So what do we like to do almost as much as stitching? Why, eating, of course!
Mmmm....fresh yarn.
Merino Top from Naked Pines (handcrafted wooden spindle in background.)My husband and I have 10 beautiful acres of land that provide us an escape from the working world. We have seven sheep, one llama, and three alpacas who graze on about 5 acres. There are always a few chickens running around the ranch and they are fun to watch. We also have one Angora rabbit, three Great Pyrenees dogs and three cats. We plan to dig a fishing pond and then we can add fish to our list of animals.
We bought the ranch in November of 2004 and have loved living in the country ever since. I had learned to spin yarn and wanted to be able to have some fiber-bearing animals to support my spinning habit.
It started with the purchase of a sweet Angora rabbit named Bossier (Bo for short.) We next put in some fencing and built 2 shelters for the animals to come. We then acquired 4 sheep & a llama. The sheep are: Billy - a white Merino, Bobby - a white Romney, Blackie - a black Rambouillet and Brownie - a brown Rambouillet. The llama is half white and half brown and is named Binky. I next decided I had to have an alpaca, so I got Osterly. In 2007, I added two more Alpacas - a dark brown one named Defender and a fawn colored one named Tanner. This year I have added a Shetland ram named Khaki, a mixed breed ram named Shadow and a Blue Faced Leicester ram named Blue.
Which brings me to how the Naked Pines Ranch got its name. We were inexperienced in raising any type of livestock and thought our pine trees that ended up being fenced in the pasture area would be OK. Before long, all of the pine trees that were located inside the fence were shockingly naked. It seems that sheep and llamas find them to be a tasty treat! People that came to visit us would always ask us what happened to our pine trees.
Once we had our name, the logo came as a combination of our initials. Starting on the left side of the pine tree is an N for Nancy. The top of the tree is a C for Chris. The right side of the tree is an M for Mercer. The trunk is made from an L for the love that is the foundation of our relationship.Drop Spindle tag featuring the Naked Pines Logo.
One product, believe it or not, is wool! And not 'just' wool. We have Merino wool, Rambouillet wool in brown and black, Romney wool, Shetland wool and Blue Faced Leicester wool. We also sell Alpaca fiber. (The name and picture of the animal the fibers is from is featured on the package.)
We make a drop spindle kit that has 4 ounces of Romney wool, a "Learn to Spin Without a Wheel" booklet, and the drop spindle itself. The wool is from one of our sheep. I wrote the booklet and I make the drop spindles. Twist also sells the drop spindle and booklet separately.
