I think I mentioned in my Christmas post that Joe got me a blanket from Faribault Woolen Mills. As I work to make our living room more cozy, I've been adding blankets and pillows a plenty on the couch and in baskets. The blanket Joe picked out was a beautiful neutral beige and cream striped one...but I had my eye on a more "Christmas" one to go with all our Holiday pillows. Funny thing, when I showed Joe the blanket I had been eyeing, he said that was the style he was going to get me, but then second guessed himself.
So last week when the kids were in daycare and Joe and I were on vacation, we decided to take a road trip to the Faribault Woolen Mills factory and retail store and make a blanket exchange. It's just 50 miles outside Minneapolis and was a great jaunt to a super small town.
After fueling up and catching up over a cup of coffee at a little coffee shop in town, we headed to the Mills. As we approached the factory I could tell our visit was going to be right up mine and Joe's ally. The company has been making wool blankets in Faribault for nearly one hundred and fifty years. Other than raising the sheep for wool, they are vertically integrated. They get the raw wool and manage every other step in the process to turn the wool into blankets and sell them. They are masters of their craft and I could not wait to see their wares!
It was fitting that we were about to learn about a new craft, because one of the things I admire most about Joe is his craftsmanship and all that comes with being a craftsman. He works so hard and with so much love to make things for us, our house, our kids. He is incredibly creative and resourceful - and uses his resources to the fullest.
The Thanksgiving turkey carcass? Joe gets it to turn it into stock.
Wood scraps left over from a piece of furniture Joe made? The boys get to turn them into new toys.
Old curtains and a hula hoop? They become a kid's canopy corner.
So my craftsmanly hubby and I walk into the Faribault retail store and I love it. Rustic, cozy, yet still bright. Industrial and warm. Repurposed factory items as decor. I'll let you take a look at their Facebook page or website to see all the photos, but here are some to give you an idea.
Blankets on display. The one I got is the 5th from left/4th from right. It's grey with red and cream plaid.
One of the conference rooms (in Faribault there is the actual Mill, retail store and corporate offices). Very cool use of the yarn on spindles to create the wall display.
After exchanging my blanket we learned that there would be a factory tour later that afternoon where they would tell us the story of the Mill, show us the machines, let us touch the wool, etc. Couldn't wait! We grabbed lunch and then headed back for the tour.
I'll try not to go into too much detail, but it was so cool to learn about the company, its history and the process of making their blankets. I'm sure much of this is on their website, so I'll share just a few photos and comments.
First, I learned that around 2009 the original owners of the Mill, who had owned it since the 1800's, went into bankruptcy (or just shut their doors - I forget). A couple years later the ex CEO of the DQ, who lives in Edina, MN, made an offer to buy the Mill because he was "looking for a project." In the matter of days the sale went through, and just months after the sale they were opened for business...making blankets again, selling them at their retail store and creating thriving partnerships with customers of the likes of Hudson Hotel, JC Penny and more. It's a really exciting turnaround story for this brand and company. Additionally, the new owner hired back many of the previous Mill workers and is hopeful future growth of the company will allow him to continue to hire more.
Bundles of wool from one of their suppliers. Majority of their wool is grown on sheep farms in the Western USA. Merino is sourced from New Zealand.
One of the machines. I forget exactly what this one does. But many of them were from the 1930's & 40's. Plenty of open places near the gears and things where you could lose an arm or get injured. And the factory has dust and dirt everywhere. Joe and I were commenting how different this factory is from his plant for medical devices and General Mills' plants...you could eat a meal off the floor of our factories they are so spotless.
The gears, loaded with grease and covered in wool. Surprising to me how they are still working with all this debris and being so old.
Spools upon spools of remnant yarn. These have been sitting here for 5+ years (since when Faribault Mills shut down). Since the dye lots are different they can't use them to make their current blankets. They offer this yarn up for custom orders/limited runs for their customers. Of course my mind took off dreaming about the blankets I could design and how I could work directly with them to have them created...
Close up of the inch of dust accumulated on the spools of yarn! They could just take an air hose and spray it clean before putting in the loom.
This is the manager of the retail store in Faribault. She was so cute and trendy that I immediately judged her thinking that she was a girlfriend of the new owner's son or something and just got this cool job handed to her. I was totally wrong and jumping to conclusions. She was born and raised in Faribault. Her dad worked at the Mill from the time she was 4 years old. She grew up at the Mill. She had such fun knowledge to share and stories to tell.
Behind her is one of their main looms. It is enormous. The yarn is still HAND looped, one string at a time, onto hundreds (maybe thousands) of little loom hooks. In fact, one of the company's main loomers (the lady who is the master of the looms) is 83 years old and been with the company for over 50 years. She has been looming for so long that she doesn't look when she hooks the yarn, but rather just does it by feel.
Of Note: If the machine is threaded incorrectly, or a piece of yarn were to come off one of the hooks while being woven, this machine has an automatic stop. Chances are, however, that there will be a minor mis-weave in the blanket being milled. And this means that it will be for sale at a major discount at their retail store! The deals were really quite good on the mis-weaves and the mistakes were very, very subtle. Plus it makes it one of a kind. I have my eye out for a soft merino wool mis-weave...
One of their buffalo check blankets being made.
A scale used to weigh bundles of wool, baskets of blankets, etc. The face of the scale is blue because years ago one of their dyeing machines spilled and everything on their lower level was dyed blue.
Bins full of the trimmings from blanket edges. My mind was swirling with ideas of how to re-purpose these trimmings for decorations and crafts. I didn't ask if they use these scraps for anything. I may need to make another trip there for another tour and ask.
Stacks of the SoHo blanket (the one I got). SoHo stands for "stuff on hand only" and there is a story to why this blanket is called the SoHo. I'll save it, along with how I am taking the idea of SoHo to heart in 2013, for a future post.
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