LFTM with Muriel’s of Vermont

There’s a wise adage in business: sell the product your customer needs, not the product you personally want. This question can be a hard place to start any project—it’s not easy to know what other people are looking for—but it’s exactly the point at which Laura Jacoby and son Cyrus began their journey to create Muriel’s of Vermont. After getting involved with the Fibershed movement, the Hudson Valley Textile Project and in touch with farmers throughout the Northeast, Laura and Cyrus realized that the best way they could serve their region’s farmers and fiber enthusiasts was to create a bridge between them, in the form of machine-knit garments using wool that would otherwise go to waste.

Without extensive existing experience, they had a lot to learn. They purchased an industrial knitting machine and Cyrus set about learning how to program it to create their designs: mostly classic, timeless pieces with simple lines. Laura began to dive into all the particulars that come with creating your own yarns at Battenkill Fibers. She works directly with Mary Jeanne to spin a yarn that will go through their machines, a process trickier than it sounds. In this video, all three dive deep into the potential of these thick and thin, farm yarns that are made from ‘rescued’ wool in this video and discuss the challenges surrounding different blend and fiber choices, and how they are accommodated in Cyrus’ no-waste designs.

If you’ve watched our recent Community Zoom with Simply Knitting Mills, you’ll know already about fully fashioned knitwear—knitwear that is made on a machine that knits each piece with as little waste as possible, creating fully knit panels (like what you’d make for a set-in sleeve) rather than yardage to be cut. This method lowers the cost of each finished garment and also eliminates the waste in traditional cut and sew material use.

This is a great video for anyone wondering about the possibility of starting your own fashion line at a smaller scale with a home knitting machine, or for those curious about how our clothes could be made in a sustainable way—and how local companies are making that available and accessible to us!

Be sure to visit Muriel’s of Vermont on their online shop to see everything they make, or follow on Instagram to keep track of what’s coming next. This year they’re also attending several events:

• Burlington Farmer’s Market (Burlington, VT) Every Saturday through October 28.

• Champlain Islands Farmer’s Market (Grand Isle, VT) Every Saturday through October 7.

• Stowe Farmer’s Market (Stowe, VT) Every other Sunday through October 22.

• BTV Market in City Hall Park (Burlington, VT) July 8, 15, 22, August 5 & 12.