Textiles Take Center Stage at Wayland Winter Market

Some people came for the wool; others came for the sheep.

The Wayland Winter Farmers' Market at Saturday held its second and final Farm Fibers Day event of the season. In addition to the typical wares offered at the market, unique vendors specializing in all things local fibers brought their goods (and their animals) to the market.

Bill Kerns, a veterinary pathologist, and his wife, Sharon, keep about 50 sheep on WindSong Farm in Harvard, Mass. Saturday, Bill Kerns showed off new mama, Patches (no, Wayland Patch did not make up the name) and her two newborn lambs.

Kerns said the lambs weigh about 8 pounds at birth, but triple their weight within weeks.

The Kernses raise Tunis sheep, a breed Bill Kerns said they chose because his wife likes their cream-colored wool and reddish faces and legs. It is a breed that Kerns said was nearly wiped out during the Civil War -- it was over-eaten and under-bred.

Today, the breed has made a full recovery, but is still prized for its meat.

Elsewhere at Saturday's market, vendors helped customers sort through piles of brightly colored yarn, expertly woven woolen goods and hand-crafted gifts.

The Baaay State Blanket Program was on-hand to explain its program of keeping blanket-making totally local. Wool producers sell their wool to the Baaay State Blanket Program, which then cleans the wool and ultimately produces blankets that the farmers can sell. The entire process takes place in Massachusetts.

And just down the aisle from the Baaay State Blanket booth, angora rabbits dusted the floors with their overwhelming supply of silky soft wool.

Feb. 18 was the final Farm Fibers Day for this season of the Winter Farmers' Market, the market itself continues each Saturday until March 10.