Upcoming Classes
Welcome to ETR Farm Co
I’m Coleen Castro, Director/Teacher
In the early 1990’s (that sounds really old!), I began my fiber art journey with four alpaca and 20lbs of fiber from their first shearing. I headed down the rabbit hole into fiber art for the next 5 years focusing on alpaca fiber and adding in angora rabbits just for fun. I purchased a drop spindle and began to teach myself how to spin. I quickly learned to wash alpaca fiber. And naturally began exploring wet felting from a library book. It wasn’t too long before I was introduced to tri-looms and weaving. I never stopped having my hands in fiber and during COVID I dipped my toes into scouring raw sheep fleeces. I have been a fiber artist for over 20 years. In 2023 I became a Scour Master and began exploring raw sheep breeds. I am blessed to have a small farm in Orangevale, CA where I raise two alpaca fiber males and a small warren of angora rabbits. I totally love to share my knowledge with others. I have been teaching kids and adults in several different situations for over 30 years. I hope you’ll consider a course or two with me!
Enrichment Vendor
Visions In Education 2025-26 School Year
We will be offering four 8 week courses throughout a school year which will teach students about fiber farming, spinning and scouring fiber, weaving arts, and wet & needle felting arts. Each course is outlined below. Classes will be held outside around the farm or on the back patio.
As the 2025-26 school year is almost over, students will start with the fourth course – Wet & Needle Felting.
Please email coleen@etrfarm.org with any questions and to tour our farm before beginning classes.
- Course #4: Wet & Needle Felting
- Date: April 3rd to May 22, 2026, Fridays from 1-4pm
- Cost: $65 per class/$240 per month
- Class size: 8 students
- Ages: 8-14 yr old
Wet felting is the process of using warm/hot water, soap, and pressure to create fabric using wool or alpaca fiber. Throughout this course, students will make felt from cleaned fiber to create felted soap, a vessel, a painted picture, and a stuffed bear. Needle felting is a dry felting technique using needles to interlock loose fibers to create sculpted objects. Students will add a design to a wool dryer ball and create a small animal.
Enrichment Vendor
Visions In Education 2026-27 School Year
- Course #1: Fiber Farming
- Date: September 18-November 6, 2026, Fridays from 1-4pm
- Cost: $65 per class/$240 per month
- Class size: 8 students
- Ages: 8-14 yr old
Fiber Farming will give students an opportunity to experience animal husbandry of alpacas and angora rabbits. Caring for these animals will be explored and students will have hands-on experience. They will learn to design a garden to feed their family and these animals. Part of gardening is understanding composting as well. Students will also be introduced to spinning, weaving, and felting small projects.
- Course #2: Spinning and Scouring
- Date: November 13-January 22, 2027, Fridays (non holidays) from 1-4pm
- Cost: $65 per class/$240 per month
- Class size: 8 students
- Ages: 8-14 yr old
Students will begin with learning to use a Turkish spindle. They will practice twisting, wrapping, and plying with acrylic yarn. Next they will move on to spinning roving into yarn both from natural colors and dyed fiber. Students will take a deeper dive by learning how to skirt a raw fleece, cold soak it, wash and dry it. They will experience carding the fiber with hand carders in preparation of spinning it into yarn. They will then spin yarn from the fiber they scour. Each student will create several skeins of yarn during this course.
- Course #3: Weaving
- Date: January 29-March 19, 2027, Fridays from 1-4pm
- Cost: $65 per class/$240 per month
- Class size: 8 students
- Ages: 8-14 yr old
Students will learn to warp and weft a basic plain weave as they create their own bookmark on a simple balsa wood loom. They will move on to learning tapestry weaving techniques with different types of yarn and fabric. We will dabble in branch weaving and other unconventional looms. The final project will include learning different weaving patterns for a useful item.
- Course #4: Wet & Needle Felting
- Date: March 26-May 21, 2027, Fridays from 1-4pm
- Cost: $65 per class/$240 per month
- Class size: 8 students
- Ages: 8-14 yr old
Wet felting is the process of using warm/hot water, soap, and pressure to create fabric using wool or alpaca fiber. Throughout this course, students will make felt from cleaned fiber to create felted soap, a vessel, a painted picture, and a stuffed bear. Needle felting is a dry felting technique using needles to interlock loose fibers to create sculpted objects. Students will add a design to a wool dryer ball and create a small animal.
Adult Private Fiber Arts Classes
- Date: Arranged with Teacher
- Cost: $25 per hour per student or $20 per student in groups, plus $75 materials fee
- Class size: Private or Group (2-4)
- Ages: Adults
Students will learn the basics of four Fiber Arts areas: Drop Spinning, Scouring Fleece, Weaving, and Felting. The full Fiber Arts course has twenty 1 to 2 hour classes. The classes are designed for students to build skills as they progress through the curriculum which enhance other sections, i.e. scoured fleeces will be used in spinning and felting courses, yarn spun will be used in weaving lessons. It is possible to just take one of the four sections by itself. There will be homework for students to complete prior to the next class. The course syllabus will be made available to students in first class. No previous experience is needed. Just a desire to learn! Email coleen@etrfarm.org about interest.
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