In the Navajo nation the grass is still green in late May. It snows, dusting the red earth for the last time of this season. It doesn’t last long, and neither will the green grass. Summer is nearly here. 

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We spent a sunny May afternoon at Diné College, meeting with the organizers heading the agricultural programs at the campus and witnessing firsthand, with great excitement, as raw wool rolled in throughout the day, where it was sorted, graded, and marked with the name of each originating family. 

Working with our liaison Stanley, who was there to also teach a workshop on wool grading with students at the college, we worked out some of the nitty-gritty details of the wool purchase, and were able to lay the initial groundwork for what we hope will flourish as a consistent and mutually beneficial partnership.

We were grateful for the time and expertise of everyone we met, and enjoyed every moment of our brief time amidst the red rock and endless blue skies.

It’s a lovely thing to know our yarn stands as a fine product on its own, but we reflect often on Peace Fleece founder Peter Hagerty's original vision for the brand, and the importance of connections: bridging the past to the present in meaningful ways, and seeking to improve practices wherever we can so that the next generation is able to carry forward with confidence into the future.

To be able to offer a product with a deeper purpose means more to us than simply producing really great yarn, and we are excited to tend this little flame for as long as we can.

As we continue to work out all the many small but crucial details and look towards the arrival of our wool, processed, blended, dyed, and ready for the mill to spin, our vision of stabilizing our supply chain to meet the patient, joyful, and ever-growing demand for Peace Fleece yarn in meaningful and practical ways inches closer to fruition.

We are one step closer to spinning up more of our Worsted line, and after that we'll be turning back to Peace Fleece DK, eventually bringing our lighter weight yarn back into the world and in the hands of knitters who share our love of good wool. The future is promising.

We can't help but look at our yarn and see, amongst its colorful, heathered plies, the places and people that make it all possible. 

Ah, the magic of blocking. As makers we often reflect upon the transformative process of knitting, creating purposeful garments out of two sticks and string, and the humble knit stitch. One very practical yet magical transformation that we never tire of witnessing? The difference a warm, soapy water bath makes on wooly yarn—in particular, woolen-spun yarn.

When a skein of Peace Fleece lands on your doorstep, it arrives with minimal processing. The yarn’s natural state at this stage belies the true quality of the woolen-spun fibers, carded together every which way within its two gently twisted plies. What happens once the yarn hits water and is given a relaxing soak is referred to as “bloom” - that opening up of fibers that are processed and spun in a woolen-spun method plays a major part in the “ta-da!” moment of blocking transformation, and in the versatility of the yarn to accommodate a lovely range of gauges and characteristics in the finished fabric.

If you’ve ever compared this blooming behavior of woolen-spun against a worsted-spun yarn, you may have noticed quite a difference between the way they look and behave in the final garment.

Notice how smooth and almost two-dimensional the unblocked strand of yarn directly off the skein on the right is, compared to how rounded, lofty, dare we say plump and happy, the washed, blocked and fully dried strand is on the left?

(Side note: once those fibers in a woolen-spun yarn are opened up, they create airy spaces in the yarn which serve to regulate temperature, both trapping heat in and acting as insulation when it’s cold, and distributing heat away from the body when it's warmer out—practical magic, in a nutshell.)

Here's an extreme closeup of blocked stockinette stitch versus its pre-bath state:

Once wet-blocked and laid flat to air dry, the final finished piece is lofty, uniform, airy, and cohesive.

Even when knit at a looser, more open gauge than is typical, woolen-spun yarns happily bloom to fill in the gaps to create a shockingly light and floaty, yet warm and solid, fabric.

As we know, gauge plays a huge part not just in fit and final dimensions of a project, but the overall hand and behavior of the fabric it creates. Each of the above swatches feature the same number of stitches and rows, with a different result in the feel of the knitted swatch. All lovely and useful in their own right.

Below, swatches of the Odiorne Gansey's textural stitch patterns, as well as the lovely cable pattern featured in the Salina pullover. DK shines brightly in textures and plain knit fabrics alike. With the added fuzziness of mohair, stitch patterns once blocked attain a defined softness, one of our favorite characteristics of a yarn like Peace Fleece DK. 

We encourage you to experiment with different types of stitch patterns, needle sizes, and projects to get to know how versatile and lovely our DK yarn can be.

Though it's currently springtime here in our northeastern part of the United States, we are already dreaming and planning our next cool-season knits!

Check out our available colors of Peace Fleece DK (now offered in 50g skeins!) and visit our Patterns page for new project ideas. 

In these past few months, we have found ourselves spending much more time in our homes, turning to the comfort of knitting. The slowness in each stitch has brought us a little bit of peace in these uncertain times.

Although a few of our key colorways are currently out of stock, we wanted to encourage you to try alternate colorways for some of our most popular patterns! These swatches were custom-made using colors we think look lovely together, though we urge you to play around with your own combinations as well. Keep scrolling for inspiration, and happy knitting!

The Brome Shawl designed by Jen Peck is a classic half-pi shawl knitted using a gorgeous colorwork technique called mosaic knitting. We may be out of stock of Antarctic White and Baikal-Superior Green, but we encourage you to try (clockwise from top left): Chestnut, Negotiation Grey, Kamchatka Seamoss, and Bonnie Blue Gap.

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The Gas Station Beanie designed by Grace Rother is worked bottom up in half-brioche stitch - a wonderful introduction to the world of brioche knitting! We may be out of stock of Antarctic White and Father's Grey, but we encourage you to try Mourning Dove (top) with Sheplova Mushroom (bottom). 

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The Lane Pullover designed by Jennifer Beale is a sweater with a unique construction - worked side to side, and involves steeking AND colorwork! Though we are out of stock of Antarctic White and Father's Grey, we encourage you to try (from left to right, and up): Mourning Dove, Kamchatka Seamoss, Lily Pad, Blue Jay, and Mir-Atlantis Periwinkle, for a gentle springtime palette.

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The Paula Tunic designed by Paula Klys is a sleeveless tunic with deep side slits for easy movement - a great beginner's garment. Though we are out of stock of Kalinka Malinka and Siberian Midnight (the two colors the sample was knitted in), we encourage you to try Brownie, Grass Roots, or Kamchatka Seamoss.

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The Revala Mitts designed by Melody Fulone are a great way to get started knitting colorwork in the round.  Though we are only out of stock of Antarctic White, we encourage you to try an alternate palette! From left to right, then to top: Father's Grey, Negotiation Grey, Evening Marigold, Mir-Atlantis Periwinkle, and Latvian Lavender.

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We often paint this time of year in a somewhat romantic light, as the buy brings with it beautiful wool, and the ability to connect with the people who raised it. While we love focusing on wool, the buy brings to the forefront many issues the Navajo Nation is dealing with on a daily basis, impacting the ranchers who raise the wool for our yarns. We’re incredibly thankful to the educators from the Diné College and the Navajo sheep ranchers who we spoke with this year, who shared their knowledge with us.
 
We tend to think of plentiful rain as a good thing, seeing a green landscape and breathing out a sigh of relief. It’s not always that simple. The drought last year resulted in many ranchers cutting down on their numbers, resulting in fewer sheep per flock. This year’s wet and cold winter further reduced numbers with freezing temperatures well into April, when some had already begun to shear.  The rain has encouraged a proliferation of invasive and non-nutritious plants, outgrowing the useful and traditional forage. 
 
The weather patterns have become more and more unpredictable, allowing little dependable forecasting for what the year ahead might bring, and a struggle to maintain a consistent herd. Add to this the pressures from the Bureau of Land Management (who controls grazing rights), and the ancient practice of raising sheep as a way of life is under severe threat. The problems with overgrazing and invasive plant species mean that each year the struggles to raise sheep can bring a myriad of difficulties. Despite this, we still see families who are maintaining their way of life, raising and tending their flocks, spinning and weaving their wool.

Unpredictable weather patterns aren’t the only environmental concern Navajo sheep ranchers are navigating. The federal government began mining uranium in the Navajo Nation during the Manhattan project, continued through the nuclear arms race during the Cold War. Today, there are more than 500 abandoned uranium mines awaiting cleanup within the Navajo Nation. Some of these mines are near where cattle, sheep, and goats graze, causing an unknown amount of damage to food and water systems. The Diné College is conducting field research to show the effects of radiation on the sheep and other animals, and what that might mean for the animal and human population on the land. We often feel confused and frustrated when we hear about the hardships in trying to push through policy and laws that will positively affect the Navajo Nation. The Diné College is doing an immeasurable amount of work within the community, and we encourage everyone reading this to visit the Dine Environmental Institute website to learn more about this issue. (link: https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/dine-environmental-institute-dei/)

Speaking to ranchers first hand is the best part of every wool buy. This year we were happy to see familiar friends and faces, and to talk about the struggles and successes for the families. Seeing the same people year over year, bringing in beautiful fine wool, is the best part of seeing each truck in the lineup. We met many newcomers, who had heard about the buy via the newspaper, radio, and social media as well.  Many of the first-time sellers this year were people who were previously burning their wool, as they no longer spun and wove with it, and couldn’t get more than $0.10/lb for it previously at the trading posts.
 
We saw fewer elders this year, and more family members taking over the care of the sheep. We heard stories of hit and runs, missing native women, and suicide. We learned more about the Navajo idea of animal ownership and what it means in their culture. 
 
We were so proud to see the work that the Black Mesa Water Coalition is continuing to do. For the second year in a row, they hosted a wonderful event at the Tuba City buy location, bringing together weavers, artisans, musicians and community members to celebrate and learn. Many of our friends have been working on building traditional hogans and we loved hearing about their progress.
 
The Diné College is also making wonderful strides in their agricultural department. Approval for a new warehouse will include new educational space, new animal housing and a small storage facility for wool gathered throughout the year.

We changed our shipping methods this year to include repacking every small trash bag that came through the buy, which allows the wool to be more efficiently freighted, using less trucks and improving the carbon footprint of our wool. Mid States began a wool bag exchange program to encourage transparent bags, and because we’re able to see the entire lot of wool, we can give better prices. This year, we pulled in nearly 130,000 lbs of wool, and had such an amazing crew to help implement these positive changes.
 
The Diné College estimates that we’re seeing about a third of the wool in the Navajo Nation, and they want to change that number to 100%. We hope to be a part of this buy for many years to come, to help support families living this traditional lifestyle, and to help organizations like the BMWC and Diné College encourage positive change for the Navajo Nation. Thank you for coming along this journey with us.

-The Peace Fleece Team