Dyers Wool

Interested in learning about locker hooking, where you bring loops of unspun roving up through a canvas? We literally wrote the book on the subject! We offer a digital download of our book or kits that contain all you need to learn locker hooking through making a trivet.
https://dyerswool.com/collections/locker-hooking-supplies/products/locker-hooking-basics-book

We're still here, just have been busy with moving grazing fences, planting and maintaining the garden, and all the various early summer tasks. This weekend, we snuck away for a few nights in the forest for a much needed rest.

They're back! The Western Tiger Swallowtail is one of our favorite visitors to the garden. We'll have to watch for caterpillars on our ash tree!

I promise I will work on a blog post about the lambs from this year with a sneak preview of who will be available for purchase in the fall - in the meantime, here's another photo of lamb cuteness!

Eek, it's a monster! Just kidding, it's a ladybug larva. These guys are known to devour aphids, so we're thankful to have dozens on our beleaguered plum and honeysuckle.

School is out for summer and JoJo has taken on the role of chick whisperer...

Oakley and O'Reilly have decided they are lap lambs! 🤣🤣🤣

We snuck away from the farm for a nice desert hike last weekend. The scenery and flowers were amazing.

Forget those plastic or imported dryer balls you can find in the big box stores - our USA-grown wool dryer balls are a great addition to your laundry routine and make great gifts! https://dyerswool.com/collections/woolen-gifts/products/homegrown-wool-dryer-balls

It's a little hard to see, but I caught this photo of several lambs and Pinky napping close together. Pinky still hasn't been able to convince the older ewes that she's not scary, so we're hoping this generation of lambs will grow up trusting her. It's a long process training a good livestock guardian dog, and flighty sheep don't make it any easier.

The local elk herd traveled by just north of our property yesterday morning. We don't usually see them so close to the farm; it's quite a treat.

It might be hard to see in this picture, but we planted more trees along the windbreak west of our barnyard and in various parts of the pastures. As these Rocky Mountain Junipers grow, they'll help not only slow down wind and stop the blowing dirt or snow, but also provide shade for the animals and the pasture plants.

Is anyone sick of lamb pictures yet? I didn't think so! 🤣 Ladybug has achieved motherhood zen, while her ram lamb, Oxbow, is mastering chillaxing.

The tomatoes were finally big enough to transplant into individual cells (thanks, Mom!). We can't safely plant them outside for at least another few weeks, so we might transplant them again soon. Talk about slow food, but I can't wait for summer tomatoes!

Has this chicken started a cult, or are they plotting to kill me? 🤣🤣🤣

It was a busy morning with the last three pregnant ewes all lambing at once! We've wrapped up our lambing season with eight healthy lambs, evenly split between boys and girls. Hooray!

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing moms out there, two- and four-legged! 😘

This lovely colorway - 'Garden Vista' - is overdyed on our Colorado-grown gray Corriedale roving. Our Corriedale roving has long been a favorite of ours and our customers, but we are discontinuing it to focus on heritage breed sheep's wool. Get your hands on some today before it's all gone! https://dyerswool.com/collections/colorado-grown-wool-roving/products/sunset-handdyed-corriedale-roving-colorado-grown-4-oz

New arrivals on the farm, but of the poultry variety! The post office called us early this morning to pick up our new chicks - that's right, newly hatched chicks are sent through the mail! We ordered an assortment of breeds to give us a variety of egg colors and chicken temperaments.

Wowza! Those are three big Navajo Churro fleeces vacuum shrunk into itty bitty bags for shipment. Condensing the size of fleeces helps us more economically ship our fleeces off to the mill for processing into roving or yarn, made possible by wool's remarkable resilience. While we don't ever vacuum seal our wool products when shipping to customers, you might be surprised at how small of boxes we can usually fit your order into!

We've had two more arrivals on the farm. 1. Corner Notch Juniper had a black ewe lamb, named Onyx, last Wednesday. She didn't have any complications, which was a relief because I was hesitant to breed her after having to pull her lamb last year. 2. Corner Notch June had a HUGE katmoget ram lamb, O'Reilly, on Sunday afternoon - out in the pasture.

Oh, what gorgeous crimp! We've packaged our Shetland fleeces up for shipment to the mill and won't see them for quite a few months. In the meantime, last year's harvest is still available as lovely roving ready to use in whatever fiber art creation strikes your fancy. Get yours now and don't forget we offer free shipping on orders over $29:
https://dyerswool.com/collections/colorado-grown-wool-roving/products/shetland-wool-roving-homegrown-natural-colors-4-oz

Pinky believes any treats for the sheep are treats for her...she also doesn't understand that irrigation tubing is not for chewing.

We learn more every year with our rotational grazing program. This year, we're hoping to stick to a three day or less rotation and are trying out electric strand subdivision fences within our netting. The results so far? The sheep are "mostly" minding the strand fences, but several yearlings enjoy going through them in order to play in the empty pond. 😂😏

Garden harvests have begun! I've harvested some of our perennial chives and am cutting them into small pieces to dehydrate. I love using these in homemade ranch dressing or sprinkled on baked potatoes.

Well that's for you! A dusting of snow this morning in contrast to the snowy blossoms of our plum tree. Fingers crossed for fruit this year! 😬

Meet Corner Notch Ladybug, out of Corner Notch Eun (our featured flock member last week) and Finch Hill Odessy. She has the luminous fleece of her mother, lovely horns, and the Dailey/Bitterroot genetics. Bred to our Flying8 Jujube, I'm anxiously awaiting her lamb(s). While the chance of a white lamb is 50%, the other possibilities are katmoget or the longest shot: brown. I'm rooting for brown.

Happy Earth Day! Here in La Plata County, Colorado, it is hard to find farmland that doesn't have an oil or gas well pad. Our farm is no exception, and no, we don't own the mineral rights. It's a constant reminder to us to keep doing whatever we can to be good stewards of the Earth, from installing solar panels on our home to growing as much of our food as possible.

Meet Corner Notch Eun (pronounced "ehn"), out of Alamo Gwen and WF McIntosh. She inherited her mother's luminous fleece and carries Dailey and Bitterroot genetics, making her one of my favorite ewes. Her daughter is due to lamb this spring and I can't wait to see what we get.

We spent last weekend in the canyons of SE Utah and had a blast. Now it's time to really buckle down for spring work on the farm - building fences, planting the garden, and waiting for lambs.