From the Meadow to the Skein: Building a Small-Batch Yarn Line (Part 1)

Many of you have heard the news. The Fibre Co. is closing its doors this year, and favorite colorways are already disappearing. It's a hard pill to swallow. But loss has a way of sparking new ideas, and living here in the heart of sheep country in Northern Colorado, I found myself asking: "What if Sweet Meadow offered its own small-batch yarn line?"

It's not a completely new idea for me. I've spent years dyeing and spinning my own wool... I even kept my own flock of CVM sheep for a time. But I'd be the first to admit that getting from raw fleece to a beautiful dyed-in-the-wool yarns takes more than enthusiasm. It takes experimentation. A lot of it. So that's where we are.

Step One — Research and Development.

Last week, we drove a couple of hours due north to Laramie, Wyoming, to visit Whit Stewart, director of the Wyoming Wool Initiative. This is an organization that, among other things, helps connect sheep ranchers with yarn producers. It was the perfect first stop in sourcing breed-specific fleeces. Through an affiliated rancher, we came home with 160 pounds of fine and extra-fine Rambouillet.

Rambouillet sheep descend from Spanish Merino sheep, and produce fine wool with a lovely crimp on the dry grasslands of the American West.

Now the real work begins. I've been researching scouring agents and landed on the Unicorn brand, which is both highly effective at removing excess lanolin, and equally important, it's biodegradable. It's snowing here today, but we'll be in the 70s soon, so I plan to start washing this weekend.

One more thing worth mentioning: Unicorn also makes a fiber wash and rinse for finished garments. Its light lavender scent doubles as a natural moth deterrent, handy for keeping your favorite woolens safe between wearings.

I'll be sharing the journey as it unfolds. Stay tuned - there's a lot of good wool ahead.