2011 Yarn and Fiber CSA

Flora and her baby

I have been nervous about doing this but I think I can now safely start our 2011 Yarn and Fiber CSA. We have ten pounds of Gulf Coast Sheep wool ready to blend with our personal Angora fiber. The sheep wool comes from a local, neighbor farm and we have scheduled processing with a small fiber mill just south of us, Woodland Hills.


We're going for about an 80/20 mix on the sheep to rabbit ratio and will provide shares in the form of either roving or double plied yarn. There are only going to be FOUR full shares available to ensure everyone that participates recieves about 2 pounds of fiber/yarn along with other special goodies from the farm including a newsletter and information about the rabbits and sheep that have provided the fiber for your share. Your share price is determined by the amount of processing that is involved in the share you choose. (Half shares will include approx 1 pound)

The yarn and fiber will be undyed, neatly packed and shipped to you for the share price including a special shareholder day where you will be invited out for a fiber art day at the farm to meet the rabbits, have lunch and work on projects.

The cost of the share goes to supporting this new farmer, processing the yarn, supply new housing for the rabbits, feed, hay and the start of a rabbit only fresh vegetable garden.

We are dropping off the fiber for processing in May and expect to have it back in August. Enough time to get holiday presents made. Shipping will be done as soon as it is recieved. We will send you emails with the progress of the processing as it becomes available. Our Yarn and Fiber CSA shares also make great gifts.
I will update the shares available as they are purchased. If you are interested in a share please contact me at heartsongfarmfamily@gmail.com for more information.

We also have one Angora buck baby available for $35 adoption fee ($45 with workshop) and a few non-rabbit buying slots in the May 21st New Rabbit Owner Workshop.

Homespun

My new logo, what do you think?

Thanks everyone for the wonderful words of encouragement from my last post. With the move coming up so soon and little work being done thus far, I'm just a little tense and strung out emotionally. I will be breeding our Angora Rabbits for the first time in November and have a plethora of fur I need to process for sale. One of the reasons we got into the rabbit business was to well, generate business and since we started with our first buck in January this year we haven't done a single thing but love them up.

They're not pets, they're livestock. They need to start earning their keep around here.

I made up a logo for our farm based on the fact we will be a fiber production farm. I added in the sheep even though we're not getting them until later next year. Presumtuious? What do you think? We do currently have wool we will be processing to sell, it just isn't our wool.

What do you think of the logo? I wanted something that stood out but was simple and could be printed inexpensively. I think it portrays the essence of what we'll be farming. If you have a better idea or suggestions for the logo please let me know! I'm not that good with graphic arts.

Fully Fleeced

(raw alpaca fleece)

We have been researching the viability of becoming a fiber farm. We're almost 100% certain we'll be getting Gulf Coast Sheep late next year. This past weekend I had an opportunity to visit a fiber convention. The Florida Fiber In is a great (free) yearly event for all types of fiber enthusiasts. I met so many people that knitted, spun, crocheted, owned fiber stores, owned animals, and processed fibers. I made contacts and forgot all my business cards at home.

Even with all the chatting and eating and demos and more chatting, I still was able to finish one bobbin that's been sitting on the wheel for weeks. I'm pleased with my progress on the wheel. I'm getting good at creating a consistent, uniform thread. I'm starting to tell the differences between fibers by look and feel.

Like this Merino/Tussah silk blend. I picked this up to make a scarf for me for the winter. I'm still not confident (or have enough fiber) to create product for sale yet. So, much of what I spin now is either practice or personal projects and gifts. I hope within the next six months to a year I'll be able to offer spun yarn for sale and within 18 months offer raw, rovings and yarn from our own animals.

Here is that same roving spun up. For this I'm going for a thick/thin variation. I'm purposely making it this way. I love the subtle colors.

As for the sheep, I have a date with a flock in early October. I'm over a hundred pages into the Living with Sheep: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Flock book and it's just a wealth of information. Now, I'm exploring the logistics and budget for our own flock of sheep. Trying to decide if we want to keep it simple or jump in fully fleeced.