High quality clothing produced in the U.S. using wool raised in the U.S. – a viable business model?

Most Wool

Tommy Yates raises sheep and owns a wool processing mill in Minnesota.  Until meeting and speaking with him, I never understood the importance of supporting domestic wool producers.

Most of our wool clothing is made from wool grown and processed in New Zealand and manufactured in Asia.  The shipping of materials and finished products makes the carbon footprint something that should be of concern.  Supporting foreign economies versus our own is also a big concern.

Yes, domestically manufactured clothing using domestically produced wool can be expensive, but in addition to supporting U.S. based companies, the products are also garments that are high-quality and will last longer than most rags you’d find at Costco.

Yes, a $65 Duckworth t-shirt is an investment, but if you see how nicely it’s made and how well it conforms to the man’s body in the video above, it looks like it will be a cherished garment.  Back to the days when well-made garments were loved and respected for a long time.

See?!?!  I can be patriotic sometimes!

Current Knitting

I made some progress over the weekend with the Teddy Bear Baby Sweater:

The rows of bears require quite a few more rows of knitting than the Heart Baby Blankets, so this garment seems to progress more slowly, but it’s moving along none the less.

Readers’ Comments/Questions

Regarding the baby blankets posts from the last blog entry, Matt writes, “Did you make that second blanket? or is she giving you a not so subtle hint.”

I’m assuming by “she” you’re writing about the the mother of the boy holding the blanket I made for him as a baby.  She’s definitely not hinting for another blanket.  The second Teddy Bear Baby Blanket I’m making is for another family member who’s expecting.