Singing Spindle Spinnery | Carol Johnson Collins | Duxbury, VT | 802-244-8025 | singspin@madriver.com | www.singingspindlespinnery.com
For the Love of Wool
Carol grew up in the 1950’s, in W Brattleboro, VT on The Round Mountain Farm, one of Vermont’s largest sheep farms. She fell in love with handling wool as she worked as part of her family’s annual sheep-shearing-operation.
Tobi von Trapp taught her to spin in 1973 and she spun for 9 years before her first spinning lesson. Carol studied spinning with Paula Simmons, weaving with Norman Kennedy and Kate Smith, knitting with Rita Buchanan, dyeing with Deb Menz and Kate Smith and many other leaders in the field.
Carol founded The Valley Friendly Spinners’ Guild in 1982 (which is still thriving, today) and started her business called “Singing Spindle Spinnery” also in 1982. She has been teaching; wool/fiber washing, carding, blending and spinning, knitting, crocheting, felting, dyeing, circular weaving and felting in her shop/studio and around New England for 37 years. She also produces and sells a wide array of wool crafts and ‘gifts from the garden’ (seeds, cut flowers, herb teas, potted perennials, garden produce).
Baby Booties
I hand made these booties using felted sweaters or in one case, the sleeve of my husband Fred’s wool shirt made by the Johnson Woolen Company, in Johnson, Vermont. They are stuffed with clean washed, carded wool. The baby’s mother can adjust the amount of stuffing in the booties to conform to the baby’s foot size. You can keep taking the wool stuffing out as the baby’s feet grow The collection is always changing. They are $20.00 per pair. I cannot take custom orders at this time, but I can help you choose a pair that will be right for the baby you’re buying it for.
More baby booties I made using old felted sweaters. Some are made from cashmere sweaters! So very soft!
Felted Balls
These are small felted wool balls. I charge $5.00 each and $6.00 for larger ones recommended as Dryer Balls.
More from Singing Spindle Spinnery
“Let me tell you that (your) Sheep to Shawl Weekend Workshop has been the highlight of my year!!”….Gail, New Jersey
“You are a wonderful teacher with your insight into nurturing potential.”….Valerie, Vermont
Our Story
What is my business called “Singing Spindle Spinnery” all about? In 1971, my husband, Fred, and I bought and cleared a house-site on our 8-acre plot of land in So Duxbury, VT. We were both full-time teachers which allowed us to build our own home, with our own hands, that summer of 1972.
In 1973 I learned how to spin wool into yarn and fell in love with wool and what we can do with it. Although I don’t keep sheep any longer, I raised a flock of sheep for 18 years and grew up on a farm where we had as many as 350 sheep and 10,000 chickens. I founded a local spinning guild called “The Valley Friendly Spinners” which is still going strong after 38 years.
I started my own business called Singing Spindle Spinnery, in 1982, which continues to the present. As part of that business, I teach spinning, knitting, crocheting, felting (3 kinds), wool-washing, carding, blending, circular weaving and more. I sell spinning wheels and related equipment and many wool-craft products. I have a roadside stand that is operated using an Honors System. In the roadside stand, I sell my wool, yarn and wool-craft products including; crocheted hats, and scarves, baby booties, small felted balls, Felt-A-Ball Kits, Drop Spindle Kits, Felting kids and Circular Weaving Kits. I also sell the herb tea that I make each year using 10 different herbs.
A lot of my spinning business is actually teaching people to spin wool into yarn. I work with students all year long, but more in the colder months. When the weather warms, I’m working outdoors in the gardens much of every day. In the beginning, we chose the plot for our garden under the power lines along Route 100, because we knew that no buildings would go there. In spring of ’72, my husband cut the Poplar trees that grew there, and I, myself, worked at removing the 20-foot-long roots of those Poplar trees from that plot. In the 48 years that have followed, we now have many gardens and many crops to care for. I am all organic and sell Rhubarb and Jerusalem Artichokes to local markets and to individual customers who stop by the garden. In the spring and fall I dig Horseradish roots and make small batches of Prepared Horseradish which I sell to 6 local food markets.
We have a small orchard of apple trees which supply us with good apples and in October we press the apples for our own cider. We store the apples in our root cellar for half of the winter months. The cider we store in the freezer for year-round use. I make cider jelly from our own cider and sell a small amount if we have more than we need for our own use.
I raise blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, black currants, red currants, and gooseberries, and I make jam from these berries. I sell a portion of the jam I make.
Each year, beginning in April I dig and divide perennial flowering plants and herbs, and pot a couple hundred plants which I sell by the roadside. By mid-to-late June they are pretty much sold out. In April/May I begin cutting the Jonquils, Daffodils, and Narcissus which I also sell. Sometimes local merchants order large weekly bouquets, and individuals sometimes order Wedding or special event bouquets, but most of the cut flowers are sold by the roadside. I make bouquets to sell, when I have time.
I have a small organic seeds business. I sell the packets of seeds in my roadside stand from May to October. The seed packets are also sold in three other local markets. I also take them with me when I do craft fairs.
I am also a writer and exhibit my photographs and sell cards made from the photos. I publish poems/gardening articles/stories/memoirs and do some public readings.
I love sharing what I’ve learned with anyone who is interested. I keep learning every day. I have had wonderful interns in the past, and I would very much appreciate having one, two, or three interns to work with me this summer. There is much work and great opportunity for learning in several different areas.
