Enjoy a brief interview with Making / FAUNA sponsor Green Mountain Spinnery: 

Tell us how your business got started.

The Spinnery got started in 1981 by a group of fiber enthusiasts with the goals of creating yarns of the highest quality, to help sustain regional sheep farming, and to develop environmentally sound ways to process natural fibers.  You can learn more about how we got started in the Woolful podcast episode 41 which features an interview with three of the original founders of the Spinnery.

What is unique about your company?

We feel as though the Spinnery is unique in many ways!

Our yarns are spun on antique machinery, the oldest machine still in daily use here at the Spinnery was manufactured in 1898.

All the fibers we use – alpaca, mohair, wool and organic cotton – are grown in the United States. We make every effort to purchase directly from individual growers.
We are one of the few organic yarn manufacturers in the US. We can maintain fiber's organic integrity through our production process ensuring that the care taken by the shepherd to raise a flock organically is carried through to the yarn made from their fleece.

And last but certainly not least, the Spinnery is a worker owned co-operative.

Describe your perfect day.

There are about a dozen of us that work here at the Spinnery and we all have different ideas about what might make a perfect day; however, we can all agree that we'd want to spend part of the day outdoors. We are surrounded by hills to hike, the Connecticut River to paddle, and many orchards to harvest from. A tasty lunch from one of our local farmer's markets and an evening spent in front of the fire with some knitting would make it all complete.