I became a yarn snob when I became allergic to acrylic yarn and switched over to wool and cotton. I guess now I’m a total yarn snob because I really want my wool to be American wool. We have so many sheep and their caregivers here in the States that I can support with my fiber arts why not make that choice? Especially when the wool is high quality and when I support these companies I support families that I can know. In this post I am sharing my top 4 picks.
Appearing in alphabetical order
Brown Sheep company has been around for 40 years and is a family business. They source wool from here in the US and mill it in Mitchell, Nebraska. The bunny above is crocheted using my favorite yarn from them, Nature Spun. The bunny is made using the worsted weight, I have also used the sport and fingering weights for different projects.
Brown Sheep also cares about the earth we call home and are making choices that help the environment. I recently met Robert and he saw my students stuffing amis, like the bunny pictured, and asked what we were using for stuffing. I told him we’re using polyfiber and then causally mentioned that I’d love to have wool stuffing. His first response I already knew and that is wool stuffing would be expensive. But he hesitated after that and shared that he had an idea of some wool that might work. He took my info and said he would send me of what he was thinking about.
Robert kept his word and the box arrived with 2 bags of different kinds of wool stuffing! Here is one of them.
The bunny pictured above is stuffed with that wool stuffing. I have since sent him my experience. I hope it will become a product that they can market and keep even more wool out of the landfill.
Left Hand Wool is from my home state of Colorado so of course I had to have wool from home! I ordered 3 of the big white balls you see in the photo. That is 4oz of Clun Forest roving. I dyed each ball using Kool-Aid and then separated them into smaller balls for spinning. I am nearly finished with the 4th ball I later ordered and dyed. The yarn is a 2-ply lace weight and will be used to knit the Country Summer Shawl. This wool dyed and has spun up wonderfully!
My most recent pattern release is the Cherry Hills shawl. The wonderful yarn that I used to make this shawl is from Mountain Meadow wool. Mountain Meadow Wool is in Buffalo, Wyoming and I can’t wait to go and visit the mill! HERE is a link to the yarn I used. I chose the color Rose.
They have wool yarns from many different breeds of sheep and some blends as well. They have what you need from roving to kits.
These mitts are a product of a kit that I received for my birthday last year. My son ordered the kit from Wool and Palette. In the kit was yarn from the Shaniko Wool Company. Many dyers, and even one “big name” seller I know of, carry wool from Shaniko. They are doing it right! They care about the workers, animals and families, then pass all that on to the consumer in stories, updates and great products! I have yarn dyed by Viking Fiber Company which is also from Shaniko. I have used different weights as well as wool dyed with plants vs dyed with acid dyes and they are all wonderful!
Most of these places also have newsletters and social media accounts. Click into their website to learn more!
Want more? Here is a link to a list of more fiber related products from the US.
Happy making!
As always, no affiliate links, just sharing my personal experience.
Azariahs Fibre Arts 