Handwoven Blankets
From One Coast to Another
In 2010, in a rare collaboration with Swans Island Blankets based in Northport, Maine, we produced from our wool a line of handwoven blankets and throws. What started out as an overabundance of wool came a product that was made of incredible quality and craft.
Handcrafted in the U.S.
Setting up each loom takes 4 days and between warp and weft up to 3456 knots are tied by hand. Yarn is spun onto bobbins, the bobbins are installed in shuttles. It takes 9 hours to weave a queen size blanket and as many as 5 more to pick out the last of the chaff by hand. All blanket edges are finished in silk and each blanket is folded into a linen slipcase, complete with moth deterring cedar boards.
The Final Product
The result is no ordinary product. It is the culmination of a process. The process is not about saving time, but investing in it. It is not about inventing something new, but discovering something tried and true. These blankets embody the old idea that the more care that goes into something, the better it will be.
All Natural Colors
Some blankets and throws use only the natural colors of the sheep themselves. Others incorporate the natural colors of the sheep along with some dyed yarn. The dyes are derived from natural dyes such as madder root, indigo, cochineal and kamala root.
Attention to Detail
All of our blankets come with either a monogram of a rose or a monogrammed WRF for Wild Rose Farm. Also the Swans Island weavers’ mark, which can only be done by hand on a handloom, serves as a seal of authenticity.
Held in these blankets’ weave are the seasons and salt tinged air of Whidbey Island and the luxurious wool of our happy sheep. These blankets are true heirlooms that can last through generations and a lovely example of American craft.
