Always Wear Red is relaunching in September 2020.
Here’s a blog story from the Always Wear Red website.
It’s called ‘Hate’.
And if you want to see the photo I am referring to in the first sentence.
Go here: https://www.50odd.co.uk/hate/.
HATE.
‘See this 100% Merino wool.
It’s one of the best 100% Merinos in the world.
And I hate it.
Merino Wool.
I hate this 100% Merino wool even though it took months to find.
I hate it even though it looks amazing.
I hate it even though it feels so good when worn.
I hate it even though it’s the 100% Merino wool that became the foundation of the entire Always Wear Red business.
For 2 years.
And the reason I hate it is not even the wool’s fault.
It’s mine.
Hate.
In late 2019.
Just as I was preparing to storytell Always Wear Red’s journey creating The Best Hand Knits in the World.
Something really fucking annoying happened.
I found a better wool.
A Better Wool.
And not just a bit better.
This new 100% Merino knitted better.
It held its shape better.
The colour was better.
It knitted heavier and was still wearable.
And it pilled less.
So we switched.
We delayed the relaunch of Always Wear Red for a year.
And we revisited every pattern.
We revisited the tensioning.
And we revisited the gender neutral shape we’d developed.
We had to.
And the best got better.
Hate.
I don’t really hate 2019’s wool of course.
I don’t hate anything.
This is part of my journey.
But this chapter did teach me two things.
The first thing it taught me is that world class goals are really hard to realise.
And the second?
I learned that.
For me.
World Class goals are the only ones I care about.
