PICTURE GALLERY - Easter bunny girl's business is booming
Published Date:
27 November 2008
AN ANGORA rabbit breeder on Anglesey is holding two open days this weekend to promote the craft of producing garments from the fluffy pets.
Rosalind Easter, 85, is laying on free food and free admission for anyone who would like to visit her small holding on the outskirts of Llangefni.
The Easter bunnies are trimmed four times a year and their coats vary in colours from white and gold to chocolate and black.
Rosalind started keeping Angora rabbits 20 years ago and now has several clothing designs which includes a Celtic knot pattern taken from a Scottish stone carving.
She has kept up to sixty rabbits on the farm and gets through an average of 1.5 tonnes of rabbit food each year.
"I started when the children were getting a bit older, I had five kids so didn't do much else," said Rosalind
"I can make three coats in a year from one rabbit and when you get old you need to be active.
"I got my first rabbit from an advert in the Exchange and Mart which said 'bunny for sale for studio work' and I was intrigued.
"When I got them they were small but when they grew their fur matted and I couldn't get the scissors between their fur and skin," she said.
Luckily Rosalind's sister Jill was a vet and she came to the rescue and clipped the fur to a manageable level.
It was then that Rosalind discovered all that extra fur could be spun into yarn and that kick started Easter bunnies.
"I new you could spin the fur so started spinning and spun a lot," said Rosalind who prefers to use a Dutch upright spinning wheel.
"Then I took the fur to a mill and that gave us more time to knit the garments," she said.
Rosalind is hoping to increase the size of the breeding and spinning circle which has reached as far as Connah's Quay.
All the rabbits are kept in pens and transferred to heated accommodation so the trimmed bunnies are not bugged by the cold weather.
This weekend experienced breeders will be on hand to give would-be keepers expert tips on how to set up their own cottage industry.
The Easter Bunny farm is 1.25 miles from Llangefni on the B5109 to Pentraeth or for directions call 01248 750297.
The full article contains 401 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
27 November 2008 12:08 PM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Bangor