Small Artisan Mills

Valley Oak Wool & Fiber Mill 

by Cathy Koos

(all photos by author)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Back in November I had the pleasure of a little field trip to the Valley Oak Wool and Fiber Mill near Woodland, California.  My friend and fellow textile friend, Lis, asked me if I wanted to come along with her to the small artisan mill near Woodland and I jumped at the chance.  She needed to drop off some fleece and I could ride shotgun, because I am always up for a road trip.

After the busy urban freeways of Sacramento, we began to wander the quiet, back farm roads and eventually made our way to small, unremarkable driveway marked with a tiny sign “VOWM.”  Mill owner and Woodland native Marcail McWilliams soon greeted us.  A tiny powerhouse of energy, Marcail was sorting through another customer’s bags of Navajo fleece when we arrived.

Figure 1 raw fleece

Chatting with Marcail while she sorted, I learned that she bought the old Yolo Wool Mill four years ago after the previous owner passed away.  The mill warehouse and contents reverted to a new property owner who was not interested in continuing the mill.  In fact, they planned to scrap the machinery.  In stepped Marcail to save the day and this way of life.

Not a stranger to the Yolo Mill, McWilliams actually worked at the mill for 12 years before moving off to apprentice at another small mill in New Mexico and at MacAusland’s Prince Edward Island mill.

 

Valley Oak is a custom mill doing small batches for individual customers.  Marcail can make quilt bats, custom blends, and custom yarn weights to order.

Once finished with the previous customer, Lis and I were treated to a tour of her mill.  Our first stop was the washing area – an old cast iron tub as well as some large stock tanks for rinsing, either plain water or with vinegar.

Figure 3 fresh washed fleece, ready to dry

 

 

 

From the wash, the fleece goes into the tumbler to begin the drying process, and then the picker.

Figure 4  manual spin drying machine

 

Figure 5 part of picker

Figure 6 business end of the carding machine

 

The 1953 Davis and Furber No. 8 carding machine was like a magical portal.  In goes the fluffy fleece at one end, out the other end of the drum as a bat.  Then from the drum, the bat feeds into a channel and out comes roving.  The roving curls its way into a drum, neatly coiled and ready for spinning.

Figure 7 out the other end of the carder, roving coils neatly into barrels.

And oh, my goodness, what a spinning machine!  With this 1940-era machine, the roving is first spun into singles and then can be run through again for multiple plies.

Figure 8 plied

 

 

Over to one side of the mill warehouse is a new-to-Marcail machine from a mill in Mendocino.  This time-saving machine plies and spins all in one step.  She uses a mechanic from Vermont to help her work on the various machines and he will be arriving soon to get this one installed and running.

To quote Marcail, “People bring me wool” and she works her magic.

Figure 9 raw fleece from Mopsy

Figure 10 finished product, ready to become a sweater !

 

 

 

 

You can contact Mercail on her website at http://www.valleyoakwoolmill.com and find her on Instagram and Facebook @valleyoakwoolmill

 

 

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