This summer, while at Farmer's Market, we met artisan Joanne Block of Homespun Angoras Studio. Joanne raises rare Giant Angora Rabbits and she harvests and hand spins their fibre into a natural luxurious wool. She was keenly interested in learning about our business and if we had ever collected and/or sold our yak fibre. While we have saved the yak tail hair over the years, we have not collected the down fibre which the yaks shed in spring. We knew about the luxurious fibre that yaks produce, but we didn't have an outlet for it, nor did we have the time to harvest it properly. After all, the time to do this is in spring which is one of the busiest times on the ranch.
During the summer, we had the opportunity to gather the last down off of one little pure yak heifer. Joanne was so excited, she couldn't wait to start spinning it while at the same time demonstrating her talent for those of us who had never seen a wheel in action.
Besides spinning the down, Joanne is experimenting with turning some of our yak tail hair into a mecate, as mentioned in our last post.
Watch this space in the future for the results as we'll be sure to share them!
Interested in purchasing some of Joanne's products?
Check out her Etsy store!
In the market for a spinning wheel?
Joanne is a rep for Ashford Wheels and Looms.
Contact her for more information.
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