Why wool pays (but not to you)

(School has started, yet I continue to go on about fiber arts)

I'm looking forward to the festival next week, which is essentially an opportunity to spend huge amounts of money on yarn. Since I have very limited amounts of money, I went to some of the vendors' websites to see what sort of budget I've got. For instance, I like the look of the wool-bamboo blends that are out there.

35 dollars a skein. That's about one small scarf.

I made a really interesting sound when I found that.

Still, that's a fancy bamboo blend. I checked the price on more normal yarn, and even that is listed around 28 dollars.

So, let's say you don't feel like spending a ton of money on pretty yarn, but you fortuitously own sheep (or llamas. Or camels! I'm not picky). Getting your own wool processed is cheaper, right? Well, as long as you give them an impeccably clean fleece (20$ an hour for skirting it, otherwise), it only costs 5$ a pound to wash it. And a further 7$ a pound to card it.

So we're at 12$ a pound, still a steal by comparison. Except it's not actually spun into anything usable yet, and it's still the same color as the sheep. Or camel.

Did I mention there's a 50 pound suggested minimum?

Then, to spin it, that's positively cheap, just 2$ a pound, but getting it dyed pretty colors more than makes up for it, around 12 $ a pound.

So, let's see:

washing: 5

carding: 7

spinning: 2

dyeing: 12

Total is 26 dollars a pound, a skein is typically half a pound. So congratulations, you've gotten your yarn at half price (a total of about $1250, not including any sundry processing fees).

And what's more, you now have forty pounds of it.

*I don't actually mind the price of good yarn, though I am of course regretful I can't afford much of it. I suspect there's a healthy profit margin, seeing as raw wool prices have been tanked for the last decade, but letting someone else deal with the steps is fine with me. For weaving I actually need much better yarn than I could possibly handspin.

**prices obtained from Briar Rose Fibers and Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill, both very good suppliers and supporters of wool industry. There's huge variation in prices, though. While these are pretty representative, they are not the final word.

Yep, I'm makin' a scarf!