Wool shops: jargon-buster

• Accessories: a range of products such as needles, crochet hooks, counters and gadgets that are sold in wool shops to make knitting easier.
• Alpaca: alpaca comes from a breed of camelid (member of the camel family) that produces warm, silky wool.
• Angora: produced from the fur of the angora rabbit, angora is extremely soft and delicate.
• Blend: wool shops often sell wool blended with natural and synthetic fibres.
• Cashmere: a luxuriously soft fabric made from the downy wool of the Kashmir goat.
• Felting: your wool shop may sell wool that is ideal for felting, a process of treating the wool with heat and moisture.
• Gauge: term seen in wool shops that refers to the size of knitting needles.
• Hand-dyed: refers to wool dyed by hand rather than machine. Some wool shops specialise in hand-dyed wool.
• Kits: wool shops often sell pre-packaged kits that give you everything you need for a project.
• Lambswool: wool taken from the sheep at their first shearing (the highest-quality wool on the market).
• Merino: a breed of sheep, prized for its fine and soft wool.
• Microns: the measurement used to express the diameter of a wool fibre.
• Mohair: wool produced from the angora goat, mohair is a tremendous insulator.
• Ply: refers to each individual strand that has been twisted to create the yarn (wool shops sell 1-ply up to 6-ply).
• Shoddy: yarn or fabric that has been re-spun from scraps. More common in wholesale than in consumer wool shops.
• Super wools: a classification you will see in wool shops, based on the fineness of the yarn. The higher the number (e.g. Super 150), the finer and softer the cloth.
• Tropical Weight: wool that is lightweight and breathable. Referred to in some wool shops as "Summer Weight" wool, it is often used in warm weather clothes.
• Wicking: the ability of wool fibres to absorb moisture and keep it away from your skin.
• Wool: fibre derived from the fur or hair of animals. Usually refers to sheep, but also to rabbits, goats and even camels.
• Worsted wool: wool whose fibres were combed before knitting. Originally produced in Worsted in the 18th century, it is smooth and crease-resistant.
• Yarn: a continuous length of interlocked fibres suitable for sewing, knitting, weaving etc. This may or may not be made from wool.

Wool shop tips:

• Tell the wool shop what you want the wool for and see what they advise.
• Wool shops also sell non-wool yarn, such as blends of cotton, hemp, synthetic fibres and even ribbon or feathers.
• Online wool shops often specialise in wool from one part of the world.