The ribbed sweater
Sortie en décembre 2024
Supergeelong: virgin wool from the first shearing of the merino lamb, both very soft and very warm.
Our wool comes from Papi Fabio, an Italian spinner who specialises in carded wool.
Very warm sweater: around 800g for a size M (vs 600g for our thick sweater)
Why is this knit stitch so beautiful? There's a technical explanation: when a fabric is very textured, the hollows and ridges catch the light differently, creating micro-contrasts that are visually very rich.
This sweater is made in Portugal, at the Elmate factory we've been working with since 2018.
The techniques behind the quality
Carded wool
Why does wool keep you warm? Because it traps nearly 80% of air in its fibres, which makes it the best natural insulator. And if it's carded (that is, "hairy"), it retains heat even better than a smooth "combed" wool (the kind we use on our thick sweater, for example).
Carded wool
Chainette yarn
Knitted as tightly as possible
Chainette yarn
Wool can pill, and even more so when it's carded. To limit this, we chose a "chainette" yarn, where the strands of wool are twisted together while leaving air inside. Our tests showed that pairing this type of yarn with a tightly knitted fabric significantly reduces pilling.
And for the pills that keep on appearing, you can always get rid of them with a quick pass of a razor**. **
Carded wool
Chainette yarn
Knitted as tightly as possible
Knitted as tightly as possible
For a better fit and to reduce pilling.
Carded wool
Chainette yarn
Knitted as tightly as possible
Our warmest sweater
800 grams of wool, a “carded” yarn (meaning slightly fuzzy), and a fisherman knit stitch: here's a good chunky sweater that makes you want to head out to sea and brave the bitter cold. But it also works for reading by the fireplace: we chose supergeelong merino wool, from the lamb's first shearing.
In detail
Fisherman's rib
Also known as “half English rib”, this knitting stitch produces a sweater that's thick, stretchy (and therefore more comfortable)... and gorgeous.
Raglan sleeves
Often used for sportswear because they're comfortable and allow a good range of movement.
Ribbed cuffs
2x2 rib (two knit stitches, two purl stitches) for the collar and 1x1 (one knit stitch, one purl stitch) for the cuffs.
Fully-fashioned knitting
The panels (back, front, sleeves and collar) are knitted straight into the right shape: it fits better, and it means less wool goes to waste.
How to wear it
A few ideas if you're stuck
Composition
100% virgin wool
Origin and certifications
- Wool: South Africa and South America
- Spinning and dyeing: Italy
- Knitting and assembly: Portugal
... not wool from French sheep? Sadly because it's less fine than wool from the southern hemisphere, and because the French supply chain has almost completely disappeared. We explain all this in more detail on this page.
How this product will age
How do we know? We ask our customers what they think of the product one year after they've bought it. And if the product is less than a year old, we give you our predictions based on some spontaneous feedback and on our experience with similar products.
The magic of wool is that it's elastic: this sweater will barely lose its shape. If the sleeves stretch out a bit, you can tighten them up with an iron as explained here.
Little risk of holes at the elbows thanks to the thickness of the fabric.
It might occasionally pill a little in areas of friction, for example on the sides... but nothing a pill shaver can't handle (and the more pills you remove, the less likely they are to come back).
The biggest risks with this wool sweater are:
Care instructions
THIS SWEATER IS NOT MACHINE-WASHABLE: yes, wool felts and shrinks when it's rubbed and soaked in hot water. But you can do without it: wool is antibacterial and doesn't hold onto smells. So there's no need to wash this sweater, just air it out now and then.
If you really must, wash it by hand: let it soak in lukewarm water with a little shampoo or special wool detergent, gently rub the stains with your fingers, then rinse in cold water. Otherwise, washing machines usually have a "wool" setting – not to be confused with the "delicate" one, which you should never use for wool!
To keep your sweater from losing its shape, never wring it out by twisting it with your hands, and don't dry it on a hanger. Dry it flat, on a drying rack or a towel.
Environmental cost
This environmental cost is calculated using the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme (in force since 1 October 2025).
The label above shows the product's environmental cost according to the official French environmental labelling methodology. It's what its manufacture "costs" nature when you look at its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to freshwater, and so on. Currently rolled out in the textile industry, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you shop more sustainably.
The ribbed sweater therefore has an environmental cost of 3868 impact points*.
By comparison, a garment of equivalent weight, 100% acrylic, made in Bangladesh and sold by a fast fashion brand, has an environmental cost of 4137 points*.
Why the difference? Here are the main reasons:
- The countries of production: manufacturing in Portugal or France requires less fossil fuel than in Bangladesh (one of the main producers of low-cost clothing). The result: this more local manufacturing limits the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification and resource depletion.
- The material: wool has a fairly significant environmental impact, notably because sheep release methane when they digest, a gas with a strong greenhouse effect. That's why the difference between our product's impact and that of fast fashion isn't very big. However, unlike acrylic, wool has major advantages: it's warm (thanks to its insulating properties), keeps its shape (the fibre is very elastic), breathable (it wicks away sweat) and odour-resistant (it prevents bacteria from developing).
- Durability: fast fashion brands push people to buy, notably by refreshing their collections very quickly and offering a huge number of styles, and they discourage repairs by charging ridiculously low prices. This increases the number of garments sold per person and reduces the number of times a garment is worn. At Loom, we've done the opposite: we've chosen business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes as long as possible.
Even though we've done everything to keep it as low as possible, this product's environmental impact isn't negligible. So before you buy, make your clothes last as long as you can.
*Calculations made by Loom on 31 August 2026. Click the links to access the simulations from the official Ecobalyse tool and get more details on the assumptions used. Please note: the number of points isn't always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose method evolves regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on version 7.0 of Ecobalyse)
Reviews for this product
The standard practice is to send review request e-mails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month, the minimum time needed to form a well-informed opinion
Customer review policy
When do you ask customers for reviews?
We send you a review request one month after you receive your order. We reckon that's the minimum amount of time needed to have worn and washed a garment several times and to really form a well-informed opinion. After that, all your reviews are published within the week, whether they're good or not.
Do you ask for reviews on 100% of the products customers order?
We used to do that at first, then we realised we were starting to send far too many emails to some people who buy from us regularly. In short, we were spamming a bit. On top of that, it was starting to take up way too much of the team's time to reply to reviews - since we want to reply individually and privately to almost every person who leaves us a review. Today, we no longer ask for reviews on products that meet the following two criteria: 1/ There are enough reviews shown on the site for people who want to buy to form a well-informed opinion about the product 2/ We've read enough reviews within the Loom team to understand how to improve the product for the next generation.
Hold your horses: what proves we don't tamper with reviews by slapping 5 stars everywhere?
Honestly: nothing, we're just giving you our word. Same as for everything else, by the way: where we manufacture, where our wool comes from, our lab test scores, and so on. The only times we might touch what you write are if your message contains spelling mistakes (and even then, quite a few slip past us) or if it's racist, homophobic, and so on (but that's never happened so far).
Asking for a review after a month isn't enough to know whether the clothes really are durable, is it?
You're right, which is why we send you another review request email a year after your purchase – we even ask for a photo to see how your garment has aged. The answers help us improve our clothes and provide information about "how this product will age" on our product pages. To avoid bothering our customers needlessly, we don't ask for these reviews on 100% of the products ordered: as soon as we have enough data to understand the areas for improvement, we stop asking for the one-year reviews.