| Autumn is here! The days are getting shorter, there is a coolness to the air, and the trees are starting to change colors! Autumn is here! The older ewes were shorn a few weeks ago, which gave us quite a nice wool harvest, and the lambs have started to move to their new homes. The flock is settling into the next cycle of courtship and soon the deep rest of winter. The pastures are slowing and changing as well, soon the sheep will have hay to munch on to supplement the final browsing and grazing they are able to do in the fields. We will start to cut down a few buckthorn trees each week to provide additional food to the sheep, the sheep really love to eat the berries and leaves of buckthorns. This method of cutting down the trees during the late autumn will also help us control the overgrowth and hopefully someday, remove all the buckthorn from our land. Buckthorn trees are the last to loose their leaves, and thankfully the sheep enjoy them, which is a win-win for all of us. Today is the Autumn equinox, or Mabon as it was once known. The day when the night and day are equal in time, the last of the three great harvests! This was once a time for great celebration, feasts were had and thanks were given to the gods for the harvest and food, as well as to the earth for providing it. During Mabon people would also reflect on the past year, celebrating the gains and letting go of the losses and pains, in many ways it was much like the New Year, which would make sense as the new year would start and end with the agricultural cycles. In modern times this holiday is all but forgotten, but we feel it is important to continue to recognize it and celebrate it. This year we will celebrate the abundant wool and meat harvest, the addition of the mill and growth of our business, the community and friends we have made. We will also acknowledge our losses, our friends who have passed both human and animal, and the hardships of the past year. We hope everyone will take a moment tomorrow to recognize the importance of the day and of our deep roots in agriculture. Thank those who feed us, the earth that provides the space to grow it, and the people and animals who care for it. Milling is a family adventure! This past month I have had the pleasure of milling some beautiful Alpaca as well as some super soft, squishy, columbia, polypay, and Rambouillet wool from our friends at Leaf Livestock. It was fun learning about the different wool qualities and how they responded to the mill. The roving that I made was delightfully soft and springy! Opal has enjoyed coming into the mill and hanging out with mom on days she is not in school. I can't believe my baby is in school! She loves my noise buffing headphones because I can turn on Frozen songs for her to listen to, she thinks it is just magical. She loves watching the machines work, there is something soothing about the whole process. I also enjoy having her with me, she is just a joy! This month I am enjoying working on some delightful naturally dyed wool and turning it into really beautiful roving. Dyeing is easiest in the warmer months because it can be done outdoors, and we are taking advantage of it and dying lots and lots of fleeces. I have some beautiful new roving up on the website to continue bringing color to your wheel or project well into the fall/winter months. I have also started to process my own Icelandic fleeces, which is really a joy for me. I love that I can process each individual fleece and connect the spinner to the beautiful animal that grew it. This year I am able to offer lambs wool fleeces for sale, with the option of having them processed in the mill. Take advantage of this opportunity and grab a fleece before they are gone, and have it milled here. Woolen Mill Notes from the spinner This month we had a wonderful Spin With Ewe class at our good friend's farm, Holly Ridge Farm, in WI. At this class we sampled some longwools, because she raises that type of sheep, and discussed their uses. I created two blends using Leicaster longwool, Blue face Longwool, and alpaca. The roving is just beautiful, it has luster, strength and softness. I plan to spin some to make a pair of socks to see how the three fiber types hold up with wear from boots. I also blended some Icelandic with Alpaca, blending fibers from my farm and my good friend and neighbor's farm. I spun this up the other night and I love the strength, softness and color! I used white Icelandic and black alpaca. I love that I can spin a fiber that is connected to my community, my friends, and other female shepherds who use sustainable practices to save the earth. Check out Julie at Cannon Valley Fiber Farm, you will be glad you did! Now that we move into the colder months and start to spend more time inside creating art on our wheels, I hope you find the same joy I find in spinning fibers created by artists and grown by friends. Classes and events Classes and events Classes As we move past September and into October we are offering a few natural dyeing classes here on the farm. There are still a couple seats available so make sure to grab them before they are gone! It is a really fun class that will leave you with the skills to continue to dye naturally at home! Please check out these events through our partner shepherd Alejandra's website. Alejandra is a skilled teacher and natural dyer, and each class is filled with information, hands on learning, and historical context. Check her out here . We are also really happy to announce that we will be adding multiple winter spinning opportunities this winter through a partnership with the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault MN. We will offer a beginning spinning class as well as Sip and Spin on a Sunday Afternoon, where you can spin and enjoy a beverage of choice! Please keep an eye out for those classes, they will be super fun! We also continue to teach drop spindle classes at the Northfield Yarn Store, each month the class sells out so don't hesitate to sign up! They will offer a few more classes soon, so keep an eye out on their website for them. We hope to add weaving classes soon too, because why stop with one fiber art! Potentially wet felted capelets as well... 2022 will be a great year to take up a new craft! As always, thank you for reading this far! I hope to see ewe at a class soon! Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock. |
The days are getting shorter, there is a coolness to the air, and the trees are starting to change colors! Autumn is here! The older ewes were shorn a few weeks ago, which gave us quite a nice wool harvest, and the lambs have started to move to their new homes. The flock is settling into the next cycle of courtship and soon the deep rest of winter. The pastures are slowing and changing as well, soon the sheep will have hay to munch on to supplement the final browsing and grazing they are able to do in the fields. We will start to cut down a few buckthorn trees each week to provide additional food to the sheep, the sheep really love to eat the berries and leaves of buckthorns. This method of cutting down the trees during the late autumn will also help us control the overgrowth and hopefully someday, remove all the buckthorn from our land. Buckthorn trees are the last to loose their leaves, and thankfully the sheep enjoy them, which is a win-win for all of us.
Today is the Autumn equinox, or Mabon as it was once known. The day when the night and day are equal in time, the last of the three great harvests! This was once a time for great celebration, feasts were had and thanks were given to the gods for the harvest and food, as well as to the earth for providing it. During Mabon people would also reflect on the past year, celebrating the gains and letting go of the losses and pains, in many ways it was much like the New Year, which would make sense as the new year would start and end with the agricultural cycles. In modern times this holiday is all but forgotten, but we feel it is important to continue to recognize it and celebrate it. This year we will celebrate the abundant wool and meat harvest, the addition of the mill and growth of our business, the community and friends we have made. We will also acknowledge our losses, our friends who have passed both human and animal, and the hardships of the past year. We hope everyone will take a moment tomorrow to recognize the importance of the day and of our deep roots in agriculture. Thank those who feed us, the earth that provides the space to grow it, and the people and animals who care for it.
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Milling is a family adventure! | |
This past month I have had the pleasure of milling some beautiful Alpaca as well as some super soft, squishy, columbia, polypay, and Rambouillet wool from our friends at Leaf Livestock. It was fun learning about the different wool qualities and how they responded to the mill. The roving that I made was delightfully soft and springy!
Opal has enjoyed coming into the mill and hanging out with mom on days she is not in school. I can't believe my baby is in school! She loves my noise buffing headphones because I can turn on Frozen songs for her to listen to, she thinks it is just magical. She loves watching the machines work, there is something soothing about the whole process. I also enjoy having her with me, she is just a joy!
This month I am enjoying working on some delightful naturally dyed wool and turning it into really beautiful roving. Dyeing is easiest in the warmer months because it can be done outdoors, and we are taking advantage of it and dying lots and lots of fleeces. I have some beautiful new roving up on the website to continue bringing color to your wheel or project well into the fall/winter months.
I have also started to process my own Icelandic fleeces, which is really a joy for me. I love that I can process each individual fleece and connect the spinner to the beautiful animal that grew it. This year I am able to offer lambs wool fleeces for sale, with the option of having them processed in the mill. Take advantage of this opportunity and grab a fleece before they are gone, and have it milled here.
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Notes from the spinner
This month we had a wonderful Spin With Ewe class at our good friend's farm, Holly Ridge Farm, in WI. At this class we sampled some longwools, because she raises that type of sheep, and discussed their uses. I created two blends using Leicaster longwool, Blue face Longwool, and alpaca. The roving is just beautiful, it has luster, strength and softness. I plan to spin some to make a pair of socks to see how the three fiber types hold up with wear from boots. I also blended some Icelandic with Alpaca, blending fibers from my farm and my good friend and neighbor's farm. I spun this up the other night and I love the strength, softness and color! I used white Icelandic and black alpaca. I love that I can spin a fiber that is connected to my community, my friends, and other female shepherds who use sustainable practices to save the earth. Check out Julie at Cannon Valley Fiber Farm, you will be glad you did!
Now that we move into the colder months and start to spend more time inside creating art on our wheels, I hope you find the same joy I find in spinning fibers created by artists and grown by friends.
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As we move past September and into October we are offering a few natural dyeing classes here on the farm. There are still a couple seats available so make sure to grab them before they are gone! It is a really fun class that will leave you with the skills to continue to dye naturally at home! Please check out these events through our partner shepherd Alejandra's website. Alejandra is a skilled teacher and natural dyer, and each class is filled with information, hands on learning, and historical context. Check her out here.
We are also really happy to announce that we will be adding multiple winter spinning opportunities this winter through a partnership with the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault MN. We will offer a beginning spinning class as well as Sip and Spin on a Sunday Afternoon, where you can spin and enjoy a beverage of choice! Please keep an eye out for those classes, they will be super fun!
We also continue to teach drop spindle classes at the Northfield Yarn Store, each month the class sells out so don't hesitate to sign up! They will offer a few more classes soon, so keep an eye out on their website for them.
We hope to add weaving classes soon too, because why stop with one fiber art! Potentially wet felted capelets as well... 2022 will be a great year to take up a new craft!
As always, thank you for reading this far! I hope to see ewe at a class soon!
Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock.
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