Yarn

I’m back from a great fiber weekend in Freeport, ME at Spa, Spin & Knit. Depsite heavy, wet snow, high winds, power outages and such, many fiber enthusiasts made the trek.  We arrived in Freeport at noon on Friday to almost 50 degrees and sunny – that was quite a change from the weather driving through the White Mts!

It was a good weekend for selling lots of yarn and fiber, talking to old friends and customers and meeting new ones! Now it’s back to work – unpacking first, then taking inventory to see where I have to restock.  I have plenty of yarn on hand to wind, wash and dye more skeins.  And lots more fiber in the barn that needs to be skirted before we start to shear again next month.

Well, it is still only February, despite the mild, dry weather we’ve had over the last few weeks.  This is the one week that I have to travel – to Freeport for Spa – and snow is forecast for the rest of the week!  It’s gonna be a long ride through the mountains.

I’ve been busy winding skeins, dyeing yarn, printing patterns, etc and will be packing up and heading out Thurs. For those of you not familiar with Spa, it’s a “free-form” weekend of spinning, knitting, eating, drinking, shopping…..well, whatever you want to do in Freeport.  There’s a big vendor room and I’ll be there selling alpaca yarn all weekend. Hope to see some of you there!

Our next fiber gathering will be Feb 26-28 at Spa, Knit & Spin in Freeport, ME.  I’m busy winding skeins and washing sock yarn and hope to have time to do a bit more dyeing. I’ve ordered the needles that have sold out and put in a large order for Greener Shades dyes yesterday. Now I just need to have the weather cooperate for the drive to Maine.

The forecast here is for snow today, but we have clear blue skies at the moment, so I’m not convinced. It’s been a dry winter and, at this point, I’m ready for spring!

It wouldn’t be winter without a head cold.  At least I should be feeling better by Christmas.  It’s very cold again today – 12 below this morning.  Thank goodness for semester break; Matt’s off school and is here to do chores this week.  I don’t even have to go out to the barn.  But that’s unusual for us.  We generally have to get out there and do what needs to be done no matter how we feel.

It feels like a good day to work on my knitting a bit. (That’s after I close out the books for the last two quarters – yes, I’m a little behind!) Since we produce our own alpaca yarn, I don’t often buy yarn.  But last winter at SPA I picked up a skein of hand painted merino sock yarn from The Woolen Rabbit. The image doesn’t do justice to the amazing colors of the yarn. I’m knitting myself a pair of socks using the Shingle Creek Trail Sock pattern from Wooly Wonka Fibers.  You can find the pattern on Ravelry.  I’m enjoying both the yarn and the pattern.

It’s another mild sunny morning!  What a treat this weather has been.  I have so much work to do outside.  I can’t pass up the opportunity to work in the barn skirting fiber while it’s mild.  This is not something I can do with gloves on!

Yesterday, I put together an 18 lb batch of prime light fiber that I’ll send to the mill for fingering weight yarn.  I also have a 15 lb batch of very fine light fiber for laceweight.  Today I’ll skirt a few slightly coarser fleeces for sock yarn.  I’d like to get quite a bit of fiber off to the mill this month so I’ll be well stocked for SPA in February.

In response to requests from several people, I’m planning a series of weekend fiber workshops.  We’ll start with a raw alpaca fleece (ours or yours) and learn how to skirt, wash, card and spin. I’m envisioning a modular format where people can pick and choose which workshops they attend.  And we’ll probably do each one more than once so we can (hopefully) fit most people’s schedules.

Check back here, check our website or contact me for more info.

I’d also love suggestions for what other types of workshops or fiber events people would like to see.

Last year I tried a new brand of dye for some of our yarns.  Yesterday, I picked up one of the socks that I’ve been knitting for months (no – I don’t have enough time to knit!) and noticed that the dye had faded quite a bit. I check a few other skeins and found the same thing.  Apparently, the dye is not light fast.

If anyone purchased a skein from me and is not happy with the performance of the dye, please contact me.  I’ll make it up to you.