Monday, September 13, 2021

2021 Wool Tent Vendors

 Two Roots Alpacas and Fiber Mill  is an alpaca ranch, fiber mill and hobby vineyard farm in Greeneville, TN that offers farm tours, farm store, over 60 very spoiled alpacas and a beautiful vineyard with the Applachians as the backdrop.  Our tours are by appointment only and the farm store is open M-F with a wide range of alpaca products all straight from our farm to you.

Ruth Anne and Brad share their daily adventures with the alpacas and the fiber mill on both Two Roots Alpacas and Two Roots Fiber Mill Facebook pages.  Watch the “girls” getting a belly wash or the birth of a cria (baby alpaca).  Also our website, www.tworootsalpacas.com has an online store.  Our customer-centric full service fiber mill caters to the small fiber farm by specializing in creating artisan products: yarn, core spun yarn, roving, batts and wet felted sheets from your herd's fiber.  We have an easy online order submission that includes an estimated cost per batch and a target completion date.  We also offer the option to pre-schedule your processing date in advance. We will be accepting fiber orders during show hours.



Merry Go Round Farm

Jerri and Gary Ramsey operate this small fiber farm located in south central Kentucky. The farm is home to a flock of Shetland sheep, a herd of Angora goats, a couple of alpacas, and some part-time dairy goats. We offer raw fleece, mill-spun yarn, needle and wet felted wool items, nuno felted silk scarves, wool dryer balls and our goat milk soap. At the festival, we will have a skirting table set up to show the next step after the wool fleece has been shorn from the sheep. 


Kate Stone with Stone Gully will be bringing knitted wool items, needle felting knits, scarves and felted soap.


Valerie Arthur with Colorplay Fiberstudio will be bringing hand dyed yarn, (acid dye, self striping, variegated, and semi solid), handspun yarn, and maybe hand dyed fiber.  I will also have  project bags,  and finished goods (knit and crochet dishclothes, hats, scarves, shawls, etc)


Morgandell Farm is small family farm located in the rolling green hills of the outer Bluegrass region in Harrison County, Kentucky.  Our farm name comes from our lifelong devotion to the Morgan horse breed, and the “dell” or small valley or holler that runs through the center of our land. It is a place filled with love and laughter, as well as horses, chickens, a goat, and our beloved sheep flock.


Our farm got it’s start in 2018 with the purchase of our first three registered ewes—Anna, Arowyn, and Indy.  We’ve always been drawn to the rare and the beautiful, and that is what drew us to the California Red breed of sheep.  They were developed to be a triple use breed, for wool, meat, and milk.  Originally a cross between Tunis and Barbados Blackbelly, they are now their own, established breed.  The California Reds produce a lovely cream colored wool, known for it’s good staple length, softness, and crimp.  As such, it is very popular with hand spinners.  The “Red” in their name comes from the underlying hair in their coat that comes in a variety of red, from a lovely chestnut, all the way to a deep russet. Finished wool, that has been carded and spun, comes in a variety of cream colors that takes well to dye.


In 2019, we purchased our first ram, Levi, and our breeding business was established.  Even though we are expanding our flock and retain some of our babies for future breeding and fiber purposes, we still offer some of this incredible breed for sale each year. As of right now, we have two young rams available for purchase for breeding or as fiber pets.  All our babies are hand raised and friendly as can be.


My name is Andrea Edwards, and these sheep are the culmination of a long time dream.  I love nothing more than to take my cup of tea in the mornings and watch my flock as the sun comes up.  I am a lifetime crafter, everything from crochet, knitting, and weaving, to anything and everything wool.  I love to spin, and felt, and still crochet and weave with my handspun yarns.  And I truly enjoy the process of washing, picking, and preparing the wool from our flock to be ready to be used in your projects.


This is our first year at the Wool Festival.  We will have wool batts available, as well as pictures of our flock and information on the California Red breed.  The spinning wheel will be set up, so if it’s something you’ve always wanted to try, why don’t you stop by and give it a go!  We look forward to meeting you, and introducing you to the joy of the California Red!




Charlotte Anderson, Weaving Memories from Nicholasville, Kentucky.


I am looking forward to being at Falmouth again.  Really hope numbers don't continue to climb and we can safely be together.  I have been weaving for 32 years.  The first 11 years were in a group in southeastern Kentucky.   After moving from there in the 80's I really missed weaving.


Then in 2000, I found a loom and have been weaving ever since.  Today I am working on rug # 2768.  It is made of old blue jeans and will be over 7 feet long.  I have also made 3,228 mug rugs (coasters).


Over the years the materials I use have gradually changed to now being mostly recycled materials.  Kroger bags or Walmart bags - - 125 bags will make a rug 22" x 42".  Sheets, bedspread, throws, blankets, burlap - - nothing's is safe from my rotary cutters or scissors.


If you have something that means a lot to you, maybe I can make it into a rug for you.  Or if you have a old rug in bad shape I'll remake it for you.  All rugs are machine washable.




The Commonwealth of Kentucky is rich in fiber!  Stop by the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber booth to see wool processing demos, purchase local wool and fiber products from the artists who not only create them- but lovingly and ethically raise the animals the products come from. Learn more about the associations and programs that support these local fiber farmers and find out how you can get involved in the fiber community in your own back yard! 

The Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office is a producer-oriented organization under the oversight of the Kentucky Sheep and Wool Producers Association and the Kentucky Goat Producers Association, funded in part by a grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board.   The office provides professional support to all aspects of the Commonwealth's sheep and goat industries and its goal is to maintain Kentucky's leadership in the production and marketing of small ruminants.    They oversee the  annual Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival in Masterson Station Park as well as The Kentucky Fiber Trail, an interactive map of the Bluegrass’ best fiber producers, agritourism locations, makers and fiber related events.   They are also excited to promote the new Kentucky Natural Fiber Center in Millersburg, Kentucky, a place where Kentucky fiber producers can share their passion for their wool and fiber with classes and opportunities to learn new skills.  More information can be found on their websites:   kysheepandgoat.com and kentuckysheepandfiber.com



My shop Rhapsody in Hue will have yarn in many different colors, bases, and samples of finished projects. The name of my shop comes from a play on the title of one of my favorite works of music and I like to think about the colors I use as musical notes that instead of creating a work of music, come together to make a cohesive and beautiful skein of yarn. I've added different bases to my collection this fall so be sure to stop by and see what's new.


Daniel and Ewe - I’ve been helping my mom (Melanie Gibson) with Rhapsody in Hue for years. Inspired by all the fiber around me I took up spinning last year and love it! It has been the so fun and relaxing to learn how to spin fiber into yarn that I can knit with. My mom dyes beautiful yarn and I love seeing the results of her work, so I decided to dye my own roving. This year is my first year with my own booth at Woolfest and I’m so excited to have farm fresh fiber to offer for spinners and knitters alike.


Jessica Faulhaber of Jessica’s Creations has loved the fiber arts for as long as she can remember. Her Grandmother taught her to crochet and do hand embroidery  during the summers when she was young. Now Jessica teaches about fiber being part of a effort to be self sustainable and truly believes that there is nothing like the feeling of being able to make the things you wear. Jessica creates the items available on her website, Jessica’s Creations. She is a certified crochet teacher by the Craft Yarn Council and is a regular teacher for Fiber from beginning to end for Fiber Frenzy in Berea, KY. You can find out more about Jessica and what she does by following her shop on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/CreationsJ or on instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationsjessica/. While at Kentucky Wool Fest she will be demonstrating spinning, crocheting, and drum carding. In her booth she will have hats for baby to adult sizes (this includes her famous animal hats), shawls and scarves, dryer balls, reusable fabric food wrap,  hand dyed/hand spun yarns, and other hand dyed fibers!


Michelle and Jeff Brown with Woolywood Crafts have been teaming for 20 plus years. Michelle started after she received a spinning wheel for Christmas and her dad and his wife showed her how to spin wool. 

With Jeff the wood worker and her spinning wool and Alpaca into  yarn,  they  have added more wood type crafts to continue to work together.

Jeff does the dying of the wool and she will wash and prepare it for him to dye. They have knitting boards that Jeff makes and demonstrates at shows. 

They look forward to fiber shows so they can show what they have made as well as meeting new people teaching about their crafts.



Erin DeAtley of Rock and String Creations from Carlisle will be at the festival with Rock and String Creations. From horses to hand spun, Erin did not grow up with yarn  in  her hands. Reins were in her hands, not wool and her feet were in stirrups, not treadling a spinning wheel. Even so, she has always liked making things, creating, doing, building. Her teachers had boxes of things she’d be caught fiddling with during class that they’d take from her thinking maybe she’d pay attention if she’d didn’t have something in her hands. So she drew instead. In middle and high school she would fill whole sheets of blank paper with intricate squiggles then color them in with felt tips pens. There would be a whole sheet full of colorful, meandering lines. 


She is completely self taught. If she wanted to know how to do a particular stitch, she looked it up and gave it a shot. The nice thing about knitting is that if you make a mistake, you just rip it out and try again. After learning to knit, she learned about wool yarn and natural fibers. She thought if she could make fabric, maybe she could make yarn too and she did. She used a drop spindle for a bit, then graduated to a “real” wheel and in time began dyeing her own yarn and fabric. That is where the real addiction started. Erin loves color. She loves spinning a painted braid of fiber and watching the colors flow and twist together. She says she loves yarn more than knitting, so that’s what she makes. She makes yarn. 


This year at the Wool Festival, Erin will be spinning on her wheel as well as using a drop spindle. She will have her hand painted fiber and yarn for sale along with a few knitted items. So be sure to stop by and watch Erin for awhile and grab some new yarn for your next project.



 Stephanie Stratton of Deep Dyed Yarns by Lunabud Knits hails from Nicholasville, Ky  and is the color extraordinaire behind Deep Dyed Yarns. A lifelong knitter, Stephanie was interested in how yarn was made and purchased an antique spinning wheel to learn. After many trials and errors, she finally was spinning yarn and found a wonderful group of ladies in central Kentucky who helped expand her  fiber arts knowledge. A short time later, she took the plunge into dying fiber and was encouraged by Sara Dunham to become a contributing member of the Sheep and Wool Tent. It was her first vending experience and became the starting point of her new career as the spinner and dyer behind and in front of the curtains of LunabudKnits. 
To find out more about Stephanie visit www.Lunabudknits.com


David Shepherd of Shepherd’s Woodworking David Shepherd of Shepherd’s Woodworking as a spin off of David’s cabinet shop 7 years ago. 

He has been a lifelong woodworker starting as a child building things from the wood out of his father’s scrap box, later studying industrial arts and then after graduation joining his father at a local cabinetry shop. Years later when the shop closed, he decide to open his own shop. Soon after he was introduced to the fiber arts and the many tools that go with them.  

The very first fiber tool David made was a crochet hook. Once started, he was hooked. 
From that first crochet hook to knitting needle and drop spindles, if a fiber tool could be made out of wood he made it.  

He has since added to his product line every year, now offering a wide range for wooden fiber tool, including lathe turned yarn bowls, darning eggs, blending boards, yarn caddies and a selection of weaving shuttles. David has also makes modern version of the Squirrel Cage Swift, an antique design with modern hardware. All of David's items can be found online  at  shepherdswoodworking.com.

David has recently added handcrafted  Appalachian style brooms and Wisk brooms to his shop, after David was given the opportunity to use 140+ year old broom making equipment. 


Kreations by Phyllis

 

Phyllis Williams of Lexington, Ky is the main character behind this business.  My business started by mistake after a visit to a local yarn shop and spending the weekend making my first hat.  I was so proud of it, I took it to work to show my friends.  I could not believe how much the ladies at work liked my hat.  Next thing I know I have all these orders for hats in all colors.   The next year everyone who bought a hat wanted a pretty scarf to match their hat.  So I had more orders to fill again.  I started doing local craft fairs and my business way off and going.

 

My grandmother helped me get started knitting, when I was in high school.   I was determined to learn.  In the beginning, I would pull the yarn so hard she could barely pick it up.  She kept telling me to loosen up.  It finally clicked.  I chose knitting because there are only two stitches.   I was on my way.  I always went to the yarn areas of stores I was fascinated by all the beautiful colors. 

 

I own a knitting machine and worked for a local crafter perfecting my trade.  I love the machine, but my passion is hand knitting and crocheting. Along my path I got on to felting hats.  Through trial and error I found my greatest love of yarn.  Taking the beautiful colors of yarn, knitting it into a very large hat. Then I take it to a washing machine and abusing the yarn, until it submits and gives me my beautiful hats.  I allow them a couple of days to dry and they respond with my wool felt hats for this show.   These are truly a 

labor of love.

 

The crochet hats I display were added because cancer touched my sister in law.  She needed something cute and different that did not scream I have cancer.  So I added additional hats which I crochet in wool and non wool.  My repurposed hats were mostly sweaters in their previous life.  All have been washed, and repurposed into hats in both wool and non wool.  Stop by the wool tent and talk to me and see my kreations.  I will have a wool hat before it has been washed for you to see.



Atavistic Acres is a small, hobby farm located along the beautiful Ohio river valley in Boone County. A family farm with Shepherdess Kellie Burke at the helm, they specialize in fiber of all sorts from Shetland sheep, Huacaya Alpaca, and Angora bunny! Education and Meet & Greets are another important staple for Kellie and Atavistic Acres with participation in the Boone County Farm Tour and other community events and outreach. The hope is that the more people learn and understand about the many uses of these animals, the more likely their sustainability and longevity in our community will be! Atavistic Acres also regularly has farm fresh, free range eggs, Apple Butter, and home made soap for sale!

 

Kellie and her family love sharing their love of animals and their flock! Come visit them in the wool tent and learn about general ruminant husbandry, take a selfie with a wether lamb, or check out some beautiful fiber. Like them on Facebook or check out the blog at www.atavisticacres.weebly.com


ShayDay Fibers  is part of Hill Heritage Farm  and we are located in Hamilton Ohio  with deep Kentucky roots.  We love celebrating our heritage  by working  with our hands and creating unique  one of a kind treasures  from nature and resources on our farm. We take great pride  in our critters  and truly enjoy raising our flock of alpaca  and selective breeds of sheep. We spend our springtime shearing not only  our flock but for other farms in the tri-state area catering  to the smaller farm with a personal touch.  The rest of the year we are busy with hand processing  most of our fibers and creating items that will show our love for this life we live. Please stop by and let's talk Critters, fibers, art or one of my other  favorite  hobbies... junking with purpose. 


Teetor Totter Alpacas will be back again this year with all sorts of alpaca products.