Arbon Socks started trading on 1 February 2018, producing and selling the range of British made luxury alpaca and wool socks developed by John Arbon since 2001.
Town End Yarns is my other business which produces luxury alpaca blend knitting yarns and a small range of alpaca and wool socks. I have been a customer of John and Juliet’s for several years. John has spun alpaca, Blue Faced Leicester and Falklands Merino wools for me at their worsted spinning mill in North Devon. We got chatting at a knitting fair early in 2017. John, Juliet and I all share the same ethos about making products in the UK using British wools and alpaca fibre. They wanted more time to focus on their specialist spinning mill, producing unique yarns and fibre tops, so I agreed to take over the sock part of their business.
Our socks are all knitted in the Midlands by traditional, family businesses. John uses wool from sheep local to him – Exmoor Horn and Exmoor Blueface. I use Blue faced Leicester from around Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. We produce colourful, everyday socks, warm and comfortable walking socks, rugged country socks and the softest, cosy bed socks.
Although Sock HQ has moved from Exmoor to The Lake District, John and Juliet will still be involved in the business. John will continue to source the fibres and spin the unique, specialist yarns at their mill in North Devon. John and I will work together to improve on the existing range and develop new sock styles for Arbon Socks.
