Bie-Lancasur Farming, Saturday, January 9, 1988
June Yohn Soins
UY ANN GOOD in dying wools and combining scv-
PALMYRA - For Christmas, eral texturea °J f lhe s P“ n woo j t 0
June Yohn, Palmyra, received sev- crea f vaned f?**- C , reaUV ''
eral boxes of raw mohair and a * ° f dlfferent tech,
fleece June shrmrced and said, hke mohair spun over a wool core
"Other people things! and phed with sewing thread for
but me™” Her voice trails off stability fasc.nates her.
before she adds, “I’m different.” ane A dishke , s “ smg l^ th ch ™‘'
She isn’t complaining though. <** and natural dyes , bec^ Se Jj^
IHe gift is exactly what she r^ u, f e ,*? x,c ™ e "
wanted. From start to finish, June * e irwasteV
likes to do things differently and do you to with ukk waste?
weaving business, that means rais- “ *r 1
grooming sessions, cleaning, dye ingandtoUting slans.Junesaid. I
ing, spinning and knitting or weav- If 31 ? 16 ? by *?. ing . ~
in g the homespun wool. do «• by ™
June has boxes of her meticul- reading-but I had to scrounge to
ously knitted hats, scarfs and vests f“* d readl "® in 0I j n ! a I °, n 1
that demonstrate her perfectionist is " t available - .
tendancies of creating only the Rather than purchase processed
best me soft, silky touch of the ™°° 1 ’ Refers to buy quality
Angora rabbit wool exudes a feel- Jf* 65 and V™™ them h , erSelf '
ing of luxury. June said. “I try to Sbe COI ! f,n l f d ’ Other people say
promote quality so that hand spun d J at I*" 1 way to do 1
can be worn in contemporary should find the one aspect I m best
fashions” at and then stick to it. June ran her
In developing contemporary fin Sf s various tex
fashions, June often experiments tured yarn and said ; , But } do
everything because I love doing
When June Yohn weaves blankets, she gathers the wool
from her Angora rabbits or from a sheep skin. “I like to do
everything from start to finish ” she said.
This beautiful Angora rabbit sits quietly while June
grooms It.
Beauty From Unusual Gifts
June stresses that to get a rab
bit’s wool, the animal is not killed
as many believe. Instead, hair is
plucked from the rabbit. Although
the rabbit may protest with a high
pitched shrill scream the first time
it is groomed, June points out that
if the hair is not plucked from the
rabbit, the rabbit may strangle
itself by trying to do it. She said,
“Shedding happens naturally four
times a year. If a rabbit’s hair
becomes too long, the rabbit
ingests it and wool blocks may
have fatal results.”
To groom rabbits, June places it
on her lap and brushes the loose
hair, being careful to remove mat
ted hair. June prefers caring for the
rabbits better than any other aspect
of her business. She brags that she
has a clean rabbit operation and a
good vet. “But more than that, you
need to learn to trust you own
instincts since wrong treatments
like antibodies can kill rabbits.”
June promotes using herbs to treat
sick rabbits. When she sells a rab
bit, she always includes instruc
tions in caring for the rabbit, food
packets and her telephone number.
After gathering the wool, it must
be washed in detergent and water
by simmering at 120-140 degrees
for one-half hour. The fleece or
wool is not always the same color
and sometimes for variety June
spins a fine thread of lighter color
with darker wool or vice versa.
June admits that not many peo
ple bother with the time consum
ing tasks of carding, dying and
spinning wool. She laments the
fact that it seems to be a dying art.
“If someone doesn’t do it, those
skills will be lost forever.”
“I have tons of ideas, but I don’t
have the time to put them
together,” explained this energetic
full-time career women and
mother of two sons, Brian, 17 and
Kevin, 14. June credits her hus
band William for his support"'n
helping care for the rabbits and
encouraging her to use her talents.
June’s mother was an avid knit
ter who passed on her love to her
daughter. “I’ve knitted and cro
cheted since I was a little kid,”
June said. Ten years ago, a spin
ning course kindled June’s interest
in wools. She bought a spindle that
remains her favorite although she
has added three others to her
collection.
June is a member of the Bare
foot Treadlers Guild and has share
d her expertise with numerous
groups and schools.
With each ready-to-wear gar
ment that June knits, she includes a
printed card detailing care instruc
tions. She points out that Angora
rabbit wool is actually eight times
warmer than sheep wool.
In the past, June has participated
in the sheep to shawl contest at the
state Farm Show. This year, she
has had to limit her activities since
she returned to full-time bookk
eeping. Nevertheless, June will not
miss the pleasure of some Farm
Show competition; she has entered
a hand-woven, hand- spun cover
let. It’s a cream-colored coverlet in
three panels. The center features a
fringed blue and gray design.
Besides privately selling her
completed projects, June displays
them at craft shows and at a shop
called A Cricket on the Hearth,
119 W. Mam Street in Palmyra.
She admits,“lt’s not making
much money and I’m not mass
producing anything, but I’m hav
ing a lot of fun doing it.”
And that is why June Yohn con
tinues to spin beauty from unusual
gifts of raw mohair, angora and
wool.
Although June’s hand knitted Angora sweaters are soft
and light, she said, “Angora rabbit wool is eight times war
mer than sheep wool.”
soon be spinning it into strands of yarn to be used in her
knitting projects.
Ida’s
Notebook
Ida Kisser
There is a flock of wild geese
that have made our meadow their
home this winter. They mingle
with our large white geese that
lately have taken to swimming
downstream a mile or so to another
farm. Then, when they return, the
neighbor’s geese come too. I’ve
been feeding ours com to encour
age them to stay at home.
When I put up the new calen
dars, I noticed that the' .e from
different companies lan last
years. It is nice to have an assort
ment. The one on the kitchen door
holds our appointments and the
one beside the freezer keeps trade
of the food that I put in it. This past
year there were almost 300 quarts
of fruit and vegetables beside the
usual amount of canned fruit.
Somehow I manage to always
save a few old calendars as the pic
tures are so pretty. People who col-
lecl calendars appreciate the old
ones that were made of cardboard
and had a pocket at the bottom. It
seems that there is a market some
where for everything even old
wooden spools now that the thread
is put on plastic ones.
Over the holidays a boy from the
nearby development brought me a
container of the best cookies I’ve
ever eaten. He is a young/ellow
who wants to help in my garden
but 1 have never accepted his offer.
Maybe next year I will.
When I visited our five Amish
neighbors over Christmas, I gave
them my assortment of cookies
and they gave pie white and brown
loaves of homemade bread. That is
something that I really appre
ciated. We also shared a few toys
that our children outgrew but there
is still a chestful for the grandchil
dren when they come to visit.