Meet the Makers

The Mast Family

A family of twelve with cousins from Texas, weaving from their 40-acre Missouri homestead

Phineas & Rosa Mast

Phineas and Rosa both grew up in Kahoka, Missouri, surrounded by the same close-knit community but following their own paths. They married in Minnesota before eventually returning to the area they knew best, settling into the life they were building together.

Rosa learned to weave from a cousin. It was the kind of quiet apprenticeship that happens naturally in Amish life, sitting side by side, watching hands move, and slowly picking up the feel of the reed until it becomes second nature. That feel has never left her, and she has passed it on to the next generation many times over.

Today, their home is the center of a weaving operation that spans two states and multiple generations.

A Family Tradition

Phineas and Rosa are raising ten children: Lovina, Inez, Rachel, Edna, Marie, Harvey, Alma, Laura, Esther, and Treva. It is a full house, a busy workshop, and a family where everyone has a role to play. The older children help the younger ones, and the work gets done the way it always has: together.

The family’s reach extends even further. Cousins from Texas (Orpha, Katie Ellen, Alta, Ruthann, Irine, and Fannie) also contribute their weaving to the family’s output. It is a network of hands and hearts, all connected by blood and by craft.

Life on the Farm

The Mast homestead covers forty acres, with horses and ponies for fieldwork, cows and calves in the pasture, pigs near the barn, and sheep dotting the hillside. Rosa tends a garden that stretches close to a full acre, enough to feed a family of twelve and then some.

Ask the Masts their favorite season and they will surprise you: winter. When the fields rest and the garden sleeps, the family gathers closer. There is more time for weaving, more time for stories, and the quiet satisfaction of working together while the snow falls outside.

Mast Family Baskets

The Mast family is known for their bread baskets and kitchen storage pieces: baskets designed for the heart of the home, where every piece has its place.