
Why Shaniko Wool?
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The most essential part of a good yarn is high-quality wool. Low-quality wool cannot be turned into a good yarn, so I started my hunt for a good base to use for Oregon Fiber Garden. When it came to looking for bases to dye, there were simply too many options for suppliers. I decided the best way to make a decision on which company’s bases to use was to make a list of what was important to me.
I came up with five meaningful criteria:
- Local
- Sustainably grown and produced wool
- Quality
- Quantity
- Affordability

I live in Eastern Oregon and know there are many local shepherds. I wanted to support my neighbors. I was unable to locate a local mill that could produce consistent yarn and would be able to produce variable batch sizes to meet the needs of a growing business. So I expanded my search to include yarn that was spun in the U. S.
In my search, I discovered the Shaniko Wool Company. It is near the ghost town of Shaniko, in North Central Oregon. The Shaniko Wool Company was founded by Jeanne Carver in 2018. The company was created to bring together additional wool producers to facilitate larger volumes. This allowed for Shaniko wool to have consistent quality throughout. The Carver family ranch (Imperial Stock Ranch) has been raising sheep for more than 150 years. In 1999, regional textile mills closed and processing moved offshore leading to the Imperial Stock Ranch being unable to sell their wool. This was a nationwide issue hurting sheep and wool producers as well as U.S. textile manufacturing partners. Companies making wool products preferred the lower costs of the offshore manufacturers because it yielded greater profit margins. To remedy this issue, she found textile partners that remained in the U.S. and created her own yarns and products, selling her wool directly. She was eventually selling yarns and textiles to major U.S. fashion brands known around the world, and was proud that her products were made in the U.S. By 2015, there was a large effort being made to bring a standard to the fashion and textile industry that would certify best practices for land stewardship and animal welfare. It was called the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and required third-party audits. When it launched worldwide in 2016, the Imperial Stock Ranch became the first ranch in the world certified. With demand growing for RWS certified wool, Jeanne created Shaniko Wool Company to increase the supply of certified wool produced in the U.S. Shaniko Wool is a farm group of 10 ranches today and growing, who receive a premium for their wool. In 2022, Jeanne led Shaniko ranches to add a 2nd third-party certification called NATIVA Regen. These certifications mean that they are taking care of their land, sheep, and people to a very high standard. They have the data to prove their regenerative farming practices are improving the ecosystem and preserving biodiversity, and this helps ensure the world is a better place for future generations.
All 10 of the ranches in the Shaniko Wool Company are located in the Western United States. Their wool is scoured and combed in South Carolina, and spun into our lovely yarn in North Carolina. This supply chain is short in the perspective of the global marketplace which is so hard on small local businesses and helps minimize the carbon footprint of each skein of yarn. The mill that spins this yarn produces consistent skeins. I can order 10 skeins or 10,000 skeins, and the quality will be the same. This will allow us to offer you the same quality of yarn as Oregon Fiber Garden grows in size.
Another important aspect of the perfect skein of yarn is softness. I want to work with wool that is next-to-skin soft. Shaniko wool comes from Merino and Merino/Rambouillet cross sheep. It is delightfully soft! One of my daughters is very sensitive to wool and always tells me that touching wool feels like petting a tiny cactus. When she was a baby, the only natural animal fiber she would keep on was alpaca. Even now she will only wear wool socks but not sweaters or hats. After visiting some yarn shops, she told me that the Shaniko wool feels much softer to her than most of the wool yarn in the shops she visited.
I prefer untreated wool, but many people want to buy superwash wool. Fiber artists often make items for people who do not understand how to care for untreated wool or are too busy to properly care for an untreated wool item. It is important to me that I can offer both options. Shaniko wool yarn is fortunately available in both superwash and untreated yarn.

Yarn should be a fair price for fiber artists. Ranchers and workers also need to make a living wage. Economic reasons are why many companies have outsourced yarn spinning and textile manufacturing to other countries. They pay less for the yarn because the “living wage” is much lower. Outsourcing to other countries comes at the cost of a longer supply chain with an increased carbon footprint. This yarn may be more expensive than yarn that is sourced overseas, but it is still competitively priced. The third-party audits from the Responsible Wool Standard and Nativa Regen ensure the welfare of the land, animals, and workers. With these certifications, I feel even more confident that Shaniko wool is fairly priced.
Shaniko wool was the only wool that was able to meet all of my requirements for a yarn base. I am happy to support all the ranchers with Shaniko Wool Company because I know that they have gone above and beyond to provide a quality product while doing their part to make the world a better place.