An Urban Farm

A Haven for Vegetables and Goats Alike

This August was my first time visiting Moonwater Farm, a space to learn about growing food and caring for animals in Compton. I attended their annual Woolapalooza event where folks gathered to work with wool in various forms. There were multiple stations set up within the farm including felting, weaving, spinning, mending, and knitting.

We started off at the spinning station, learning to process wool in order to turn it into yarn. We placed some wool between hand carders and starting brushing it to align all the fibers. It was satisfying to start with a bundle of wool and get it all organized and combed out. After that, we learned to spin what we carded into yarn using a drop spindle. It was pretty difficult to spin the yarn to an even thickness. My yarn was varying thick and thin as it was my first time. From this station, I learned a lot and enjoyed working with my hands while meeting new folks.

After, I joined the wet felting station. I stacked carded wool in opposing directions four times to create a mat. There were options of various colors to create an image or pattern. I went with a solid color which wasn’t really solid as the wool was naturally a deep brown with flecks of white throughout. I added soap and slowly soaked the stack with water. Once it was fully covered in water, I massaged the piece in multiple directions to agitate the wool into felt. After, I rinsed out the soap and hung it to dry. It was a fun experience to create a felted piece as well as create among others with varying art directions. Overall, it was a magical day spent with nature, animals, and like-minded folks.

Learn more about Moonwater Farm here.

— Sarina

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