By Darlene Bowers
Skirting the fleece, drop spindle, Turkish spindle, roving, drum carder, setting the twist, bobbin fleece, barber pole, alpaca, angora, cradle picker, spin the cloud, natural dyes--is your mind spinning yet? If so, just ask Elena (Monaco) Dearth of Ada to explain any of these terms to you, and she will weave you into her world of woolen fibers.
Elena, a native of the Adirondacks near Lake Placid in New York, will also weave a tale for you of the day she met Def Leppard as a teenager while working as a horseback riding tour instructor.
She met the band there a day after attending one of their concerts. Elena also met her future husband, Tim Dearth, when he and some fellow Fort Drum based Army buddies came for a riding tour. Although Elena’s grandparents had a tough heart-to-heart talk with her about military life (having lived it themselves) Elena decided to follow Tim wherever he went. Twenty-six years of marriage later the couple lives just north of Tim’s hometown of Ada after having been stationed all over the map.
Elena says learning skills and handiwork is what kept her busy during those years of being a military wife and mother of two. Hailey is now 20 years old and Evan is 24 years old.
She quilts, needlepoints, knits, and crochets, but Elena’s heart is woven into the skill and artistry of wool and fibers and the animals that produce them. Elena raises the animals, shears them, cleans the fleece (a multistep process using only Dawn detergent), roves it, dyes it (often naturally), cards it, spins it, winds it (often multiple times selecting the number of strands or ply to create) and completes many additional finishing steps in the lengthy process to market and sell her product.
She also uses her woolen fiber products herself when she finds a spare moment. Elena’s farm produced fleece is mainly used during the production process, but she also supplements it with locally purchased fleece and advocates local sourcing.
Elena sells the offspring of her herd, too, and the herd has even produced a Reserve Champion cashgora goat which was purchased and raised by a 4Her in Auglaize County.
Elena usually breeds her herd in November each year, and around eight to ten kids are then born in April. Elena is an adept weaver using both a table loom and a floor loom. Her floor loom originated in the Lima Rug factory. Elena’s proficient at many different types of spinning as well.
Many people only think of sheep when wool is mentioned, but other animals such as goats, alpaca, llamas and rabbits produce fiber that is classified as wool.“My kids are all grown, so I’ve moved to four-legged kids” Elena says with a grin. She has ten registered angora goats, two cashmere goats, and two alpacas.
“Angora goats are so docile,” coos Elena who shares many anecdotes about her animals. She promptly shares many photos from her smartphone.
Prince Alabaster, a strikingly white Alpaca, fills many of the photos. “He’s the most loving animal,” says Elena, “he clicks and hums and gives kisses. He’s my big lovebug, and he’s a ham for the camera.” It’s easy to see that Elena loves her animals. She’s quick to point out that she strives to create a stress free environment for them during shearing. “Some shearers use hobbles during the process,” explains Elena.
Many of her animals practically stand still as Elena guides them through the shearing process. Others only require a halter during the process. ”Shearing is hard on your back though,” says Elena sharing the one step of production that she came up with as challenging after thinking on it for a long while.
When asked about the part that Elena loves most, she answers immediately, “The final or end product, seeing what it looks like in the end.” One end product is woolen fibers made with natural dyes. Using mulberries is a favorite of Elena. “They’re real pretty,” she says and then shares that for anyone who thinks they’re allergic to wool, often alpaca or llama spun fibers are more comfortable. It is important to note that there is a difference between natural dyes and acid dyes.
Elena’s farm name is Woolen Wonders Fiber Farm. She says she came up with the name thinking of how many people wonder where the fleece comes from. Elena is self-taught and credits her family, especially a great uncle and grandfather, with instilling in her the idea that she could learn or make anything she set her mind to. And learn she did. Hearing Elena discuss the process is awe inspiring.
Quickly one is well aware of the time, hard work, and dedication such handiwork demands. Learning the terms alone is like learning a new language. Elena rattles them off as easily as she spins roving onto a drop spindle while carrying on the conversation. She’s flawless and makes it look easy as the wooden, elongated, top- like spinning device dangles from a thin stretch of fiber that Elena is meticulously, methodically and magically stretching and feeding onto the spindle. In less expert hands the fiber may or may not be wrapping around the spindle and would likely be lumpy, bumpy and not cohesive.
But it seems to come easily to Elena who reports she sometimes spins on her break or lunch hour from work at Dollar General in Ada where’s she’s been for 10 years. Elena worked for Richland Manor in Bluffton prior to that.
Look for Elena and her New Zealand Majacraft Rose spinning wheel in the window of the Artists Boutique at 117 S. Main Street during the Harvest and Herb Festival on Saturday, September 20. Stop in to say hello and check out Elena’s products too. Her handspun yarn in many colors is available as well as roving, hand carders, drop spindles and a few finished pieces. Elena also has a Facebook page at Woolen Wonders Fiber Farm.
From the Adirondacks to Ada you’ll be looking for a needle in a haystack to find another with as much woolen wonder passion and down to earth charm as Elena Dearth. Come skirt the fleece and spin the cloud or just take a seat next to her spinning wheel and watch her ambidexterity twist you in…but watch out for slubs…unless you are creating a novelty yarn.
