Harvested and processed from the hardy yet temperamental flax plant, linen yarn has long been a treasure to knitters with a taste for fashionable, summer-friendly knits. Yet the more miles a yarn travels to reach our needles, the less earth-friendly it becomes. In the United States, there is a notable lack of domestically produced linen yarns. Most linen yarns available at your local yarn shop are imported from Italy or China. Fortunately, there are fiber producers who are solving the lack of local linen yarn. Expert weaver Sandy Fisher and her partner, Durl Van Alstyne, are at the heart of Chico Flax, an organization located in Chico, California, that seeks to bring sustainably produced linen products to North America and beyond.
Blooming with beautiful purple-blue flowers, this field of flax will become linen yarn as part of the Chico Flax project. Photo by Paige Green
Adventures in Flax
Sandy has been weaving for over 40 years. Her quest for locally sourced plant-based fibers culminated in the founding of Chico Flax in 2018. In 2012, Sandy received a phone call from a friend who encouraged her to think outside the confines of the textile industry, and she fondly recalls the moment where flax entered the picture.
Sandy recalls: “It was in the summer, 110 degrees, and we were in a garden that happened to be growing flax. Seeing these plants in person reminded me that flax becomes linen. And that’s where Chico Flax started: with a group of community members that wanted to make a local cloth that could be worn in our warm climate.”
Harvested and processed from the hardy yet temperamental flax plant, linen yarn has long been a treasure to knitters with a taste for fashionable, summer-friendly knits. Yet the more miles a yarn travels to reach our needles, the less earth-friendly it becomes. In the United States, there is a notable lack of domestically produced linen yarns. Most linen yarns available at your local yarn shop are imported from Italy or China. Fortunately, there are fiber producers who are solving the lack of local linen yarn. Expert weaver Sandy Fisher and her partner, Durl Van Alstyne, are at the heart of Chico Flax, an organization located in Chico, California, that seeks to bring sustainably produced linen products to North America and beyond.
Blooming with beautiful purple-blue flowers, this field of flax will become linen yarn as part of the Chico Flax project. Photo by Paige Green
Adventures in Flax
Sandy has been weaving for over 40 years. Her quest for locally sourced plant-based fibers culminated in the founding of Chico Flax in 2018. In 2012, Sandy received a phone call from a friend who encouraged her to think outside the confines of the textile industry, and she fondly recalls the moment where flax entered the picture.
Sandy recalls: “It was in the summer, 110 degrees, and we were in a garden that happened to be growing flax. Seeing these plants in person reminded me that flax becomes linen. And that’s where Chico Flax started: with a group of community members that wanted to make a local cloth that could be worn in our warm climate.” [PAYWALL]
In the beginning, Chico Flax relied on community gardens to grow small plots of flax. Now it operates a farm with a gorgeous barn on nearly four acres, which provide plenty of growing space. The farm was once an old almond orchard that belonged to a fellow fiber artist who supported the mission of Chico Flax and provided the land to grow flax. Growing flax in Northern California’s hot climate has been a challenge that Durl, who has an agricultural background, is constantly at work to overcome.
Durl says, “There are about 87 different varieties of flax grown worldwide. It is a spectrum; on one side you have food flax. and the other is fiber flax. The latter grows very tall and has very few seeds. We run into people who try to grow flax, but they choose the wrong variety, and it turns out to be a disaster. We started planting fiber flax in the traditional European way, and it did not work in our climate. Flax likes to grow when the temperature is around 70° Fahrenheit. We are located 90 miles north of the Sacramento Valley, and there some days in the spring where the temperature reaches 100° Fahrenheit. Flax is a very hardy plant, and it produces a very hardy fiber, but it goes bad at high temperatures. The knowledge base about flax as a plant is shallow in the United States, and we have had to learn a lot from our own experiments. For example, we have experimented with growing flax in the winter with successful results. The plants remain unbothered by cold spells. We can’t wait to harvest our latest crop in March or April of 2024.”
Flax to Linen
Once Sandy and Durl found it was possible to grow flax in Northern California, they discovered the complete lack of mills specializing in flax processing in the United States. Taking flax from seed to linen is a labor-intensive endeavor, and the only option they had to process their flax came in the form of Colonial-era tools that were primitive. Recently, they paired with a local university to create a mechanical brake, which helps reduce the processing time of flax immensely.
Out of the thousands of pounds of flax they have grown, only ten percent of it is used for spinning yarn. One of the byproducts of processed flax is called “tow.” It contains a lot of straw, but papermakers can use it in place of wood pulp to make eco-friendly paper products, and handspinners can use the finer, cleaner grades.
Durl and Sandy say, “At the moment, 100% linen yarn is not possible due to the lack of infrastructure here, and we offer the only commercially available linen fibers [grown] in the United States. If you want pure linen yarn sourced from the United States, it must be spun by hand. We have experimented with many different mills across America to get a quality yarn. Local mini-mills can spin short fibers like wool but are not equipped to spin long fibers like flax (which can be 36 inches in length). The flax fibers must be cut into more manageable lengths and then blended with wool before being spun. Our millspun yarns are currently 65% wool and 35% linen. Everything except spinning, from seed to garment, happens here at Chico Flax.”
Chico Flax’s wool/linen blend brings together the best of both fibers. On the needles, a handknitted vest using Chico Flax’s wool/linen blend. The rust-colored skein has been hand-dyed with coreopsis flowers by Heather Podoll. Photo by Sandy Fisher
Working with Linen
When asked to share three adjectives to describe the best attributes of linen, Sandy shared: drape, soft, and forgiving. Many knitters are intimidated by linen, but it has much to offer any knit project that needs strength and softness. Unlike cotton, linen is not prone to pilling or over-draping (when fabric loses shape over time). As a plant fiber, it is naturally hypoallergenic and vegan. Sandy and Durl have also found that linen is a multi-seasonal fabric that can be worn all year round. Durl frequently wears a linen shirt as a layer that protects his skin from the itchiness of a wool sweater. He notes that linen wicks moisture away from the body, which makes wearing it a more comfortable option than cotton.
Linen can have a reputation for being tricky to use, but Sandy says, “I never had problems weaving with it. The type of loom or needles you use play a part. I have a loom that is friendly to linen, and I have observed that it has good tension.” She adds, “I dye small batches of Chico Flax yarn with dyestuffs sourced from my own dye garden. The yarn takes on the dye in a subtle way; it’s stunning.”
When knitting with linen, Sandy prefers wooden needles rather than metal. She adds, “Our linen/wool blend yarns are easy to knit with. The wool brings warmth, and linen brings a beautiful sheen to the yarn. When I knit with it, the handle is amazing.”
Gale Ulvang’s handknitted and beaded lace shawl shows off the beauty of two Fibershed producers’ fiber in a blend of 75% Sally Fox Coyote Brown cotton and 25% Chico Flax Linen. Photo by Durl Van Alstyneads
Fibershed: A Movement
In 2016, Chico Flax became a member of the Fibershed’s Producer Program. Fibershed was founded by Rebecca Burgess, an accomplished fiber artist based in North Central California. It focuses on participating in slow fashion, community building, and encourages people from all walks of life to support local fiber producers and their products in the hopes of reducing the negative impact of textiles from the ground up.
Durl says, “We’re part of the Fibershed movement as a grower. [Fibershed] is based on the concept of a watershed, and geographically speaking, is it about going back to what worked before the advent of massive transportation systems. Where is our fiber coming from? And how can we keep it local? We have made connections and collaborated with so many mills thanks to Fibershed. We try to keep as many things as possible local—we don’t shop online and buy everything we need within 150 miles of our home.”
Sandy adds that as a weaver, even when she chose natural fibers such as cotton and wool, “I never thought about where or how these fibers are processed. Once I started growing my own linen, I realized that it does matter. I want to use fibers that come from sheep or fields where the land is being healed. I find the quality of the materials are better as well.”
How Can You Help?
The main goal of Chico Flax is sustainably produced linen from seed to garment, but this goal cannot be achieved without help. Buying linen products directly from Chico Flax online store is an easy way to start.
For those who want a more hands-on opportunity, Sandy and Durl welcome volunteers! Sandy says, “We have had volunteers from everywhere imaginable. Trying out the flax to linen process for yourself is a transformative experience. We have demo days and workshops as well. Chico Flax started as a community project. I have lived here as a fiber artist for most of my life, and I feel a connection.”
Although Chico Flax is alone in the field for now, Sandy and Durl are committed to making it more accessible for other farmers to grow flax. “There is a huge community of artists, environmentalists, farmers, and we want it to grow,” says Sandy. “Durl and I are mentor farmers, and in 2023, we gave a presentation at Stanford University about growing flax. There is a real farm on the campus, and we are growing flax there. We love to share what we learn. Linen is a fiber worth using, and we hope that others will give it a try.”
Jacqueline Harp is a freelance writer and multimedia fiber artist who spins, felts, weaves, crochets, and knits in every spare moment possible. She is also a former certified Master Sorter of Wool Fibers through the State Univ. of N.Y. (Cobleskill) Sorter-Grader-Classer (SGC) Program. Find her on Instagram as @foreverfiberarts
