Superwash Wool

Krista McCurdy (Pigeonroof Studios) shares some insights on superwash wool and how the process has revitalized the American wool industry.

To Be or Not To Be a Hypocrite: American Superwash Wool.

Brown Sheep Yarn Company

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What’s not to love about locally sourced wool, spun and dyed at a family-owned mill, using environmentally friendly methods? 

Go behind the scenes at Brown Sheep Yarn Company with Amy Palmer in the Interweave article: American Wool from the Great Plains: Brown Sheep Yarn Company.

FYI - you can see and purchase Brown Sheep Yarn at the newly opened Pingora Yarns in Lander, WY

Woolen Mill Trip

Mountain Meadow Woolen Mill is one of the few
mills that processes wool from the raw fleece to the
finished product of roving or yarn. 

Guild members began the mill tour by learning some of the background
on how and why the mill was started ten years ago.
Mountain Meadow Woolen Mill, Buffalo, WY
September 16, 2017

The skirting process was explained 

Ben explained how the skirting process not only removes vegetable matter
but also short cuts that can occur during shearing 

wool grease is a by-product of the scouring process.
The equipment in the mill ranges in age and some machines
were manufactured and/or obtained overseas. The machines
 often came without instruction manuals or the instructions
were in Spanish or Portuguese. The mill had to be innovative
to get the machinery running.

The wool is sent through drum carders as well as
pin drop machines to make sure the wool fibers
are parallel. Guild members were able to feel the
difference between the processes from the samples
shown in the box

The pin drop machines have fine combs that separate
the wool fibers. The wool is put through the process
several times. 

The wool is guided through a pin drop machine

drum carders

spinning the wool onto bobbins

one of the many boxes of wool being spun into yarn at the spinning machine

The spinning machine was turned on during our Saturday visit, and Ben demonstrated how quickly a broken strand could be repaired.

Large bobbins filled with yarn

Once the yarn is on the bobbin, it is skeined and then
wrapped on cones.

This machine wraps the yarn from a skein onto a cone

Some of the yarn is also dyed at the mill, and the
mill store has many gorgeous skeins for sale.
Buyers can also purchase roving from a variety of
sheep or exotic breeds. 

Finished wool items are also for sale (sweaters, hats,
mittens, throws) in the mill shop

The owners and founders of Mountain Meadow Wool share their story in the following video.

Guide to Processing Wool for Roving

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Interweave's free ebook on Processing Wool to Make Wool Roving provides instructions on how to properly wash wool to how to flick, hand-, and drumcard wool to how to use minicombs. This free eBook should make the process of preparing raw wool for spinning easy and fun for beginners as well as more experienced spinners looking for tips.

The book can be found here.