Jane Hansen
Full Name
Jane L Hansen
Job Title
Owner / Fiber Fan
Short Bio
I've had a passion for knitting my entire life. I was itty bitty when my maternal grandmother taught me to knit and I continued to knit avidly until I reached high school and got distracted with clubs, sports, jobs, etc.
Fortunately, I had a Norwegian roommate in college and she rekindled my passion for knitting and also inspired me to be a fiber snob. I've had at least one knitting project going at any time ever since. Mostly wool, but sometimes cotton, or silk, or bamboo, or…
The year was 2000 and I was recently wed. I left my career as an architect and construction manager in Chicago and we moved north to Price County, WI to embark on our adventure in sustainable living. It began with a market garden, but those fields threatening to grow over with willow and alder were on my mind. Just harvesting the hay for others wasn't going to cut it in my book. So, in 2009 I got them fenced in and began to raise feeder lambs to develop my animal husbandry skills and to begin to get some wool to work with. In 2012 I got my registered Coopworth breeding stock and I've fallen in love with their personalities, their fiber and their hardiness.

Autumn Larch Farm LLC is very small and diverse with a primary focus on fiber. We practice regenerative agriculture on a small scale. I'm very pleased to be a member of the Three Rivers Fibershed. We have 11 Coopworth sheep and 3 Romeldale CVM wethers. Our flock is kept on pasture year round. They rotationally graze in the summertime and have access to new grass virtually every day. In the winter they eat hay and leave behind a deep layer of hay and manure to give a super boost of nutrition to a different paddock each year.

We've also got ducks, a couple of dogs and a cat. I raise a bunch of garlic and a big garden of produce. A couple summers ago I added plants for wool dyeing as well and now everything I look at is evaluated through a lens of “what color will you give me?” We have all the scrumptious natural colors that a flock of Coopworth can create. Yarn in white, silvery grey and almost black. Roving in the same range of colors, with limited quantities of plant dyed roving and yarn. In addition, Romeldale CVM sport weight has joined the lineup. I have my yarn and roving milled locally and I also make handcrafted soap (felted and not), dryer balls and felted handbags.

Please visit my shop at autumn-larch-farm-llc.square.site
Email Address
Ravelry Handle
https://www.ravelry.com/people/JaneHansen
Website
Self-Descriptors
Shepherd, Sheep Breeder, Fiber Farmer, Lamb Consumer, Knitter, Felter, Spinner, Dyer, Instructor, Vendor