American Wool production has a long and difficult history. We are so proud to stock several American wools, including Spincycle Yarns, a woman-owned and operated business in Bellingham, Washington. This year they celebrate 20 years in business, and we are so thankful for their contributions to the US wool industry.

Celebrating our “Independents” – The Spincycle Story

Supporting the “independents” in the yarn industry is an important part of our shop’s mission. Spincycle is one of our favorites! Spincycle Yarns was formed in 2004 by Kate Burge-Tibi and Rachel Price. The two of them were kettle dyeing and spinning small batches of yarn and vending at Bellingham’s farmers’ market, after meeting while working together at the local food co-op. They would dye and spin all week in their time off, then bring their yarns by bicycle to the Saturday market. Because they began with hand dyeing and handspinning, the hardest part of growing Spincycle from its tiny roots into a mill and dye house with worldwide reach, was figuring out how to scale up production while making yarn that looked just like their original handspun.  A chance encounter with someone opening a micro mill near Bellingham led to the development of their first mill-spun yarns – a machine made version of their unique and amazing handspun! By keeping the dyeing methods exactly the same, only with much bigger pots, the yarns looked just like the original handspun. When the owner of the mill unexpectedly decided to retire, the two-person team bought all of the milling equipment, moved it into one big empty warehouse that could hold their dye house, mill, and offices, and got to work setting up a bigger team for their operations.  Kate and Rachel are now in their twentieth year of Spincycle, and have shared their plans for growth.

In 2022, we bought a vacant building in Bellingham’s downtown core, and we will be renovating it over the next two years. Eventually it will house our dye facility, mill, offices, and retail space. It will also bring a bit of manufacturing back to our town and a bit of beauty to a block of downtown that is currently empty. We are looking forward to our mill being accessible and open for tours. Our building sits directly across from Bellingham’s children’s museum, and it’s a dream of ours to spark curiosity and interest in the next generation of makers and entrepreneurs.