Merino Wool

A Merino ram full of that soft, warm wool, perfect for cold days.

In an earlier post we were trying to explain the layered clothing technique when dressing for cold weather. (The idea is to trap warm air in your clothing while leading perspiration away from your body and shield you from wind and humidity.) And some of the very best base layers are made of Merino wool, like this (recent purchase), a thick but very light crew neck body top.  Merino wool is very warm (!), is almost itch-free and does not smell... and - best of all - wool is the only natural fabric that can keep you warm even when it is wet!

The world has certainly become smaller and the eco-trend is evident when it comes to farming and sheep shearing. Icebreaker, a leading manufacturer of wool clothing (and a Nilsson family favorite!) now lets you track and trace your wool garment, find the place of origin of your sweater, pants, whatever... and meet with the local farmer who brought up the sheep that contributed to your wool garment.

With the tracking code found in our latest purchase we now know that it was made by wool from three places in New Zealand: First of all Otematata Station, a homestead run by Hugh Cameron with 32 000 heads of Merino sheep in the Waitaki Valley . The farm is located on the slopes of the mountains at an altitude ranging from 1000 ft to 6000 ft in the south New Zealand alps. Second, a little farm in the Central Canterbury region called Lake Heron Station, run by Philip Todhunter and his wife Anne, situated almost 9 000 ft up in the mountain range on the south New Zealand island. And last; Mount Nicholas Station on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, where Dave Buston and his family have a magnificent little farmstead right across the lake from Queenstown.

Herd mentality.

This time of year, our son is always dressed in long-johns and a top, or a full body underwear, made of Merino wool. There are some nice manufacturers who focus on kids wool wear, for example Janus Kids. Sometimes we put on a second (thicker) base layer of wool or Merino wool leggings. For a sweater, we now have (through the grace of one of Kim's colleagues) a Lusekofta, a Norwegian knit wool sweater (with a specific, traditional pattern), that is very thick and warm (photos here and here). On really cold days we then add a thick fleece jacket and an insulated winter jacket as an outer layer, and insulated winter pants. But everything starts with those lovely warm fibres of Merino wool next to the body.