I have several sweaters that I ordered from Ireland; my husband has a like number. I would buy them off-season when I could get 25-40% off. They were still more costly than a cotton blend sweater on sale from a department store, but the warmth can’t be beat.
They are made from high quality wool which pills; little downy hairs reach up and pill in many spots and in others, those fiber hairs just float on the surface like a fog. The sweater color looks a couple of shades lighter. And there is nothing for it but to buy a depiller, which is basically a delicate shaver, and slowly and repeatedly go over the surface of the sweater. It’s not like taking a paper towel and wiping up a spill; no, it is more like picking up grains of salt by hand.
It takes time but the effect is gratifying, but it could be tedious. That is why I sitting here watching the history of the Greeks in Alexandria and using a “wax on, wax off” motion on the fuzzy thing on my lap.