I love the hope that comes with the start of a new year. The promise within every wish for a Happy New Year brings me great joy. I can spend hours imagining what the future might bring.
Having a vision and creating plans gives me the confidence I need to get started on achieving new goals. My planning begins with thinking about what is needed. Then, I work on identifying and removing the obstacles that are in the way to meeting those needs.
This year, I’m pondering some big ones:
- Stress from uncertainty and overwork, and how it can create mental, emotional and physical health challenges.
- The textile industry’s dependence on fossil fuels and overconsumption, and the impact this is having on our planet.
- How difficult it is to know where products come from and the conditions in which they were produced.
- The digitisation of just about everything and how overwhelming it can feel to keep up and remain relevant.
- How we can best use our limited resources to continue to build an inclusive environment that supports a diverse community
On the one hand, focussing on challenges seems like a negative approach to new beginnings, but on the other, it helps me to find opportunities and, ultimately, solutions that work.
So, this new year, I am using these big challenges to recommit to our promise: to make sustainable, luxury products that reduce stress and can be conveniently purchased at honest prices.
Over the coming year, four key ideas form the ‘why’ that drives our actions:
- Wellbeing
- Eco-friendly materials and processes
- Sustainable business models
- Community building
The team and I will be researching and writing on these topics and I hope you’ll join in to share your thoughts too. Together, we can work to create a future that balances our needs and desires with purpose.On the lighter side of things, we have some exciting yarns, colours and designs coming your way in 2020. The stage has been set for a couple of ‘hacks’ of the One Sweater design that helped so many of you to knit a sweater that fits. We also have some new patterns coming from a talented group of designers in our community. Finally, there will be two new yarns to fill in the range and bring more luxurious knitting pleasure to you.
Thank you for the support and trust you place in The Fibre Co.
