knitting

A Knitter’s Boon: Wyoming Wool

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Gray wall, skeins of gray-toned yarn, with basket on top of cream yarn. Text, "A Knitter's Boon: Wyoming Wool, Petticoats & Pistols"

Confession time. I’m not a knitter.

I would like to be one. I’ve tried knitting. My grandmother taught me the basics when I was eight or nine years old. Much like my messy handwriting, my knitting only produced oblong shapes, instead of tidy, neat rows.

Crocheting, on the other hand? Love it!

Yeah, I produce oblong shapes sometimes when I crochet, but I just unravel the rows and start over. I find crocheting to be relaxing.

One of my favorite parts of a crochet project is picking out the yarn. There’s something so satisfying about standing in front of an aisle of yarn. All those colors! All those textures! I want them all. I could spend a LOT of money on yarn.

An article in the Cowboy State Daily recently caught my eye, “How Two Wyoming Women Turned a Hobby into Largest Wool Mill in the West.” Everything about that headline made me throw out a YEEHAW!

Wyoming wool? Yes, please!

Here’s what I learned from the article.

Two enterprising women–avid knitters–from Buffalo, Wyoming, wanted to open a craft store that sold yarn made from Wyoming wool. Apparently, Basque sheep abound in their area. But when they purchased a large bale of wool from a local rancher, they couldn’t find anyone to process it. They found a mill in Canada to process their 400-pound bale and ended up with about 200 pounds of white yarn that they then dyed and sold at farmers markets and similar outlets. Crafters loved the yarn, and Karen Hostetler and her friend set out to expand their business.

It wasn’t easy. They had to research and apply for grants. They even toured mills overseas to learn the ins and outs of production. In time, they purchased a no-longer-in-use T-shirt factory, sourced the equipment, and hired people. The business has only grown from there.

These two ladies buy their wool from six Wyoming ranchers, and they’ve set up a custom dye shop. One nice thing about Wyoming wool? It’s soft, not scratchy.

Mountain Meadow Wool has expanded since those early days. They’re producing 60,000 pounds of wool annually and introducing 30-40 new colors this year for the three types of yarn they produce–a fingering weight yarn, a chunky worsted, and a three-ply. They also sell wool products online.

For “100% American Made & Wyoming Grown” yarn, head to Mountain Meadow Wool!

Do you like to knit or crochet? What’s your favorite hobby?

Enjoy your day!

Crafting Obsessions

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We use crafting nowadays for leisure and a way of managing stress in our lives. In the old west, it was much more practical. Take, for instance, knitting. When  you lived a two-day ride from town, by necessity, you created your own warm garments for winter. I’ll bet socks probably took main stage, but hand-knitted scarves, sweaters, mittens and hats were often found under the Christmas tree as well.

I used to cross-stitch, I’ve quilted, and occasionally sew my own clothes.

This is a cross stitch I did back in the ’80s

But for the past several years, it’s been knitting. The problem is, I feel like if I can do it, it’s too easy. So I end up mired in impossible projects that I barely make it through in a year. But when I’m done, I have a work of art! I mostly choose Fair Isle projects, for the amazing colorwork. Here’s a few examples of things I’ve made:

Since none of those did me in (though it was sometimes a near thing), I’m venturing into new territory; designing my own.

I took a pattern:

And am adding a motif on the back –

I used this to get a color palette

I’m only about six inches in, and it is HARD! I’ll try to remember to post when it’s done, but don’t hold your breath, it’ll probably take me a year to finish! Wish me luck.

How about you? Are you crafty? What is your obsession?