The Importance of Recycled Wool

The First time I heard of using recycled yarn was from my friend Dawn who owns Twice Sheared Sheep. You are probably falmilur with this brand because I love to collaborate with her for our yarn kits and bundles. Like most of us she started her business out in one direction and then it has grown and changed since then but I know that one of her main focus when she started was “recycled" or “ reclaimed yarn” You can hear more about that directly from Dawn here

Here at CHY I’m not so much up cylicing yarn but rather enjoying using reclaimed wool in our products. In our case that is where wheel the fleeces are processed into clean and useable wool for our batts or custom rovings we are able to work with boutique mills that will save and reuse some of the wool that didn’t make it though the first pass. If you’ve ever used a drum carder yourself you know all about how a good bit of lovely wool and fiber can be stuck on the machine while hand blending. Where in many cases larger mills would end up not saving this wool we love that we can reduce it and give it another life. I had fun using some myself for some incredibly soft Merino Batts I was dividing up. You've also proababy seen it in our work in the way of reclaimed Sari silk and “ wool neps “ for a tweed texture.

Heidi and I were at Convergence in Knoxville last year when we befriended a mill from NC who introduced us to this lovely fiber blend. It was described to us a very well cared for breed whose wool is a combination of Merino and Rambouillet! We thought it was absolutely dreamy and I have so enjoyed using this roving in some of our spinning fiber subscriptions from time to time and more recently these fun “ tweed” style rovings. We also think it’s a dream to spin and have enjoyed using this tweed roving ourselves for the handspun yarn subscription. This has quickly become a favorite of my moms to spin which is why I wanted to look more into it.

wool processing tips- washing raw wool- how to clean wool for spinning

In this blog post, we will discuss some helpful tips for processing raw wool. Processing wool is a vital step in turning this natural fiber into yarn or other textile products. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced wool enthusiast, these tips will guide you through the process:

Sheep Breeds with Long Wool

Sheep Breeds Best for Medium Wool

Softest Wool Breeds for Spinning Next to Skin Soft Yarn

Why Local Wool Matters-Fiber Arts Blog-My Local Wool

Dresow family Farm- review- My Local wool

Spinning wheels are a staple of the fiber arts, but when it comes to choosing one, you'll likely find yourself overwhelmed. There are so many different types!