09/08/2022
10 Items Under $10/lb!

We recently raised prices on our most popular items to help us cope with the ever-skyrocketing shipping costs we’re all dealing with. Even still, we have plenty of great products available for under $10/lb, continuing our mission make industrial-quality wool and fiber as accessible as possible.

One of our most popular products at $9.95/lb is our Falkland Top (#47). At 27.5 micron and 3-4 inch staple, it’s quite versatile, beloved by spinners and felters alike. The name is a bit misleading, as it’s a throwback to the wool supplied by the Falkland Company through our long-time British Wool Supplier.

These days this product is sourced domestically, and produced to spec of the beloved Falkland types. The wool that goes into it is designed to meet certain specifications, including a standard of bright whiteness. Customers tell us it dyes well, wet felts well, and is fun to spin!

Our Domestic Carded Sliver line has lots of options under $10/lb! The product we’re most proud of at the moment is our Dark Grey Local Carded Sliver (#26D), recently featured in The Spin Off Magazine!

In the traditional wool industry, “black wool” is used to describe any lot that isn’t white. So “black wool” may describe browns and greys of all shades and breeds. We collect “black wool” from a number of local producers and wool pools, and this product is the result of our collection. This is our best batch yet, a lovely dark grey color with a ~3 inch staple. Overdyeing yields some gorgeous results!

Our long-time number one product, and one of our best values at $7.95/lb, is our Domestic Wool Top (#91). This is the product we suggest when someone says “I need American Wool” with no other qualifier. As such, it’s a favorite among dryer ball makers, and by our estimation has probably been in a million dryer balls at this point.

Another product that’s made to spec, and includes all kinds of breeds, we’ve dubbed it our “Heinz 57” variety because there might be that many different breeds in it. It’s 29.5 micron, a throwback to the standard for medium knitting yarns. It spins nicely, and the variance in the staple is particularly great for beginners!

Another winner from our Domestic Carded Sliver series at $9.75/lb is our Shearer’s Choice Silver Grey Dorset Carded Sliver (#24DD). The Dorset base wool for this was brought to us by a local shearer who has seen all the New England wool scene has to offer. We added in some of that “black” wool to give it a lovely grey shade.

This wool will spin into a bouncy yarn that experienced spinners tell us are good for socks. Carded sliver also seems to be a favorite among needle felters. Since the fibers haven’t been combed they tend to felt more easily.

New Zealand is famous for it’s wool for a reason, and for just $8.50/lb you can find out why with our New Zealand Romney Top (#1021). At 35 micron, it’s great for sturdy yarn, but can be felted as well. Romney tends to be more lustrous, and this product has a bit of a sheen. It’s particularly popular with weavers and rug makers.

If you need it in a loose wool, you might also check out our NZ Romney Open Top, which is the same wool but cut into 4.5inch pieces. Also a great deal at $9/lb!

Speaking of rug yarns, another popular item among rug makers and weavers is our Primitive Breed Carded Sliver (#21DK). In the traditional wool industry “Primitive” breeds are sheep that haven’t been bred for any particular wool qualities. However, the recent shift towards a focus on breeds has given new value to these wools.

This product is American Churro, which has an interesting answer to the “how many micron” question. There’s a wide range of variance in each fleece, from 20-40 micron. Approx. 25% is 23 micron and finer and 25% is 35 micron and coarser and the rest is somewhere in between. This makes for a sturdy product, that was Grace’s favorite to spin when she was first learning to draft.

We first discovered our Natural Brown Spanish Merino Comeback while looking for a new dyed black product several years ago. We liked the base wool of the black so much, we decided to start carrying it. And here it is, all the way from Spain.

We call the “Comeback” because a Merino flock was bred with other breeds to achieve the lovely natural brown shade, then re-bred with Merino again to get a finer wool. So the Merino “came back” into this line. It’s $9/lb and 26 micron – another one beloved by spinners and felters alike!

We call ourselves Wool Merchants, but we dabble in other fiber too. Particularly, we can’t resist a good inventory clean out. That’s how we came about this bale of Scoured Suri Alpaca – a local mill was looking to take it off their inventory.

This is only our second ever foray into Alpaca, and at $8/lb and while it’s short for Alpaca, it’s quite clean for a scoured product. Our estimate is 25 micron, though it feels more like 23 or so, as alpaca tends to feel even softer than it is. PSSST it’s on sale for $7/lb through September 20.

Another mill-cleanout wool-alternative is our Blue Rayon, a deal at just $5/lb. We’ve had folks remark that it feels just like bamboo – it does! Rayon, like bamboo, is processed wood fiber. We have seen rayon marketed as “vegan silk” and it does indeed lend a soft touch when blended. A lovely dark blue color, though may require some processing before use.

Back to wool! Our scoured Cheviot is sourced raw in New England and shipped down the East Coast to be processed. As far as we can tell, we are the only folks selling a scoured wool product. It will likely need some processing before use, but that’s why it’s such a deal at $6/lb. We’ve seen this used for a few different applications, but those using it for stuffing amuse us the most. This wool has gone into cat toys, dog beds, mattresses and more!

Scoured wool contains some VM and dusty so we do not recommend purchasing a large quantity if you are not experienced with processing fiber. We hope to explore more of our scoured products in future blog posts, so stay tuned!