Sheep to Sock: Presenting Brenda Aylward of Aylwards Farm

Heritage NL is excited to announce another demonstrator for the upcoming #SheepToSock Sunday, Brenda Aylward of Aylwards Farm.

Aylwards Farm and Meat Shop is a family owned business located in the scenic ocean village of Port Kirwan, just off Route 10 on the Irish Loop, Southern Shore NL approximately one hour outside St. Johns. Aylwards Farm is primarily a mixed commodity sheep and vegetable farm. The meat shop operates year round and is well known for its specialty sausages and burgers.

Learn more about Aylwards Farm here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093557289714

Are you curious to learn more about our Sheep to Sock Sunday demonstrators? Meet one of our spinners, Alison Simms!

Are you curious to learn more about our Sheep to Sock Sunday demonstrators? Meet one of our spinners, Alison Simms!

Alison is a MUN student, studying Biology and Earth Sciences, but in her limited free time she loves to work with wool. Her interest in fiber arts began with crochet and knitting. After many years of interest in learning to spin, she found herself with the opportunity to buy a second hand wheel, and a connection to a local farmer with fleece to spare. With help from members of the local Weavers and Spinners Collective, she quickly learned to use her wheel and spin her local wool. A hobby that she finds both relaxing and rewarding. She loves the entire process from sheep to sock, and is happy to share her knowledge of this process with others. #SheepToSock

Interested in learning more about Sheep to Sock Sunday? Check out this link: heritagecraft.ca

Sheep to Sock Sunday Demonstrator Heather Nolan

Want a sneak peek for our upcoming Sheep to Sock Sunday on May 26th?

Heritage NL is presenting one of our featured demonstrators of wool carding, Heather Nolan. #SheepToSock

Heather Nolan (they/them) is a knitwear designer, natural dyer and writer living in Bonavista, Newfoundland/Ktaqmkuk. They have published knitting patterns internationally, as well as collaborating on designs with yarn companies like Woollen Twine Fibre Studio (Germany) and Uist Wool Mill (Scotland). They are the author of novels How to be Alone (Goose Lane, 2023) and This is Agatha Falling (Pedlar Press, 2019) as well as the poetry collection Land of the Rock: Talamh an Carraig (Breakwater, 2022), works which have received nominations for the Winterset Award, Newfoundland Book Awards and the ReLit Award. Heather's current project is working toward opening a wool mill in Bonavista.

Check out some of Heather's work here: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/heather-nolan

https://www.oileanach.ca/

Come check out Sheep to Sock Sunday on May 26, 2024 from 11-4 at the O'Brien Farm Foundation in St. John's.

Talking about Wool - From Sheep to Socks

Do you produce, have, use, or love wool? 

Memorial folklore students are looking for wool enthusiasts in Newfoundland and Labrador to interview, photograph, or maybe visit, with the aim of developing a series of student papers and podcasts about the wool industry. 

Heritage NL is working with the students of Folk6400, a Graduate Seminar in Material Culture at Memorial University, to study the linkages between local raw wool and the crafting of products from that material. Are you a sheep farmer with underutilized wool? Are you a felter looking for a source of wool for your next project? Are you a new or experienced entrepreneur who has thoughts or questions about making or marketing wool-based craft in NL? If yes, our students want to talk to you! 

https://forms.gle/bzYcNGk5HB5eMVkN9