Interview: Novello Noades of Noood London

Have you ever wanted to start your own knitwear company? We catch up with the inventor of the Noood, Novello Noades!

What is a Noood exactly?
A Noood is an open weave piece, handknitted using 100% pure wool, cashmere and cotton. The Noood is an innovative accessory as it can be secured in various different positions to be worn as a hat, scarf, collar, shawl – the list is endless!

What first inspired the design?
The design was achieved completely by accident, I was knitting a scarf on the train and had to cast off where I was as I had arrived at Paddington Station. It was chilly so I put the piece of knitting around my neck and secured it in place with my hair clip. I instantly realised I liked it and from there the idea of the Noood was born. It’s so simple – it’s genius!

Where does the name come from?
It was from a brainstorming session with a group of family and friends. I like quirky, and I thought three ‘o’s was just right!

What do you love about knitting?
I enjoy everything creative and was shown how to knit as a very young child and have loved it ever since. Knitting allows you to use your imagination. I take my knitting everywhere with me – you can knit almost anywhere so you’ll never be bored.

How did it feel setting up your own business?
Setting up my own business was hard work but totally exciting and rewarding.

Why was it important for the Noood’s to be hand knitted instead of using machines?
We decided we wanted a quality item that was totally unique, therefore we decided to hand-knit each Noood in England using only natural fibres to create something really special.

Which fibres do you use and why?
We use 100% pure wool, cotton and cashmere because we LOVE natural! We are thinking about launching a merino range too.

Tell us about the new wristwarmers! Why did you decide that they would be the next step?
It just fell into place and felt a natural progression for the brand. Nooods can be worn pretty much any way: around your head, neck, legs etc. but it’s just too big for your wrists so we created something slightly smaller. Just like the original Noood they are one size fits all!

You also run The Novello Wool Shop – why did you decide to start an online yarn store?
We use Drops yarn for our Nooods. It’s such a great quality product we thought it made sense to open an online shop so fellow knitters could buy Drops Yarn from us at great prices. Find us at www.thenovellowoolshop.com

Do you have any advice for readers who want to turn their knitting into a career?
Be prepared for a long road! Its hard work and time consuming setting any business up, but if you have a passion for knitting, give it a go. My advice would be to start small and grow from there.

What’s next for Noood?
We regularly update our colourways and we are constantly updating our Noood Link collection to keep up to date with the seasons. We have a variety of themed links for Christmas which is really exciting!