We begin with Cooke Creek Sheep Company in Ellensburg, WA. 

I met Jami, a first generation sheep farmer, years ago at Northwest Fiber Fusion. Her farm is home to Texel, Coopworth, and some very unique hybrids: Coopworth/BFL and Texel/BFL. I shop for fiber by "squish" and fell in love with her Texel immediately. When I saw her post in 2023 that she was looking for a buyer to purchase almost a years worth of fleece, I sent off a flurry of emails and a percolating dream became a reality. Cooke Creek boasts a huge sky and gorgeous views of rolling hills, mountains looming in the background.

You can read our interview with Jami on our blog HERE.

Skagit Woolen Works won me over with dryer balls. I'm cheap AND easy. I first met Jess and Anna at Flock Fiber (are you noticing a trend here?) in August 2023. When I suddenly found myself coveting 100-ish pounds of fleece and looking for a processor, they were the first ones I reached out to. We have a limited number of mills in our area, but Skagit is home to Rosie! Rosie is their antique carder that you too can go visit at their next open house. 

When planning our first run, it was a balancing game between getting a heavy enough roving to withstand my kettle dyeing methods, not overloading the carder, and still creating a product that handspinners will love. They absolutely nailed it. All our fiber is spun at our custom grist/density thanks to Jess and Anna's fiber and equipment mastery. 

Oh hey, that's me! It's always been a pie in the sky dream to make farm and breed specific yarn and fiber more accesible to fiber artists. The Pacific Northwest Women of Wool project is the start of that. I love the idea of being able to pinpoint exactly when and where my yarn comes from. 

"Your hat is so lovely, what yarn is that?"

"It's a 2023 shearing of a Cooke Creek Coopworth!", just like you would share your favorite wine at a dinner party. A unique vintage, hand dyed in unique colorways. Small shepherds are the backbone of our local fibersheds. Local mills go above and beyond to educate communities about the amazing properties of wool, developing products that everyone can use, like wool pellets to reduce wool waste and create a "better than dyed woodchip" mulch. The continuing survival of our craft depends on supporting our fiber communities, and that's exactly what I plan to do.