Who knew we would be back in San Angelo so soon? And without kids? And with a little extra time to spend? I wanted to find a wool and mohair warehouse and talk to someone about it. We found Western Wool & Mohair just off Highway 67 near downtown.
We found the owner, Linda Turner, in a back office with two friendly dogs. They stayed to guard the office, while Linda took us on a tour of the building. “This isn’t the best time to see a wool warehouse,” said Linda. “You really need to come back in the spring.”
Late in spring, the warehouse is filled, upstairs and down, with sacks of wool. Buyers from anywhere in the world come by and pull a little wool out of a bag to check it. If the wool meets a buyer’s need, they bid on the lot. Some ranchers prefer to accept or decline bids on their own wool, while some rely on Linda make the decision to sell or not.
Even at this late time of year, we did see some bags and bales of wool at the warehouse. The big bags are packed tight and weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. They are almost 5 feet tall. “This bag isn’t worth much,” said Linda, pointing to a bag of black wool. “Most buyers want the fine, white wools like Ramboulliet.”
Once a lot of wool is sold, warehouse staff bind sets of five bags into bales. The numbers written on the bales show who the seller is, what lot the bale belongs in, and the weight of the bale. The bales on the right weigh 936 and 850 pounds.
The wool goes primarily to carpet and fabric manufacturers. I’m afraid hand-knitting yarn is not a very large segment of the wool trade.