When I became vegetarian 15 years ago, I dreamed of starting a business that contributed to animal welfare. With O-Wool Local I feel like I'm doing my 17-year-old self proud. I have yet to meet an alpaca farmer who didn't want to give me a tour of their farm and tell me each one of their animals names. I've seen fancy farms, backyard farms, and a farm at a high school for troubled youth. While they all appear to be different, they have one thing in common - those animals are loved and well taken care of. Many live better than me - as they should.
I started this batch of Local on August 31, and, 5.5 months later, it's ready. The fiber was gathered, scoured, spun, skeined, and dyed. The beauty of a yarn like this is that each batch is different. This is small-time production, and the yarn reflects the beauty of the animals it's made from. This time, I purchased fiber from farmers with a wider variety of colored alpacas, including some grey and black. In turn, the new batch has a cooler hue and is overall a bit of a darker heather. I don't believe that the best way to do business is to get the most for the least. I think it's to get the best for a fair price, to support and encourage admirable producers. This time around I was able to offer the alpaca farmers a higher price for their fiber. I was happy to pay a fair price to support this local fiber industry. I hope you will be, too. The price on the new batch of Local has increased to $15.25 for Fringetree (undyed) and $17.25 for dyed colors. Skeins from the previous run will remain at the lower price until they run out. Now, some photos!
And some history of where this batch came from. The dyehouse! Unassuming from the outside, no?
Cones straight from the mill - the biggest cones I have ever seen! My head and gigantic poof of hair for scale:
Pattern Ideas for Local
At o-wool.com you'll find an assortment of free and for-sale patterns calling for Local. Now is a great time to start your next favorite project! Thanks for your interest and support! It means the world to me. All the best, Jocelyn J. Tunney |
Love Love O-Wool !!! Enjoyed listening to you on Wooful and adore the Blue Bell Hill Scarf!!!!
This yarn and the scarf are beautiful, thanks for sharing it!