I dyed up a whole lot more sock blanks. Remember that I’m giving you free access to my knit 2 socks at a time class with purchase of a sock blank.
What’s a sock blank? It’s not a sock….not yet. It is hand dyed knitted fabric that you UNKNIT and then REKNIT into some other garment. You can knit socks with it, of course. Or you can knit it into a shawl or cowl, anything you want really.
The ones I’m adding today are dyed into gradients of color. They are so pretty. They are ONE OF A KIND!! Go here to grab yours!
Do you have second sock syndrome? Do you get excited about starting a pair of socks but only get 1 knit? Learning this great technique is for you…by the time you finish knitting one sock all that is left of the last sock is the bind off….
Are you sick of losing teeny tiny sock stitches off the end of your double points? I was until I learned how to knit 2 At A Time socks knit on 1 long circular needle. Do I still drop stitches occasionally? I’m not gonna lie…I sometimes still drop a stitch.
My new e-course teaches you how to knit socks 2 At A Time. I’m offering this free with purchase of a sock blank. I have some great blanks left. What I love about sock blanks is that there is somewhat of a mystery to what the final socks will look like. Gradients? Spreckles? Striping? What will happen? That’s the fun of it. The class is available on July 25th. You will complete it on your schedule. All lessons are recorded.
Come to our open studio event. In order to be in compliance with the covid-19 restrictions, we have some rules. You will pick a time slot. You may bring one other family member with you into the shop. You must wear a mask. You will be given hand sanitizer to use before you enter the store. $10.00 of your ticket price will be credited when you make a purchase. We will have sun tents set up in the yard if you would like to bring your spinning wheel or knitting in a country setting while social distancing. We are trying our best to promote a responsible yarnie event.
This is a simple shawl…the color of the yarn does all the work. It is mostly garter stitch with some lace near the bottom. It is an asymmetrical triangle shape. I’ve added 3 new variations. Check them out! Kit comes with pattern and 4 skeins of Zephyrette yarn. Zephyrette is our baby alpaca, silk and cashmere blend that’s a light sport weight.
I’ve been busy getting ready for Tour de Fleece. I’ve dyed Polwarth wool and silk top and BFL so far.
This weekend I’ll probably get to the alpaca top. I’ve got some fun colors coming along. I will have a shop update Friday by 5pm.
I think that I have decided that my goal is to just spin color. To try some different color spinning techniques and I think I will do some dyeing especially for ME! I haven’t done that for a few years. The last 2 Tours I was concentrating on getting this lamb fleece spun. 2 YEARS!! It was white. And I still can’t figure out what color I want to dye that handspun yarn. I have an idea. I want to make one of those yoked sweaters…probably make it as a steeked cardigan. So I want to work on some handspun yarn that might coordinate all together to make another kind of sweater. That’s my goal.
What is your goal? Do you want to join my team? Drop me a line and I’ll send you a facebook invite.
It’s T-6 days until the start of the 2020 Tour de Fleece. Since it’s inception, the point of the tour de fleece is to spin all the days that the tour de france is running…Get it? spinning yarn while they’re spinning their wheels across France. In the past there are challenge days when the cyclists are in the mountain stages. There are also rest days when the cyclists are also resting. What I’ve loved about the tour is that even if I’m just spinning a few minutes a day. I’m always improving my skills. I’ve done the tour 5 years now. I’ve even transported my wheel when we arranged a vacation during the tour. I am hosting a team for the 6th year. If you would like to join us, click here to get to our facebook group.
In that vein, I thought you might want to know what kinds of rovings we have available.
Our organic Polwarth Wool/Silk is a blend of cultivated silk to add additional shine and luxury to the beautiful fine wool. It is 80% Polwarth Wool / 20% Silk. You can actually see the lustrous silk in amongst the wool roving. It is a really fun yarn to spin and can also be a beautiful addition to felting projects. The Polwarth sheep was developed in Australia by breeding Merino rams to Lincoln/Merino ewes with the resulting animals being 75% Merino/25% Lincoln. You get a longer staple length and more lustrous quality from the Lincoln and a micron count between 22-25 from the fine wool Merinos. These sheep are raised primarily in Australia, New Zealand, Falkland Islands, and South America. Definitely next to skin softness. Yarn made from this roving are known for its elasticity, durability it is still considered a delicate fiber with bounce and drape. 3ounce portion Retail $16
Blue Face Leicester is of British provenance. This sheep is one of the most prolific in the British Kingdom. It is a lustrous long wool . It is typically 25-27 microns with a staple length 4 ¼ inches (110 mm). The fiber feels finer than the micron count would suggest. The luster promotes beautiful results whether you are spinning or felting with this fiber. This is a great roving for beginners. 3ounce portion Retail$15
Superfine Alpaca is 100% alpaca combed top. It is incredibly soft, so the yarn you make will be next to your skin soft to make handcrafted items. The fibers are very fine (24-26 micons) with a 3-4 inch staple length. and the preparation is combed top, so you can spin this roving in a worsted way and get fingerling weight yarns that will show your stitches very well. Any yarn or felt that you make from this will feel so luxurious that you will want to wear it all the time! 3ounce portion Retail$15
Our Mohair roving is made from the fleeces of our lovely goats. It is highly lustrous and takes dye really well. Because it is a farm roving, there will be some veg matter in it that is easily picked out while you are spinning. 8ounce portion Retail $20
Our Puck and Friends roving is made from BFL fleeces that we grow as well as those from friend’s flocks. This is a natural charcoal yarn. It is great for beginners. 8ounce portion Retail $20
First of all thank you to all the people who came out to the Fiber Art Studio Virtual Tour this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. I loved visiting people as I did my live videos. And I loved seeing what all the other vendors were talking about in their videos sessions as well.
Pattern “Ticket to Anywhere” will drop Saturday morning. You can get a code for a free pattern, when you buy a 5 skein mini pack from any of our vendors. Coupon must be redeemed by 11:59pm Monday 6/8.
Ticket to Anywhere Shawl by Kristen Jancuk
Vendors will be doing FaceBook live presentations during the day. These will be in the Facebook group. Be sure to join the group here.
Prizes will be given out throughout the day. You just need to be in the group, watching and commenting. If you aren’t on Facebook, you can engage in the Ravelry group. We will be giving out prizes there too.
The group will have a watch party on Sunday. So you can see videos from our vendors if you missed them on Saturday, or if you just want to get a dose of cute animals, beautiful yarn and wonderful yarnie accessories, creams and spinning equipment.
Well, it’s a strange, strange world right now. The repetitive motions of knitting, seeing the colors change and watching a shawl grow can be just what you need for your mental health. This weekend is big for us around here. First it is our first Virtual Fiber Art Studio Tour. This is actually our 4th year of having the tour. Each year we have a featured shawl that is made with hand dyed mini-skeins. In years past, our tourists could pick up a skein here and there and then make a souvenir of the weekend. This year, since it is virtual, and we will have to mail all your purchases, we decided to ask our indie dyers to make packs of 5 mini’s.
This shawl is called “Ticket to Anywhere”. And I sure would like a ticket somewhere right now!! It is an asymmetrical triangle shawl that uses ten 100-yard minis. When you purchase a set from me or any of our dyers, you will recieve a code to discount the shawl pattern to $0. The code will be active from Saturday, June 6th to Monday, June 8. Do you have to wait until Saturday to buy the yarn? No! It’s up on my website right now. Click here to see what I have. I’ve added a few other choices as well. So go and take a look.
The second great shawl is called “Hug Shot”. It is designed by Casapinka. This shawl takes 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn. I have 8 different choices. And if you find a combo that you like better, just say that you’re buying this for the Hug Shot shawl, and I’ll send you a code. The code gives you the pattern for free. This code will be active from June 6th to 11:59pm June 14th. Casapinka says that this shawl is very soothing to knit. And it looks like a lot of fun, for sure!! Click here to see the combo’s that I have for you. These combos will be dyed to order when the current stock runs out.
Where to find us
We are located in Frederick MD. You can stop by during our open studios. Or buy online and stop by to pick up…I’ll run your purchases out to you in your car.
Open by Appointment!! ( Text 443-538-8303 for availability)
Fridays from 11-3 Let me know if you are coming!!
Closed Saturday and Sunday (Except Open Studio days)
