Hoof-to-Hanger Fiber Mill
Hoof-to-Hanger Fiber Mill works thoughtfully with fiber farmers from the Great Lakes region and beyond to produce a variety of custom yarns and quality natural fiber products.
Established: 2017
Owners: Rick Fuller and Suzy Barnes
Location: 4217 Lake St, Bridgman, MI 49106
Distance: Approximately 182 miles from Detroit
Website: www.hooftohanger.com
Tell us about your mill.
We are a small, artisan fiber mill located in Bridgman, Southwest Michigan. Our mill was built in 2016-2017 and we began processing fiber in summer of 2017. The retail shop on site has been in Bridgman for more than 40 years as a gift shop and was purchased by us in 2009. We began to carry hand spun yarn and found the demand for yarn and fiber products had a very loyal following.
Who runs the mill?
The mill is owned and operated by Rick Fuller and Suzy Barnes. The retail shop is managed by Rick's wife, Anna Kozak. The combination of retail sales of finished products and custom processing on one site has given us an opportunity for increased exposure and growth.
Why was the mill established?
The existing artisan mills had more work than they could keep up with so the idea was born to combine the retail outlet for yarn, roving, batts, etc. with custom processing for those raising the animals.
What makes your mill unique?
Our mill is a new, clean, light and bright facility that makes it easy for us to organize and track each customer order and features "open view" windows throughout for individuals to be able to look in and take the self-guided tour of how the process works and the function of each machine. We are unique in our ability to handle "small batch" processing and our end products are highly individualized to our customer's specific needs. We communicate regularly with our customers once their fiber is in process to get the very best possible end product from their fiber.
Where does the fiber sent to the mill come from?
We receive fiber from local, regional and national farms. We have fiber shipped from as far away as California, Mississippi, and Texas. Customers are seeking us out from an ever growing geographic area.
What is the most common type of fiber you receive?
We receive almost equal percentages of alpaca and wool for processing. We have also worked with angora, llama, and pygora.
Have you noticed any influxes in farms producing organic wool, using regenerative farming or other environmental practices?
While we have not seen a significant shift in organically sourced fibers, we have witnessed the increased interest in individuals knowing the origin of their yarn, garments, etc. and a growing connection to the processes we use to refine the raw fleece.
What are the different products that you produce?
We produce carder roving, pin-drafted roving, batts, yarn, core spun yarn, and finished garments that are sold in our retail shop. Our "Strong Spun" collection of yarn colors is a blend of wool fibers that makes it particularly well suited for garments worn to enjoy the great outdoors. This yarn is a blend of 60% Merino and 40% Romney wool and is resistant to pilling and extremely insulative! Project quantities are normally available in Worsted, DK, Sport, and Sock/Fingering weights. We can even spin batches of a specific strong spun color in any weight for individual customers upon request!
What is the most common end product?
Varying weights of yarn are our most common end product.
How do you envision the future of the mill?
Our vision for Hoof To Hanger includes broadening our product line to include fine finished products such as Sweaters, socks, hats, rugs, blankets and more with the Hoof To Hanger brand name.
What is your vision for the Great Lakes Fibershed?
We are hoping our association with the Great Lakes Fibershed will help us promote locally/regionally sourced farm products and enhance farm-to-market and home use