# For the Vanishing Yarn Snob--Big Picture '97



## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

For those on KP that have read my comments on the "old" days of Pendleton and of the high quality of wool from Oregon, this video gives a good reason why Pendleton "pulled up stacks" and why many mills closed. Its an over all picture of the sheep and cattle situation back in '97 and with the faster exceleration of present day even this is very old history. So sit back with a good cup of coffee you made on the woodstove this morning after doing your shearing and stroke and squeeze all that lovely soft fiber that flies over your needles after you get back from the vet office (150 miles round trip) and before you put the roast in for Sunday supper. I doubt you will be taking your knitting with you by the way since the "old man" has to get water to the lower section by this afternoon so that means you will be driving with all the animal bodily fluids on your hands until you reach the vets. Since the tech is out sick you get to help put some of the stock down, wait for them to awaken and get them back in the trailer for the long drive home.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1593005162/


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## Valkyrie (Feb 26, 2011)

Disgo I am sure this will be an interesting documentary to watch, but my computer lets me stay on for only about 30 min at a time, so I won't be able to watch this and then look at other interesting comments and pics. But I may come back to it. I really miss Huell Howser on PBS, he was amazing!
Thanks for thinking of us.


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## Lil Kristie (Nov 25, 2011)

I can't view it.


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## AnnEliz76 (Aug 7, 2014)

That was an excellent film. History is my thing. If we don't know where we've been we won't know where we are going. I wish my children and grands had that work ethic. Thanks for putting on.


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## dgid (Feb 3, 2014)

Excellent video! Watched the whole thing.


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## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

You may have the option on your PBS local link to go to other PBS stations around the country. Some will allow to view their online stream and some don't depending where you live or if they are broadcasting the program later. Here is was already broadcast and I had missed it so tried to pass our station's version on.

A quick way to find out is to go to your PBS web site under Videos, scroll down the right side for All Programs (twice here below the current videos pictures being offered) until an alphabet bar appears, under T it would be listed as "The Oregon Story".


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## Islander (Aug 25, 2014)

I'm glad we don't raise animals in mass production like this out here, very sad to see how stressed the sheep and their young are in the film. Disease usually thrives in masses as well. It would reflect on the quality of the fleece and the meat I'm sure. Thank you for posting it as it is a interesting view.


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## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

Trishaknit said:


> I'm glad we don't raise animals in mass production like this out here, very sad to see how stressed the sheep and their young are in the film. Disease usually thrives in masses as well. It would reflect on the quality of the fleece and the meat I'm sure. Thank you for posting it as it is a interesting view.


You are welcome. I have been raised on a farm don't think of views like others when it comes to standard requirements for the processing. Wait until you have to put the de-worming pills down the piglets throats since they wont just swallow them and their jaws can crush a hand and their tongues go way back and can regurgitate those big pills readily. I know Babe was "cute" but his smiley little face is very deceiving.

I was sorry they hadn't gone back farther to the original pioneers but time constraints prevented that. It just brought back all the sad memories of Pendleton mills closing in the '70s and all the fun it was going to the smaller mom and pop mills in the valley and buying fiber/fabric directly from those that had been instrumental in raising and processing it. My SIL only raised them for meat.


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## Islander (Aug 25, 2014)

I wasn't aware that Pendleton Mills had expired ! That makes finding a Pendleton shirt all the more special now. Still have a few around that I wear but most went into my rug hooking. Nothing keeps you warmer and drier than wool. I've had my own sheep in small number and know what you mean about the de worming. My mother worked for a vet in the 60's and I was fortunate enough to get a good eye opening when I was growing up, like you say ... it's not all roses.


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## Puppies101 (Nov 3, 2012)

Thank you that was very interesting.


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## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

Like the trade blanket a few years ago (and still used for their ad) on PBS's Antiques Roadshow (appraised at a half a mill) I would proceed with precaution even on the Pendleton shirts that were created from their lesser wool fibers. If you are fortunate enough to have their heavy wool jersey I would suggest you be wary about any offers since its no longer made or available in other wool manufacturers so would consider it to be of even higher value. My friend had given her stash away prior to her death to people she valued a lot in life. I never having need for it with my customers passed her offer up and doubt people know days would even know what it was all about back then.

You then would know and appreciate the natural lanolin in the wool. Which breed of sheep did you raise or were they mixed?


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## settermom (Dec 19, 2012)

This is FABULOUS!!! A lover of history / roots / rural life, etc. --- for me this is heart and home in so many ways. The ever-changing world...the good, the bad ... the sad... each are "personal" to me. Thanks for posting!


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## MaryCarter (Oct 17, 2011)

disgo said:


> For those on KP that have read my comments on the "old" days of Pendleton and of the high quality of wool from Oregon, this video gives a good reason why Pendleton "pulled up stacks" and why many mills closed. Its an over all picture of the sheep and cattle situation back in '97 and with the faster exceleration of present day even this is very old history. So sit back with a good cup of coffee you made on the woodstove this morning after doing your shearing and stroke and squeeze all that lovely soft fiber that flies over your needles after you get back from the vet office (150 miles round trip) and before you put the roast in for Sunday supper. I doubt you will be taking your knitting with you by the way since the "old man" has to get water to the lower section by this afternoon so that means you will be driving with all the animal bodily fluids on your hands until you reach the vets. Since the tech is out sick you get to help put some of the stock down, wait for them to awaken and get them back in the trailer for the long drive home.
> 
> http://video.pbs.org/video/1593005162/


Thank you for putting this up.....the same thing is happening in Australia, and it is very sad. Our problem is also greedy "globalist" corporations, whose sole aim seems to be to destroy anything "local".


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## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

MaryCarter said:


> Thank you for putting this up.....the same thing is happening in Australia, and it is very sad. Our problem is also greedy "globalist" corporations, whose sole aim seems to be to destroy anything "local".


They sort of "touched" on that point but considering some of their sponsors could be just those same corporations the point was muted. Now you have made me even more depressed since I was hoping the bastion of the wool industry was at least fairing better. Also the timing of the documentary was so old now I now the big food corporations that have taken over the lands here in WA so can only imagine the demise to those in OR.

settermom You are so welcome and give thanks to PBS for producing and airing such a program.


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## Islander (Aug 25, 2014)

You then would know and appreciate the natural lanolin in the wool. Which breed of sheep did you raise or were they mixed?[/quote]

I raised a few suffolk x cheviot for spinning when I was younger. Now I spin from a friends Dorset flock as I love the southdown breed for the wools sponginess and warmth. Not many care for the short staple though!


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## grandmann (Feb 4, 2011)

I watched the whole video, same thing is happening in WI to our small farmers. It is now all Big Business. The antibodies that they are feeding the animals are going to some day affect us.


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## henhouse2011 (Feb 20, 2011)

Fantastic video. Sure brought back my life on a Montana sheep and cattle ranch. Funny the difference in view between those who know that life And those that don't.


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## GrannyH (Jul 4, 2011)

Just checked. Pendleton is still alive in the USA with 2 mills that offer tours http://www.pendleton-usa.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=MillTours&parentName=Heritage:
Washougal Weaving Mill
2 Pendleton Way
Washougal, WA
(360) 835-1118

Pendleton Blanket Mill
1307 SE Court Place
Pendleton, OR
(541) 276-6911

"We live where we work, and we love what we do. Many Pendleton employees have been with the company for generations. A third of our Washougal mill employees have been with us more than 25 years! It's this level of commitment, talent and experience plus first-rate technology that make it possible for us to weave wool fabrics of such amazing quality. Come see for yourself how we do it. Stop by to say 'hello' and take the tour at one of our mills."

Charlie Bishop
Mill Manager


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## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

Trishaknit said:


> I raised a few suffolk x cheviot for spinning when I was younger. Now I spin from a friends Dorset flock as I love the southdown breed for the wools sponginess and warmth. Not many care for the short staple though!


Unfortunately with all the toilet paper squeezing yarn buyers now a short staple would be counterproductive although they create the finest summer weight wool fabrics its very expensive as we learned from the old Pendleton mills that only ran those fabrics on a limited basis (what my mother is buried in).

grandmann they already are with pre-teens having abnormal breast development let alone diseases now that are getting symptoms similar to polio.

henhouse2011 my cattleman relatives in MT can relate and you could understand the section more than most about the turf wars that developed. You can still be hung in MT for killing a bull and given five to ten years in state pen for setting your alarm clock and pouring molten buck shot lead in your abusive/snoring spouses ear at three in the morning. :-o :shock: :lol:


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## disgo (Mar 2, 2013)

GrannyH said:


> Just checked. Pendleton is still alive in the USA with 2 mills that offer tours http://www.pendleton-usa.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=MillTours&parentName=Heritage:
> Washougal Weaving Mill
> 2 Pendleton Way
> Washougal, WA
> ...


They show no pictures of the present mills since my last visit there was only the outlet warehouse still standing and the old mill nothing but a foundation. The outlet had been transformed into a very expensive boutique with off shore manufactured garments. I only stepped in to see what the prices were and left immediately stopping to eat at the local restaurant that was barely squeaking by with the older waitresses reminiscing about the better times.

When touring the blanket mill ten years later the old mill was a museum with displays of their original patterns with a huge sign saying no blankets were being sold.

Makes me want to travel back there since I remember when they closed and there is no mention of that on their web nor did they have looms like the one pictured. Who knows when they came back but all the old workers were long gone with the opening of the new I-84 bridge and the closure of the pulp mill the town became a suburb of Portland and Vancouver. I must admit it has been over twenty-five years after my last trip there so would like to see how the new mill compares since their quality went after the old mill closed--let alone where are they getting their fleece from now like the outdated documentary stated. They were even making cheaper blends with poly instead of their 100% virgin wool for their shirts to keep up with the market and production costs.

Like many tours I've been on the poor guide would have a hard time answering all my questions :-o :shock: :lol:

Now I see (didn't look at their title but the old address which I knew well)!!! See the name "Weaving Mill" which means they are merely weaving some fabrics there (I'm sure not the entire Pendleton line like Anchor/Hockings claim before the owing corporation shut the original Hocking Mill down) which was not the original mill that took fleece to end product. If someone there can go then ask where they are getting their yarns/threads shipped in from and if any garments are being made there like the old plant. Like many corporations now days the majority of the lines are made off shore with just a bare minimum being produced here still to allow them to avoid tariffs and import fees--the opposite of tax inversions going on presently.

Also the old mill used wooden spools even though Janzen had gone to paper and that loom is definitely computerized which the old mill had none of (and the fabric doesn't appear to be sixty inches wide like my Pendleton flannels).


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## Valkyrie (Feb 26, 2011)

For some reason there was a message supposedly from me, Valkyrie, but I didn't send that message. How could a mistake like that happen? It started out with the name, Disgo. I wonder if this has happened before but I just didn't see it. Kind of a creepy feeling I am getting. :sm06:


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