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Farm Yarn Highlight–Synergy

Have you thought to yourself? “I would really love to spin my own yarn someday. I love the way that handspun yarn looks with the colors mixing in the ply.” Your second thought might be….. I don’t need another hobby. Or when would I find time to learn that?

black and brown marled yarn

Synergy solves that.  It gives you the look of handspun, with the marling or barberpole look of handspun. And you didn’t have to learn a new skill or buy new equipment.

red violet marled yarn

This yarn was made from Merino fleeces source by our shearer. It is 100% merino and of course it’s NON-superwash. It is next to the skin soft and can be used for sweaters, tops, hats, gloves and so much more. The yarn naturally stripes. It appears to be hand spun without all the work of spinning it yourself.

red and blue marled yarn

100% merino  2ply  Most skeins have 200 yards in a 4 oz skein. Jasper (and the colorways that come from it) have slightly less yardage. Caribbean (and the colorways that come from it) have more yardage and are a DK weight.

Click here to get some for yourself!!

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Some KAL Color Choices

Our Winter Hat KAL starts on February 4th. It coincides with the Winter Olympics. One of the most popular patterns this time is the Correlation Hat.

Correlataion Hat

This hat is made with one skein of our Synergy yarn. You can find it here. This is a merino farm yarn that is marled and when knit gives a gradient look as well. It looks handspun without all the work.

Here are some color choices:

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Naturally Dyed Mini Sets

mini skeins in orange and browns

Today, I thought I would highlight some of my naturally dyed yarn. This yarn is our PolyPay worsted weight yarn. It was grown in Virginia on a partner farm. I had it clean, carded and spun into this wonderful 2 ply.

Each set has four 50 yard mini skeins. Some are gradients and others are just colors that look great together.

I new yellow and green set is in the works. You can find them here.

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Buy Local Buy Small Business

We are 59 days from Christmas and only 32 days from Hanukkah. And there are stories all over the news programs about the supply chain shortages. The media are sowing anxiety about what gifts and food and other products will be available this week or this month or before the holidays. They are telling us to RUN… don’t walk, don’t wait… RUN to the store. I’m starting to wonder just how much this is media trying to manipulate us, or the large companies trying to manipulate us. Is there a problem? Yes. It’s clearly visible that there are ships stuck in the Pacific waiting to be unloaded. Those ships have caused an oil leak and just the other day, a ship became unbalanced and lost containers and started on fire. So yes, there is a problem.

But, really, I am starting to think that WE are the problem. We have become huge consumers. We buy too many things that are made elsewhere. Many of us are going shopping every day. If not at the mall, then online. And that shopping is driving the huge expectations of our children that there will be a bounty of gifts under the tree.

My family has been questioning the quantity and quality of holiday gifts for several years now. A couple of years ago, pre-pandemic, we decided no “things” as gifts. We gave each other experiences. We went on a Christmas train ride and a play and a trip up to Longwood gardens. It was fantastic to just spend time together making memories. Of course that wasn’t possible last year. And this year it may be a little questionable too.

How about a local holiday? What if you chose to buy only from small businesses? Chose to buy from artisans that are local to us? People who have touched each item, who have lovingly made each and every item in their store? People who have stories about each item, like the names of the animals that made that yarn or dyed that napkin with plants grown on their own farm.

How do you find us? Well you can search for artists near you. You can find an artisan tour weekend in your area. You can ask your local facebook page where you can find local gifts.

The first weekend of December here in Maryland, you have the opportunity to do just that. Our Fiber Art Studio Tour will be on. There will be 4 small farm businesses open. And while we will have lots of yarn and roving for makers, we will also have other artisans sharing our space. So you can find felted items, glass buttons and shawl pins and earrings. You can find tree ornaments that also serve as a donation to the CF community and/or local 4H kids. You can find soaps and dish towels and cloth napkins. You can find some knitted items as well. You can find some kits for items that you can make as a family like felted soaps or dryer balls. We will even be a pick up point if you want to buy lamb for your holiday meals. To keep up to date about what artisans will be at which farm, sign up for our Fiber Art Studio Tour mailing list here.

I wish you a serene holiday season. I wish you beautiful memories of family and friends around your table or on your zoom call. I wish you health and happiness!!

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Rhinebeck Colorway Revealed

I love fall. I love fall full moons. This year, our Rhinebeck colorway is “Moon over the Hudson”.

You will find fall colors and the gold of a Harvest moon too.

Non-Superwash Cormo Farm Yarn

I have 2 fingering weight yarns, one is our MCN base and the other is our non-superwash Cormo Farm yarn.

On the superwash merino, cashmere and nylon base

Stop by our booth in Building A and snag some…it may not stay on the shelf very long!!

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Love, Love, Love Your Yarn!

I have been on a quest, a quest for us to really, really love and honor the yarn we have for several years now. If you have been following my podcast or blogs or newsletter, you know this already.

But, it bears repeating, because I am still feeling the shame. And we are starting to have the opportunity for in-person shows. I want you to delight in the festivals. I want you to feel the pull of creating something new. That’s the best feeling right? It is for me.

So in order to do that you must banish the word….stash. I’ve spoken to many of you in person about ejecting this word and concept from your vocabulary. When I hear people talking about their stash it is not out of pride. I don’t hear “You should see my stash! It is lovely.” More often I hear, “I can’t buy anything until I use my stash.” It is said in a kind of Eeyore voice. It is said with shame. Let’s banish that word! Let’s trash the shame!

I propose that we all use the word, “collection” instead. You are the curator. It is your collection. Each skein and ball that is in your collection was lovingly acquired. Some with a specific project in mind and others just thrilled you with color or texture or softness. I know that when we change our language, we change our outlook or attitude about the yarn that we have collected. We will be able to see those threads in a different light. We may even go through them and realize, “Hey! I’ve grown out of using this yarn, or this color!” Those parts of your collection can be donated or gifted. You have the power to make the choices, after all it is YOUR collection. And you are the curator. That’s the job of a curator, right?

So, let’s make the commitment to value our collections, to explore them anew and discover what you love about them and which ones need to find a new home. Let’s find some new ways of using what we have and making room to buy new skeins to augment your collection. If you would like to explore your collection in an organized way, you can listen to Season 2 of my podcast. Click here to find the Season 2 Episodes or subscribe on Apple iTunes, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. I walk you through all the steps that I believe will help you organize your collection. I take you through these steps so that you don’t get overwhelmed.

And now is the right time to start this. Our first in-person show in the Mid-Atlantic is Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival and that is a mere 2 weeks away. So change your vocabulary and change your mindset. Really REVEL in your collection. And see what you need to make your collection more complete.

What do you think? 

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Yarns Perfect for Fall

What are you planning to knit for the fall? Socks? A shawl? A sweater? Something smaller like a hat or mittens?

cormoworsted yarn
Livily Cormo Yarn. Find it here

These farm yarns are perfect for all of those garments. We have colors that are great for all your needs, whether that’s a young one who loves pink or camouflage or if you are trying to match your wardrobe. We have farm yarns that are fingering weight (Trasna Light), worsted (Livily) (Polypay and Fibershed Polypay) and DK (Trasna). We just got a sport weight back from the mill, so that is coming up before the fall shows!! We also have mohair yarns that are mostly natural color right now. So head on over to the shop here and choose the Farm Yarn tab to see it all!

These yarns will be available at the following fall shows: Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival and Rhinebeck Fiber Festival.

Trasna Light fingering weight Cormo farm yarn Find it here

Want to know when more colors will be added to our online shop? Click here to get our email blasts that will alert you to shop updates.

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Life is too Short to NOT Use the Good Stuff!!

“I’m just learning, so I’m going to use cheap yarn/roving until I know what I’m doing. I don’t want to waste it.”

Skeins of the 5 Elements collection. Buy some here!

I hear those words all the time in classes and during fiber festivals. I even said it myself when I was learning how to knit socks. Before I had the yarn business, I wanted to knit socks, everyone was doing it. So I went to one of those big box craft stores and bought some acrylic yarn and needles and the pamphlet-like book “My first socks” or something like that.

I knit and knit and knit. I was just about to the heel, when I met Ellen. We roomed together at a SOAR retreat in 2007. She saw my very large and unwearable sock and said, “You need to get good sock yarn. That yarn will just not do.”  So at the vendor booths the next day I bought a skein of really teeny sock yarn. I was totally scared. I had to buy smaller (#1) double pointed needles, too. Ellen shepherded me through the casting on of 62 stitches and making the K2P1 ribbing. But that was as far as I got that weekend.

At home I again reached the heel. Ellen coached me over the phone and I was able to get through the instructions for the short rows of the heel. I could pick up the stitches easily and finish up that first sock. I cast on the other sock and soon completed that sock.

What I learned was that Ellen was right. The socks turned out so well.  I was kept engaged because the hand dyed colors kept changing through the socks. Yes, making those socks was more enjoyable. The colors were better. The end product was actually wearable, not 6 sizes too big.

Now I knit socks 2 at a time on one needle. Learn how here!

Since that time, I tell my students and customers to use the “good stuff”. It is like having great china and only using it for “special” occasions. Start taking out that silver and china and use it! Don’t save it for “later” and then never, ever use it.  Enjoy what you have! Don’t deprive yourself until you are a better knitter or crocheter or spinner. Use it today! 

Because if you don’t and continue use the wrong yarn or roving, you may just give up before you get to be a better knitter (spinner or crocheter). You think the problem is you, when really the problem is the cheap stuff that can be harder to use or doesn’t feel good in your hands or just isn’t very pretty.  That kind of reasoning becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. And you will think to yourself, thank goodness, I didn’t use the good stuff when I had no business even trying to learn to ____ (fill in the blank with spin, knit, crochet). So pull out that beautiful yarn, buy that gorgeous roving and USE IT!!

Sparkly yarn is so fun!! Find it here!

P.S. I love those socks and still wear them!!!

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what to do with all those leftover bits

I have so many baskets and vases filled with little bits of yarn leftover from this project or that one. Do you have those too? I bet you do.

What to do with them? Here’s a video that highlights one way that you might want to bring those bits back into a useful life.

Those bits can be used to make scrappy socks or a strippy sweater or a granny square afghan or a jelly roll knitted blanket. I think they would even be fun to use in an entrelac project.

When you have your bits organized by color and by weight, you are ready to just pick it up and make something that you will love. This is all part of the push to use our resources wisely. Happy Making!!