Skagit Woolen Works is a woman-owned processing mill located in the Puget Sound region of the United States. As co-owners, my partner, Anna, and I look at several factors when milling breed-specific yarns, among them the properties of the fleece and what makes these fibers special (and craft-worthy). Here, we take a behind-the-scenes look at milling a new yarn for Sarah Pope and Adam Greene of San Juan Woolworks, located on San Juan Island, Washington.
Sarah and Adam raise a mixed-breed flock that produces fiber for an array of yarn lines for eager knitters. You may remember reading about some of Sarah’s decisions behind growing her flock, and her advice on how to approach crafting with small batch, breed-specific yarns.
Sarah with a group of North Country Cheviot sheep. Photo by Adam Greene
During the month of October, we milled one of Sarah and Adam’s newer yarns, Zephyr. The main fleeces for this yarn are Bluefaced Leicester crosses, which contribute the fiber length and luster, combined with fiber from other local farms. Sarah sources this other fiber to ensure a more sizable batch as well as make use of smaller amounts that might not otherwise be millable on their own. This supports other farms that are making an effort to produce quality fiber but don’t have the means to develop an entire retail line of products.
Affectionately referred to as Puffy Pillow, one of the first fleeces milled by Jess and Anna became pillows for Sarah and her family. Photo by Sarah Pope
Those of us at the mill fondly remember Puffy Pillow (pictured above) for contributing one of the first fleeces we experimented with when we opened the mill in 2022. A less-than-ideal fleece became—you guessed it—pillows for Sarah’s family. Puffy and others in this batch of yarn are true "island mutts," combining longwool heritage, a bit of East Friesian for that puffy factor, and Romney adding gorgeous color. The color on this fleece is a cool steely gray, with soft sheen and wavy locks.
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We thoroughly check each fleece for consistency in staple length, which is crucial for producing a well-spun yarn on our machinery. Sarah and her crew are expert skirters, which means we receive exceptionally clean fleeces—a good way to make your miller happy. Once we’ve evaluated the fleeces, we work closely with Sarah to blend based on color and overall hand of the fleece, or the feel and quality of the wool. An ideal fleece for Sarah’s Zephyr yarn has staple length on the longer side (5-6"), with some longwool-type luster and a medium-soft hand.
Since we batch by staple length and not just color, each batch of Zephyr might have a slightly different hue. This makes each run truly small batch, so it’s always a good idea to purchase enough for your intended project.
Sarah’s fleeces wash up very well, being overall lower in lanolin and free of dirt. Once clean, we pre-blend the fleeces and tease them open on our picker for a consistent roving.
Here you can see what makes Zephyr special: we blend in 10% by weight of fine kid mohair from another Washington farm, resulting in a luscious hand and subtle halo in the finished yarn. This two-ply yarn is a gauge-shifter extraordinaire—think lace or gauzy stockinette with drape for days.
The picked fibers are then loaded onto our century-old carder named Rosie, which works great with this blend. Rosie is best suited for medium-fine to coarser wools; anything super fine (think 22 micron or lower) could become neppy, making for an inconsistent yarn. Our mill is well suited for the fibers grown in this region; the Pacific Northwest has few finewool breeds due to our climate, and we can happily process the wide array of sheep and camelids in this region (over two dozen breeds and counting). Particular favorites for our machinery are these Island Crosses, Romney, Coopworth, East Friesian, Jacob, and Finn.
The amount of mohair in this blend is just right; too much mohair and the resulting yarn could be ropy and too slippery for our machinery. The 10% mohair gives Sarah what she’s looking for in the yarn, plus ensures an easy-breezy spin for our machines.
Once carded into roving, the fibers are sent through our pindrafter multiple times. If you’re a handspinner, you know that proper (and easy) drafting is a crucial part of making a consistent yarn. It’s true here at the mill as well. Every pass through the pindrafter evens out the coils of fiber that will go to the spinners. Consistent roving equals consistent yarn, making your gauge more regular as you’re knitting with it.
The roving travels through the pindrafter several times in preparation for the spinners.
At this point in the process, we’ve been working on the fibers for about a week. This was a good-sized batch resulting in about 80 skeins of yarn, so the steps—from washing and drying, to picking, carding, and pindrafting—all take a fair bit of time. Next, we check to see if we did a good job with the prep, which is always a fun—and sometimes nail-biting—moment!
Anna sets gears on the spinners to apply the intended amount of twist. This is based off of previous batches, then sampled repeatedly to match what this batch needs. We hope for an exact match, but since each batch of yarn contains different fleeces, the way those fibers take the spin varies. Even if we had the exact same sheep year after year, many factors influence the final quality of the fleece, and it’s our job to make sure we bring the best out of each one.
Success! We’ve got a nice single, ready to be plied, then skeined and twisted. This yarn is considered a low-ply yarn; this keeps the resulting fabric lofty and airy, and most importantly, soft. Too much twist with these fibers could mean a more ropy texture. Sarah’s hard work has paid off, and we’ve done our best by these beautiful fleeces, all with the goal of supporting a small, local family farm to provide the best product for their eager crafters.
The finished skeins of Zephyr, which Sarah describes as “an airy sport/heavy laceweight that loves to do loose-gauge stockinette or big, rustic lace.”
Resources
Read Sarah’s articles here:
Sarah’s Zephyr Vest and Woolgrowers Hat and Cowl; photos by Gale Zucker