24 October 2023:
Picked up the last of Batch 8 at American Woolen

7 September 2023:
In the last couple of weeks, we have dropped off Fabric to make several types of garments

25 August 2023:
Picked up all of the FullWeight Drab from American Woolen

8 July 2023:
All of the Batch 8 MidWeight Drab Green Fabric has been completed, and is in our possession (or at the tailors). Some of the Batch 8 FullWeight Drab Green is still in process of weaving at MTL and some is in finishing at AWC, which is closed until 17 July for summer break.

12 May 2023:
First tranche of Batch 8 has been delivered to tailors. All MidWeight Drab Fabric. We'll be making CPOs, Hooded Jackets and Anoraks. Second tranche, again, all MidWeight Drab, will be shipped from MTL to AWC for finishing next week.

28 April 2023:
The first tranche of Batch 8, All MidWeight Drab, has been completed, but I don't know yet how many yards. I should be picking it up on Tuesday the 2nd and we'll get started on MidWeight Anoraks pronto. We'll also be doing some FullWeight Drab Anoraks from most of the last of the Batch 7 Fabric.

Status as of 9 April 2023:
American Woolen Company (AWC) is finishing the first bolts of Batch 8, and Material Technology and Logistics (MTL) continues to weave. We expect to take delivery of the first tranche of Batch 8 this month.

All our Fabric, through Batch 8, has been (is being) made to the same specs from raw fiber of the same criteria.  But because of weather and feed conditions, the same ranch's clip may not test out the same each year.  Testing must be done every year on every clip.  Batch Tags will tell us the ranchers, tailors, thread, etc. for long term studies.  And ranchers, in particular, enjoy knowing which garments are made from their own flocks.  

PLEASE NOTE: Much of what is written here duplicates what is written about Batch 7 because we had to intermingle Batch 8 with Batch 7 because of the impact of Hurricane Ida.

Rather than repeat it all, please click into Batch 7 for a list of the ranches that supplied our greasy, the yield, the timing, etc.

In the end, we came out fine although we did have an adventure and, for a while, thought we had a serious problem.

Batch 7 Fabric has been completed as originally planned (but much delayed), and the fiber that is left over from the combined Batches is Batch 8.

Batch 8 Fiber has all been dyed Drab, mostly because MidWeight Drab Fabric has been delayed the longest. American Woolen has prepared the yarn for weaving, which began late February. American Woolen does our spinning, some of the dyeing and all the finishing. Material Technology and Logistics (MTL) does our weaving.

We anticipate making 2880 yards / 2634 meters, which is enough for VERY approximately 800 garments:

• 840 yards / 768 meters (29%) of FullWeight Drab Fabric
• 2040 yards / 1866 meters (71%) of MidWeight Drab Fabric

3 March 2023:  The last of the Batch 8 weft shipping from AWC to MTL

13 Feb 2023:  The Batch 8 warp shipped 13 Feb from AWC to MTL, along with some weft. MTL is where our Yarn is woven into greige Fabric. The warp yarn (runs lengthwise through a bolt of fabric) shipped first because MTL needs a week or two to prepare the warp before they are ready. The preparation of warp is called "warping", and it mainly involves winding the warp onto giant spools.

Our Fabric has about 3000 warp yarns arrayed across a bolt of about 53 inches (135 cm). Each strand of yarn must be kept under precise control and parallel to the strands next to it. I've watched the looms in action, and the warping process, and it's one of those things that seems it could never work ... but it does!

 

Please click here for a discussion of FullWeight vs MidWeight Fabric.

Please click for the page listing all WeatherWool Fabric Batches.

 

THANK YOU --- Ralph