Are you curious about who we are? Well, let me satisfy some of that curiosity! We’re Pat and Shelley – a military couple with a few too many household moves under our belts! We met while my husband was training in Florida, married eight months later, and have spent time living in various areas of Texas, Las Vegas, Washington, Illinois, Missouri, back to Washington, Arizona, NW Florida, and finally to Washington for our final move!
Our family consists of Patrick and myself, and our furry, four-legged children.
Pat is the resident blacksmith, handyman, jack-of-all-trades around here. Or, at least he was until we moved away from Washington. Between the hot humidness of Florida and once again living in a populated area, he decided to take a break from blacksmithing. Now that we have arrived back in the PNW, he will be re-establishing the “anvil” side of the business soon!
I (Shelley) am the “wheel”, the fiber artist. After a visit to an alpaca farm in 2011, I fell in love with those fuzzy little beasts! But what do you do with alpacas? You shear them, spin yarn, and make fuzzy warm stuff! The following Christmas I was gifted my first spinning wheel and my love of the craft has endured. I learned to process the fleece from straight off the alpaca to finished yarn, but then wasn’t sure what to do with it. I knew how to crochet, but as a person living with Rheumatoid arthritis, crocheting could be difficult at times. I then picked up weaving. I started with a rigid heddle loom, then a table loom, then floor looms. My studio was lightly liquidated before our last move so I currently have only one loom, a countermarch floor loom, but intend on adding a table loom back to the space, and possibly a jack loom for students if there is enough interest from the public.
Other fun facts about us — we love beer and wine (we even raised bees for homemade mead), British humor, hiking, bird/wildlife watching/photography, and enjoying a variety of “slow crafts” that bring us joy and peace.
If you are traveling to Mount Rainier National Park this season and want to add a little fiber arts to your trip, demonstrations and one-on-one classes from fleece to fabric can be arranged! Just use the Contact form and let me know what you’d like!
