Meet the Shepherd – Katie from Windy Indigo Farm and Fiber
Keeley Richardson
Founder and Chief Fiber Officer
Raising a flock of sheep and producing wonderful small batch yarn from a beautiful island in the PNW is something that many of us dream of. Katie of Windy Indigo Farm and Fiber on Whidbey Island is living that dream. It has brought me so much pleasure to follow her journey on Instagram and it was a treat to meet Katie at the recent Shepherd’s Extravaganza in Enumclaw. In this Woolpack Q&A Katie shares her inspiring fiber adventures and gives us all of the details on where you can find her beautiful yarns over the coming months. Trust me, they are not to be missed.
Can you tell us about your fiber journey and how long you have been raising sheep?
We bought our farm property in 2020 and I brought home our first 4 sheep in 2021,but the idea had been percolating for several years. That was quite a shift from my career as a research statistician. While I was working at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a colleague asked where I would be if not working with doctors and other medical personnel on their studies. Without thinking, I said that I would be on a hill with sheep. That was a funny response since it had never occurred to me to do such a thing! But my mother was a handspinner and weaver, and I’d spent a lot of my early childhood visiting sheep and shepherds. I suspected it was a bit of escapism but started to research shepherding as a vocation and business and ultimately decided to give it a shot.
What kind of sheep do you raise at Windy Indigo and what type of fiber do they produce?
My sheep are mostly Romeldale/CVM, registered with the American Romeldale-CVM Association (ARCA). The Romeldale/CVM breed was developed in California, originally, as a single cross of Rambouillet ewes and a small number of New Zealand-bred
Romney rams. The breed retains the best of each: fine wool on a robust sheep that does well in damp climates like ours. Romeldale wool can rival merino for fineness but is typically 21-25 microns, with an annual staple length of 3-5 inches. I was attracted to the variety of colors and patterns in the breed, and I was interested in supporting a Livestock Conservancy-listed threatened breed.
I also have a small flock of Romney ewes. Romney is classified alongside the English longwools. Over the last few decades, though, they have been bred for greater softness, so the wool is sometimes considered a medium wool. In any case, they produce a very long staple (easily 4-6+ inches). To be honest, my customer favorite is wool from the Romeldale-Romney cross lambs. I wish I could sell more of it, but folks keep buying those lambs!
What advice do you have for someone planning to start their own fiber flock? What are the highs and lows?
To anyone interested in starting a flock of sheep, I would say start exploring. Learn everything that you can. There are tons of online resources—definitely use them!—but also find a few shepherd mentors. Not all shepherds are open to sharing but the people who still raise sheep do so because they love it. It’s not exactly a get-rich-quick situation. So ask questions. Listen to the answers. Go to fiber shows, especially the ones with animals, and talk to the shepherds about their sheep. Ask what they like about their breed and what’s difficult. Ask who they respect in the industry and why. Then, when you know a bit—but before you think you know everything—buy a small number of adult sheep. Find out if you like them. Learn the day-to-day logistics and physical aspects of care. Every year, you’ll learn more. It’s a wonderful, exciting and sometimes sad experience. You’ll want those shepherd mentors in those moments, too.
I work with Skagit Woolen Works for my milling. Jess and Anna are amazing collaborators. I couldn’t do what I do without them! Romeldale/CVM wool produces an extremely bouncy, elastic yarn that most people find is soft enough to wear next to skin. I love it for sweaters and scarves but it’s not tough enough for socks. Romney also has that wonderful loft and bounce, but stronger and less soft. It’s amazing for chunky sweaters, socks, hats and mittens.
I love natural colored wool, hence my rainbow Romeldale flock. I never intended to dye my wool or yarn, although the idea of other people dying wool or yarn from my flock is sort of delightful. A couple of years ago, I did a Kool Aid dyed wool demonstration for kids. So many people asked if they could buy the dyed wool that I started dying wool to sell for felting. Last year, I ended up with *a lot* of grey-toned yarn. It’s beautiful but I thought it might be more exciting with color. I developed Kool Aid color recipes and samples overdyed on white wool, white yarn, and several gray variants. Kool Aid is more or less non-toxic, which means that I can dye in my kitchen without worrying about my kids getting sick. And the color possibilities are really amazing, especially over the natural browns and grays that I love so much. I love rich, saturated color with subtle variation for interest, so that’s what I try to dye. The colors are dyed seasonally. Spring colors are a little more pastel, summer colors brighter, and fall colors a little more… autumnal. They’re planned as a group—usually 4-6 colors at a time—so that they can be used in a variety of appealing combinations.
What are your plans for the future for your farm, are there opportunities to visit?
Currently, we have as many sheep as our property can reasonably support on pasture. I’m focused on optimizing the quality—length, strength, and character—of our wool clip. We will be hosting a farm open house on July 11. There will be opportunities to meet a few of our show lambs, tour the farm, and experience a little bit of life with sheep. I’m also interested in opening the farm to classes and workshops over the next year or so, and I’m piloting a new mini-venture: buying wool from other sheep farms on Whidbey Island to process and make available to our PNW fiber-maker community.
Where can we see your yarn this year and will you be attending any shows?
Fiber Fusion has chosen Romney as the featured breed for this year’s show, so you can find me in the barn at Fiber Fusion with a few of my Romney sheep. I’m also looking forward to Black Sheep Gathering (Albany, OR), Flock Fiber Festival (Seattle, WA), the National Romeldale/CVM Show at the Oregon State Fair, and the Washington State Fair. If you’re looking for a fun daytrip, you can find me most
Sundays, 11a-3p, at our local South Whidbey Tilth Farmer’s Market, along with my kids and their farm businesses.
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