Wooly Meadows Yarn - mmmm possibility!



A few days after shearing, last spring.

Aren’t these girls cuties?  Simply Baaaautiful!
They live and work at Wooly Meadows, Sulphur Kentucky.

Bulky weight yarn.

After a trip to the beauty salon,  ta da.....just look at what they have produced?  My beauty treatments never result in a by-product!  I am so excited to get my hands on this yarn and make something gorgeous.  A cuddly scarf, snuggly hat, or a warm sweater....hmmm, the dreamy imagery it invokes.   Speaking of dreamy, doesn't the yarn seem to be begging for dye?  How about blues and greens to mimic the bluegrass of Kentucky? Or the golden and copper colors of bourbon? Learning to dye wool is something I’ve always wanted to try, but let’s be honest – it intimidates me!  Not just the process, but I’m not sure I could actually make a decision on color….I just love color and texture, it mesmerizes me, and then paralyizes me and I can’t move forward because of all the decisions to make.... Well now I’ve got inspiration to step off the diving board and jump right in. The possibility and wonder of it all!

Here is the master of the flock, my fabulous niece Tayler, the best shepardess I know - there may be a little bit of partiality on my part.  Her flock happily resides at Wooly Meadows in Kentucky along the bourbon trail.  They are the happiest group of sheep I have ever seen, maybe there is bourbon in the water or perhaps it’s the love and attention from a girl who is obsessed with her flock?  The product from these girls is a fabulous quality yarn that is so snowy white even though it was spun in the grease.  I am very excited to get a hank, wash it up and dare I say dye a batch and start a project?

Here is Tayler a few years ago with my Mom preparing for the 4-H show season….champions all around!





 

In a quiet summer outdoor ceremony the ewes were married to this handsome gentleman - Nash.  Nash is a natural colored Columbia/Rambouillet breeding ram producing medium fine wool sheep and nice meat lambs.  She’ll keep a few ewe lambs with potential high quality fleeces to see how there hogget fleece turns out.  (Crazy name for the first shearing of a sheep - hogget!)  Since this is the finest fleece the sheep will ever produce, if it doesn’t meet Tayler’s expectations, she will not continue to process wool from that particular sheep. This girl is a stickler for quality. This year she showed fleeces at NAILE with great success – earning ribbons and accolades.  She even sold one fleece to a judging team!  

Corriedale ewe with crossbreed lamb

Here is one of the results the corriedale ewe pairing with the columbia/rambouillet ram netted. 

Back to the yarn story, Tayler selected four of the finest fleeces and off they went to the Ohio Valley Natural Fibers Woolen Mill for custom processing.  Little did we realize the amount of yarn this would make!  So, to market we go not to buy a fat pig as the old nursery rhyme goes, but to sell some fine yarn.  With four fleeces there is plenty of yarn for her to sell at The Fiber Event, in Greencastle Indiana.  We’ll be there with a booth on April 19-20^th, 2013. Come see us.  I'll post more about the yarn later....once I finish dreaming and decide what to do with it....