October 30, 2020
We made our annual trek to Still River Mill this week. The spinnery is tucked away in Eastford, CT and is where we have, for years , had all of our wool processed into yarn. We make the voyage each spring to drop off the raw wool and then return several months later to pick up the finished yarn.
The yarn, then, is either sold directly to knitters, or distributed to local fiber artists so they can, in turn, make us hats, scarves, shawls, gloves, socks, rugs, blankets and a myriad of other products.
One of the many things we love about our Shetland Sheep is the distinct variations in the color of their wool. We don't dye any of the wool and it is easy to attribute which yarn comes from which sheep, so all the products we have made list the names of the sheep from which the wool came.
Hats by “Sister Mary Katherine Stardust”
Scarves by “Otter” “Petunia” and “Scrub”.
Socks by “Howard the Female Sheep”.
And on......and on
Deirdre who runs the mill with her husband Greg, is very patient with us, and I think generally amused.
It's usually a completely energizing journey but like everything else in 2020, our enthusiasm was a bit muted. Every festival, market, boutique and shop we sell our products at has been shut down, closed or canceled. Usually our biggest concern is running out of product before the big Holiday rush. This year, however, our only concern is storage. So heading to the mill to pick up the yarn was more of a thing that just had to get done, than our usual happy field trip. At least it was until I saw the Fair Isle hat Deirdre knit for us with our wool.
We both fell in love with it, and left her plenty of yarn to make a couple for us, and several more to sell. A Fair Isle hat made out of our Fair Isle wool is like coming home for our sheep. As sales event after sales event is canceled and the storage bins pile up around us- Anne and I will, at the very least, have very warm (and very classy) ears....