200 Years of Wool in Harmony, Maine

Every July, I perform my favorite summer ritual: a drop-in visit to Rosemary’s Gift & Yarn Shop in Windham, Maine. I always make a beeline for their shelves of wool from Bartlettyarns. As I tossed a skein of natural gray yarn into my tote bag this year, I grinned because I knew that in less than a week, I planned to see the Bartlettyarns mill itself and find out more about their two hundred years of Maine wool production.

In 1821, Ozier Bartlett arrived in Harmony, Maine. He founded a carding mill along Higgins Stream, using hydropower to work the machines. Hydropower was a technology that had arrived in the northeastern United States only 30 years earlier. Although the original structures of the mill burned in a fire in 1920, the company rebuilt; today, the blue mill remains a symbol of Maine’s fiber heritage.

The mill and store are located on Higgins Stream in Harmony, Maine.

My Visit to Bartlettyarns

On a misty mid-July afternoon, after buying Bartlettyarns for years, I finally got to see the famous building—and the historical machinery—for myself.[PAYWALL]

The mill, storage buildings, and store stand on a quiet street, a few hundred feet from the homes of Harmony residents and just inches from the current of Higgins Stream. Though the mill no longer relies on the strength of the river to spin yarn, the setting is picturesque and peaceful.

The machinery that was used here to make woolen-spun yarn is not just historic: it is in full working order, too. Roving for handspinners and needlefelters is created on a carding machine that was manufactured in 1881. The company’s Johnson and Wales spinning mule, built in the 1940s, is the last of its kind still in use in the United States.

A historical spinning mule puts twist into the pencil-thin roving.

Before my visit, Lindsey Rice—who bought Bartlettyarns in 2007—explained to me over the phone how the spinning mule works. Essentially, he said, the spinning mule puts twist into soft, pencil-thin roving, but it must stop twisting before the newly spun yarn is wound onto a bobbin. It twists about 3–5 feet of roving, stops, and winds the yarn back onto the bobbin—over, and over, and over until the entire length has been twisted and wound onto the bobbin. Because of this pausing and winding, the machine produces yarn only half the time that it is running.

In contrast, modern spinning frames can twist and wind the roving all at once in a fast, continuous motion. However, Rice explained, “That yarn is under tension the whole time.” With the use of his 240-bobbin vintage spinning mule, every time the gears pause to begin the winding motion, the yarn relaxes and fluffs up—a trait that follows all the way through to the finished yarn skeins.

The Johnson and Wales spinning mule is impressive. The frame runs parallel to one huge wall and is turned on and off using a single lever. During my time in the mill, beautiful green pencil roving was next in line to be spun, practically glowing in the diffuse light streaming through nearby windows.

Multiple twisted strands are plied together to make durable yarn.

Once it has been twisted, the yarn is brought one floor downstairs to be plied. One more floor down, the rooms are filled with piles of confetti-like wool colors, about to be blended into roving for the spinning mule upstairs. Rice has the wool dyed before processing, with each of Bartlettyarns’ dozens of finished hues made up of an exact recipe of other colors. The green, called “Keevan,” that I photographed on the spinning mule came from bright green, dark green, white, and blue wool.

Time to fluff up that fiber! Giant rollers get the wool ready for the spinning mule.

Roving strands are twisted and then plied together to make "Keevan" colored yarn.

Keeping the Quality by Keeping It Close

It is a tough time to be a yarn mill in the United States. If you have large amounts of wool, it is often cheaper to ship it all overseas and then pay to have the yarn shipped back to you, even though doing so is ecologically unsound. High shipping costs and long transportation times make having yarn spun abroad unattainable for smaller fiber producers and shepherds.

On the other hand, Bartlettyarns has been able to remain invested in its local fibershed. Next to the store in Harmony, the team has space to take wool directly from producers, and mill staff often agree to pick up wool when they’re on the road.

I asked Rice why his business remains successful, as he approaches 20 years as the current owner.

“Dependability,” he replied immediately. They are consistent in the yarn they spin and the hues they provide. Need an extra skein to finish your project? No problem. Their color recipes go back decades—they still have swatches from the 1920s to prove it. With an eye toward customer service, Rice’s team works with knitters, crocheters, and fiber enthusiasts to find the exact shade they need.

Stamps with the names of the different yarn hues hang ready to be used on yarn tags.

Another important secret to their success is cost. They strive to keep their yarn prices reasonable so that new customers are able to test out Bartlettyarns for the first time and so returning customers find it manageable to try different weights or new colors.

Patty Bright, the owner of Mother of Purl Yarn Shop in Freeport, Maine, agrees. They like to keep skeins of Bartlettyarns 2-ply on hand: “Customers love the rustic feel, the durability, and the long-lasting garments that they can make. It knits up into beautiful cables and textured stitches, and it is extremely popular for heirloom products such as Aran knit sweaters and Christmas stockings. It’s also a great value, which we hardy Mainers really appreciate!”

Bartlettyarns offers a wide range of colors, available both at their own stores in Harmony, Maine, and Rochester, New Hampshire, as well as at yarn stores across Maine and the Northeast.

I don’t know yet what I’ll make with my three new shades of Bartlettyarns. I picked up a beautiful deep purple they call “Blackberry,” along with a sport-weight “Scotia” skein at their store to add to my natural gray one—but I do know that I can’t wait for them to join my stash at home.

Erika Zambello is a fiber artist, writer, and communications specialist originally from Maine, now living in north Florida. She knits and embroiders wherever she goes. Follow her fiber adventures at @knittingzdaily on Instagram.