Knitting. Spinning. Fiber.

The fiber arts is what Trembling Prairie Station has been about since 1995 when the Murray family named their farming operation. They started with a small flock of registered Angora goats, but their roots in fiber go further back than that. From Roberta’s great grandmother attempting to teach her to knit and crochet as a child, through high school art classes, to horsehair work, through to today.

Although Trembling Prairie Station wasn’t formally founded until 1996, the textile traditions of the Murray family go back much further. I have always been an artist of one sort or another. My mother wrote the following passage in my baby book: "Very artistically able from the age of 2.", indicating an early natural ability for the visual arts.

In my youth I pursued all types of artistic activities. I was especially interested in photography and hold a certificate in professional photography. I was first introduced to the fiber arts as a young child through my great grandmother who knit, crocheted, embroidered and painted fabric. "I remember playing with tubes of liquid color to draw on fabrics that used to be embroidered afterwards"

Company History….

Trembling Prairie Station got its start with a flock of Angora goats. We were heavily involved in the local Angora goat association, holding executive positions in the association, and participating in their many shows and events. When I was learning to spin and knit I developed a deep interest in the textile history from the Shetland Islands. I began to research Shetland sheep, Shetland knitting, both Fair-Isle and lace, and spinning. A flock of Shetland sheep soon followed.

Allergies and other health problems forced us to sell the flock. Wanting to stay involved in the fiber business we started a spinning supply shop. This business was quite successful but left little time to actually create so a decision was made to sell the business in 2002.

On Trembling Prairie…..

We are often asked where we came up with such a unique business name. "We were required to register a farm name when we first started raising livestock. We went through all the usual geographic features such as hill, valley, bluff, creek, etc. None of them applied to our land, which originally consisted of muskeg. Names like swamp, muskeg, bog and marsh just didn’t sound very attractive. That’s when we hit the thesaurus and found the term trembling prairie used to describe a marsh. We liked it!"

The name didn’t just suit the soft peat soil, but it also held meaning for another significant feature. In the foothills to the west of our farm is a geological fault line which produces several small tremors each year…..literally trembling the prairie! The train tracks border the east side of our property and the trains can also cause the prairie to tremble.