BartlettYarns specializes in wool hand-knitting yarns and is best known for its Fisherman-brand yarns.The mill, was founded in 1821, on the banks of Higgins Stream, and is believed to be the oldest continuously operating yarn mill in the U.S. Much of the yarn is spun on machines that are over 100 years old. It was also the setting in Stephen King’s movie “Graveyard Shift”.
When you enter the mill, you see boxes of fleece that sheep growers send or bring each spring. The growers are given raw wool in return which they can sell at farmstands or stores.
The wool is shipped out in big burlap bags to be cleaned and dyed.
When it returns, the yarn is spun on a spinning mule, "The Bartlett Mule". It is one of the last of its kind still operating in the US. It duplicates the motion of a hand spinner.
With it's 240 bobbins.
This machine twists the wool onto cones.
You can buy some of this beautiful wool yarn at the retail store across the street, or on their website.
I went with the Waterville Area Newcomer's Craft group. They are planning to have their first open house this summer on August 7,8,9, 2009.
I think Mom would like to go there with you.
ReplyDeleteSo did you buy any yarn? Looks like an interesting place.
ReplyDeleteHello,Susan!
ReplyDeleteI was in Harmony early nineties and I saw this old mill.The folks I was visiting new my interest in the books of S. King . Got a bit nostalgic here and just wanted to see that place again, if only on the internet.Hope it's still running. ...Mats from Sweden, Europe