Hand-crafted Homestead

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We wash the wool, tear it apart with a hand-driven “picker,” and then we use an electric drum-carding machine to untangle the wool fibers. When I have a pile of fluffy, carded batts of wool, I go to the loom and begin to weave. I make rugs of unspun fleece on a loom Runo built.

This white oak counter-balanced loom is also a local product. A few years ago, we were walking across a neighbor’s woodlot on the way to some other family property, when we found a large, white oak that had gone down in a storm. When Runo told our neighbor Earl Williams about the tree, Earl said: “I don’t want that tree, but I will help you get it out if you want the lumber.” So that is what we did, and when we had some other logs for the traveling band-saw mill, we had the white oak made into planks, too. Now, that tree has found a second life as a lovely, hand-built rug loom.

Working with wool, I take raw materials and — without ever achieving perfection — strive to create something beautiful. Every time I sit down to weave, all of the circumstances surrounding this activity are in my mind. I think about the sheep out on the pasture, about the quiet “snick, snick” of the hand blades removing the fleece, of the smell of drying wool. I think about that tree in the woods, about the contemplation, the carpentry, the finishing that made the loom the reality. All of these elements are, I believe, embodied in every rug I weave.

After 25 years, we are still working to make our life as satisfying and sustainable as we can. Each time we take a step toward a more ecologically responsible life, we think we have won a small victory.

Betsy and Runo have additional photos and more information about their hand-crafted homestead and farm on their Web site, www.coecreekfarm.com.

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