Sunrise Haven Farm

Lots going on since I last wrote! For those of you asking about purchasing my yarn - I neglected to mention in the last update that I dropped off all of this year’s fleeces at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival with the Zeilinger Wool Company for processing into yarn again for me. They are the same folks who processed my fleeces into yarn last year. However this year I requested a slightly lighter yarn, sport weight instead of worsted. I’m looking forward to getting the yarn back this summer, but don’t expect to have it for another month or two. I will let you all know when it is available! I will also be hand dying some of the yarn when I get it back, so please let me know if you are interested in a particular color - sooner rather than later!

I held back my two favorite yearling fleeces from the crop sent with Zeilingers for processing: Buttercup, the reddest of my reds; and Valerie, the whitest of them. I wanted to keep these out for spinning myself, and so that I could have some roving to sell to handspinners interested in trying out California Reds. These two fleeces were given to Singleton Fiber Processing in Walkersville, MD to be washed, picked and carded into roving. They did a wonderful job hand washing and picking the fleeces (kept separate throughout the process) and carding them on their mini-mill into roving - and they turned them around for me in a week! I will certainly be calling on them again next year, and I’m happy to recommend them. You can contact them at orders@singletonfiber.com.

The photos below show an example of Buttercup’s fleece: the processed roving, a handspun skein of yarn (forgive my novice spinning skills, I need a lot more practice!), and a sample stockinette stitch swatch knit from the handspun. Look at all those gorgeous russet highlights against the naturally tawny wool color! I just adore the subtle natural variations of color in the fibers of my Reds. Please contact me if you’re interested in buying some of the roving for handspinning.

The sheep themselves are doing great, the little ones are now about two months old and boy do they grow fast. They’ll be weaning from their moms next month. Everyone’s doing great, though they are HOT and spending a lot of time in the shade during the daytime. The gardens are growing, though I did not get to plant as much as I’d have liked to. The first batch of pesto has been bottled, the blackberries picked and made into sorbet (YUM!) and the first of the raspberries are ripening now. I forsee jam in the near future. I’m hoping for a large pickle crop this year too, if I can keep the critters away from the cucumber plants! Oh how I love the sweet summertime - going back outside! Life is good.