I try to find local options for whatever I do. Which is not easy and sometimes downright impossible. The greater the joy if I find one.
While I was looking for suitable yarn to knit a new everyday cold weather sweater, I came across a local wool mill which spins only local wool. (Actually, local means about 150 km from here, which is impressingly close) I got some yarn as a sample and when november came and all my business duties finally went quieter (and my computer sadly died) I ordered 1 kg white yarn and 1 kg brown yarn from them. The white yarn was actually still in processing and is a bit off white since they had some Coburger Fuchs mixed in the Milchschaf, which suits perfectly and I do so much love Coburger Fuchsschaf. Both sheep races have rather robust wool with a lot of crimp and are good for a lot of wear and tear.
Getting not always what you might want is one of the perceived drawbacks of ordering local. The samples though did convince me of the quality of their spinning and that they do produce the yarn I need. And honestly, I don't really care if my yarn is totally white, off-white or has some foxy reddish in it from Coburger Fuchs. On the contrary, and the foxy reddish goes very well with the dark brown from their Zwartbleswolle.
For a x-man present I choose another local source, though this one is known to me for a very long time now. Mohar from a friend with a long standing flock of mohair goats. She lets is spin at another local wool mill (not all mills are prepared for spinning mohair and other long staple wool) and dyes it herself. This one's kid mohair with silk (not local unfortunately *g*) and rather fluffy. The scarf is in a bath now and awaits fulling.
We'll see how it will look like after fulling.