Historic Local Business a Success in the 21st Century

Tucked away in a neighborhood of graceful Victorians sits an unassuming old brick mill building. Like so many others, it is plain though stately, built for utility in a century past when craftsmanship was a cornerstone in all things manufacturing, even the structures that housed it.

Most of these former bastions of American industry were shuttered long ago, victims of increased overseas competition and a decline in the domestic textile industry. But the mill on S. Main Street in Nazareth continues to hum away 24 hours a day, six days a week as it has for well over a century, providing full-time employment for 70 local people in three shifts and processing 33,000 pounds of fiber a week, twisting enough of it to wrap around the Earth sixfold.

That's almost entirely due to branching into yarns for hand-knitting several years ago.

“We decided six or seven years ago.. .They knew yarn and wanted to control their own destiny,” said Eleanor Swogger, marketing manager for the company and area native.

While the company still custom spins yarns for the apparel, carpet and textile industries, the bulk of its business is now providing the finest supplies to hand knitters, dyers and craftspeople all over the world. It distributes the supplies wholesale to shops and retail via the company website and a shop at the mill itself.

Purchased as a hosiery mill in 1907 from the Kraemer family by the Schmidt family, who still owns the operation, the mill switched to spinning yarn for industrial use permanently after the silk used for stockings became scarce during one of the world wars, she said. As the market changed, the switch to an emphasis on retail distribution was a natural one, she added.

Some of the yarns, nearly all of which are playfully named for familiar local towns, were adapted from those the company provided to the garment industry, such as “Tatamy Tweed,” which was used by L.L. Bean and Carter's to make socks, she said.

“And now we make it for ourselves. We try to do things we're good at,” Swogger said, adding with a grin, “People from California cannot say 'Tatamy.'”

But mispronunciation doesn't stop anyone from buying the popular yarn, along with many other fine wools the mill offers, including “Saucon Sock,” “Naturally Nazareth” and “Mauch Chunk.”

Despite the beauty of the finished yarns the company makes -- including some with silk, merino wool and in one case, real sterling silver -- the company sees a good deal of its profit from supplying felting crafters with wool “rovings” and hand-dyers with undyed spun wools for custom coloring.

“A large part of our hand-knitting yarn is for hand dyers,” Swogger said. “That's a large segment, about one-third.”

Kraemer adds to its line about twice a year, though it hasn't added any completely new yarns recently, focusing more on adding additional colors and weights of existing yarns.

“Often it's not so much of a new yarn as much as what new can we do with it,” she said.

But on the company's website, and behind the scenes, there is always something new brewing. New patterns and instructions are available to download for free on the company website at least twice a month.

“I don't think people realize we write patterns that are used all over the web,” said Swogger, who authors many of the patterns herself.

A prolific, lifelong accomplished knitter who worked for decades with designers and patternmakers before joining Kraemer, Swogger's work continues to be seen in national knitting and fashion magazines, just this month landing on the cover of Knitters Magazine for the first time.

Proudly holding the magazine in the cheerful, colorful boutique and workshop, which also offers offers classes in knitting, crocheting, felting, and even lacemaking, she said, “We consider our shop to be a showcase.”

The Yarn Shop at Kraemer Textiles, 240 S. Main St., is open six days a week, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and can be reached by phone at 610-759-1294.

To view the complete line of Kraemer's offerings or download free patterns, visit its website at www.kraemertextiles.com