Sheep to Shop

Jackie Post and her husband live on a small farm in Solano County along with their spinner’s flock of sheep. Moving to this farm has let Jackie realize her dream of actually living where her sheep live! Before that, she boarded them on another farm where they got very good care, but she missed the day to day events that go along with having a flock.

Her spinner’s flock consists of several sheep breeds: Jacob, Navajo-Churro, Shetland, English Leicester, Karakul, East Friesian, and Herdwick. They are protected by their guardian llama, Paridot, and alpaca Evangeline — who thinks she is the boss of everyone. Jackie processes the fiber from these animals as well as other sheep within the Northern California fibershed area. She hand spins the wool and then knits a variety of household items as well as cat toys.

Jackie acquired a needle felting machine with which she creates wool felt place mats, table runners, chair pads and other felted pieces including rugs and wall hangings.  The recent addition of a large carding machine has allowed her to make bigger pieces. Jackie created her business, Sheep to Shop, in which she focuses on selling items made from the wool of all these breeds.

Jackie is a member of the American Livestock Breed Conservancy, a non-profit which educates about endangered or threatened domestic livestock and the importance of preserving this diversity. She does not breed sheep but enjoys the nearby lambing events of fellow Fibershed members Meridian Jacobs and Fiber Confections.

Photo Credit: Paige Green