HAMAKUA COAST, Big Island » Clothing isn't something you readily associate with agriculture. So it's a bit surprising to see wool at a farmers' market until you realize that, indeed, fibers that make up clothing are farm products. Think cotton bushes, once prolific in Hawaii, mulberry trees and silk worms, flax for linen and, of course, sheep for wool, each one undergoing many changes to become cloth.

One woman has made the connection on her farm along the Big Island's Hamakua Coast, taking her love of fibers and knitting and turning it into a cottage industry focusing on wool.

About five years ago, Jan Dean and her husband, John, took over a 12-acre family property in Kalopa Mauka, creating Maluhia Farm. The former sugar cane land had been planted in legumes and grasses with the intent that it would be used one day for pasture. Dean decided it would be perfect for raising sheep, an animal she had admired from a distance when she lived in Waimea.

Gardenia, Petunia, Hermione, Onslow, Emmett, Violet — every one of her sheep has a name. “;It's such a small flock, it's hard not to name them,”; said Dean. “;And I believe some of them have learned their names. Sheep are much more intelligent than we give them credit for.”;

Dean — who had long worked with fibers, sewing, knitting and quilting when time permitted — loved the idea of spinning wool into thread. She took a fiber arts course and learned about sheep, specifically a dual-purpose breed of sheep called Romney.

“;Romneys produce a wool that is prized by hand spinners and felters because of their long staple length, the crimp of the fiber and the ease of cleaning,”; said Dean. “;The meat also has a good flavor. It's a good all-around choice.”;

Dean started with 10 animals: two rams and eight ewes, purchased from a breeder in Sonoma County, Calif. Four years later her flock numbers 21, including three wethers, or neutered males kept for wool production rather than breeding. She has learned to care for her flock and to process the wool into fiber to sell under the banner of the Hawaiian Home Grown Wool Co.