Sarah Pappenheimer

Yarn

My family owned the Brown Farm in Scotland, CT from 1919 - 2019. When I ran it, starting in 1995, I raised Angora goats which provide fleeces of Mohair twice a year. I sheared the goats in March and September and I bred the goats for color. My 2-ply skeins are 30% - 40% Mohair from my goats and 70% - 60% wool from sheep. The sheep wool is either from Cape Cod, MA or from friends in Windham County, CT. Most of the skeins were spun by the Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont. Each skein is about 250 yards long and weighs 4 oz.

I joined Swift Water Artisan’s Cooperative in the early 2000 as a way to sell my yarn and my roving. I had to sell my farm last year and I now live in Watertown, MA. I have retained my membership in this COOP as I enjoy the company, the art, and Willimantic . It is a very special place.

My yarn comes in four natural colors and a variety of colors that I dyed myself, mostly with Cushing dyes. I did not use natural dyes because they require mordants that are heavy metals which I did not want to use as my farm was certified Organic for vegetables and I did not want heavy metals in my water supply. I used white vinegar to make the dyes permanent.

Prices are $16 a skein except for some yarn that I have that was created by Sonja Fuller who helped me start my goat herd and started me in the wool business. Some of her skeins are $8 a skein. (Skeins are 4 oz. and about 250 yards.) They are blends like mine of mohair and wool. Some skeins are raggs (2 plys of 2 colors). There are a lot of grey/brown raggs, some pure natural whites, and some dark browns. I also have a hand painted pure Mohair from Sonya that is really beautiful and that is $8 an oz. My yarns are also being sold on the internet (sallys-yarn.webflo.io).