Raw Material: Working Wool in the West

by Stephany Wilkes

Follow a sweater with an "Italian Merino" label back far enough and chances are its life began not in Milan, but in Montana. Many people want to look behind the label and know where their clothes come from, but the textile supply chain-one of the most toxic on the planet-remains largely invisible. In Raw Material, Stephany Wilkes tells the story of American wool through her own journey to becoming a certified sheep shearer.

What begins as a search for local yarn becomes a dirty, unlikely, and irresistible side job. Wilkes leaves her high tech job for a way of life considered long dead in the American West. Along the way, she meets ornery sheep that weigh more than she does, carbon-sequestering ranchers, landless grazing operators, rare breed stewards, and small-batch yarn makers struggling with drought, unfair trade agreements, and faceless bureaucracies as they work to bring eco-friendly fleece to market.

Raw Material demonstrates that the back must break to clothe the body, and that excellence often comes by way of exhaustion. With humor and humility, Wilkes follows wool from the farm to the factory, through the hands of hardworking Americans trying to change the culture of clothing. Her story will appeal to anyone interested in the fiber arts or the textile industry, and especially to environmentally conscious consumers, as it extends the concerns of the sustainable food movement to fleece, fiber, and fashion.

Genres: Nonfiction, Knitting, Art, Memoir, History, Crafts, How To

312 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2018

About the author

Stephany Wilkes is a sheep shearer, wool classer, and knitter who writes literary journalism, narrative nonfiction, and memoir. Her work often focuses on agriculture and the environment, and has appeared in The Billfold, The Ag Mag, Hobby Farms, Midwestern Gothic, and other publications.

Stephany also works as an editor and ghost writer, and serves as the president of the Northern California Fibershed Cooperative.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Stephany, for giving such an articulate & sympathetic voice to the US wool industry. I just about cried as you described your first experiences at shearing school so similar to mine. I too can attest that even if you aren’t “born into” sheep, they can take hold of your soul and show you a livelihood more meaningful than any other.
There is much public press now about knowing the source of your food. But we're just scratching the surface of knowing the source of your clothing.
This book discusses so many complexities of US wool including farming, milling, community investment, conservation of rare breeds, soil science, carbon sequestration, natural dyeing, and of course shearing. Well researched, with relevant portraits at each point along the supply chain. You won’t buy a wool sweater or socks again without thinking of this book.

[Ana Spagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fine book tells the story of one woman’s quest to become a sheep shearer, not from whimsy or even a mid-life crisis, but out of an earnest desire, as a knitter, to see more locally grown wool. As such, the book also walks readers through the required processes—raising and shearing sheep, milling, dying, and marketing wool—and introduces us to other fascinating characters committed to the project. (“Industry” does not seem the right word, though everyone involved is plenty industrious.) Far more than a memoir, it’s a deeply felt and exquisitely researched story of a search for better ways to treat land, animals, and ultimately ourselves

[Barbara Hoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written detailed description of the author's experiences who gave up her well-paying office job in San Francisco for a life as a sheep shearer and now a writer. She also writes about some of the people involved in Fibershed, a nonprofit that promotes the growing, production and use of natural fibers and also techniques for sequestering carbon in the soil. My own daughter who raises a rare heritage breed of sheep is the subject of one of the chapters as is the couple who has struggled to open and keep running a wool mill in Ukiah, CA.

[Jlouise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fell in love with this book. Missed the author when she was in Ann Arbor.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is at once the story of how one woman with no farm background became a sheep shearer, how we lost the ability to create U.S.-made clothing from U.S.-grown wool, and how some individuals are working hard to bring the industry back from the brink. I'm not normally a big consumer of non-fiction, but this book sustained a compelling narrative arc. Two prominent threads that wind through most of the book are how Wilkes became a proficient shearer, and how Mendocino Wool & Fiber got off the ground.

Along the way, I also about innovative ways to fund the sustenance and growth of smaller scale wool operations, including Farm Club (similar to a CSA) and person-to-person low-interest loans (which earn more for the lender than bank savings do, and are accessible to small business borrowers to whom banks sometimes won't consider lending). I learned a lot about the Zeilinger Wool Co. in Michigan, which was known to me by name but not much more. I learned about carbon farming and how many consider raising wool to be carbon-neutral. And I was flabbergasted at the idiotic bureaucracy in Ukiah, California. We all know about governments that make business too easy by not regulating things they should regulate on behalf of public health or not taxing them, but this government was absolutely obtuse when it came to issuing demands on a business that only stood to benefit the town, the environment, and the citizens.

Early on, Wilkes says "I found infrastructure problems where I'd expected to find problems of consumer demand and prohibitively expensive local manufacturing costs. There was a market for locally sourced fleece and fiber. Lots of people wanted to buy locally made clothing, California designers wanted to make it for them, and fiber farmers were eager to sell their high-quality raw materials to both audiences. But the local infrastructure to do it wasn't there" (111). This problem exists in various forms in all areas of the U.S. I don't want to learn to shear sheep as my contribution to solving it, but I'm happy to play another role. Reading this book was both an inspiration and an education!

[Joe Vess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Well-written, inspiring and makes you feel good. I can't wait to get us some wool sheep.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been part of my fiber journey. You can see it took me a year to read. That's because after the first few chapters, I decided to start my own small flock of Coopworth. Four to be precise! As a suburbanite, this was a huge endeavor.

As Stephany, I started out as a knitter who loves yarn. Her journey has been informative to me and inspiring. I'll never be a shearer (my husband sheared mine) but I can fully appreciate her lifestyle choices, passion, advocacy and desire to bring back wool mills to the U.S. Why do I pay so much money for this yarn that is from a sheep a couple hundred miles away from me? Because the wool got shipped overseas to be processed. I have a small mini mill near me and have decided to send all my fleeces to her to support her mill.

If you have interest in fiber arts, this is definitely worth reading to learn about the entire process your wool products go through.

[Andrea Isaacs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful and fascinating book! A knitter friend recommended this. I expected to just learn about shearing; this book is so much more. Ms. Wilkes dives into wool production, land management, sheep as livestock (I always think of cows, not sheep), the different forces involved in small business management, and ranch life, among other topics. I’m grateful to have learned about what goes into yarn before it lands at my local yarn shop.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me fear shearing, and long to try it. And I became terrified about the loss of natural fiber and self sufficiency and the cycle of growth and renewal that we could all participate in on a small scale.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the fact that it took me a little over three months to read this book fool you; it was fascinating! I started out reading it while traveling, and then set it down when I got home, but I picked it up again two months later for more travel reading and this time I just zoomed through to the end.

Stephany Wilkes' story began when she went in search of yarn local to her Bay Area home, didn't find it, but through some twists and turns ended up going to shearing school and becoming a sheep shearer. Throughout her story she also focuses on the development a a fiber cooperative and a small mill in Northern California. This was an absolutely fascinating book, and should be required reading for knitters, crocheters and spinners.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's well-known among book publishers that it's not the subject that makes the book; it's the author. Stephany Wilkes' Raw Material brought me into a world I'd never even thought about: how the fleece on a sheep's back becomes clothing, and made me care so much I was laughing and gasping out loud at her tales. Her sheep shearing saga starts when, as an avid knitter, she tries to find locally sourced wool near her home in San Francisco. She doesn't find any, but she does find a local fiber cooperative. There she learns about sheep shearing school, which changes her life. She learns to shear, practices and apprentices on the weekends and days off for a year, goes to sheep shearing school again, and gets more and more involved in the wool-producing world of Northern California, something that I, a native, never knew existed.

It's the best kind of armchair travel there is, going deep into a world geographically under my feet but miles away from my experiences. Her growing love and care for sheep and the agriculture that surrounds them made me love them too. Just like Michael Lewis with baseball in Moneyball, Dava Sobel with Longitude, and John McPhee with seismology in Assembling California, Stephany Wilkes brings an esoteric world alive.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilkes brings us into the world of sheep and wool a little at a time. The reader learns the true meaning of sustainability and how hard people work at it. I would have liked more of the author's own journey as a parallel story but am grateful she shared her story of becoming a shearer and all she learned along the way. I have new appreciation for wool!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring and informative. I found the alternating between chapters about her experiences and background info on sheep, wool types, environmental impacts of different agricultural practices to be just the right balance of story and education.
I live in the area that she writes about which made the whole subject so immediate and relevant to me.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memoir of the author's journey to become a sheep shearer that is also an engaging and informative look at the small-scale sheep and wool community/industry. Her description of the experience of shearing her first sheep is so vivid it made my muscles ache.

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed with info. Fascinating ideas and hard work and hope. Getting a deeper viewinto things which I was privy to from afar and close up. Cheering for all involved.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir of a novice sheep shearer-turned-pro is pure grit (and lanolin) adventure told with honesty, smarts, and hope. The honesty is born of the author's high dive off the cliff of corporate employment into the agricultural deeps of certifying to be a sheep shearer, a move that shocks, intimidates, amazes, and inspires the author, and the reader. The smarts comes via intriguing information on the current state of the U.S. wool industry and how we got here, the quest for locally-sourced wool on store shelves, the importance of managed grazing, a look at natural vs. synthetic fertilizers and textile dyes, and more. Sheep shearing is addicting for the author, and her story is gripping for the reader, as a ray of hope in how climate change trends can be slowed and even reversed one person and one passion at a time. In particular, a return to basics through locally-sourced sheep shearing and sheep milling is beneficial to the health of the shearer, the human community, animals, and the planet. A marvelous, thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that introduced me to other great books(Fibershed, ones on natural dyes, etc...). For me, it was really quite impactful. I couldn't put it down and finished it in 2 days. As a owner of a couple of Babydoll Southdowns, I appreciate your description and challenges of current wool in the West. A couple of years ago we got our Southdowns to help mow down a two acre plot that is smack dab in a urban area here in Utah and to also get some wool for spinning. I ran into the whole find a shearer for a small flock situation and I ended up shearing them myself at 1 hour per sheep. That lead me to attending the USU sheep shearing school, youtube CAN NOT teach you everything. Her description of shearing school is right on. Between this book and a couple of others referenced, we are adding two more sheep in the Spring to our small flock here and are becoming more invested into the natural fibers/Fibershed movement. Thank you for writing this book.

[Alex Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book!!!! I am a spinner and I loved learning more about shearing. Stephany takes her beliefs to heart and I love hearing about her journey. It was so cool to read this book and hear names of people I have met, their wool I have purchased, the climate beneficial beanie I bought from North Face, etc. It was so great to know I am supporting these incredible people and what I believe in. I can't wait to go back to California and see these people with a deeper understanding of what they encounter in their daily lives. I have so much gratitude for the farmers, sheep shearers, and herders that promote good practices. I hope to contribute more as I continue through my life.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book when it was first released. Then, due to a long stretch of inability to focus on written material longer than an Instagram post, I kept putting it down and picking it up again. I clearly need to retrain my brain to long form reading, but that is neither here nor there in relation to this book, which was an excellent look at the struggles faced by the American wool industry. Wool growers are struggling, and demonized, the world over, and Wilkes explains why, what the critics have wrong, and implies or explicitly offers ways to turn things around.
An important look at a situation that has implications for our economy and environment.

[Gilion Dumas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephany Wilkes started out searching for "local yarn" and ended up learning how to shear sheep. Eventually, she found herself at the center of a growing community of hardworking Americans trying to bring eco-friendly wool to market. Her book, Raw Materials: Working Wool in the West (OSU Press). explains this fascinating industry and introduces the people involved.

Raw Material would make a great gift for the knitter on your list, as well as anyone interested in sustainable fashion, shopping locally, and life in the West. It is a really interesting book!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who cries through a book about sheep shearing? I guess I do? I really loved this book- mostly because as a complete urbanite I always fantasized about ranching. And boy do I love sheep. This made my dream come true vicariously. It was wonderful, intelligent and compassionate. Very real in every way. I loved the variety of on the ground experience mixed with cultural obstacles and bottom line challenges. Great book. If you knit or weave and care about your wool- this is a must read. Thank you, Stephany!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offers you a first hand account of one who say a problem and became part of the solution. The author offers insight into what it means to take action and become a part of something larger than yourself. It is made better by being in the hands of a good writer and researcher. An insightful and interesting read.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it. She did for wool and sheep what Michael Pollan did for dinner. And I bought my copy from Robin Lynde herself! (she has a chapter in the book, I didn't know when I bought it). Your results may vary, but I highly recommend it to my local/NorCal fiber friends, this book is your backyard.

[Marina Richie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephany's story is funny, courageous, and connects us from wood sweater to sheep to the land and to one another. I learned so much about sheep shearing and not giving up even if you get a bit beaten up! Plus I have a renewed appreciation for wool as a way of keeping it local and being sustainable upon the land.

[Yuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Thoughtful, informative, and intimate. It's an excellent weaving together of memoir, history, and more academic teachings without getting too 'scholarly' or dry. Loved learning about the domestic wool industry, and the more specific conditions of growing, processing, and overall creating more sustainable, environmentally-conscious methods in California.

[Ray A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in sheep country, I know the story behind this story and Stephany Wilkes, author of Raw Material, has nailed it. She made an otherwise silent community of sheep searing come vigorously alive. Any one wearing a quality wool garment must read Raw Material.

[Amberle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this read. So interesting, informative and thought-provoking. Makes one question what we are doing to our planet for sure and makes me want to go live with a herd of sheep somewhere far away from people...

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and inspiring! I highly recommend this for anyone who knits or crochets, wonders where their wool socks came from, and/or is fed up with their desk job.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite reads of the last few years. I want to give this book to all my knitter friends!

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yup. Read this book, all you folks involved in fiber arts in whatever capacity. And there’s lots more going on than can be covered in a single book. This is a good place to start.