Extract from 'The Cornishman'

BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY: KNITTING ENTHUSIASTS ON CORNISH TOUR  

- 17 May 2007  

Knitters from Canada and the USA were in town earlier this week as part of their European knitting holiday.The ladies (with some husbands in tow) had travelled to Penzance to meet members of the Cornish Organic Wool group. They'd come via Exeter (to see the Quayside, site of the original woollen cloth industry in the 1600s) and also visited Lanhydrock and St Michael's Mount - knitting on the coach between visits. Having found Cornish organic wool through their website, they were given a talk about the company by owners Julia and Matt Hopson. Julia said: "We told them about the revival of the Cornish wool industry after a 300-year lapse. "It was a great opportunity to spread the word about the concept of organic textiles. "And to explain the full traceability which our yarn has - every ball is labelled with the name of the farm it came from and this is unique to Cornish organic wool." In addition to the talk from the Hopsons, the trans-Atlantic holiday-makers with Joyce James Tours were not aware that Julia Hopson has the Guinness World Record for 'knitting with the largest needles in the world' (as previously featured in The Cornishman)." The needles were taken out and the visitors were able to "have a go" at knitting with them outside Julia's shop in Causewayhead, Knit Wits. "They're quite large (3.5m long) so we caused a bit of a stir but our guests entered into it with gusto and several of them knitted a row," said Julia. After their "giant knitting" experience, Matt took the group to Zennor to see the organic sheep at Bosigran Farm - all of whose fleece is used by Cornish Organic Wool. After leaving Cornwall the visitors crossed to France where they were due to visit the Bayeux Tapestry and then go on a leisurely cruise down the Seine - knitting Cornish wool as they go. Matt Hopson said: "We hope that this is going to be the first of many visits from overseas so we can spread the word about Cornish organic wool."