We were very pleased to receive an order from Buckingham Palace this week for one of our gorgeous baby blankets. Hainsworth, our parent company, are accustomed to dealing with exclusive customers and are renowned for supplying the cloth for the Guards Tunic Scarlet uniforms and have been awarded the prestigious Royal Warrant for supplying Her Majesty the Queen with interior fabrics.
The testing is now well underway and we’ve managed to iron out most of the preliminary issues with equipment. Upon initial analysis, it would seem that the John Atkinson merino wool blanket could be helping the sleeper maintain a more constant skin temperature and a lower overall heartbeat. Subjective feedback has indicated that the sleepers have woken feeling rested after a good nights sleep under the John Atkinson woollen blanket. During the warmer nights, synthetic products have seen bedding temperatures fluctuating by up to 9 degrees. It’s still too early to make any definitive comments but the results seem very promising. Keep counting those Sheep!
Here at John Atkinson, we have been up against it this week. A hotel in Ireland placed an urgent order for made to order black blankets. Black is not a colour we have done before and is not part of our current colour range, however we are always pleased to make bespoke blankets for large orders. After a great deal of hard work and fantastic examples of teamwork we have successfully managed to fulfill the order and look forward our next challenge.
Philip Leather our Marketing Assistant will be leaving us today after a years placement from Leeds University. He has been a valued member of the team and will certainly be missed by all – good luck Philip with your final year at uni!
On a more positive note, Philip’s replacement Kate Duckworth will be joining us for the coming year from Huddersfield University and we would like to wish Kate good luck in her new role and hope she enjoys her time at Hainsworth.
This week saw the start of our Sleep Project. Harriet Green a Master’s student from Leeds University is studying the sleep patterns under a number of synthetic and natural bedding options, including John Atkinson wool blankets. The study is taking place over the summer with two students sleeping in our company’s showroom and is being filmed and monitored while they sleep to find out once and for all what will help us get the perfect night’s sleep!
With the Wedding season well and truely upon us, why not consider a John Atkinson blanket gift set for the beautiful bride and groom! Our blanket gift sets come with a set of luxurious Peter Reed 100% Egyptian Cotton sheets and pillowcases to complement our exclusive woollen blankets which have the added touch of embroidery of the bride and groom’s name – perfect for the start of their married life together!
John Atkinson are pleased to announce that we can now ship our beautiful blankets and throws worldwide making it even easier for all to enjoy the benefits of a woollen blanket and a great night’s sleep! John Aktinson blankets and throws are manufactured in the UK from raw wool to finished blanket ensuring that our wool blankets and throws remain of the highest quality, synonymous with the John Atkinson brand!
One question that comes up time and time again is, do you really manufacture your blankets in the UK? We are one of the few, and last remaining manufacturers who can honestly say yes. Our John Atkinson blankets and throws are manufactured from raw wool to finished blankets at our Hainsworth mill in West Yorkshire and we now have the video to prove it. Thanks to a local student, Karl Birrane and our very own voice over expert Philip Leather we have produced this short video following the full route of a blanket from beginning to end.
An old book dating back to 1910 has appeared in our office, no one knows where it has come from, but it is full of blanket labels from around the world. There are pages of beautiful woven labels including the historical Hudson’s Bay blanket and some very unusual named blankets including ‘The Klam Rug’, ‘Mandarin & Bat Chop’ and ‘The Reindeer Blanket’. If anyone has any information on these brands or any others, please let us know…
We get asked regularly, what is the difference between Pure New Wool and Merino Wool? So I thought I would write a brief explaination on here;
Merino Wool is from the Merino sheep which originally came from Spain but now there are vast quanities in Australia and the Merino is regarded as having the finest and softest wool of all sheep – and makes beautiful blankets and throws!
Pure New Wool can come from any sheep as long as it hasn’t been used or twisted prior to manufacture. The wool used in our John Atkinson blankets and throws is specially selected by our Wool Director, Roger Hainsworth and predominantly comes from warmer climates; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as the yarn from these countries is softer and more suitable for bedding.
