Back in July, we attended the Fiber Marker sponsored by Fibernate and had the pleasure of meeting Mary, owner of the Rock Mills Farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia. Mary’s booth was filled with beautiful hand-processed fibers sourced locally.

We fell in love with her concept of  “choose your own spinning treats” – look at all of these beautiful rolags to mix and match! All of them are blended by hand on a Strauch Petite Drum Carder.

Mary raises a flock of pure Shetland sheep on her farm, which provides her with many beautiful natural colors with which to create her rolags. Dedicated to raising heritage breed sheep and goats while also improving the health of the soil, Rock Mills farm is also home to a herd of purebred Spanish goats and two Gulf Coast Native ewes, Bea and Cora. In addition to sourcing fleece from her own flock, Mary works with fellow shepherds in the area to source other natural fibers from the area to use in her rolags.

Emilio is a purebred Spanish Goat from Mary’s herd.

Mary is also involved in the Wool Aid project, which provides the very neediest children in cold climates with wool socks, sweaters, vests, mittens, hats, and blankets.  With an emphasis on sending items where they’re needed most, this community of knitters and crocheters is always accepting donations for some of their most-needed items, with the requirement that each donation is made with yarn containing at least 80% wool in its fiber makeup.

As our way of supporting the fiber arts community, we’ll be featuring more talented makers here on our blog. If you use Strauch products in your creative business, we’d love to hear from you!

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