Comments on: Eco-friendly wool yarn for green knitters

By: Siel

Siel — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:14:36 +0000

I disagree with that too — but I’ve come to understand that the “meat is murder” folk generally can’t be swayed with logical arguments, so perhaps we can agree to disagree here.

By: Erica

Erica — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:36:06 +0000

I should have been more clear that I meant living and sentient beings.

By: Siel

Siel — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:48:51 +0000

People may be good and kind; corporations much less so. Therein lies the problem.

I totally disagree with this — “Any time that a living being is considered property, then cruelty is inevitable.” I own the chard on my balcony garden, and this is not leading to inevitable cruelty.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:29:50 +0000

Any time that a living being is considered property, then cruelty is inevitable. I knit with cotton mostly but have also tried yarn made from the by-products of tofu production.

By: Maria

Maria — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:08:59 +0000

I was anti-mulesing when I first heard about it, then I did some research on it. I think the thing to understand, in response to the people in the wool industry, is that, just like everywhere else, people are mostly good and kind. You will have a few bad eggs, but your average person is not going to be cruel.

I do wish that anesthesia and analgesic were the standard.

One way to guarantee cruelty-free fleece is to contact sheep ranches personally. You can, with some, “adopt” a sheep and get that sheep’s fleece (unprocessed, washed, carded, spun, etc.) for a year.

You can also contact mills to find out about the herders and find out if they use pain management when performing it. A push from consumers towards using anesthesia for an effective (and eco-friendly, as compared to the plastic clips–maybe they can develop biodegradable ones?) management of flystrike might be what it takes.

By: Siel

Siel — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:58:24 +0000

Hey Maria — Thanks for the info. I think the main problem with mulesing as it’s practiced now is that good treatment of the sheep isn’t at all guaranteed. I understand you have a rosy viewpoint, but I think it’s a hyperbole to say that EVERYONE in the wool industry “love(s) their flocks and wouldn’t dream of causing unnecessary harm to their charges.”

melyssa — No, no pattern. I basically knitted up a long rectangle and sewed up the sides :)

By: melyssa

melyssa — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:47:52 +0000

did you use a pattern for the camera cozy? i’m interested in how you did it. in the round? flat and then sewn together?

thanks! and as always, appreciate yr posts. :)

By: Maria

Maria — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:09:17 +0000

Mulesing is not nearly as cruel as it sounds. Some breeds of sheep, especially merino, have naturally wrinkly butts. Their poo and pee gets caked on the wrinkles, leaving a perfect environment for flies to lay eggs. The sheep then get something called “fly strike”. Maggots eat the sheep from the outside-in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulesing

There are other ways to prevent flystrike, using injections and insecticides and breech clips. Breech clips effectively do the same thing as mulesing, but using clips that cut the circulation from the flesh to be removed over the course of 24 hours, allowing the skin to drop off.

If mulesing is completed early enough in a sheep’s life, with anesthesia (I cannot vouch for whether or not it is used among most flocks), it’s not cruel, but a humane and effective means of preventing a terrible tragedy to befall sheep. It’s not a pretty process, and the other guaranteed-effective process probably involves similar pain. But, I think, having seen animals suffer from flystrike, I’d rather see a short interval of pain versus an agonizing death.

Also, to stir things up a bit more, when it comes to the article: sheep shearers, ranchers, herders, and everyone else involved in the wool industry do love their flocks and wouldn’t dream of causing unnecessary harm to their charges. You would have to be absolutely bonkers about sheep to spend so much time with them. :)