Dale had to have surgery on his shoulder due to hammering in all of those nails on the tri-looms and wool pickers. He waited 4 months after surgery (that’s a LONG time for Dale) and tried making more pickers and looms but his arm began hurting him again. I told him that was it, he was still young and I wanted him as healthy as possible, so no more pickers or looms for us. Shortly after that we began making spindles again……and well here we are…:)

We only made the swing arm pickers and, in my opinion, are the best type. All of the box types I have seen just wads the fiber up it doesn’t pick it clean. I know I will get spit balls thrown at me but that is my opinion based on the ones I have seen.

When we began asking the wool pickers we were the only ones making them other then the big names. Then suddenly everyone was making them…now to my knowledge there is no one making them, again!

I have tried to talk Dale into selling the pattern, he is a drafting designer by trade (oil business) and our picker design is all original and of his design. He doesn’t want to sell it because he MAY want to sell them again someday. I keep telling him not on my watch! LOL!

Our picker was originally designed to work on alpaca fiber but I used mine on everything and had to problems with it ever tearing or ripping the fibers.

The tri-looms which expanded from 18 inches to 8 foot was also his design…I believe there is a copy cat out there calling it his design. He originally made them so they wouldn’t come apart and after I have them in all the different sizes and ran out of room to put them I asked him to design one that I could take apart and add to or remove the pieces as I needed them….. He designed and made the Modular Tri-Loom……it began with 3 corner pieces and you added the long pieces to it to make it in different lengths.

We have been asked to sell that pattern but again Dale doesn’t want to because he MAY want to begin making them again…….

So there you have it…..no more pickers or Modular Tri-looms…….