The Rural Voice, 2005-07, Page 22NEDCAN
Auto Performance Products
& Accessories
Motorsport
A TVs Available:
Youth size 50 cc & 110 cc and
duh si:es 150 cc with front + rear racks
202 Industrial Drive. Mount Forest. ON NOG 2L1
Tel: 519-323-2692 Fax: 519-323-4079
Email: nedcanO-Pncdcan.ca
SHILLALAH
SUFFOLKS
- British bloodlines
- Bred for meat type
and high production
Breeder of the ram with
* Highest Growth Index
2003 Ontario
Flock Improvement Program
- Our stud rams all carry
the "R" gene for scrapie
resistance
Ram and Ewe Lambs
for sale
Don and Florence Pullen
Box 715, Clinton,
Ontario NOM 1 LO
Phone/Fax
519.233.7896
18 THE RURAL VOICE
insoles for shoes. It can be cut and
sewn together to create thick, warm
garments. It takes about two pounds
of fibre to make a felt, about the
same as for an adult's knitted
sweater.
Perhaps because the felting
process is a new service, there hasn't
been a wide demand yet. Most
customers want finished yarn or
rovings for home spinning.
After several months of operation
the Hammels are still learning,
sometimes in frustration. "Sometimes
you have to just walk away,"
Angelika says.
"The spinning machine is where
you discover any problems," adds
Kristine. If there's a problem with the
fibre during the spinning process
they have to go back and try to find
out where along the line things went
wrong. Any problem discovered up
to the point of putting the twist in the
yarn at the spinning machine can be
reversed.
"Most of the time you go back to
the washer again and start over,"
Kristine says.
Beyond the operation of the mill
itself there has been the learning
curve of the
business part of
the operation.
They had to learn
about pricing. "As
farmers we always
had to take what
people gave us,"
Angelika says.
The operation
Finished wool, ready for knitting is
available in the Lindenhoff shop.
fascinated.
But finding good quality fibres
has brought the Hammels up against
the same problems with Ontario
fleeces others have faced in the past
— how to get good quality, clean
fleeces. In one case they bought from
the Canadian Co-operative Wool
Growers.
The Ontario sheep industry is built
on meat
"As farmers we
alwags had to take
what people
gave us"
will eventually include a retail shop
where knitters and weavers can buy
yarn produced at the mill. They've
spent the last several weeks
processing wool for sale in the shop.
Already there's a small supply of
skeins available, labeled "Grown in
Ontario — processed by Lindenhof
Wool Mill". Visitors can also watch
the operations in the mill through a
viewing window of the retail store.
Living in cottage country,
Angelika knows there is a large
number of people who like to knit
coming to the area. Ironically, it is
young people not elders, who show
the most interest in knitting and
fibres, she says. She jokes about one
group of young women who would
gladly have rolled in the fibre in the
picking room, they were so
production, not
wool. "How do we
get fibre that is
clean enough
without the
producer having
extra work and
expense?"
Angelika wonders.
"It has to be possible with minor
changes in management."
There has been interest from some
sheep producers to make something
happen. "We think if people get
together we can do something," she
says.
"We have to prove that the end
product is saleable," she says.
"Marketing has to be developed."
That means Lindenhof is going to
have to develop products. Already
the Hammels have been developing
kits for knitting sweaters.
They also hope that custom
processing will be a successful part
of their business, turning farmers'
fleeces into products to help
producers diversify their income.
Lindenhof mill has a website at
www.lindenhofwoolmill.com.0
1