About Us

After graduating from college in the US, I spent 3 months living on an Australian sheep station as a Jilleroo. Jilleroos (or Jackeroos) help care for the sheep and help in the wool shed at shearing time. This experience awakened in me a love of sheep and their wool. While in Australia, I learned to spin and used some of my poorly spun yarn to knit a scarf. Since this experience, as a Jilleroo and as a knitter, I have always looked for local yarns whenever I traveled. Sadly, I have been disappointed. In most countries, local farm yarns are not available and, in the US especially, yarn available for knitters was often synthetic or from commodity wool from far away mills. When I heard about the work of Fibershed and met some local wool growers, I began to have hope that local farm yarns and wool products could be found. I also met some shepherdesses that helped me realize my dream of owning sheep of my own. Six years ago I started with 6 Ouessant sheep, a rare breed from an island off the coast of France. Now I am up to 62 sheep, Ouessant and Shetland, and am working on a managed grazing plan to improve the health of the land as wool is grown. It became clear that the growers, mills, producers, and artisans were struggling to sell their products and there was a need for a permanent market for their goods, which is why I opened The Wool Shed. My goal is to connect this hardworking community of wool growers and producers with people like me, who appreciate and are looking for beautiful, healthy, and climate beneficial wool products. 

-Liebe Patterson, Owner