Insert wonderful intro paragraph…  Okay I can’t think of one.  Let’s start it like this:  I love this book and I hope to be like many of these companies one day.  It is inspirational to me not just for the great knitting patterns but also to realize that yes, there are huge yarn companies like Lion Brand and Bernat (and nothing against them, their yarn choices over the years have gone from plain acrylics to some wonderful textures and blends), but small is possible.  And small is beautiful and can be very successful. 

The book showcases 28 companies across the United States that make yarn- some hand dye, some are the farms growing the fiber, many have mini-mills they work with, and some are the mills themselves.  The book is arranged by region (Northeast, South, Midwest, West) and highlights a few individual sellers from each region. The biggest sections are the Northeast and the West, which, knowing the history of the American textile industry, make perfect sense.  The Northeast was home to the US textile industry during the Industrial Revolution, and the West has lots of acreage with lots of sheep (although I’m pretty sure cattle outnumber sheep in Wyoming).   At the end of each region's section is also a list of other sellers.   

The individual sellers provide a story of their who-what-when-where –why and there is a knitting pattern featuring the company’s yarn after each story.  Each story also has pictures of the proprietors at work- working with their flocks, their tools of the trade, and finished yarns.  I love the picture of handdyed yarns strung between trees from Farmhouse Yarns in page 19.  Remember above when I said it was also inspirational to me- that’s one of those pics and is the one on page 129 of handdyed yarns on laundry drying racks at Red Barn Yarn.  There’s a picture of Pagewood Farm’s outdoor dye area on page 151- I would love to have that someday.

If you’re getting the book for the knitting patterns there are a 28 to choose from- small projects like mittens and hats, to large projects like car coats and shawls.  My favorite patterns are the Cabled Car Coat on page 20, the Oquirrh Mountain Wrap on page 160, and Evergreen Ankle Socks on page 136.  I like knitting socks (portable project), long length sweaters, and shawls, so it’s no doubt those three made the top want-to-knit.  I think all the patterns are beautiful, but I will focus on those three possibilities right now (along with about 10 other knitting projects.) 

My only qualm with the book is this book is titled “Knit Local” which #1- kind of sounds like the book should be about local yarn shops, not US yarn companies.  And #2- semantics aside, some of the companies have limited yarn lines made in the USA.  Some like Brown Sheep Company in Nebraska, Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont, and the companies that are on farms are 100% American.  A few companies have several yarn lines, but only one made in the USA.  I would have liked it to be a 100% yarns made in America book.  It’s not like the author didn’t have many other choices- remember the lists of other businesses at the end of each region. 

Still, hearing the stories of the farms and small cottage industries created by fiber-loving folks gives me a pick me up when I need it.  Being a yarnie full time is possible with some skill, time, and gumption.  I have the people in this book to prove it.  

Yes, it does.  Cotton can come in a rainbow of muted natural colors including shades of tan, green, brown, and russet. 

Cotton, like sheep wool, was bred to be white for the same reason as wool- to be able to reliably dye the fiber a rainbow of colors in textile production.   It is also bred to be long stapled.  Cottons such as Pima and Acala have long fiber lengths of around 1 ½- 2 inches.  Natural color cotton fiber length is shorter than it’s commercially bred cousins.  The darker the natural color, the shorter the fiber length.   Where Pima and Acala are shiny and slick, colorgrown cottons are incredibly soft and billowy and range from medium to matte shine.  It does not fade.  With repeated washings in hot water, the color deepens. 

So how is it to spin?  If you asked me today I would say an utter pain.  I haven’t spun cotton in awhile so I’m not used to the short draw I have to use to spin it.  I also have to keep my hands closer to the orifice (the round part the yarn goes through to the bobbin).  After a skein or two, I’m fine.  Cotton takes practice.  If you’re a beginning cotton spinner, it will take time to get the hang of it- it’s a completely different feel and technique than wool.  Colorgrown cotton roving is a good place to start because the fiber is fluffy and sticks together better than slick Pima.  Start with a lighter color such as tan or khaki.  The red brown has really short staple length, so much that I won’t spin that color anymore. 

My only regular qualm about spinning cotton is the lint gets everywhere.  The fibers get stuck on my hands, clothes, whatever furniture is near the carpet.   Be prepared not to touch your nose when you're sneezing, otherwise cotton lint will get in your nose.  

Below is a sampling of my handspun colorgrown cottons yarns.  

I love natural color wool.  Shades of gray, brown, tan, cream-  I love them all.  I seek out colored fleeces and when I can find a good one…well...  let’s say the stash is large.  In the last month I have added an oatmeal color Shetland fleece and a charcoal gray Coopworth fleece. 

It’s probably true that if not for handspinners, all sheep would be white.  White wool is extensively used in the textile industry because you dye it a rainbow of colors reliably from batch to batch.  But even the most numerous sheep in the world, the merino, can come in shades of brown and gray.  So let’s honor those lovely fleeces that give us a wonderful range of earthy colors. 

 P.S. I included white in the pics below- it’s a lovely natural color after all.    P.P.S.  Yes, these are all my handspun yarns.  

I have two spinning wheels (and about 40 drop spindles, but that’s for another day).  A few months ago I got an Ashford Kiwi2, but my first spinning wheel was a Louet S17.  It is a simple single treadle model that came flat packed, assembly required, and unfinished.  Over the last 10 years later I’ve spun somewhere around 225,000 yards on it.

When I received the box I didn’t assemble it right away.  I painted the wheel with 2 stylized mandalas, a different one on each side.  The rest of the wood I left natural although now I wish I had clear coated the wood.  Assembly of the spinning wheel took only about an hour.  The wood is a laminated hardwood and it has withstood several household moves and being taken to special events without so much as a scratch.  I sanded around the corners because they were very sharp.  The ball bearings in the wheel mechanism have always worked incredibly smooth.  I only recently have replaced the flyer brake and drive band.  Even if you don’t know what those terms mean, in short, I have spun a lot and done very little maintenance on it.  

The Louet is a bobbin led wheel.  What this means is that the drive band goes around the bobbin, which on one end has several grooves.  Each of those grooves represents a ratio.  Standard Louet S17 bobbins have 5:5, 7:5, 10:5 ratios.  Those numbers mean for each turn of the wheel, the bobbin has turned 5 1/2, 7 1/2, or 10 ½ times.  Bigger number equals faster speed.  My wheel for most of it’s early yardage was on 5:5 ratio.  For the last couple years it’s been almost exclusively at 7:5 ratio.  

I love this wheel for spinning my fleecespun bulky art yarns which I spin from fluffed fleece.  The flyer has a ½ inch orifice so anything, included felted flowers, can easily go through it.  The bobbin led system pulls the yarn around the bobbin just better for spinning in the fleecespun style.  I’ve tried the same yarn on my Ashford and because it’s a flyer led system it doesn’t have the same pull in as the Louet.   This is not to say the Ashford is not a good wheel. It does have a place in my spinning world, which I’ll discuss in a later post.  The Louet also has huge bobbins so I can easily fit 100 yards+ of bulky handspun on one.  

The only thing I would change about the wheel is the treadle.  I wish it was a double treadle.  My Ashford is a double treadle and I just like it better.  Double treadling feels effortless and has less stress on my feet and legs.  They do make double treadle Louets with the bobbin led system, which I have looked into along with the Ashford Country Spinner, and the Spinolution Wind, also a bobbin led wheels.  

Overall, if you are looking for an entry-level wheel that won’t break the bank I would highly recommend the Louet S17 because of ease of treadling and maintenance, as well as sheer sturdiness.  It might not be the most traditional looking wheel, but it will spin many yards of yarn and just keep going.