Crosspatch Creations

Crosspatch Creations raises sheep, dyes, creates blends, and cards signature batts in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. We sell wholesale to a very select group of stores. If you would like a current list of our retailers, visit our Shop Locator page to find the one nearest to you, or the Conference page to find one at a show near you.

January 2011 marks the 15th anniversary of Crosspatch Creations! It doesn’t seem possible it has been fifteen years since I started my business. My grateful thanks to all the handspinners who have purchased my products over the years and continue to support of Crosspatch Creations and my flock!

A little history - Crosspatch Creations started after I moved from California to Montana sixteen years ago. We moved with the idea of having a small flock of sheep that I could use in my own spinning and weaving. I had been working in fiber arts for over 40 years and wanted to do the process from the hoof up.

Once I started raising sheep, I found that I was fascinated with genetics and the challenge to produce wonderful feeling handspinning wool. I also found that sheep are like potato chips – you can’t have just a few. So my little flock of five or six has grown to over 100 adult sheep.

I established Crosspatch Creations to enable me to pursue my love of working with this noble animal and to be able to produce the flock of my dreams. The business has allowed me to support my small flock. My goal has been to produce a medium soft lusterious fiber, that not only I would like to spin, but also other handspinners would also enjoy spinning. I try to only keep the very best of the best in my flock, so each year the wool continues to improve.

I have worked with fiber for 40 years now and bring this love and experience to my fiber business. I manufacture custom, hand-dyed, hand-blended Signature Spinning Blends (batts). These batts blend a complex array of colors, combining wool with exotic fibers, such as: Tussah silk, Bombyx silk, Rayon, and Angora to produce a textured yarn of exquisite beauty. There is literally nothing else like these batts on the market. In addition to my Signature Blends, I also produce four kinds of roving – Rainbow Roving, which is a solid color wool combined with lots of other exotic fibers. Triple Play Roving where three colors run side by side to create a variegated yarn. New in 2010, Nubby Swirl Roving, which combines four or more colors with lots silk noil to produce a very colorful textured yarn and Gradations, a roving combining five different tones of one color. I currently produce over fifty color blends. More information about the blends can be found on the Fiber Blends page

My husband, Don, manufactures our spindles and Contraman Comfort Combs. His spindles are economically priced and come in oak and various other exotic woods, such as purpleheart and kingwood. His Contraman Comfort Wool Combs have a hand turned handle with a bump in each to fit in the palm of your hand for a more secure and comfortable grip.

My newest products are handpainted silk, viscose and cotton top<\a>. In addition I also have a line of both Totally Tubular spinning and knitting kits and Paint Pots, designed for felters and art quilters.

Seven years ago Crosspatch Creations went completely wholesale. This provides me the opportunity to sell all over the country – and now even in Australia! It also means that I can be at the ranch producing my products, rather than traveling. Click on the Shop Locator Page for links to the wonderful stores that carry our products. Most of them sell via their websites and at spinning and weaving conferences. Many of the conferences they attend are listed on the Spinning and Weaving Conference Page.

I do add additional new stores from time to time. If you are a retailer and interested in carrying my products, please go to the wholesale page and you will get information on how to contact me for a wholesale pricelist and packet.

I am blessed to live near the National Forest. I use tight fences and guard llamas to discourage predators from attacking my flock. I have found these llamas to be worth their weight in gold as flock protectors and to date, I have never lost a sheep or lamb to a predator even though I hear the coyotes singing every night.

Finally, again a grateful thank you to all the handspinners who continue to purchase and enjoy spinning my products. I love hearing from you and especially appreciated photos of the items you have made from them. If you would like to share any of these photos with your fellow handspunners, knitters and weavers, please email them to me to be placed on our new Gallery page.

Happy spinning!

Joan W. Contraman