The Wool Wire | April 24, 2025

News snippets from the wool world

Dearest woolheads,

First, I want to thank those of you who took the leap and joined me on my Knit Stars season 10 adventure. I'm grateful for your trust and support. (If you missed it, don't worry. You can enroll this fall before the season launches.)

Speaking of knitting, two big announcements came out recently. They mark a significant shift or a continuation of a drift that's been happening for a while, I'll let you be the judge.

Bye Bye Brooklyn

After 15 years of making artisanal American yarn, Brooklyn Tweed is exiting the yarn business. In their public statement, owners Jared Flood and Luigi Boccia said that their business was viable, but each of them needed to pursue their own creative paths and "explore new ideas."

Brooklyn Tweed (BT) began as Jared's personal blog. His designs gained popularity, and the blog became the BT knitwear design and yarn company we know today. The company's archive of 800+ BT patterns will continue to be available—hopefully with recommended yarn substitutions.

Hello Harrisville

BT was a big chunk of business for several American mills, especially Harrisville. The historic New Hampshire mill has been in operation since 1794, and it's been spinning for BT since its inception.

Once the last skeins of BT's popular Shelter and Loft have been sold, I'd like to draw your attention to Harrisville's longtime staples Shetland and Highland—which are remarkably similar to Loft and Shelter. Both yarns are available in 64 heathered colors whose recipes come from the same person who helped BT develop their colorways.

The yarns are masterfully spun and hold up under the stresses of everyday knitting tension and a lifetime of wear and tear.

Private equity makes inroads

Supporting small independent endeavors such as Harrisville is especially important at a time when so much of our world—everything from rental properties to daycare centers and hospitals—is being gobbled up by private equity firms. I had no idea private equity had already made inroads into our knitting world until I heard this next bit of news.

Last week, it was announced that Laura Zander sold Jimmy Beans Wool to private equity firm Local Crafts Group, a division of the $1.8 billion private equity firm Blue Point Capital Partners. I didn't realize this, but Local Crafts Group had already acquired Berroco, Knit Picks, Crochet.com, Connecting Threads, and Superior Threads. This move will also move Jimmy Beans-owned brands della Q, Madelinetosh, and Dream in Color into the mix.

Zander will become Chief Brand Officer of Local Crafts Group. The Reno Gazette Journal reports layoffs among the 75 people Jimmy Beans employed in Reno and Texas.

More mills doing good work

Another independent woolen mill doing good work is Mountain Meadow Wool. If you have five minutes, I think you'll enjoy this video profile they produced a few years ago. In addition to showing you the people behind the mill, it speaks to Wyoming's role in building and/or reviving textile manufacturing in the United States.

What goes up can come down

We hear so much talk of rising prices. But on March 12, Faribault Mill announced it was permanently lowering the prices of some of its most popular cotton and wool blankets.

This move to lower prices comes as the company optimizes production costs through a series of measures including an historic investment in new equipment that increases productivity, streamlined production processes, and waste reduction. The ability to reduce prices was also achieved through smart sourcing of materials made in the United States and consecutive years of record sales growth.

That's right, they've found ways to more efficiently and cost-effectively make their products—still in the United States—and are sharing their cost savings with customers. I'd like to live in a world where more companies follow suit.

On that note, I'll let you go.

Thanks, as always, for your readership and your support.

Until next time,

Clara