Beginnings of our blankets

A lamb is born, a star is born. The Valais Blacknose sheep are a rare and primitive long wool breed of sheep that hails from the Valais region of Switzerland. Native to the alps, these docile, large sheep with standout features are accustomed to grazing the alpage in the summers, following their shepherds back into the villages and farms in the fall and wintering over in a gentler environment. They grow long, luxurious wool locks that are strong, lustrous and crimpy. The wool felts well, also, and makes a strong textile that is useful and beautiful.

Our farm was the first farm in the state of Vermont in 2019 to have Valais Blacknose lambs be born in the United States. Part of a ‘Breed Up’ program, Tammy imported the semen to breed foundation ewes to start the Valais Blacknose line of sheep on Wing & A Prayer Farm. Since then, with each passing year, the flock has expanded and the percentage of Valais Blacknose genetics has increased.

In 2020, the US allowed importation of embryos and Tammy purchased four. Four ewes were implanted and only one ‘took.’ That following spring, Gwen Sheepfani, our first 100% Valais Blacknose ewe, was born. She was born to our surrogate ewe, a Cotswold named Annabelle, and grew into quite a diva. She has, still, so much personality as well as an ample fleece.

In 2021, Tammy imported 4 more embryos and this time 3 of them ‘took.’ The following spring there were 3 new 100% Valais Blacknose sheep born. Their names were Oliver, Juno and Jeremiah.

And so it goes…

Now the flock is at approximately 20 Valais Blacknose sheep, of pure breed and percentage breed, and their fiber is shorn in the spring and the fall and then carefully ‘skirted’, and sent to the mill to be processed into a strong, shiny yarn.

When the yarn comes back to Tammy, she dyes some of it with natural dyes which she grows in her garden, alongside some dyestuffs she purchases from sustainable resources. (Such as cochineal.) The beautiful dyed yarns are then given to Tegan Frisino, of Comfortcloth Weaving, to put on her looms in nearby Mechanicville, NY.

Tegan is a Master Weaver and puts so much thought and care into the Valais Blacknose blanket project from our farm. She designs her own ‘overshot’ patterns using the colors that we provide and then warps all of her looms to begin the process.

As she goes along, she sends Tammy photos of the progress. This color alongside that color, this pattern repeated thus and so. It is a project which is of the heart, the soul, and of the earth and the love of wool and animals.

Handwoven with attention to every detail, the farmer, the artist and the land all working together to bring you a thing of beauty and warmth, an heirloom to be used now and forever.

Care:

Your blanket can go outside on a sunny day to be aired out. I set mine out in a gentle snowfall, too, and then shake it off, at least once a year. If it gets dirty or spotted, wash and rinse with cold water, using a mild soap. Don’t wring or agitate it while washing, just soak it and then line dry.

Size:

Each blanket is approximately 60 by 40 inches. They are woven in our 100% Valais Blacknose sheep’s wool on a 100% Organic cotton warp.

Design/Color:

Each blanket is hand made, one at a time, with a unique colorway. It may have stripes of Indigo, Tea, Marigold, Walnut, Scabiosa and Cochineal against the white background in an intricate overshot pattern, unique to Comfortcloth Weaving and our Valais Blacknose sheep’s blankets.

They are one of a kind, and they are a limited run.