Following fiber art, from farm to yarn

Many of our readers knit, I’m sure. Others crochet. And who among us (of the female persuasion anyway), hasn’t tried to make cheap wall art with hoop, thread and an embroidery needle?

For most us, it’s either a passing fancy or a hobby we enjoy in our spare time.

It’s more than that for Jamie Root. Way more.

Root lives in Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood and raises sheep in Cass County, near Harrisonville. She uses some of their wool to create her own fiber art.

Business textbooks would call her way of doing things “vertical integration.” Root describes it from an artist’s perspective:

“I love the whole process of fibers because I can control everything, from my breeding program for the type of wool I want to end up with, to the kind of finish on the yarn I make, to dyeing.”

Writer Kimberly Winter Stern met Root at a meeting of the Fiber Guild of Greater Kansas City and then visited the Cass County farm to get to know her better.

The result is this week’s cover story on Kansas City area fiber artists and a peek into Root’s unique lifestyle.

All around us, there are people who do unusual things with their time. They may be hobbyists, musicians, athletes, artists, business owners or people whose passion is to make their part of the world a little bit better for someone else.

We at 816 newsmagazine want to tell more of these stories. If you know of someone who would be worth a profile, please email me at eadams@kcstar.com.

This story was originally published March 25, 2014 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Following fiber art, from farm to yarn ."