Starcroft

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Welcome March!
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We'll be occupying ourselves in the mill this month skirting & washing island wool while we wait for spring in Maine to sort itself out and eagerly anticipate lambing season (62 days to go!)
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it's early dawn and although the skies are threatening rain, the seas are calm. a perfect morning to take a boat ride out to nash island to drop off river & owen & frodo'son.
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taking the rams out to the islands to breed the ewes is the last chore on the list for this season... and the very beginning of the next season.... 145 days until lambing!
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day 9. fabric
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being a mother & daughter duo of yarn maker & fabric designer means we can dream & build our handmade wardrobes from the color palette up.
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we envision, experiment, & tweak until all of our colors play nicely together.
and while the yarn dye pots are simmering, the colors are translated into pixels in repeat patterns for printing on fabric.
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sewing up a dress with
fabric that is the perfect accompaniment to a hand knit sweater is a wardrobe dream come true.
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sweater - nash island TIDE yarn in seaweed, clear skies, lichen, calm seas, raven, & cove
pattern - roost pullover by
dress - leo & sea cotton in blueberries/pickle by
pattern - dress no. 1 by
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day 7&8 spin & yarn
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it's a long journey from wool on a sheep's back to yarn in the needles.
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there's shearing & skirting, sorting & designing, washing & drying, opening & carding, spinning & plying, skeining & washing (again), winding & swatching.
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for me the most magical part of the process is the spinning. the simple act of twisting loose fibers together to create a strong, continuous, intertwined yarn that when looped upon itself will keep you warm in a gale.
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day 5. caretaker
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island sheep caretaking is a bit different from traditional shepherding
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it's their island. we are barely tolerated visitors. as soon as they hear the boat coming they skitter off to the far side of the island and stand there warily eyeing us as we count them & check them from afar, through binoculars.
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they are wild. we try to minimize our interactions with them. during lambing season it takes them a few days to settle into our being there, accepting our presence only at a distance. they drop their lambs rain or shine where they graze with rare assistance. occasionally we will scoop up a chilled lamb for warming up in camp, or upright a cast sheep. but mostly our caretaking duties are to keep watch. from afar, through binoculars.
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day 4. breed
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landrace (n). - a breed of animal that has developed over time to suit the conditions of a particular geographic location.
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i am often asked what breed are the island sheep? landrace is the closest definition i have found to describe them.
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island descendants with a cross of (fill in the blank for the most recent ram). lately we have been using romney & coopworth rams.
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they are a good hardy breed, clean of face & legs, with a long lustrous strong wool & a healthy dose of wild.
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day 3. adaptation
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the flock in nash island has adapted to living on a remote island by learning to forage along the shoreline for nutritious seaweed, delivered twice daily on the tide.
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a significant part of their winter diet, i believe seaweed snacks are what give their wool its special qualities.
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day 2. heritage
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for centuries shepherds have grazed their sheep on the uninhabited islands off the coast of maine.
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more than 100 years ago jenny, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, started a flock of sheep on nash island.
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she loved her sheep & tended to them on the islands all of her life. she bequeathed this heritage flock to the wakeman family who continue to take care of the island & tend to jenny's flock 'just the way jenny always did'.
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generations of sheep, generations of shepherds, enduring traditions.
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day 1. a beginning
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over 20 years ago my friend donna asked me a life changing question...
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"hey, wanna help shear some sheep on an island?"
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it was the beginning of a wonderful journey of friendship & partnership, of learning to shepherd wild island sheep & sustainability, of working with their wool skirting & washing & spinning & skeining & knitting & marketing, of sharing a story & carrying on a tradition... of falling in love with an island & a flock of wild sheep.
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it was a crazy busy wonderful new york sheep & wool festival!
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a huge thank you! to everyone who stopped by our booth. my favorite part was helping choose colors and hearing about all of your inspiring projects. can't wait to follow your knitting throughout the year!
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most of all, thank you for supporting the nash island flock!!
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ready, set, go!
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new york sheep & wool festival day one!
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we'll be hanging out in building 22D booth 10, stop by and say hi!
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countdown to new york sheep & wool festival
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labeling all the skeins.. stickering all the labels... folding all the fabrics... packing it all up!
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see you at the fair!
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fresh pressed cider. fresh dyed cider. feeling all the autumn vibes.
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this is one of six new colors of nash island TIDE debuting at new york sheep & wool festival in a few weeks.
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fall roundup on nash island
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checking the ewes, assessing the winter feed, taking off market lambs to keep the island grass to sheep ratio in balance, bringing the rams in to the mainland farm to hang out until breeding season.
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it was a great summer for the island flock, big healthy lambs & contented ewes.
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the lambs have dropped and now just like that, it's shearing time!
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the flock on flat island is predominantly natural colored sheep, and the source for our over dyed gray yarns. the colors this year range from the palest of silvery gray to the deepest dark chocolate.
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i can't wait to get back to the mill and sink my hands into this lustrous soft wool!
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twins!
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lots and lots of twins born this week. mostly 2 white, a few 2 black, and now there are two sets of one black one white.
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it's a beautiful sunny day on nash island
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hopefully this mother & daughter duo will drop their lambs soon. note their lovely double saddlebag silhouette.
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morning visitors
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howling winds, driving rain, crashing surf... a beautiful day on nash island!
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enjoying a leisurely breakfast by the woodstove watching sheep from the window. we'll head out to check the flock when the rain lets up just a bit.
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fog washed. rain rinsed. ESE 25 mph blow dry.
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the secret to nash island on-the-hoof fleece care.
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born beside the sea
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LAMBS!!!
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we usually have a few ewes go early (due date isn't until friday!) but they are busting out lambs all over the island this morning!!
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5 sets of white twins, 1 set of black twins, and 2 white singles... all born before breakfast!
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good morning from nash island!!
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settling into camp today for lambing season. acclimating to the slower pace of island life. easing our presence into the island flock.
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keeping watch & eagerly anticipating that first lamb sighting...
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spending this beautiful september day sharing the Nash Island wool story and selling yarn at the !
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we ferried the rams out to the islands today. Frankie, Frodo, Oliver, & Bilbo off to spend the winter with the ewes.
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Ram Day is a singular magical moment for me. With a sense of completion it is the very last island chore of the year, and with a sense of anticipation it is the very first chore of the new island season.
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rams to lambs, let the count down begin... 150 days until lambing!
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