Two years ago, while at the NH Wool and Sheep Festival, my husband was approached by the Green Mountain Spinnery, asking if our son could model an exquisite aran sweater for their new knitting book. Located in Putney, VT, the spinnery is dedicated to producing beautiful yarns, to helping sustain local sheep farming and to developing ecofriendly methods for processing natural fibers. All their fibers are grown in the United States and the 100% wool yarns are from New England fleeces. Their new knitting pattern book, 99 Yarns and Counting, has finally been published! The photographer, Marti Stone, did an amazing job with the book, making it a treat to thumb through. She was also so kind in giving me these pictures to post. We had the opportunity to go down to the spinnery for the book opening. My children were in their element, watching goats and knitters, and enjoying cider, cheese, and attention!  photo by Marti Stone  Photo by Marti Stone I was quite pleased to be able to tour Green Mountain Spinnery and to learn more about how natural fibers are processed on the industrial level. The Spinnery uses vintage equipment that dates back to the turn of the 20th century. A fiber haven, wool is tucked in every corner.  Photo by Marti Stone After being cleaned, the wool is carded on an enormous card allowing them to processes huge amounts of wool at a time! The card was taller than me and took up the length of the room. After carding, the fiber is spun onto dozens of spindles at a time. It was quite fun to see the process and I highly recommend going to take a tour. Their staff is delightfully friendly, to boot.  Photo by Marti Stone  Photo by Marti Stone As for knitting the spinnery's patterns, I have already gone crazy! I have enjoyed this hat so much that I have made variations of it for myself and for my children. What a great design!   |
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