Fiber Farm Market at the Sheep Shack – First Saturdays 10AM to 3PM – Pittstown NJ

Join us at the Windswept Acres Sheep Shack in Pittstown for your fiber fix.  Monthly 1st Saturday of the month through the end of the year 10AM to 3PM. We’re doing demos/ talks which walk you through the fiber creation process from shearing to final products. 

-August was shearing (Sue’s son Chris flew in from Montana to shear 4 sheep and explain the process as he worked, to the delight of visitors of all ages).
-September was skirting (the fleeces shorn in August) and washing. 
-October will be more skirting (by popular demand!) as well as hand carding and combing.  Demos/ talks at 11AM and 1PM.

  • Cornerstone farms vending and organizing guests, demos and classes are:

Windswept Acres – fleeces, roving, yarn & sheepskins from Sue’s flock of natural colored and white Romney and Dorset sheep, plus NJ Blankets.  And meet the sheep!

Windswept Acres Sheep Shack Vendors

Dancing Waters Farm – natural colored and hand dyed mohair/ wool roving, tops & yarn from Andrea’s Angora goats and sheep, plus catnip and NJ Blankets.

  • Other NJ Fibershed members vending include:

G.P.K Woodcrafts & Restorations – Gregg’s locally made cutting and charcutier boards as well as wooden vases (made from locally sourced hard woods -maple, ash, walnut)

Willow Pond Farm – Sue’s raw natural colored and white fleeces (Gotland, Jacob)

  • Plus other local products (farm and artisans):
    • Glass artist – Bonnie’s handcrafted, one-of-a-kind pressed glass sun-catchers

    • Honey
    • Used fiber equipment for sale
      • Louet Nilus Loom

 

Guests, demos and classes will be announced via Instagram (@windsweptsheep) and on Dancing Waters Farm website (https://mohair-fiber.com) as they are scheduled.

Please stop by and come talk fiber! Our goal for opening the Sheep Shed is to connect local to local.
Address: 173 Whitebridge Road, Pittstown, NJ 08876
#localfibernj #localfiberarts #localfiberfarms

Yarn – Red Over 33% Brown 4oz – Millspun

 

 

 

Description: Hand kettle dyed with blue over 33% Brown Yarn. 47% Mohair (Jessie & Ingrid) & 53% natural brown colored wool. These skeins are soft and springy with a unique depth of color from blending 3 shades of brown then over dying.  Hand kettle dyed after spinning. Pic can’t fully capture inner glow and color variations/ depth.
Color: Shades of red
Fiber: Mohair: DWF’s Jessie and Ingrid (white)
Wool: 3 natural brown colored fleeces, 81% Shetland – DWF’s Sweets &  ABA’s 0075 (PA); 19% Finn –  Rosemont Valley Farm (NJ)
Type: Millspun Yarn (Gurdy Run, PA)
Yards/Skein (approx.): 200
Size (Plies): Light Worsted (2)
Wraps Per Inch (WPI): 10-12
Needle Size: 6-7 Knitting
Skein Weight (approx.) 4 Ounces or 118 grams
Quantity Available: 2 skeins
Price: $25/skein plus shipping.
Buy: Price Includes Shipping


Select Quantity (Shipping Included)



Yarn – Pumpkin Over 33% Brown 4oz – Millspun

 

 

 

Description: Hand kettle dyed with pumpkin over 33% Brown Yarn. 47% Mohair (Jessie & Ingrid) & 53% natural brown colored wool. These skeins are soft and springy with a unique depth of color from blending 3 shades of brown then over dying.  Hand kettle dyed after spinning. Pic can’t fully capture inner glow and color variations/ depth.
Color: Shades of orange
Fiber: Mohair: DWF’s Jessie and Ingrid (white)
Wool: 3 natural brown colored fleeces, 81% Shetland – DWF’s Sweets &  ABA’s 0075 (PA); 19% Finn –  Rosemont Valley Farm (NJ)
Type: Millspun Yarn (Gurdy Run, PA)
Yards/Skein (approx.): 200
Size (Plies): Light Worsted (2)
Wraps Per Inch (WPI): 10-12
Needle Size: 6-7 Knitting
Skein Weight (approx.) 4 Ounces or 118 grams
Quantity Available: 3 skeins
Price: $25/skein plus shipping.
Buy: Sold Out! More in the spring.

Yarn – Moss Green Over 33% Brown 4oz – Millspun

 

 

 

Description: Hand kettle dyed with moss green over 33% Brown Yarn. 47% Mohair (Jessie & Ingrid) & 53% natural brown colored wool. These skeins are soft and springy with a unique depth of color from blending 3 shades of brown then over dying.  Hand kettle dyed after spinning. Pic can’t fully capture inner glow and color variations/ depth.
Color: Shades of green
Fiber: Mohair: DWF’s Jessie and Ingrid (white)
Wool: 3 natural brown colored fleeces, 81% Shetland – DWF’s Sweets &  ABA’s 0075 (PA); 19% Finn –  Rosemont Valley Farm (NJ)
Type: Millspun Yarn (Gurdy Run, PA)
Yards/Skein (approx.): 200
Size (Plies): Light Worsted (2)
Wraps Per Inch (WPI): 10-12
Needle Size: 6-7 Knitting
Skein Weight (approx.) 4 Ounces or 118 grams
Quantity Available: 3 skeins
Price: $25/skein plus shipping.
Buy: Price Includes Shipping


Select Quantity (Shipping Included)



Livestock Veterinary Good News – Acupuncture and a NJ Vet School at Last

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is making it’s way into the tool set of livestock veterinarians!  It’s especially useful for chronic conditions such as arthritis, disc disease, back pain and musculoskeletal injuries, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological problems, and respiratory issues.  Check out the details in this May 2022 Lancaster Farming article.

Source:  https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming/livestock/animal-acupuncture-needles-its-way-into-veterinary-favor/article_b8b575f2-0613-5656-9288-5c221e8b147e.html

 

At Last a NJ Vet School

It’s gotten increasingly difficult to find livestock veterinary services throughout NJ, so it was great to hear that Rowan University has announced the planned opening of the first school of Veterinary Medicine in NJ!  It will be located in Sewell, NJ and plans an inaugural class of 60 students in Fall 2025 (pending approval by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education).  Today there are only 33 USA accredited vet schools of which 5 are on the East Coast.  With the addition of the new school, Rowan will become one of two universities in the nation to offer doctor of veterinary medicine, doctor of medicine and doctor of osteopathic medicine degrees.  More details available in the January 2022 article listed below.

Source:  https://www.lancasterfarming.com/news/main_edition/new-jersey-addresses-shortage-of-veterinarians/article_f2d83860-e77c-51a0-8a68-111a86cf6cb9.html

 

NJ Fibershed Blanket Project – Blankets For Sale

 


The NJ Fibershed Blanket Project is a cooperative project between small farms raising fiber animals for their fleeces. This is one of their major initiatives to bring NJ fiber farmers together, and to highlight locally produced fiber products.Using wool collected from farms located within the NJ Fibershed region, the program provides a way for small-scale fiber producers to sell their fiber.  Their wool was processed and made into items that can be marketed to customers seeking local products and who want to support small-scale, sustainable farms
Over 400 lbs of wool was collected and sorted to meet criteria for quality to ensure a final product that is beautiful, warm, and enjoyable to own.

 

The wool was washed in New Hampshire, spun in Maine, and handwoven by ComfortCloth Weaving in upstate New York.

Featuring a unique and modern design with three solid color sections representing the three regions of New Jersey: North, Central, and South Jersey. The gradual transition between color blocks is a playful nod to the fundamental New Jersey debate of where, exactly Central Jersey starts and ends. The nine lines in the transition represent the nine farms who contributed wool to the project.  Two versions will be available – one with a white background and one with a grey background.

The NJ Fibershed Blanket measures 78″ x 58″ (2m x 1.47 m) and weighs 2.5 lb (1.13 kg). The blanket price is $325.

 

Blanket Shipped to NJ Address
(includes Shipping, NJ Sales Tax):



Blanket Shipped to other than NJ Address
(includes Shipping):



Blanket Picked Up in NJ
(includes NJ Sales Tax):



 

 

Page Updated: Aug. 25, 2023

Rainbow Fiber Co-op

This fantastic group in their own words:

“is a Diné-led agricultural co-operative established to improve the financial sustainability and equitable market outcomes for the largest flocks of Dibé dits’ozí (Navajo-Churro sheep) remaining on the Navajo Nation. Our mission is to close the gap between rural Diné shepherds and an e-commerce driven marketplace for their wool. We are thrilled to announce that we have officially launched our online yarn shop!

Thanks to many generous donors we executed our first wool buy on the Navajo Nation in July 2021. We purchased approximately 3,200 pounds of Navajo-Churro wool from our shepherds. We paid a stipend for shearing help and a fair price for their wool by the pound. After skirting and sorting by color we transported the wool to Mora Valley Spinning Mill, a nonprofit community-based wool mill located in Mora, New Mexico, to produce an assortment of Navajo-style weaving yarns. In November of 2021 we began offering Diné-grown Navajo-Churro weaving yarns for sale online direct-to-customer. Sales dollars generated will be used to help fund the wool buy project again in 2022.

Most of the Navajo-Churro wool products available for sale online are from non-Diné shepherds. Diné shepherds are often told their wool is worthless or paid pennies per pound at mass wool buy events. Despite these challenges many shepherds create a market for themselves through hand spinning, weaving, and teaching weaving classes. This is difficult to do at scale and an unreliable source of income. In 2020 the pandemic brought marketing activities like farm visits, classes, art shows, and fiber events to a standstill. Several medium- to large-scale wool buys were completely canceled. These impacts have continued into 2021. We saw an opportunity to step up and do something to support these important flocks.”

Fibershed.org is helping them raise money to get their idea off the ground and their first run of yarn is now available on their website!

For more info:   https://rainbowfibercoop.org/

Roving Sampler – Brights

 

Description: Hand dyed before carding.
50% Mohair, 50% Shetland Wool
Color: Pumpkin Orange, Hot Pink, Lime Green, Yellow
Fiber Content: Mohair: DWF’s Roberto and Ingrid
Wool: Shetland, Phoenix Farm’s (WI) Cry Baby
Type (Processor): Roving (Gurdy Run, PA)
Quantity (Pounds): 4 oz  – 1 oz of each color
Price: $10/4 ounces plus shipping
Buy:



NJ Fibershed Fleece and Yarn Sale Nov. 15th 11AM-4PM

I’ll be helping out and selling dyed and natural roving, tops and yarn at the up-coming up event.  Love to see you there!

 

Need fiber? Join us in celebrating and supporting our local fiber farms!  Items for sale will include: fleece, yarn, spinning fiber, and other farm products from local fiber farms.

For everyone’s safety masks are required. A limited number of timed-entry tickets will be used. With purchase of a ticket, you will receive a raffle ticket for our hourly drawing for a NJ Fibershed Tote Bag containing a NJ Fibershed magnet!  Must be present during hour on your ticket to win.  Tickets are available up to the day of the event or until sold out.  Get your tickets now!

Children under 15 years of age may enter for free.

This is an outdoors event, with field shopping and pasture parking, which may have uneven footing and/or be muddy.

Hand washing stations will be available, but no public restroom facilities on site.

Windswept Acres Sheep Farm
173 Whitebridge Road
Pittstown (Franklin Township), NJ 08867

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Nov. 15th, 2020