Aaron Lewis wrote:
http://www.peisland.com/wool/

We were staying at this inn on Cape Breton, and they had a nice ceramic bowl
in the hall. We inquired, and the potter that made the bowl, had her studio
right around the corner. We found it (no road signs)! The Potter's husband,
"R" was tending shop. Lots of nice pots, all very expensive. But, there was
a big bowl of really nice mittens in the corner. So, I asked R where the
mitten knitter got her yarn. He called her, and pretended ask, and told us
she got the yarn at the Artists Co-op in Cheticamp, NS (Cape Breton). He
said, she said, it was an "all wool yarn." We head for Cheticamp.

Half an hour down the road, there is a woolen shop and we stop. We chat with
the owner. She has nice yarn for sale, and nice sweaters for sale. The yarn
is $4.50 - $5.00 per skein - I thought it was a very good value. My wife
orders a custom knit sweater, knit out of some of the yarn that the shop
sold, and the shop owner makes me promise to knit my wife a sweater in
August. We chat some more, and it turns out that the woolen shop owner
knows the old lady that knit the mittens in the Pottery shop. For years, R
had been buying the woolen shop's yarn for the old lady, but he had not been
in for a year or so. The yarn in the woolen shop was not the yarn in the
mittens. On to Cheticamp.

We found the Artists Co-op in Cheticamp. They also run a cafe, which is the
place in Cheticamp to get a very good, inexpensive lunch. But, mostly
around Cheticamp, they do rug hooking, and the yarn sold at the Artists Coop
is rug yarn.* R lied to me.

North of Cheticamp is Jean's. Jean hooks rugs and has a shop. For her high
end, soft rugs, Jean uses MacAusland's wool. She loves the stuff. Turns out
it is the same wool sold by the woolen shop above, and the same wool used by
the knitters that sell things on consignment in Jean's shop. ( It broke my
heart to see really wonderful, hand knit socks selling for the very low
prices that they go for at Jean's! They are really nice socks selling for
too cheap! However, I think I convinced one of the pricey shops on PEI to
start selling knit goods from around Cheticamp.)

On to Prince Edward Island and North Rustico. There, in a shop called
Island Traditions that is full of silk blend sock yarn and hand spun rare
breed yarns, is more MacAusland's wool. Only this shop keeper provides value
added by washing the yarn before she sells it for $6.50 and $7.00 per skein.
We are now only 80 miles from the mill.

On to the mill. It is an old lumber mill converted to a woolen mill. Big
leather belts drive all the machinery. Everything is old fashioned. As a
result, skeins may run as much as 25% over weight. Different dye lots really
are different colors. The mill has become justly famous for their blankets,
and their blankets are sold across Canada - often at huge markups. This
means that the mill has out run its wool supply and you should not expect
great consistency in the yarn. Some dye lots had a lot more VM than others.
The yarn is spun woolen style and has a bit of "lumpyness" to it, sort of an
hand spun effect. It is spun with a spinning oil that has a certain odor.
Their spinning oil does stop moths, but I found that it came off on to my
hands and clothes.

Still it is a good woolen yarn in 3 natural colors and 28 dyed colors in 2
or 3 ply for only about $2.50 or $2.95. ( I pulled out my needles and knit a
test swatch, then, I bought 33 skeins and 2 blankets.) Added to the 8
skeins that my wife bought for her sweater, we bought 41 skeins of
MacAusland's yarn during the trip. In the mill, they also had a bunch of
stuff that is not on their web site. Stuff like mohair blends at $13.50 per
pound in a pound cone. Partial cones left over from their blanket weaving.
They give a quantity discount when you buy 25 pounds or more. The blankets
are very nice and the mill shop sells seconds for about half price. (That
is what I am going to put inside my next quilt.)

If you are knitting for people that live in cold places, then I think it
would be really hard to beat MacAusland's wool. On the other hand, I spoke
to people that asked MacAusland to do custom spinning and they were not real
happy with the result - too "lumpy". But then, she is a textile fiber
professional and she likes more refined yarns.

The place for refined yarns is Belfast Mini Mills on PEI ( www.
minimills.net). Their actual business is selling mini mills, and their mini
mills are a wonder of technology. The have a washer that does a great job
of scouring ( and recycles the water). Their picker is amazing. Their
carders and combing machines can turn out roving to produce coarse woolen
yarn or fine worsted lace. It is the best roving that I have ever seen.
And, their spinners - Wow!!!, their twist is always exact. They use an air
splicer, so there is never a knot. Plying and skeining is all electronically
controlled and very precise. Dying is perfect, not just close, but perfect.
Ok, they get $15 to $20 a pound for spinning your wool. And, they are out in
the middle of no-where so there is shipping. Their shop is full of very
nice ($$$$$$$) stuff (including MacAusland's wool blankets!!) If I had a
really nice fleece, and I wanted a very consistent yarn, Belfast is where I
would send it. I should add, that one mini mill that Belfast sold to an
Alpaca breeder outside of Lunenburg is having serious problems with static,
so while the technology is wonderful, the skill of the spinster counts.

The mitten wool? Turns out, it was good old Briggs & Little Tuffy, as seen
under halogen lamps that gave the nylon a special shine. sheepish grin

* In the basement of the Artists Coop is a small museum. There they had two
wool spinning wheels - great wheels with spindles. However, both spindles
had orifices, and looked like they had originally had fliers on them and big
bobbins for winding large cones. Is there any way to use an orifice in a
spindle without a flier?

Aaron


Aaron,
I can't answer your spinning wheel question. I sure did enjoy reading
your post. Thanks friend.
Dennis