by Clara Parkes
Kraemer carries on with its wholesale yarn and pattern business. Victor’s dog, Mocha, has since departed for the great air-conditioned office in the sky. Eleanor has finally retired and is traveling the globe. The mill was tapped to help spin yarn for the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games uniforms, and hand-dyers continue to top off an order list that keeps the machines humming.
Our Texas road trip turned out to be good practice for Jennifer Heverly, now Jennifer Tepper. Her kids having headed off to college, Jen has decided to leave her tree house behind, along with her husband’s deer heads (and her now ex-husband), and start a new life for herself in the wilds of New Mexico. She’s curious what colors the Southwest will inspire in her yarn.
In Massachusetts, things have taken a turn. The U.S. Navy announced plans to phase out its iconic wool peacoat from the Seabag Requirements List and replace it with a 100 percent synthetic winter parka. The move has the potential to devastate several New England textiles companies. I haven’t the stomach to ask S&D how they’ll fare. But I know that they still have one more year on that baseball contract before it comes up for renewal. (Seriously, anyone out there want to start a sweater company with me?)
The Saco River Dyehouse has moved out of Biddeford and across the river to a modern industrial park in Saco. They’ve changed the name to Maine Dye & Textiles and gone through several new rounds of crowdfunding. Malik and Raana’s son is now ensconced in medical school, and they are no longer with the dyehouse. Claudia did away with the old poles and metal racks in favor of a space-age microwave yarn dryer that looks like a drive-through toaster and gets yarn dry in a matter of hours instead of days. They’ve left the drafty charm of the old mill behind—its romance, its authenticity, its historical significance—in favor of practicality and efficiency. Just before this book went to press, the dyehouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing problems with their landlord. But Claudia still remains optimistic.
It can be easy for those of us who know how to knit or sew or crochet or weave our own clothing to feel smug. We have a magic weapon. We still have the capacity to create our own long-lasting garments using materials we can seek out ourselves, ones we can trace all the way back to their source if we want—to the farm, to the field, to the sheep.
We are makers, but it’s also important to remember that we are consumers. In each step of our own creative process, through our purchases and our attention, there is an opportunity to reinforce the work of those we believe are moving us forward in a positive direction. It’s a collective power that has the potential to become great.
This means being aware of where our yarn and clothing comes from. It also means being more cognizant of the people, communities, cultures, corporations, and traditions that our money is helping to support. These people’s products will become an intimate part of our daily lives, bending and stretching and breathing right along with us. Just as we are vigilant about the food that goes into our bodies, so we must be more mindful of what we put on them.
There’s a common conception that wool, especially domestic wool, is too expensive for many people. I agree it can be prohibitive. But knitters, a worsted-weight skein of Brown Sheep Nature Spun yarn, made in Nebraska of American wool, at 310 yards (283 m) per skein, will cost about $9. Less if you find it on sale. That puts the bill for a medium-sized women’s pullover at about $36. And for roughly the cost of five venti caramel macchiatos, you can get a pair of thick wool socks from Duckworth, which sources all its wool from a single Montana ranch. American wool needn’t always be out of reach.
Meanwhile, Eugene’s flock, now under Dominique’s care, remains blissfully unaware. They simply keep following her around, lovestruck, hoping for treats and growing wool for her, year after year, without fail.
The more ways we can find to use their coats, the longer these animals get to be with us, the richer the lives will be for all those who work with them and their wool, and, I’d like to think, the better the world we’ll get to live in.
I still don’t know what I’ll do with my Master’s of Yarn-Making degree. But I do know I’ll never look at a skein of wool yarn the same way again.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
While this journey took place entirely in the United States, it is in no way intended to be a nativist manifesto. What has happened to the American wool industry has happened to the wool industry around the world. A noble and worthy fiber that used to dominate our closets now barely exceeds 1 percent of what we wear. In its place, we’re being sold fibers that come from an oil barrel and that do not breathe or biodegrade, that readily ignite and melt, and that, in short, do not deserve to be our second skin.
This book honors all those people, around the world, who’ve chosen to link their own well-being with that of sheep. Wool begins with them. They’re the ones who treat sheep for injuries and ailments, who barely get a wink of sleep during lambing season, who remove the sheep’s heavy winter coats every spring, who make the terribly hard decision of who stays and who must go for the good of the flock—and who get the tractor and dig a hole every time someone doesn’t make it. They are my heroes. It’s a hard and unglamorous life, but it has meaning and value, and I, for one, am grateful.
Adventures don’t happen in a void. They occur because, at each juncture, someone is there who believes in you and encourages you onward. For me, that vital support staff began with my Knitter’s Review Retreat family. Without their faith and encouragement, I’m confident you’d be reading someone else’s book right now.
There weren’t enough pages here to list every fellow graduate of my Master’s of Yarn-Making program by name, but they will forever occupy a very special place in my heart. We had quite a time together. As for those who’d hoped the Great White Bale would be my downfall, I’m sorry I failed to deliver that catastrophic failure. Have faith and stick around. Tomorrow’s another day.
Endless gratitude goes to my friend Jane Cochran, who jumped in to wrangle spreadsheets and take care of people in the best possible way. I am indebted to Pam Allen for giving me a place to park my bale, and to Claudia Raessler for so generously offering help at each step of the way. I also must tip my (felted wool) hat both to my agent, Elizabeth Kaplan, for being such a fine lighthouse and gatekeeper, and to my publisher, Shawna Mullen, lover of words and wool in equal measure.
The Blue Hill Public Library was my refuge while I pulled all the final strands of this book together. No greater public institution ever existed than that of the public library. And my beloved Clare kept the home fires burning not once but twice—first while I was living the year, and again while I was writing about it.
That said, this book owes its biggest debt of gratitude to a person who is no longer here. Eugene’s absence deserves more explanation than simply “he left us.” To me it perfectly, albeit tragically, distills his very essence as a person.
Eugene had been diagnosed with a progressive neurological syndrome that was already beginning to rob him of his language capabilities and would eventually lead to dementia. As it got worse and while he was still able, Eugene did what he’d done for every ailing sheep in his flock: He put himself on the truck. By which I mean he sent Dominique a final text, walked out into his garden, and shot himself. A responsible shepherd, he practiced what he preached until the very end.
Countless times since then I’ve wished I could consult with him about this story. Or just let him know that the book was in the works. Instead, I relied on notes and emails and photographs and Dominique, who willingly revisited that room of grief over and over again so that I could get the facts right.
Oh, but Eugene did keep me company. Hudson Valley photographer Francesco Mastalia had captured Eugene for his “Portraits of New Yorkers” series. After Eugene died, our mutual friend Robin Ringo sent me a framed print of Mastalia’s portrait. It hung on the wall right behind my desk so that Eugene could oversee the completion of this book. I asked for his help; I complained; I may have even begged once or twice. He urged
me ever forward, and we toasted when I hit “send” on the final manuscript.
If I look closely, he’s smiling right now.
INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS
A
Allen, Pam
animal-rights groups
ASI
Australia
B
bales
Bartlett Yarn
baseballs
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Biddeford, Maine. See Saco River Dyehouse
Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill
Blakewell, Robert
bobbins in spinning frames
Bollman scouring plant
Bosch, Anne
Bronstein, Jake
Burns, Robert
C
Campaign for Wool, UK
canisters
carbonizing
carding machines at Blackberry Ridge
Kraemer mill
casting
classing
colors first synthetic
natural dye
one-of-a-kind
combing
cone winders
costs
crocking
Crompton, Samuel
D
Davis & Furber
Dearnley, Frederick
draw stroke
Duckworth
dusters
dyehouses and studios. See also Saco River Dyehouse; Spirit Trail Fiberworks; A Verb for Keeping Warm
dyeing immersion
natural
stock
with synthetic dyes
uptake assists
E
EPA
extractors
F
fibers appearance of scoured
conditioning
diameter
length
library of sample
pressing of
sorting
synthetic
uniformity of
finishing dopper
flystrike
G
Grandin, Temple
Green Mountain Spinnery
H
Hallowell, Elsa
hand-dyeing. See Spirit Trail Fiberworks
handknitting
hand-spinning
Harmony, Maine. See Bartlett Yarn
harrow rakes
Herman, Dominique
Heverly, Jennifer. See also Spirit Trail Fiberworks
Hughes, Ladd
I
immersion dyeing
indigo dyeing
Indus Group
J
JCA dyehouse
K
knots
Kraemer Textiles
L
lamb meat
lanolin
Littlewood, G. J.
L.L. Bean
lubricant
M
madder
Madison Knitters’ Guild
magenta
Maine Dye & Textiles. See also Saco River Dyehouse
Maine Grain Alliance
Make It with Wool
Malik, Muhammad
Malik, Raana
Martin Guitar
Matuszewski, Robert (“Bobby”)
McColl, Angus
Melville, Herman
microplastics
Millbury, Massachusetts
mills. See also specific mills bigger
first synthetic fiber
new
of 1980s
system used in early
Miss Wool of America Pageant
Moby-Dick (Melville)
mordant
Mules, John
mulesing
N
NAFTA
National Wool Act
natural dyeing
Nazareth, Pennsylvania. See Kraemer Textiles
neps, in yarn
New Zealand
NMFC
O
Oakland, dye studio in. See A Verb for Keeping Warm
oatmeal texture
P
packaging
Pantone color system
pencil roving
Pendleton
Pepperell Mill Campus
PETA
pickers
pin drafters
Pine Island
Planet Money
plying
Portage Woolen Mill
putting up
Q
Quince & Co.
R
Raessler, Claudia
Rappahannock County. See Spirit Trail Fiberworks
Rice, Lindsey
Roberts, Richard
Robertson, Marc
Rodriguez, Adrienne
rub condenser
S
Saco River Dyehouse
San Angelo. See Bollman scouring plant
San Antonio, ASI event in
scavenger, spinning frame
Schmidt, David
Schmidt, Victor
scouring. See also Bollman scouring plant overseas
in small mills
trains
S&D Spinning Mill
shearing
sheep. See also Wyatt, Eugene, sheep farm branding
catchers
common breeds of
farms
health and
ranchers
risks for unshorn
slaughter staring at
shipping
silk
skeins and skeining calculating
knots in
skein winder
skirting
sliver
Sobkowiak, Stanley
spinning color cycles
hand-
in 1700s
spinning frames bobbins in
modern
Whitin
spinning jenny
spinning mules invention of
spinning frames vs.
successor of
Spirit Trail Fiberworks cult status and
fiber preparation in
Heverly’s methods for
niche market
steaming, yarn
Stobart, Bob
stock dyeing
Swansen, Meg
T
Texas. See Bollman scouring plant
textile industry NAFTA impact on
1700s
between 2000 and 2011
top-making
twisting
U
United Kingdom (UK)
United States (U.S.), wool industry in
USDA
U.S. Navy
V
Vejar, Kristine
A Verb for Keeping Warm
vinegar
W
water frame, invention of
Wisconsin
wool. See also fibers; yarn; specific topics bagging
breed-specific
fine Merino
finest quality
fumes
industry
manufacturing uses
market for
misconceptions about
moisture in
Saxon Merino
UK campaign for
worsted vs. woolen
Wool Council
Woolrich
Wool Trust
worsted
Wyatt, Eugene meeting
passing of
sheep farm of
Y
yarn. See also spinning for baseballs
blotchy
breed-specific wool and
consistency
final step in making
life cycle
mulespun
neps in
rest before plying
skeins
smell of
steaming
types for project
used by hand-dyers
variegated
yield
Yocom-McColl Wool Testing Lab
Z
Zimmermann, Elizabeth
bsp;
Clara Parkes, Vanishing Fleece