I am a spinner and a weaver. My inspiration and the source of my raw materials is my family’s Havencroft farm in the Ozark hills. We raise Jacob sheep, colored angora goats, dairy goats and a few alpacas. We care for our animals throughout the cycles of the year and of our lives, providing for their needs, as they in turn help provide for ours.

Every spring, my daughter and I shear our sheep. We put each animal up on a stand and give them a haircut, trim their hooves, give them any vaccines needed and check them over completely. They are so funny to watch when they get off the stand. They scratch and rub and show off to all their herd-mates. Each fleece goes into a pillowcase and is labeled with the sheep’s name and the date sheared. These bags of wool are then stacked on a cedar shelf in my workshop until I am ready to start working with them. We shear our alpacas yearly in the summer and the angora goats get their haircuts twice a year.

I spin my yarns in the evening. Every night, after work and chores are done, I sit down at the wheel to unwind and create beautiful yarn. I spin raw, unwashed fleece, right from the pillow case. This gives my yarns a unique texture and look. Every yarn is strong, as a weaver, I need strong yarn, but they have a fluffy, varied texture that comes from spinning “in the grease”. After spinning and plying the yarn, I wash each skein and hang them out to dry on our porch before storing them in my cedar trunk.

I weave shawls, scarves, rugs and make some other items, such as vests and handbags from the cloth I weave. I weave both on a triangle loom on the wall and on my antique Newcomb rug loom. I weave about 30-40 rugs a year, and 15-20 shawls. I also love to felt with my fleeces. I’ve been making felt balls for decades, but have begun exploring other forms of wet felt, making slippers, hand warmers, book covers and crochet hook cases.

My dye kitchen is on our back porch, so I can watch the sheep and goats as I add color to fleece, yarn and garments. I use some natural dyes, including madder root, bois d’arc shavings and dock root; but I do most of my dyeing with acid dyes for wool. These modern dyes are easy on the environment and give bright, colorfast hues.

I love to work my craft from the sheep to the shawl and I love to share the comfort of fiber arts.