Gusman - Flying Goat Farm

Posted on August 6, 2019August 8, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

working the nightshift with synergy yarn

Nightshift is another one of Andrea Mowry’s innovative shawls. It is worked with a XXX stitch that leaves floats of contrasting colors. It is a triangular shawl that has icord edging for a really stable edge. Our Synergy yarn is perfect for this shawl. It is a DK weight merino yarn that has a tweedy handspun look. Within each skein there are subtle color changes. For the shawl you can choose anywhere from 4-8 skeins. The shawl calls for 7 different colors, but everyone’s aesthetic and knitting style is different. I’m happy to help you pick out great colors to work with. Here is a photo of a customer’s shawl that she made with Synergy.

Here are some of the awesome colors available. To pick your own, join our email list to hear about when we will be in your area at a fiber show.

Posted on August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

modern graphic colorwork cowl

Suburban Warrior Cowl designed by Tanis Gray

Last fall, Tanis stopped by my booth and picked up some of my Cormo farm yarn in 2 colors: Agate and Granite. She designed this modern graphic cowl. It is stunning visually and next to the skin soft. You can use Trasna or LiViLy yarn for this cowl. Here are some other colors you might use to make this cowl. Grab a set in the online store.

Posted on July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

Busy preparing for the fall shows

I’ve been busy in the studio dyeing up new colorways for the fall shows. Now I have a huge job of labeling all of these skeins.

See something you like? You can join my mailing list so you know when these hit the webstore. Or you can find something similar already listed in the store.

Posted on July 29, 2019July 29, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

beachy blanket shawl

It is totally OK to change up a published pattern. Really? Yes! I wanted to make the Waiting for Rain shawl, but I wanted to use my worsted weight LiViLy yarn. It is so soft and squishy and has wonderful stitch definition. It is made from the wool of my Cormo sheep. So even though the pattern by Sylvia McFadden calls for fingering weight, I increased my needle size to match the yarn size and got started. The result is that this shawl is really large. I can wrap myself up in it. It is perfect for sitting by the campfire on a beachy weekend, when the nights are starting to get chilly. Another great aspect of increasing the size is that the knitting was quicker. We have kits available here in our online store.

If you don’t want an extra large, blanket type shawl, you can make this shawl with our Corrie Sock yarn and follow the instructions as written in the pattern. We have kits for the fingering weight yarn as well.

Posted on July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

don’t wait! Use it now!

wool roving to spin or felt — Polwarth Silk Top for spinning or felting

When I first started spinning, I found some cheap wool that I could practice on as I worked to perfect making a nice yarn. I was new. I was teaching myself. I struggled…oh boy, did I struggle. I couldn’t draft it. I made lumpy, bumpy yarn that fell apart or pulled apart at inopportune times. There were times that I just couldn’t get it started. But I continued nonetheless. I did learn how to spin. But the more important lesson was this. Use the good stuff! The good stuff will be easier to spin. It will be more fun to spin as you go from color to color that you actually picked out. You will want to spin more and then you will become a better spinner.

The same is true for knitting. As many of you know, I’m a relatively new knitter and when I, again, was teaching myself to knit. I went to a big box store and bought cheap yarn. I didn’t want to waste the good stuff. Instead the garment I made was all wrong. And so it was time and money wasted.

So just like your nice china and crystal, get out your nice stuff whether it is spinning fiber or knitting fiber. And work with it. You will be happy that you did.

If you need some “good stuff” to replace the “cheap stuff”, you can find beautiful yarn and roving in my web store here.

Posted on July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 by Gusman — 2 Comments

yarns perfect for fall knitting

What are you planning to knit for the fall? Socks? A shawl? A sweater? These yarns are fingering weight yarn that is perfect for all of those garments. And the colors are just so autumnal. These yarns will be available at the following fall shows: Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival, Montpelier Fall Fiber Festival and Rhinebeck Fiber Festival. Want to know when these will be added to our online shop? Click here to get our email blasts that will alert you to shop updates.

Posted on July 23, 2019September 4, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

super soft delicate shawl

I have to admit, I didn’t knit this myself. Yes, I have some wonderful trusted knitters who knit garments for me that are way above my skill level. And also they are so much faster! Since I am the slowest knitter in the world. This shawl, called The Joker and The Thief is designed by Melanie Berg. She designed it for a gradient and I decided to use full skeins of Zephyrette so ours is a ABCBA pattern. What I mean is that we progressed through the colors and then went backwards through them again. Our shawl is made with Zephyrette. Have you used it before? It is a delicious blend of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere. It is super soft but has the structure of the silk so that it doesn’t stretch out.

You can pick your own colors or we can put a kit together for you. Grab the yarn in our online store and the pattern from Ravelry.

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

cute enamel pins on canvas bag

You can never have enough bags, right? And this one is great for keeping your current sweater project all together. I’ve been collecting buttons from my favorite friends and this bag is a way to show them off. The cute green sheep is from Dancing Leaf Farm and the purple castle is from Avalon Springs Farm and of course there is one from the Fiber Art Studio Tour. You can grab an FGF pin here.

Posted on July 17, 2019July 17, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

lacy sweater for a quick fall knit

pattern by Corrine Walcher — LiViLy Catoctin Sweater

This is a lovely lacy sweater made with our LiViLy yarn. This worsted weight yarn is made from the fleeces of my Cormo sheep. Corrine Walcher , AKA Gingyknits, is the designer. If you haven’t used her patterns before, they are concise and come in a wide range of sizes. And our LiViLy comes in great colors.

Here is photo of the front of the sweater. I have worn this several times. It is well fitting and the yarn is really next to the skin soft. You can get LiViLy yarn here. You can get Gingy’s pattern here.

Posted on July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 by Gusman — Leave a comment

gradient set to make a pretty shawl

This shawl is a really fun one to make. It is a shallow crescent shape. It can be worn in so many ways from over your shoulders or backwards like a cowl. It is made with my Corrie Sock yarn. The kit includes a 5 mini skein gradient set, beads for the edge and the pattern. The mini’s do all the work for you, most of this shawl is garter stitch and at the end there is some lace stitches for interest. This is a good project to take to the soccer field or swim meets. All you need to do is add needles and you’re ready to cast on. There are 5 colors to choose from, so go grab one in my online store.

5 skein gradient set — Brilliant Blue set