Purchase the Pattern on Ravelry
Connect with Grace for Yarn woollycrone[@]yahoo.ca
The last time I saw Grace, a couple of friends and I went out to her farm to help with shearing day. The fleece from here sheep is very clean, has a lovely crimp, is a joy to spin with, and has won Grand Champion at the Royal Winter Fair. Grace participates in the sheep to shawl and is very active in the local guilds. She has a wealth of knowledge, is very caring and sweet. Bree also has a very similar disposition. She is quiet and funny. She has a quirky sense of humor and loves knitting. This match was made for two women who love what they do, expect and achieve excellence all the while remaining kind to everyone they meet.
Interviewed separately, here is our conversations starting with Grace:
Becky: How did you get started in Farming?
Grace: Our flock started with a Corriedale ewe and her two ewe lambs, bought as a birthday gift for one of our children, 21 years ago. The flock has since grown to about 35 adult animals, consisting of mainly long wool breeds from Northern England.
Tell us a bit about your farm.
Our flock runs between 35-65 animals, depending on time of year. I try to overwinter approximately 35 animals. Most of my ewes are crossbreeds: BFL crossed with either Border Leicester, Romney or Corriedales. My interest is in producing clean spinning fleeces.
The sheep have access to pasture all year round but are brought in each night and have access to barns. We feed hay all year round to supplement the flock. Our total acreage is 100 acres, but 35 of those acres are rented to a neighbouring farmer. The rest is either hay fields, pasture or marsh land.
What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day starts at 6:30 AM with feeding the ewes or letting them flock out on pasture. Our flock are brought in each evening to a walled barn yard as a safety measure against predators. This area is cleaned by hand each morning along with a barn the sheep have access to. This usually takes between an hour to two hours.
Electric nets need to be moved regularly so the sheep have fresh pasture. The flock is then brought in between six and seven pm and fed hay. The lambs have access to a creep until October, where they can eat grain and second cut hay.
I love caring for my sheep and any animals that stay, are given names. They become quite friendly and will often come to me and say “hello”. Several are used in displays at fairs and pioneer villages. I find culling individual sheep from the flock extremely difficult and hate sending lambs to the butchers. The reality is that the meat is what buys the hay for the flock, and in order to maintain healthy pastures the flock numbers need to controlled.
What tool do you depend on the most?
The tool I depend on most is my eyes…I watch my sheep each day…! It is the fastest way to pick out problems and to know your animals. I also rely on touch, to check condition of the animal and their fibre.
I rely on 20 years of experience with my sheep, as well as 40 years of looking after horses. I also rely on my husband who practiced veterinary medicine for 30 years. He has been a great help and resource. I also am lucky to have friends who are shepherds and share knowledge with them.
What is the process from animal to finished product for you?
Shearing-skirting-washing-sorting-fibre, mill for carding and spinning, washing skeins, dyeing if desired, labeling, and then either for sale or to a knitter to be made into product.
What does being a member of the Upper Canada Fibreshed mean to you?
I like that the Fibreshed helps to educate the general public about the availability of local and Ontario fibre. So many people have no idea where their clothing and, in particular, wool comes from. I think it is extremely important for consumers to be educated on where their clothing comes from and the environmental impact it has. And also how important buying local can be.
Now for our interview with Bree Zorel – You can find another interview with Bree HERE.
Becky: What kind of a product did you make?
Bree: A colourwork mitten kit (I wrote the pattern)
What was the process like?
I loved getting to connect with a local farmer and getting to visit the farm where the wool came from. The process was very smooth. I got to walk a lamb on a leash so that was a highlight.
How would you describe the state of the local textile industry?
Currently pretty tough to connect the dots in the supply chain, tough to find much available in Toronto that’s actually produced locally from the ground up.
What are the challenges for the local textile community?
Not being connected to one another to share knowledge, not having infrastructure, not being able to scale products to make them more accessible to consumers, having to have a job to pay the bills when you really want to create textiles all day.
What will the impact of purchasing this product be?
Participating in a truly regional textile production, being able to say that your finished product is 150% local
What do you imagine is the future of the local textile community?
Hopefully growing day by day and one day locally produced textiles will be accessible to all!
How did you get started in your craft?
I taught myself to knit during a cold winter in Berlin.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I work in school administration currently, so knitting is what I do to relax at the beginning and the end of my day.
What does the whole process look like, from start to finished product?
I usually knit other people’s patterns so to write my own pattern was a fun challenge. I leaned on wisdom from my maker community – a friend told me about a free computer program used to make colourwork charts for example. I knit, I made notes, I knit some more, I translated my notes into a pattern, kept knitting, and got the pattern edited by a professional.
What skills do you draw on, on a regular basis?
Knitting knowledge, imagination, visual arts.
What ecological considerations do you have?
I try as much as possible to limit my consumption of textiles to the locally produced, second hand, and/or all natural fibres.
What does being a professional a crafter mean to you?
A lot of guts, determination, and sometimes being comfortable being that cat from the classroom poster “hanging in there.”
What does the fibreshed mean to you?
A group of people that GET IT and that ooh and ahh over the same incredible locally produced textiles as you. Knowing gritty farmers who will bring lambs to the school you work at to teach the urban kids about sheep. Being able to participate in a soil to soil economy, knowing that your clothing can actually be climate regenerative! Being part of an important movement to curb over consumption and provide people with ecologically responsible and beautiful textile options. Knowing the secret: Ontario produced textiles are BEAUTIFUL and have so many magical properties.