The story of our wool is one of adversity, loyalty, and resilience.
Adversity
Picture waking up one morning, and realizing a cornerstone of your business vanished! Poof! It was gone! That's exactly what happened to Sue Spargo when Woolrich, our trusted Pennsylvania-based source of top-quality, perfect-for-dying wool, announced their abrupt closure in the winter of 2018 due to antiquated machinery. After almost two centuries of American made woolly goodness, Woolrich was no more.
We were heartbroken! The foundation of our wool business was plucked out from under us. In their final months, Woolrich tried to supply us with as much wool as possible, but it was never enough to meet our monthly demands. Our last shipment could only take us through the spring of 2019.
Loyalty
Our only option was to find a new mill, and a panicked wishlist formed of our wants and needs, many of which centered around our our loyalty to American manufacturing and a mill dedicated to producing high quality wool while having an eye to the future. Decades of decline in American manufacturing has had devastating effects felt by everyday people. It is important to us that we invest in America.
Our top priorities:
An American mill, with high-quality production based in the U.S.
Mill management must invest in their machinery and infrastructure.
Mill management must be willing to work in partnership for growth.
A pretty straightforward list, which seems easy enough, right? We quickly found out we were looking for a needle in a haystack.
Most American wool is produced for the fashion industry and government contracts in the form of finished wool for garments. We needed unfinished wool to hand dye and felt ourselves, and very few mills in the U.S. are dedicated to the production of raw wool as it is very labor intensive and requires a mill to be spotless.
Resilience
After months of searching, countless emails, phone calls, and rejection, we finally found an American mill that not only exceeded our expectations but were excited to partner with us. Change, however, is never easy, and there were many bumps in the road as we worked tirelessly with the mill to achieve the quality of wool our customers expect: beautiful, hand dyed, saturated with color, non-fraying, and ultra soft.
Through perseverance and dedication, the end result was something better than we could have hoped for. We have forged new relationships and continue to collaborate with the mill on new and exciting woollens. We are incredibly grateful to our customers, and our promise to you is that we will strive to keep improving and pushing the industry's envelope.
We have over 60 colors of exceptional quality Hand Dyed Wool in Solids, and an outstanding array of Hand Dyed Double Dyes and Textures.