<![CDATA[Cestari Sheep & Wool Company An American-Made Luxury Wool Company

<![CDATA[Cestari Sheep & Wool Company An American-Made Luxury Wool Company - Updates from Francis]]>Wed, 20 May 2026 00:23:59 -0300Weebly<![CDATA[saturdays are for grilling with cestari!]]>Mon, 18 May 2026 15:47:11 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/saturdays-are-for-grilling-with-cestari

Join us for breakfast, brunch, or lunch every Saturday! We will be grilling lamb burgers and egg sandwiches, all from our farm. Book a Saturday morning tour at 9 a.m. to get up close with the sheep and come back to a hot grill waiting for your order!

At Cestari Sheep & Wool Co you will find unique items in our log cabin country store we affectionately call "Everything Sheep & More" as well as fresh farm food, tours of our antique textile equipment and sheep barns, and so much more.

Close to Augusta Springs Wetlands, you can easily make a day trip out of a visit to Cestari! Beautiful drive from Staunton, Bath, Waynesboro, Charlottesville and other cities and towns!

]]><![CDATA[fresh grilled food available soon!]]>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:04:08 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/fresh-grilled-food-available-soon

]]><![CDATA[Textile museum pieces for sale!]]>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:24:24 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/textile-museum-pieces-for-sale

At the request of the former American Textile Museum, Francis Chester established a non-profit foundation and invested over $200,000 to house this collection of spinning wheels, winders, and looms. For over five years, we have personally managed the maintenance, utilities, and repairs for these historical pieces.

Unfortunately, the museum has seen very little public support or appreciation, with donations totaling only $50 this year. We can no longer afford to maintain the collection in its current form, and after unsuccessful attempts to partner with other museums, we have decided to sell these items.

Each piece will be available for $225, a price significantly below their actual value. All proceeds will go to the foundation, which we are repurposing to focus on promoting U.S. grown and manufactured sheep wool.

Please support us in this new direction. Look at the gallery above to see each item as it is numbered so you can easily call with any questions about specific items!

Call Us!

]]><![CDATA[Tour season begins april 1st!]]>Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:00:48 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/march-26th-2025

Join us for a tour this year! The 2025 tour season begins April 1. We will not have tours May 1-5 as we are at the MDSW (Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival). Book your tour and come visit us! Start HERE.

]]><![CDATA[Pumpkins for sale!]]>Tue, 15 Oct 2024 15:34:15 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/pumpkins-for-sale

We have grown gorgeous pumpkins this year and they're on sale!
One pumpkin: $3.99
Three pumpkins: $8.99
Ten pumpkins: $27

Come and get 'em!

]]><![CDATA[Host your event with us!]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2023 17:07:39 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/host-your-event-with-us

]]><![CDATA[crochet world magazine review]]>Wed, 14 Dec 2022 19:08:28 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/crochet-world-magazine-review

We are so honored to have had Crochet World Magazine review our Cestari Traditional Collection yarn! This is our sheepiest, most natural, 100% American raised wool yarn (mostly from our own sheep) - it's never mulesed, never superwashed and always affordable.

Click here to: Read the review!

]]><![CDATA[cestari farm tours]]>Tue, 28 Jun 2022 17:45:33 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/cestari-farm-toursLooking for something fun to do while vacationing in Virginia? Maybe you’re trying to find a fun day trip for your family in Virginia. We think our Cestari Farm Tours fit the bill!

What is a Cestari Farm Tour? When you book a Cestari Farm Tour, you are supporting your local Virginia farmer and shepherd, family and community! This 90-minute tour includes history and information about the textile industry and the wool industry, exploring our Textile Museum as well as a Conestoga wagon ride up to our farm where you can see the sheep barns, learn about how we care for and handle the sheep, and take pictures!

You can come to our farm to visit with animals, which is a great way to spend time with your family and friends. Our farm tours are perfect for families, children, couples, tourists, locals, and educational groups. In this farm tour experience you will tour a working farm with your pleasant farm tour guide, Francis the Shepherd himself.

Plan your farm tour visit by booking a tour online or calling us at (540) 997-1212. We can’t wait to welcome you!

]]><![CDATA[Cotton: the summer fiber of choice]]>Tue, 21 Jun 2022 18:07:01 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/cotton-the-summer-fiber-of-choice

Cotton is a wonderful fiber for yarn and fiber artists! Cotton yarn is great for crochet, for knitting, for baby blankets, for dishcloths, for amigurumi, for weaving, for crochet bags, and more. Cotton yarn is also known for knit and crochet sweaters and tees, especially for those desiring a lighter fiber for warmer seasons.

We strive to create cotton yarn (our Old Dominion Collection) that is eco-friendly in the following ways: We purchase cotton as locally grown as possible. This means we only buy cotton from local farmers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. These farmers are committed to caring for the land they grow cotton on, by rotating fields responsibly. We keep our cotton minimally processed and only dye using EPA certified-as-safe dyes. Our dyes are eco-friendly and safe for the environment. Cotton yarn is good, especially when the fiber has been grown responsibly and is dyed in an environmentally friendly way.

Cotton yarn is better than acrylic because it is a natural fiber, sustainable and non-polluting, whereas acrylic yarns are synthetic, not sustainable, and polluting the earth with their plastics and micro-plastics.

When asking if cotton yarn is soft, the answer is that it is a stiffer yarn to work with, but soft to the skin. It is not itchy or scratchy or rough rubbing against the skin, whether as a shirt, sweater, face cloth, or blanket. Which cotton yarn is the softest? Well, we would like to say it is ours! We’ve received feedback from our customers that our cotton yarn is easier to work with, less strain on their hands when knitting or crocheting with it, and creates a pleasing finished product.

If you're wondering about how you'll care for your cotton yarn, have no fear! Cotton yarn is easy to care for! You can handwash or machine wash it and some machine-dry it successfully (on low). Our yarn dye does not rub off on your hands while working with it.

]]><![CDATA[76th anniversary festival]]>Mon, 06 Jun 2022 18:28:08 GMThttps://www.cestarisheep.com/updates-from-francis/76th-anniversary-festival

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