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The First Newsletter - Fall 2000 The Heritage Story It has been a whirlwind year and a bit more. Lots of catching up for years of yearning and wishing I had a spinning wheel and a loom! Just like most things I have done in my life, I jumped into spinning and weaving (and knitting) with both feet and haven’t looked back. In September 1999 I saw a poster advertising the Mt. Bruce Sheep & Wool Festival in Romeo and investigated further and discovered that I could take classes there. I bit the bullet and signed myself up for beginning spinning and an all-day natural dyeing class. Needless to say, the rest is history. I bought a wheel that weekend and haven’t stopped spinning since. Shortly thereafter I was given a loom by a complete stranger who wished only to spark a new weaver. And so it began. This first year I concentrated mostly on learning spinning and attended lots of classes. I traipsed from Toronto, Ontario to Asheville, NC to Alle-gan, MI and several places in-between for workshops. I read books and as many old Spin-Offs as I could get my hands on. I taught myself to warp the four harness castle loom using Deborah Chandlers Learn to Weave book and eventually made a scarf from some of my handspun. All the while I dreamed of having my own store as I found few resources to fuel my desire within easy driving distance. I was recently reminded by Anne Grassham (cover story) that I wrote her in June describing my desire to open a store sometime in the distant future -- after I learned more and Mariah was older. I couldn’t wait. In August I had a discussion with my former business partner and now boss and she agreed to sublet space to me at our new Classic Printers location in Lake Orion. Her generosity has allowed me to have the best of both worlds: a full-time job that I love (as a graphic artist) and the shop of my dreams -- at the same time. My office overlooks the print sales space on one side and my shop on the other. It means long hours and a careful juggling act, but so far it is working out wonderfully! With this, our first newsletter, you can see that it is my hope to be not only a resource for supplies and equipment, but also to be a place to come and learn about the fiber arts and make new friends along the way. As one customer said who visited in the last few days, “I feel at home here” . . . and I hope you will, too! More photos of the grand opening. A Tale of Two Shepherds Anne Grassham and Yvonne Uhlianuk have never met, but they share a homeland and a love for sheep and fiber. Yvonne is a transplanted New Zealander who runs Mt. Bruce Station near Romeo, Michigan. Anne lived in the U.S. for a period of time, but returned to her homeland and now farms at Fleecewood, near Nelson on the South Island. Wool roving in wonderful natural colors from both farms are represented at Heritage Spinning & Weaving. Fleecewood I came to know Anne through the Spin List (www.egroups.com) and have enjoyed a correspondence that has lasted nearly a year. Anne is a “closet entrepreneur.” She sent me samples of her fleeces when I was gathering samples of different breeds for Saturday Spinners, our spinning guild that meets at Mt. Bruce Station on the second Saturday of each month. They were so luscious, I couldn’t resist having enough wool to spin so I ordered two fleeces. And so a relationship was born. Since the first sale we have communicated via e-mail, becoming friends. I continue to marvel at how the Internet has changed our world making it so much smaller.
Mt. Bruce Station
Yvonne’s flock is comprised of about 30 Corriedales and Jacobs. Corriedales are a dual-purpose sheep providing a soft, finely crimped wool and meat. Jacobs are a rare breed sheep that is spotted and horned. Its wool is suited for outerwear, although it is much finer and shorter than the English Leicester described above. Like Anne, Yvonne is a breeder of sheep for the spinner market.
Grand Opening & Thanks The grand opening of Heritage Spinning & Weaving on Thanksgiving weekend was an unqualified success. We had plenty of customers and quite a few well-wishers over the two days. Christa and Shelby Newhouse were here when the doors opened and were also, coincidently, winners of the first place door prize, a blue jeans quilt handmade by my mother, Ruth Ann Sheridan. The two hand-knit doilies were won by Steve Hatfield and Katy Baalarud. Special thanks to my Dad, Tom Sheridan, for adding to the decor with a handmade cherry shelf (from the tree to the store via his workshop) to hold my sheep collectibles, a stand to display drop spindles, and a frame for an early 1900s goat print (which you will just have to stop by and see!). Also thanks to Pat Kreilig for demonstrating knitting and drop spindling on Friday. Pat will be teaching many of the knitting classes on our schedule. So many people have contributed to the store getting this far it would be difficult to list them all, but please know that your work is appreciated by me and many spinners and weavers who don’t have to drive so far anymore! Tips From SOAR I am so glad that I made it a priority to got to SOAR (the Spin-Off Annual Retreat) this year. It was a time of learning and connecting. For those of you who are spinners, I highly recommend this week-long annual event. This year it was held in Lake Junaluska, NC. which was a terrific backdrop for the gentle arts of knitting, weaving, felting and spinning. Each morning I walked around the lake with the “English Ladies,” learning a bit about life and spinning on “the other side of the pond.” It was also a good time to compare what we were learning in our classes. My three-day class was Twist & Ply
with Stephanie Gaustaad. Stephanie is an incredible spinner who
has so much to share. Following the three-day class we had four
half-day classes taught by other mentors such as Galina (author
or Gossamer Webs, Interweave Press) and Rita Buchanan
(author of many books and a regular contributor to Spin-Off).
During this time I learned about Russian spindle spinning, competition
spinning, hand carding and worsted spinning. I learned as much
from what they were teaching as how they were teaching.
It was incredibly energizing. Here are tips culled from my notebook: Spread the Word! Do you know someone who should be on our mailing list? Please let us know and we will be glad to add them. Take a Test Drive All of our wheels are available for you to “take a spin.” Feel free to compare how the Louet compares to the Schacht to the Majacraft to the Fricke. Never tried a Charka? Now’s the time! The Triangle Loom is always warped and waiting for you to take a try. At least one of the four harness looms are usually warped and waiting for a weaver. The Schacht looms have a wonderfully solid feel and are a joy to weave on. This is a fiber shop – face it, we are all very tactile and need to touch. Please do so. Just because a fiber is in a bag doesn’t mean it can’t be opened! There are some pretty awesome “feels” at Heritage Spinning & Weaving: angora, alpaca, merino/cashmere, and lots more. Do stop in and enjoy your visit! |
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Anne, a single mother to two pre-teen daughters,
has been breeding sheep for over 10 years. In addition, she is
finishing her Adult Teaching Certificate and regularly teaches
woolcarft classes. Anne has created a flock primarily built on
a cross that she calls Fleecewood Leicester from English Leicester
and New Zealand half-breeds. The Fleecewood Leicester is characterized
by an open fleece that is long and lustrous, yet has a silky
handle, making it ideal for sweaters, hats and socks. Most of
her flock
is comprised of colored sheep
in shades of black, gray and brown. Her lighter fleeces are excellent
candidates for overdyeing which produces rich tweedy colors.
The Fleecewood roving drafts wonderfully because it has such
a silky handle. It is also a good choice for beginners because
of it’s longer (5+ inches) fiber length. Her coarser English
Leicesters also make fine spinning and weaving fibers. They are
best suited for rugs, upholstery, wall hangings, outer garments
and hard wearing socks.
“The Farm” is one of
my favorite places in the whole world. Mt. Bruce Station is a
lovely farm with many out buildings. It dates from the early
part of the last century and was once home to a large dairy cattle
operation. Now, Yvonne (at left feeding a newborn) and Peter
invite the public in to share the farm three times a year at
the Mt. Bruce Sheep & Wool Festival (always the last weekend
of September), Christmas Weekend (the first weekend in December)
and Spring Fiber Weekend (the weekend before Memorial Day). Yvonne
also runs a children’s program on Saturday’s called
the Wooly 
A Wooly Country Classroom: Mariah and Clover, less
than 12 hours old
A teacher at heart,
Yvonne enjoys sharing her farm (pictured at left) and its fruits.
One of her primary goals of the farm is to share arts that are
being lost: farming, spinning, knitting, and weaving. A visit
to her Farm Wool Shop (open Thursday - Saturday 9 to 5) is a
visible testament to her commitment to the needle arts. She has
a group of local women who provide hand-knit sweaters from yarn
from her sheep, some of which has been naturally dyed with plants
from the farm. The Shop is stocked with other items from the
farm: roving, yarn, pelts, and batts and some wonderful sheep-related
items. Visit the farm at 6440 Bordman Road, Romeo (about 7 miles
north of Romeo between Van Dyke and Rochester Roads) or on the
web at