special occasions.”
Read MoreLast week's #SustainablistDesignVote was centred around body and sleeve construction, and with a whopping 47.5% you decided on a top-down raglan cardigan. Over the last couple of days, we had a few additional polls on Instagram where you voted for a V-neck button-down option. So that's what my design ideas, inspired by the story you chose in our second voting, are based on! This is a step of the process that usually only very few people – our team and the yarn companies we team up with – see, so I'm super happy to be able to share about it with you today!
Read MoreMany knitters have an opinion on what construction details they like, and today you get to share yours! Now before we get started, just a brief recap: last week's #SustainablistDesignVote was all about inspiration, and with almost exactly a third of all votes, you chose the New Year's Eve story for me to use for our cardigan design!
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Hello there! I'm Verena, founder of Sustainablist (formerly The Wool Club), and we create content & knitwear designs to help make everyday living more sustainable, fair & eco-friendly.
