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The PEI trail to Wool



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 12th 07, 11:19 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
Aaron Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 65
Default The PEI trail to Wool

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


Ads
  #2  
Old July 13th 07, 04:32 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
[email protected][_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12
Default The PEI trail to Wool

On Jul 12, 5:19 pm, "Aaron Lewis" wrote:

http://www.peisland.com/wool/

Not a very buyer-friendly website - not even a swatch card to give us
some idea of the colors.

The place for refined yarns is Belfast Mini Mills on PEI ( www.
minimills.net).


Nice stuff indeed. It's too bad we can no longer order qiviut-blend
yarn from them. Now that I made my bedsocks I'd rather make a shawl
but the "retail" outlets for the stuff now that it's popular thanks to
the Arctic Lace book have priced qiviut-blend yarn out of my
checkbook.

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.


It may be the owner of that mill doesn't have it grounded. A friend
here in town who has a Cottage Industry carder (7-drum, no roving
accumulator unfortunately) was having a horrid time with static until
I asked her if she had grounded the thing. Her answer was "huh?" so I
grounded it for her with a length of copper wire attached to the water
faucet and PRESTO, the static went away.


* 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?


I can't see the utility of putting a flyer shaft (the bit with the
orifice) on a great wheel. All you'd accomplish thereby would be the
twitsting of the fiber, and then how do you wind it on? Some walking
wheels were equipped with flyers for whatever reason though again
there's that whole "where's the point?" thing; after all, one needs to
move the yarn from hook to hook periodically and THAT messes up the
rhythm of things. Maybe the spinster tasked a small child to spinning
the wheel while the spinster did the drafting and moving of the yarn
from one flyer hook to the next...

Aaron



  #3  
Old July 13th 07, 02:45 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn,A
Spike Driver
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 606
Default The PEI trail to Wool

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
  #4  
Old July 13th 07, 05:58 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
Aaron Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 65
Default The PEI trail to Wool

The people at MacAusland are very nice and helpful. Like I said, I did not
want to give contact info before laying out the issues. It is a big, old,
dark, dusty, noisy place that smells of sheep and spinning oil. Equipment
is powered by leather belts running to rotating shafts running along the
ceilings. They allow visitors to look around the operating mill, which makes
the place more interesting than the museum at Lowell, Mass. However, with
their rotating equipment, I would not take a child into MacAusland's. The
most advanced electronics that I saw in the building was the dial telephone.
Orders are written up by hand, weighed on a scale, added up on pencil and
paper. It is a slice of a bygone time. For that, the mill is worth a visit.

I watched them bring up another dye lot of "burgundy". It was so different
that they would have had to change the photo on the web site. DW did not
like the old burgundy color that they had on the shelves when we walked in,
but DW did like the new burgundy and she made me buy 10 skeins of the new
burgundy. Looks like her sweater will be burgundy G. I would buy their
naturals by mail order, no problem, but maybe not the dyed colors. You can
touch and feel the yarns at a large number of woolen outlets across the
Atlantic Providences, but by then the price is $5 - $7/ skein which puts it
up in the price range of other yarns. So, plan a vacation to PEI, visit the
two mills, buy some yarn, and save some money.

In contrast, Belfast minimill is bright, clean, and quiet. Every piece of
equipment has enough computing power to be the envy of NASA.

Aaron

wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jul 12, 5:19 pm, "Aaron Lewis" wrote:

http://www.peisland.com/wool/

Not a very buyer-friendly website - not even a swatch card to give us
some idea of the colors.

The place for refined yarns is Belfast Mini Mills on PEI ( www.
minimills.net).


Nice stuff indeed. It's too bad we can no longer order qiviut-blend
yarn from them. Now that I made my bedsocks I'd rather make a shawl
but the "retail" outlets for the stuff now that it's popular thanks to
the Arctic Lace book have priced qiviut-blend yarn out of my
checkbook.

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.


It may be the owner of that mill doesn't have it grounded. A friend
here in town who has a Cottage Industry carder (7-drum, no roving
accumulator unfortunately) was having a horrid time with static until
I asked her if she had grounded the thing. Her answer was "huh?" so I
grounded it for her with a length of copper wire attached to the water
faucet and PRESTO, the static went away.


* 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?


I can't see the utility of putting a flyer shaft (the bit with the
orifice) on a great wheel. All you'd accomplish thereby would be the
twitsting of the fiber, and then how do you wind it on? Some walking
wheels were equipped with flyers for whatever reason though again
there's that whole "where's the point?" thing; after all, one needs to
move the yarn from hook to hook periodically and THAT messes up the
rhythm of things. Maybe the spinster tasked a small child to spinning
the wheel while the spinster did the drafting and moving of the yarn
from one flyer hook to the next...

Aaron





  #5  
Old July 14th 07, 11:05 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
spampot[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 92
Default The PEI trail to Wool

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 am green with envy. Last summer I accompanied my mother on an
Elderhostel trip through Nova Scotia & PEI, and it made me hungry for
more! We were rushed through several places we'd like to have spent
more time in, and Cheticamp was one of them. I've saved your posts in
this thread for the next time we go up there, on our own.
  #6  
Old July 15th 07, 01:03 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
Aaron Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 65
Default The PEI trail to Wool

It is worth pointing out that my wife (who does not knit) spent a lot more
money in the woolen/yarn shops than I did. A good wool shop has appeal for
everyone.

(Maybe she would have spent less if I knit more for her, but I doubt it.
She already has more sweaters than she gets around to wearing here in
California.)

Aaron
"spampot" ""spampot\"@NO SPAM orph.org" wrote in message
...
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 am green with envy. Last summer I accompanied my mother on an
Elderhostel trip through Nova Scotia & PEI, and it made me hungry for
more! We were rushed through several places we'd like to have spent more
time in, and Cheticamp was one of them. I've saved your posts in this
thread for the next time we go up there, on our own.



 




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