Are you a farmer with wool to sell but unsure how to get it to market?
Join us at Willow Creek Farm Preserve on September 16th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm for an immersive, hands-on afternoon exploring the journey of wool from sheep to finished textile.
This educational event is especially designed for fiber producers who want to learn how to properly prep, market, and sell their wool—whether you’re just getting started or looking to increase your income from fiber.
Also open to artisans, designers, and anyone interested in supporting regional textile systems.You’ll gain practical tools, make valuable connections, and leave with a better understanding of how wool can play a vital role in the growing local fiber economy.
What You’ll Get:
Insight from experienced industry experts on
How to get high quality fiber from your herd
How to prep your fiber for processing
How wool is graded
Understanding what quality fiber you have and the uses for each grade of fiber
What designers are looking for when sourcing wool
See how wool fiber is processed in a fiber mill
Take home a packet of resources including fiber pricing template
Regional processor and mill contact list
Event Agenda:
1:00 PM - Welcome
Kick off the day with opening remarks and an overview of what to expect.
1:15-1:45 PM - Wool Shearing & Fiber Evaluation Overview
Learn how to assess a fleece immediately after shearing, explore the sharing process, and discover how early decisions impact fiber quality and its path through the mill.1:45-2:30 PM - Mill Tour and Sheep & Fiber Care and Preparation
Melissa Smith from Willow Creek Farm Preserve will guide us through her mini mill, sharing insights on preparing fiber to be mill-ready and offering tips on how to maximize the amount of processed fiber you receive back.2:30-3:15 PM - Wool Grading & Use Cases
Learn the fundamentals of wool grading, including identifying breed-specific traits and common fleece faults, and explore how these characteristics influence the end uses and performance of wool in different consumer products.
→We invite producers to bring one fleece from their flock for this portion of the program.
3:15-3:30 PM - Break
3:30-4:14 PM - Panel Discussion
Hear from key players across the wool supply chain, including:Leah D'Ambrosio, owner and designer of Wol Hide
Shearer, Marisa Smith will talk about marketing channels and how to get your fiber in front of the right people.
Melissa Smith from Willow Creek Farm Preserve
Joel Cohen of Artex Knitting Mills
4:15-5:00 PM - Q&A + Networking
Connect with other attendees, ask questions, and explore opportunities for collaboration.
You’ll also enjoy light refreshments from local vendors (sponsorship opportunity available).
**Space is limited—reserve your spot today !
(Or keep scrolling for more info!)
Meet the Panelists:
Mattie Horchler
Moderator
Mattie Horchler currently works as a livestock educator for Northwest PA, stationed in Mercer County. Mattie grew up in Lawrence County, just outside of New Wilmington. Her family farm, MSB Show Lambs, focuses on raising elite show sheep and breeding stock. She graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a minor in ag business. After graduation, she worked for Dr. Rachell Weiss at Applied Reproductive Concepts.
While there, Mattie worked with emerging technologies for embryo transfer and artificial insemination in small ruminants. Fun fact about Mattie is that she crochets and also loves anything that supports the wool and lamb industries!
Joel Cohen
Panelist
Joel Cohen is part of the 3rd generation at Artex Knitting Mills, a family-run knitting mill in Southern New Jersey. Joel joined the company in 2002 and his role includes product development, yarn sourcing and working with various supply chain partners. Artex manufactures a wide variety of knit headwear and accessories using yarns sourced globally, including USA wool and other natural fibers.
Leah D’Ambrosio
Panelist
Leah D’Ambrosio is the founder and designer of ethical knitwear label Wol Hide. The brand focuses on making strong sustainable connections driven by a desire to create quality, timeless pieces. Supply chain transparency and partnerships are at the core of the brand’s philosophy of producing well crafted goods with a story of origin and process. Wol Hide produces sweaters and cut & sew garments fully domestically from seed to shirt with artisan crafted sweaters and accessories produced in Peru.
Leah founded Wol Hide in 2015 from her love of sculpting textures and forms through knitting. This was backed by a strong desire to produce garments ethically and with low chemical processing, honoring the integrity of the materials and the producers. A graduate of Drexel and Philadelphia University, Leah studied merchandising and textile design where she got her start working with large and small brands in both industries. Leah lives and has a studio in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Marisa Smith
Panelist
Marisa Smith is the textbook definition of 'fell down the fiber rabbit hole'. Starting with knitting and crochet as a child, escalating to spinning and weaving, then finally ascending to a part-time sheep shearer, full-time fiber enthusiast, she spends the time she's not actively elbows deep in wool or shearing thinking of ways she can cram more into her already busy schedule.
Melissa Smith
Panelist
Melissa Smith is the co-owner of Willow Creek Farm Preserve (WCFP), her family’s 135-acre certified organic farm in southeastern PA. Raised in the suburbs and trained in physical therapy, Melissa started her career in health care but quickly pivoted to farming in 2002.
As lead shepherdess, Melissa uses holistic practices and rotationally grazes her herd of 170 Shetland sheep on 32-acres of dedicated pasture year-round, yielding 700 pounds of raw wool annually. WCFP was reimagined as a “farm for spring” in late 2022, with an emphasis on flowers and fiber. She established more than 1,000 peony plants and now grows 10,000+ specialty tulips to share the joy of flowers with the public every May, along with her sheep, lambs and wool products.
A Mini Wool Mill was added in 2023, providing a pathway for the WCFP born, shorn, milled & spun line of wool products transforming fiber on-site from fleece to skein. Melissa finds learning the art of small-scale yarn production and light textile manufacturing to be a rewarding challenge.
**Space is limited—reserve your spot today to take part in this one of a kind educational event!
*Discounts:
Active members of the Pennsylvania Sheep and Wool Growers Association are eligible for a discount to this event. If you need to renew or haven’t joined yet, you can sign up here.
*Please note that a discount code may be used for one ticket per PSWGA membership.
PA Fibershed members can find a member discount code for this event in the Member Hub Calendar.
**Are you a wool producer interested in attending but find the ticket price a barrier? Reach out to us at Hello@pafibershed.org — we’d love to help make it possible for you to join.
Please note that all ticket purchases are non-refundable. However, tickets may be transferred to another individual if you are unable to attend.
We kindly ask that any ticket transfers be communicated to us prior to the event.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact us.