This article was written by Alex Steffen in January 2008. We're republishing it here as part of our month-long editorial retrospective.

We're fans of knowing where the things in your life came from, and where they're going when you're done with them. This is especially true when it comes to food. We're into the idea of having a connection with the people who grow our produce, brine our olives, cure our meats, brew our beers and even harvest our bananas. But even by our now somewhat jaded standards, the CSA Rebecca Blood just joined is pretty damn cool.

They sell you community-supported wool, as yarn:

After shearing, we’ll let our friends at the mill work their magic and soon you’ll receive your share of the harvest. The number of skeins, yardage, etc., will depend on the size of the clip but we are limiting our shareholders this first year to ensure that everyone gets a bountiful supply. You can choose to take all of your share in one kind of yarn or receive a sampler with some of each of the yarns we produce, including mohair, kid mohair, Cormo and Cotswold. Just type "one yarn" or "sampler" in the "Buyers Message to Seller" box when you check out. We also have Spinner's shares available- both roving and raw fleece.

I'm predicting it here: knowing the actual origin of the fiber you're wearing is the lifestyle eco-geek status symbol of 2008.

Fiber CSA's: Do You Know Where Your Yarn Has Been? is part of our month long retrospective leading up to our anniversary on October 1. For the next four weeks, we'll celebrate five years of solutions-based, forward-thinking and innovative journalism by publishing the best of the Worldchanging archives.