Fall 2023 Schedule including Farm Field Day November 5th

Please mark your calendars for:

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival (SVFF), September 23 & 24,

New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck), October 21 & 22,

Solitude Wool's Farm Field Day - Karakul, November 5.

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We have been quite diligent: finishing custom woven throws, dyeing new colors in many of our yarns including lots of indigo, knitting new samples, ordering new booth lights, spiffing up our box truck Tinkerbell and just generally getting ready for wool season. We hope to see you at one or all of these in-person wooly events. 

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SAVE THE DATE: Sunday November 5th, Noon to 4:00 pm

Farm Field Day: Karakul

Visit Hideaway Springs, a beautiful small farm in Loudoun County and meet their flock of Karakul sheep, a heritage breed with fat tails and a very interesting fleece. Spend time exploring Karakul sheep in a variety of ways!  Event activities include: 

• Farm Tour & Karakul Breed exploration with talks by the shepherd
• Sustainable Cloth Fashion Show from Chesapeake Fibershed
• Local artists and vendors, including Solitude Wool
• Lamb cooking demonstration by Olwen Woodier
• Hands on textile demonstrations using Karakul wool
• Classes in spinning by Caroline Hockenberry and Oxford rug punch by Kathy Donnovan (additional fee)
• Wine Tasting by Fabbioli Cellars

 

A special feature of this year’s Farm Field Tour is the annual “Sustainable Cloth: Farm to Home and Closet” fashion show sponsored by Chesapeake Fibershed. This year-long challenge of creating garments and décor from natural fibers, dyes, and processing sourced within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed will highlight the potential for locally produced textiles.

 

The entrance fee is $25 ($10 of each ticket sale goes to Hideaway Springs); tickets are available from EventBrite and at the gate on Sunday. Weather is looking nice! Remember to set your clocks back one hour and have a leisurely morning.

 

Karakul sheep at Hideaway Springs Farm showing off their beautiful natural colors and fat tails. Karakuls may be the oldest domesticated sheep breed and originally come from Central Asia where these tails help them survive.

 

 

Karakul is one of the 21 breeds on the Livestock Conservancy’s priority list and part of their Shave ’Em to Save ’Em challenge. Hideaway Springs Farm brought five new lambs into the world this fall.

 

Restored log house on the farm. It is a B & B and will host the Oxford Rug Punch class during the event.

 

Karakul wool is long and strong and felts fabulously. Visitors will be able to try hands on felting directly with fleece and also with yarn for knit-to-felt coasters. The additional spinning class with teacher Caroline Hockenberry, will explore how to adjust each student’s spinning wheel to spin yarns that can be used for rug weaving, felting and knitting.

  

The second additional class: Oxford Needle Sheep Ornament taught by Karakul shepherd Kathy Donovan, is a make it and take it beginner workshop.