About Wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, hide and fur clothing from bison, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids.
Wool consists of protein together with a small percentage of lipids. In this regard it is chemically quite distinct from the more dominant textile, cotton, which is mainly cellulose.
Wool fibres readily absorb moisture, but are not hollow. Wool can absorb almost one-third of its own weight in water.
Merino Wool
The Merino is one of the most historically relevant and economically influential breeds of sheep, much prized for its wool. The origins of the breed are the subject of debate, with alternatives of it originating in flocks transferred from Morocco as early as the 12th century, originating and being improved in Extremadura in southwestern Spain, in the 12th and 13th centuries or from the selective crossbreeding of Spanish ewes with imported rams at several different periods. It was instrumental in the economic development of 15th and 16th century Spain, which initially held a monopoly on the trade in its wool. Since the end of the 18th century, the breed was further refined in New Zealand and Australia, giving rise to the modern Merino.
Today, Merinos are still regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep. The coat of the Merino breed of sheep is synonymous with the production of fine, soft wool with excellent body temperature regulating properties.
Pantherella Merino Wool Socks
Merino wool provides warmth, without overheating the wearer and also draws moisture away from the skin. All the Merino wool used in Pantherella socks is worsted spun which ensures strength and the long fibres help to give the socks their characteristic soft surface handle.
Worsted-spun yarns are spun from fibres that have been combed, to ensure the fibres all run in the same direction, butt-end (for wool, the end that was cut in shearing the sheep) to tip, and remain parallel. The name derives from Worsted, a village in the English county of Norfolk.
Standard Merino wool has a fibre diameter around 25 microns. Pantherella use a 19.5 micron yarn which is classed as ‘superfine’ and is exclusively spun with 10% nylon which gives it extra durability for everyday wear. The 100% pure ‘Superfine 100s’ is the ultimate in superfine merino wool with a fibre diameter finer than 18.5 microns. This finer wool is capable of being spun into finer “yarn counts”, which in turn can be knitted into thinner socks with a supremely soft handle, or feel.
Albert Thurston Boxcloth
Boxcloth is a dense heavy, and felt-like woollen fabric originally known for keeping out the cold. It is traditionally made by weaving wool, then shrinking it to half its original width to tighten and harden the weave. This process is called ‘fulling’ and results in a smooth, durable material primarily used today for making high-quality trouser braces (suspenders), though its density also made it suitable for other uses in the past. This textile has been made for over two centuries, with its roots tracing back to Yorkshire in the early 19th century.