2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

Oh, it's not just fashionistas! My over-the-knee socks for school came from Marks & Spencer's, form mid-1970s to late 1980s, and were labelled as Botany wool, renowned for being soft but also hard-wearing. I've seen adverts for it in old pre-war magazines, in knitting adverts. 

So it's been used for much of the 20th century, widely, for both knitters and non-knitters - and reading these comments is the first I've known that "Botany wool' isn't actually a thing... 

PipneyJane

It may be a brand @Laura_Elsewhere, but the only breed of sheep known to Australians is merino.  

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane - I had a look in the full unabridged OED and it seems it wasn't a brand, but a type of wool, ie merino, and was widely used from the middle of the 19th century onwards! 
Here are the dated quotations they give for "Botany wool" and for "Botany yarn"

" Botany wool  n. (a variety of) fine wool produced from merino sheep (originally as shipped from the region of Botany Bay, New South Wales).

1834   Bradford Observer 17 Apr. 85/2   Wool is a little lower, but the reduction is on sorts which are never much sought after—viz., Spanish and Botany Wools.

1883   Times 27 Aug. 9/5   English & Botany wools are in fair request.

1926–7   Army & Navy Stores Catal. 698/1   Hose..Botany Wool, in Black, Grey, Tan, !!!!!!, Putty, Beige, Nude.

1998   G. O'Hara Callan Dict. Fashion & Fashion Designers 41/1   In the 19th century botany wool was made up into outer garments but during the 20th century its use was mainly limited to sweaters.

  Botany yarn  n. yarn made from Botany wool.

1848   Bradford Observer 2 Nov. 4/4   In fine Botany yarns, the difference if any [sc. in the market compared with early October] is in favour of the buyer.

1882   Daily News 4 Mar.   A fair business is doing in botany yarns.

1958   Chambers Techn. Dict. (ed. 3) 104   Botany twill (Worsted), a twilled cloth manufactured from Botany yarns; generally made in the grey state and piece-dyed.

2008   E. Knight Simple Knits for Cherished Babies 92   50g balls fine wool, e.g. Rowan true 4 ply botany yarn."

I looked up "merino" and it seems that it was used more for the animal than for the product, partly because it became used by c.1820 for any soft fabric inc cotton blends... so "a merino dress" could mean one made of a number of fibres inc cashmere, cotton, etc. and not necessarily inc any wool at all! Possibly why they started labelling the fibre as "Botany wool" shortly afterwards? (EDIT to add - a bit like how people nowadays get out the Electrolux to hoover the house...)

So it looks as thought for around 150+ years in Britain, "Botany wool" was used to mean fibres of merino sheep, and it's only in more recent decades that "merino" has come back into its proper, specific usage to mean "wool of the merino sheep". 

I still occasionally wear one of my three pairs of M&S long socks, btw, bought in my teens and worn every single day for school - I don't remember ever having more than five pairs - and still going strong in my mid-fifties - hurrah for "Botany wool"!

Cherryfudge

maddiemay said:

On the subject of using/wearing wool in warm weather I noticed a recommendation in one of the lifestyle bits of weekend paper to wear botany base garment to sleep in if such was lurking in wardrobe.   I have a wool duvet and pillow (a rather expensive treat to myself well pre-covid), during the current spell I have started off with sheet over me and duvet over my legs, but with the window wide open and the drop in temperature in the early hours I have been pulling the duvet back up, waking feeling perfectly comfortable and dry.  

I listened to the explanations of how wool is good for both heating and cooling the body, and a few months ago bought a wool-filled pillow which is never either too hot or too cold. A couple of nights ago I decided to apply the principle to bed covers as well: it was too hot for a duvet so I gave myself a single layer of Witney blanket (100% wool) and it seems to have been the perfect choice. The bedroom was too hot but with my blanket on, I slept well.

Laura_Elsewhere

Both wool and linen are very good at heat-management, both lots of heat and very little heat - far far better than cotton! People always say cotton is a cool fabric, which it *is* if you wear it like people do in the very hot countries, ie very very thin fabric, worn very very loosely... if you make it into t-shirts, it's an excellent insulator, and if you coat it in chemicals to make it easy-iron or easy-care then you remove almost all its ability to 'breathe'...!

But pure wool, pure linen or of course (if you can find it!) a wool-linen blend - those are all really good thermoregulators... along with silk, but a lot cheaper, harder-wearing and easier to look after for most people!

Gem-gem

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think I will have experiment before making my final decision. One part of me wants to just finish it with a dc edging to tidy the edging up, as several of you have suggested, so not to detract from the squares. But, it would be interesting to see what a statement border /your different suggestions would look like. I will be visiting my Mum this weekend. I will discuss all your suggestions with her. 

Laura, I hope you managed to find a cool spot to read and crochet. 

Re: bed linen to keep you cool. I have a 100% silk pillow slip - that is great to keep you cool. I also sleep in a 100% silk nightie in this weather. Also, back in 2006 when I went to China on holiday. I visited a silk factory and bought my Mum and I a silk duvet. We watched how the make them from silk worm/cocoon to one single layer of a duvet. My mum still has hers on her bed to this day - it keeps her cool in the summer and warm in the spring and autumn. She just add a blanket in the winter. 

2Scratters

Morning Peeps,
popping in to thankyou for the ideas re the wool. I have/am contemplating of moving onto wool for bedding and this has given me an idea to test it out before a "large" purchase. I will do a quick check through my local CS shops for some real wool odd balls and do a crochet blanket to start off with. It is likely to be made of full scratters of the real stuff. Hopefully can be v mse too. Very fitting me thinks

2 Scratters xx

CapricornLass

I have a silk duvet too, and would happily recommend one.  I've had it at least ten years now.

Laura_Elsewhere

CapricornLass said:

I have a silk duvet too, and would happily recommend one.  I've had it at least ten years now.

Yes, my parents bought one in Hong Kong in the 1990s and mention it frequently during the colder months - I think it really makes a big difference to their comfort. 
They've never mentioned using it in hot weather but at present they both seem not to be feeling the warmth much. 

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere, thank you for the fascinating quotes, etc, about Botany wool.

All this talk of wool or silk duvets makes me wonder when I’ll upgrade ours.  I do have a feather/down duvet but it’s been packed away for the last few years - for the life of me, I don’t remember why (maybe we never got around to getting it cleaned?) - and it must be time to get it out.  Yes, it is warm, but it was always more comfortable than the one we are sleeping under now, which is made of polyester wadding. 

I’m walking wounded tonight.  My boss took our team out to lunch today and, getting out of a colleague’s car, I managed to get my foot caught, lost my balance and fell over.  Landed on my shin, hip and left elbow.  Nothing broken but my pride, and I am a bit bruised.

- Pip