Welcome New Member: Great Lakes Fibers

The Network would like to welcome Amy Lowery and Great Lakes Fibers of Huron, Ohio to our membership.

Great Lakes Fibers is home to suri alpacas and suri llamas.

The farm will begin offering classes later this month in knitting, spinning, felting and much more.
They also have an electric carding machine and a FeltLoom. For those familiar with the machines, they offer rental time.

Fall Fiber Farm Tour 2012

Saturday, September 29

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.*

Sunday, September 30

Noon – 5 p.m.*

*Check with individual farms as their hours may vary

Free Admission!  

Ohio’s fiber farmers are opening their barn doors to you!

Drive from farm–to-farm through beautiful Ohio, visiting with fiber animals,

including alpacas, sheep and goats.

   u Meet the farmers who bring you Ohio-grown fiber for knitting, spinning,

                   weaving and felting.

          u   Shop for luxurious handspun and dyed yarns and hand-made fiber

                   gifts.                                                                              

          u   Watch demonstrations on skirting a fleece, carding fiber into roving,

                  spinning,needle felting, hand dyeing, knitting and crocheting.

          u Meet fiber animals up-close and personal.

Participating Farms

        

              Criation Station, Oberlin                                

              That'll Do Farm, Grafton                                

              Gemstone Alpaca Farm, Wellington                 

              Melody Lane Alpacas, Valley City                     

              Little Farm in the Woods, Seville

              Alpaca Meadows, Mansfield  

              Sunny Meade Alpacas, Swanton   

              Top Notch Alpacas, Madison 

              Sweet Criations Alpaca Farm @ Promised Land Farm, Chardon         

                                                                                        

              “Ohio Natural Fiber Network – Our Homegrown to Your Handmade”

____________________________________________________________________
Note: An interactive map for each location of the Fiber Farm Tour is located in the upper right corner of this page.

Stoney Hedge Farm in Marion, Ohio Joins the Network

The Network is growing! Please welcome our second new member of the month, Judy Kilbury and Stoney Hedge Farm in Marion, Ohio.

Judy raises alpacas and llamas and processes their fiber to the highest of standards.



We are looking forward to getting to know our newest members

Welcome to New Member Candy Haenszel

The Ohio Natural Fiber Network is growing.

Please welcome our newest member Candy Haenszel of Candy's in Cardington, Ohio.

Candy raises English Angora rabbits and has been doing so since 1972. At first, she raised them maily for show and to sell to those who were also showing. But then the fiber bug bit and she now raises them primarily for their wool and to sell to spinners.

In addition, she also sells her handspun Angora yarn and garments. Be sure to check out her website to see that famous Angora halo effect.

We look forward to learning much more about rabbits and the many uses for their fiber.

Featured Farm of the Month: Midwest Fiber Company

Buttery soft, hand-dyed alpaca yarn in stunning color combinations.

Llamas, like 18-year-old Misty Rae with nifty new 'dos.

And hands-on fiber arts classes from an expert teacher.

Midwest Fiber Company in rural Perrysville, Ohio, south of Ashland, offers all this and more.

Company owner Lee Ann King loves designing and dyeing yarn. Whether from Ohio-sourced alpaca fleece or from her own llamas, if it's angel-wing soft, Lee Ann loves to hand dye it.

And the best news is she shares her skills through frequent classes, including two upcoming dye classes, the first on Tuesday, June 12 and the second on Saturday June 23. Students will learn how to dye their own yarn using a pot dyeing method and how to hand paint a skein of yarn.

Lee Ann's popular classes fill quickly so register early.

Midwest Fiber Company has many loyal followers -- knitters and spinners alike -- that can't wait for the fiber show season to begin each year so they can get their fix.

Look for Midwest Fiber Company at the following events:

     -- May 12                     Bluffton, Ohio street fair

     -- May 26, 27               Great Lakes Fiber Show, Wooster

     -- August 18, 19           Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair (with ONFN), Newark

     -- Sept. 15, 16              A Wool Gathering, Yellow Springs

     -- Nov. 9 &10              GALA Conference, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

One of the reasons Midwest's yarns are so nice is that Lee Ann knows her yarn from the ground up. She has more than 15 years experience working with alpaca and llama fiber, having been a llama owner since 1996. She knows what to look for when purchasing fleece for her yarn business and is quite selective. Only the highest quality fleece make it back to her studio. Then, she selects just the right mill to produce the look and feel she wants out of her yarn.

Midwest Fiber Company yarn and fleece is available dyed or in its natural colors.

For more information about Midwest Fiber Company's products, classes or show schedule, please contact Lee Ann at lee4llamas@aol.com

Featured Farm of the Month: Criation Station

Criation Station in Oberlin is Poised for a Banner Year

Marcee and Barry Stephenson, owners of the Criation Station Alpaca Farm, operate their farm on a small parcel of land just outside the picturesque college town of Oberlin. 

They are entering their 11th year of raising alpacas. New for this year is a redesigned and easy to navigate website.

Their goal is to promote alpacas as a sustainable livestock business, as well as the sale of alpaca fiber products that are Made in the USA!

In December of 2011, Marcee finished her Certified SortedTM fiber sorting certification, making her one of a small, elite group of Certified SortedTM, fiber sorters in the country. The sorting of fiber is fairly new   to the alpaca industry, but one that is absolutely essential to the growth of the American alpaca fiber industry, particularly with the movement towards commercial processing.

The 2012 show year started off with a bang!  Last month, Criation Station took several stunning daughters of our herdsire, SSF Peruvian Pablo, to the Best of the US show in Columbus, Ohio. TCS Allie Cat not only took a blue ribbon in her class, but also captured the Fawn Female Color Championship. CS Peruvian Chocolate Diamond also garnered a blue ribbon. 

Criation Station's business encompasses many services and offerings, including: 

Alpaca Sales
Breeding to High-Quality Herdsires
Fiber Sorting Services
Consignment Sales for Other Farms
Halter Training and Show Handling
short and Long Term Boarding
Sale of Natural and Hand-Dyed Yarns
Sale of Hand-crafted Items
Sale of Fiber Products that ar "Made in the USA"

The farm also offers classes, including "Wet Felting with Debora Galaz" on Saturday, April 28th. Attendees will make a felted rope necklace and a felted bead bracelet.

For more information about the farm, or to register for a class, contact Marcee Stephenson at Marceels@aol.com or 440-774-2451.