Members! Join us via Zoom for artist studio tours with Marcia Kummerle's Good Fibrations Farm
A few words from Marcia:
‘It’s all about the goats!’ This would pretty much summarize why and how I entered into the fiber world back in the 1990’s! I’ve always loved goats and Angora goats for their luxurious mohair and for the real possibility of selling my mohair via commercial mohair pools. It seemed that as soon as I purchased my goats, fair trade laws came into effect. American grown mohair was no longer protected from mohair imported from China, South America, etc. Prices for American Mohair fell from $12-16/lb to $2-3lb…hardly a sustainable business model! As the goats were each named and part of the family, I began to search for to keep my goats…and keep them fed! Value added was it!
I’ve had a variety of yarns processed by mills in Colorado, Tennessee, Wisconsin, North Carolina. The learning curve has been a steep one but a rewarding journey! I’ve learned (and am still learning) about fibers that combine well with mohair, blends that work and those that don’t.
My goats, as they have evolved over 22 years are all registered Colored Angora Goats. Many of my goats are black and silver. Some are white color factored Angora goats. Through selectively breeding my does to finer bucks, I am raising goats who produce increasingly finer, more lustrous black, silver and white mohair. At the mill, my mohair is blended with wool for yarn in several weights. The black and silver mohair is combined with American grown white Merino wool for a robust textured gray yarn; white mohair is also combined with white Merino wool for lustrous white yarn.
In 2004, I met someone who offered to teach me how to hand paint my yarn and my life was changed forever! I love the brilliance with which mohair takes the dye process and the endless possibilities there are with color combinations, the stories they tell and the memories they bring to mind. I hand paint my yarn, mohair locks, and roving in my signature color patterns. Pot dyeing also lends itself to a variety of textures and patterns. Most of my pot dyeing education has been through the process of trial and error…capitalizing on my mistakes…and learning not to be afraid of making mistakes!
About ten years ago, I became fascinated with continuous strand weaving on a triangle loom. After learning on a friend’s loom and enjoying the process, I purchased one of my own. It lives in the middle of my living room and rarely stands idle! There is immense satisfaction in weaving a shawl with my handpainted yarn made of mohair from goats that I’ve birthed, hand raised and call by name. Watching a farm visitor fall in love with one of my shawls purchase it and wear it home is a dream come true and, for me, completes the process ‘from goat to garment’!
My experience in ‘the world of fiber’ has been a warm and inviting one in which folks have shared with me, taught me what they know and helped me along the way. It is a delight to me and a way of ‘giving back’ that I welcome visitors to the farm to meet the goats. It is a pleasure to invite visiting fiber instructors to hold classes in the studio or my new Great Room and to host family friendly fiber events…right here at the farm…Where fiber makes friends!
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