82-Lancastar Farming, Saturday, October 18,1986
Thriving Wool Business
Spun From Frustration
BY JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
LOGANVILLE - “Virtually
unemployable” is the phrase
Martha Lau uses to describe
herself.
Yet, this “unemployable” farm
woman has difficulty finding
enough hours in a day to ac
complish all she sets out to do.
Years ago, Martha put aside
career plans and went to work to
help her husband Greg through his
graduate studies degree to teach
science. With Greg established in
his teaching profession, their
daughters nearly grown, and no
real marketable personal skills,
Martha took a job in a local
greenhouse. But she felt lost and
unsatisfied in what she called the
“world of unskilled labor.”
In her spare hours, Martha
especially enjoyed knitting. It was
an appropriate hobby interest,
since the Laus maintain a flock of
50 purebred Oxford ewes at their
small farm on the edge of the town
of LoganviUe.
“I liked knitting, we had all these
sheep running around, and it just
seemed as though there should be
some way I could put all that wool
to use,” she remembers. Plus, it
bothered the LoganviUe farm
woman that high-quaUty, 100
percent wool yam was difficult to
locate in the York County locale.
After a great deal of personal
soul-searching and, with en
thusiastic moral and financial
support from Greg, Martha
focused her dissatisfaction with
avaUable wool yams into a
fledgling cottage business.
Visitors to the Country Spun Fall Festival observe a sheep shearing demonstration by
Dave Green, world champion sheep shearer.
The source of Country Spun Wool, a flock of purebred Oxfords, graze contentedly for a
She called it Country Spun.
Country Spun yarn is a specialty
product, made from selected
fleeces, and processed on Vic
torian jennies at a Fhildelphia
firm. The old-fashioned process
causes the fibers in the yam to
bunch together, rather than
stretch out, during the spinning.
When a garment crafted from
Country Spun yam is washed,
there are no stretched fibers to
shrink out of shape. Thus, Country
Spun yam garments are com
pletely machine washable.
In May 1983, Martha took her
product to market - specifically, a
stand at York’s downtown Central
Market. It was an interim move
until that fall, when an addition to
the Lau’s country home was
completed as a shop for the
Country Spun business.
Well-aware of the specialty
demand for the somewhat nubby
textured yam, the Laus began
focusing on mail order sales,
advertising in crafting and
regional publications. Not onh'
skeins of yam, but kits complete
with directions, and exclusive
“ewenique” knitting accessories,
such as carefully crafted wooden
knitting needles, were stocked.
Along with her skills as a knitter,
marketer and salesperson,
Martha’s abilities as a public
relations specialist began to
emerge. She put together a public
relations kit, contacted local and
regional media representatives,
and established ties with the
county’s tourist bureau. Soon,
Country Spun’s on-farm colonial
display room, coupled with the
Martha Lau stacks her Country Spun yarn in her colonial-style shop. Her business,
located near Loganville, started with her interest in knitting.
flock of ewes and lambs which
never failed to enthrall customers,
became an attraction for visiting
.luriots, especiall> those seeking
out quality crafting materials.
“We promote some of the best
quality wool knitting yarns
available anywhere,” believes
Martha. “And we offer a variety of
textures, colors and weights.”
Market acceptance of Country
Spun has been rewarding. Other
shop retailers began approaching
the Laus about handling the yams,
and wholesaling is now a major
portion of the business. Retailing
of the yams, kits and related
merchandise is handled through
the Williamsburg-like shop, but the
wholesaling inventory has laid
claim to the Lau’s basement.
Trade shows play an increasing
role in the Lau’s marketing savvy.
Initial displays at craft and supply
shows were at the local and
regional level, including Baltimore
and New York-based events. Now,
Martha and Greg are considering
expanding toward more national
product exposure, possibly
through major shows as far away
as California. Also anticipated as
part of future merchandising is
putting their line of yams “on the
road” with a distributor.
With Country Spun merchandise
so closely related to the garment
industry, Martha has become
more aware of fashion trends and
colors. She must stay abreast of
fast-changing craft fads, too, since
Country Spun is deeply rooted in
that market area.
For example, home knitting
machines are in a “renaissance”
of popularity, both for crafters and
home-based workers.
“With a knitting machine,”
Martha points out, "a sweater
which would take a hand knitter
perhaps 25 to 30 hours to complete
can be finished in just four or five
hours. And, when you combine
quality textured wool yams with
the speed of a knitting machine, it
makes a garment with the hand
crafted look in just a fraction of the
time.”
Labor laws which strictly
regulate what sort of goods may be
produced by home workers have
focused on the garment industry.
Certain sweaters and outerwear
are permitted to be made at home,
promising a potential market for
home knitting machine operators.
With this market in mind, and
plans for a line of original-design
ladies sweaters and vests, Country
Spun now includes yarn on cones
for use with knitting machines.
Country Spun has already
generated a great deal of media
interest, appearing in such
publications as USA Today, Early
American Life, Pennsylvania
Magazine, and major newspapers
in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Regional television “magazine”
programs have also covered the
Lau’s innovative business, helping
to draw customers from
surrounding urban areas.
wmesfead
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Through promoting her yams
and kits, Martha has honed her
flair for public relations and
writing, skills she never dreamed
she would master. Putting
together a press packet was one of
the very first steps she took when
laying the groundwork for Country
Spun, and she’s since collaborated
on related articles about York and
surrounding tourist areas.
Working closely with the York
County Convention and Visitors
Bureau, the Laus are helping
encourage tourists to spend more
time in the areas.
“It has helped sharpen our
hospitality skills,” smiles Martha,
who, if the shop isn’t excessively
busy, will often invite customers to
have a cup of tea. And the sheep
flock remains a favorite of
customers, who are encouraged to
visit the source of the shop’s yam
goods.
Visitors find such a personal
touch vastly more appealing than
the excessively commercialized
“tourist” attractions, and often
linger to chat. In fact, Laus have
been told by customers touring the
locale that they were the only
people they had met on their
vacations who would take time to
talk.
Inevitably, conversation seems
to turn to the beauty of the area’s
patchwork of fields and farms over
the rolling hills. Frequently, out-of
state customers have inquired
about the possibility of staying at
the Lau’s country home.
Prodded by the inquiries, the
Laus are looking toward becoming
a bed-and-breakfast establishment
on a very small scale for select
guests. Their country-style home,
tastefully decorated in classic
colonial colors ornamented with
Greg’s artful stenciling, makes a
casual visitor immediately feel at
home. An adjoining patio looks out
over the carefully mulched
vegetable garden, bright with the
contrasts of deep green fall
vegetables and cheerful
marigolds. Blue morning glories
climb on a trellis near the tidy
bam, where one unexpected fall
lamb keeps company with a flock
of watchful ewes. *
Bed and breakfast is a tourist
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