Last weekend we drove to Elgin, Texas, to visit my friend Suzanne Correira, owner of Fire Ant Ranch. She raises Black Welsh Mountain sheep, Gulf Coast Native sheep, and some Shetland sheep and Angora goats. She sells the wool, fiber packets ready for spinning, handspun and hand-dyed yarns, spinning tools, and more.
We hadn’t seen each other since 1996, just before my family left to live in England. It was good to catch up with each other, and to see the improvements Suzanne and her husband, Alfred, made on their land. Suzanne already knew our older daughter, but hadn’t met our two-year old.
Suzanne kindly let Eva and Ella feed her two Shetland bottle babies. We visited with her numerous cats. We walked down the hill and watched the ewes and lambs run out into the pasture. But it was unseasonably cold and rain threatened, so my husband lured the girls into the car with promises of going to Austin to see a movie. They love movies, and that is fine, because they don’t get to watch TV at home (we don’t have one).
Alfred brewed us some delicious coffee, which we sipped while talking about Suzanne’s business and the fiber business in general. I will write an article about Fire Ant Ranch for INKnitters magazine. Look for it in the fall.
Then I shopped. Suzanne is an Opal sock yarn dealer. Had to buy some of that. I couldn’t resist a green and yellow batt for spinning. One of my rules is: When you see a good green or yellow yarn, buy it. A batt is potential yarn, isn’t it?!
A Rock Pile called my name. It is a Fire Ant Ranch specialty consisting of ready-to-spin wool with locks of dyed mohair here and there. Mine is gray Shetland with foresty-green mohair.
Naturally, I must test spin some of Suzanne’s fibers before I write the article, so I bought some Black Welsh Mountain and Gulf Coast Native fleece. Now I have a good excuse to get my spinning wheel out of storage. I long to get spinning, but must stay focused on preparations for Camp Iwannaknit, my overdue INKnitters article, and another article in the works. Come June, I am going to spin.