In 1986 Eugene Bourgeois, a sheep farmer and mystical philosopher started Philosopher's Wool so that he could buy fleece from Ontario farmers at a decent price. By profit sharing, he has been able to pay them over $2 a pound instead of the pennies that they were able to get on the open market. This meant that he had to develop a special market to attract knitters to Philosopher's Wool and he did so by producing a wool that has not been treated with the usual chemical processes and retains a percentage of the natural lanolin. Philosopher's Wool has been described as non-allergenic; it certainly is wonderfully comfortable both to knit with and to wear. Ann Bourgeois had learned to knit fair isle sweaters in the round, in Scotland . Together they have developed a fair isle technique in which the left hand knits the continental way and the right the North American way. The result is no puckering, no tangles and easy knitting.