Meet Joslyn of Joslyn's Fiber Farm - Handpainted Yarns & Kits
by WorldKnit.com

MPLS (Oct-00) - We recently had the opportunity to talk with entreprenuer and fiber artist Joslyn of Joslyn's Fiber Farm. Joslyn is a talented artist who has taken her love of yarn and created a business out of her home in Wisconsin. She has developed a series of beautiful colorways based on the creative expression of her own unique perceptions of the world around her. In addition to designing beautiful colors, Joslyn has developed new yarns for her line using local Shepherds. Her passion for life and her joy for her craft are reflected in her fibers and kits. We are excited to be able to introduce you to such a talented individual! You may click on some of the pictures within the article to learn more or to purchase her products.

WorldKnit.com: How long have you been interested in fiber arts?

Joslyn: I have always been interested in fiber and crafts. My mom has a wonderful talent for crochet and tried to teach me. Alas, crochet didn't turn out to be my niche. A neighbor tried for many an hour to teach me to knit. I am left handed, and it turned out to be quite an ordeal. For a short period I knit counter-clockwise. Very strange. Eventually it all fell together and I knit my way through high school and college. During my first year at college, I knit a maxi length coat. Remember those? After college, at various jobs, I always took my knitting. I worked 5 years at a car assembly plant and even took my knitting to work there!

WorldKnit.com: Have you had any formal design or textile education?

Joslyn: Unfortunately not, at the college level. Textiles were not an practical major when I was attending college. I was a business major, much more practical but dull. :) Since starting my company I have taken classes with some of the finest knitters of our day - Meg Swansen, Carol Anderson, and Lizbeth Upitis.

WorldKnit.com: How did you get interested in handpainting yarns?

Joslyn: About 6 years ago, my daughter wanted a rabbit. We already had 4 samoyeds and 3 cats at that time, so my thought was if we're getting a rabbit, we're going to get a useful rabbit. So I started researching angoras. We ended up buying 2 German angoras. One for each of my children. Well, the old story about multiplying bunnies is true, we now have a herd of over 60! 60 angoras produce a great deal of fiber. I started spinning and spinning. Eventually I came to the realization that I couldn't possibly use all this fiber. I had our first batch of yarn spun. It was a 30% angora/70% merino blend. We ended up with 80 lbs. of beautiful white yarn. Dyeing was the next logical step. Having always been a fiber addict, I still wasn't prepared for how hard I was bitten by the 'dye bug'.. My husband tells a story of coming home from a hard day at work, asking innocently, "What's that smell and what are we having for dinner?" The house was filled with steam and the wonderful smell of cooking wool! "Nothing", I replied, "but look at all these wonderful colors I created today!" I began by dyeing solids, then read a wonderful article in Knitters by Deb Menz, regarding the handpainting of rovings I believe. I applied the techniques to my yarn and things just took off from there. It's been a wonderful time!

WorldKnit.com: When did you start your business, the Fiber Farm, and why? Is this your first business?

Joslyn: The Fiber Farm began officially about 3 years ago. The Fiber Farm began as simple means for me to continue to do yarn. My business theory was if I sell this yarn, then I can buy more yarn to dye! Not a sound business principle, but luckily it worked. This is my second business venture. About 12 years ago, I was a custom handspinner specially in dog hair spinning. In one year, I spun 50 lbs. of dog hair blends. Spinning became an awful chore. When I began the Fiber Farm, I was very cautious to limit my knitting production, I don't ever want to lose my love of knitting.

WorldKnit.com: Do you handpaint all the yarns at the Fiber Farm yourself and what dyes/process do you use (i.e. plant materials, etc.)?

Joslyn: I do all the handpainting myself. I use acid dyes which are set by steam. At this time I only dye animal fibers( wool, mohair, silk, etc). Acid dyes work beautifully for these types of fiber. I have toyed with natural dyes, unfortunately the quantities of yarn I need to dye. I am unable to produce enough consistency with the natural dyestuffs. Someday, perhaps?

WorldKnit.com: You have such fabulous, brilliant colors! What is the inspiration for your colorways?

Joslyn: My children, Alex (9) and Sam (6) provide much of my inspiration. For example, we have a colorway called Party, which was inspired by the pinata at my daughter's 5th birthday party. Another colorway is called Clear Lake, which is a gorgeous lake near us where the kids and I spend a great deal of our summer. Rose Quartz was inspired by some of my daughters first attempts at using a rock tumbler.

WorldKnit.com: You sell a yarn called Midwest Shepherd's Blend which is 100% Midwestern wool from local shepherds. What type of sheep are producing this wool? We are interested in promoting the use of fiber from endangered breeds. Are you spinning the yarn yourself?

Joslyn: Midwest Shepherd's Blend is our small attempt to keep local shepherd's producing wool and sheep. This year we contracted with 4 local shepherd's to buy their wool clip if they would agree to certain requirements that I have, such as cleanliness, length of staple, etc... This arrangement seems to be working well for both the shepherd and myself. I am able to pay the shepherd's roughly 5 times what the wool market would give them. Our yarn is a unique blend of Corriedale, Finn, Columbia and Rambouillet. It is grown and spun here in the Midwest. My goal is to be able each year to help maintain one more flock in the Midwest.

WorldKnit.com: Wow! You sure do have an animal menagerie! When do you find the time to dye your yarns! ;-) Will you be producing yarn from your angora rabbits for sale? Do you plan on raising other fiber producing animals?

Joslyn: Time, a very elusive thing! :) Actually my life has taken a more normal turn this year. My children are both in school full days now. I try to do my bookkeeping, packing and shipping of orders during they day while they are away. We market a line of yarn called Sammy. It's a 50/50 samoyed/merino blend custom spun for us. It's unique and very soft and warm. We do market a yarn from our bunnies. It's a 25% angora/75% wool blend. At this time we have another batch being spun at a mill here in Wisconsin. We hope to have it ready for the holidays. No other fiber producing animals are on the horizon, I think my husband feels we have more than enough four legged creatures roaming around.

WorldKnit.com: Being a mom, wife, and animal caretaker to 2 children, 1 husband, 4 dogs, 9 cats, and 62 angora bunnies and business owner, your day must be hectic! Walk us through an average "day in the life of Joslyn" (i.e. from sunrise to sunset).

Joslyn: As you might guess, my days don't follow a normal pattern. Every time I think I have a schedule worked out, a rabbit needs tending or we have a new litter. :) But here's a rough outline of what life is like here at the Fiber Farm:
6:00am Time to rise and shine. Make lots of coffee, then drink lots of coffee!
6:30am Get the kids up. Start packing lunches, checking homework and get them off to school by 8:00.
8:30am Head out to rabbit barns to check water for everyone. In the winter this involves taking 2 - 5 gallon pails of hot water out to thaw frozen water bowls. After watering, I give all the bunnies a nice handful of grassy hay. Next I check my records to see who is due to be plucked or shorn. With 60 rabbits, I try to maintain a strict harvesting schedule. Angoras coats grow about an inch a month, so every 3 months coats need to come off. With a herd of 60 rabbits I need to harvest 5 coats a week to stay on top of things. I alternate plucking and shearing. Harvesting a typical coat takes anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes.
10:00am Back to the house. Time to check e-mails, and pull orders from our website. I also take a few minutes to sort orders and soak the yarn I am going to dye that day.
10:30am - 2:00pm Let the dyeing begin! I like to get the dyeing done early in the day while I'm still relatively fresh. On a typical day, I may dye anywhere between 20 and 30 lbs. of fiber. After dyeing, the skeins are hung outside to dry(weather permitting).
2:00pm - 3:30pm Several times a week, I volunteer at my children's schools, so this time is reserved for them.
3:30pm Pick kids up from schools.
4:00pm - 5:00pm Out to the rabbit barns again to check water, feed pellets and hay.
5:00pm - 8:00pm Supper, then family time. Often at night, we head out to exercise horses or work on my daughter's horse for 4-H.
9:00pm I head downstairs to do bookkeeping and pack orders. I also try to spend a couple hours reskeining yarn. Our yarn is always re-skeined after the dye process. I feel it looks so much more beautiful re-skeined.
11:30pm - 12:00am Time for bed!

WorldKnit.com: Many fiber artists dream of turning their passion into a business. What advice would you give to aspiring fiber entrepreneurs?

Joslyn: I would tell anyone that has a dream of turning their passion into a business to go for it. If you really love what you do, then it's easy to market it. It's quite wonderful when you find folks that love what you do and are willing to buy it! Most fiber entrepreneurs are just huge fiber junkies that have found a way to make their addiction somewhat profitable!

WorldKnit.com: We would really like to thank you for taking the time to talk with us! We are thrilled to be able to carry your beautiful yarns and kits and hope all fiber artists will take the opportunity to knit, crochet, weave...your stunning colors and soft, shimmering blends! Thank you Joslyn :-)!

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Click here if you would like to purchase or see more of Joslyn's yarns and kits which are available through the shopping pages of Woldknit.com.

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