Do you print out your patterns? I have some I have printed and some I have bought. And I needed a way to organize these and keep track of them. I borrowed my system from a customer. She always carries her notebook to shows or to stores so she has all the information about the patterns she wants to make next.
Watch this video to see the system….. Click here to download the dividers for your own pattern notebook
**Disclaimer: I have not received any compensation for this blog. I truly love these apps and use them personally. The opinions are mine alone.
There are 3 yarnie apps on my phone that I simply can not live without. I have to say that these are mostly knitting oriented and so I apologize to my crocheting friends. I simply don’t crochet myself, so I don’t have that frame of reference. I’d love to hear about apps that you use that would be helpful for my readers.
I took a hiatus from the podcast so that I could really get my head around this new season. In this season, I will be talking about creativity. And not just talking about it, but also giving you an exercise with each episode that you can complete to feed your creative spirit and to let it rise within you!!
You can listen to the podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you would rather watch the power point. You can find it the video here.
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.
I have 2 fingering weight yarns, one is our MCN base and the other is our non-superwash Cormo Farm yarn.
Stop by our booth in Building A and snag some…it may not stay on the shelf very long!!
If you follow my social media and these blog posts, you know that I am currently working very hard to bring a naturally dyed yarn line to you. I also want part of the yarn line to be Fibershed certified, when it is possible to do in our Chesapeake Fibershed. So I’ve been foraging around our 25 acres and in places within 10 miles here to find dye plants that I can use. Yesterday, I was able to get some of these dye plants collected and prepared for dyeing into the fall.
Black Walnuts grow wild here on the property. They are just beginning to ripen and fall off the tree. I collected several pounds of them. Walnuts are dual purpose. The outer husk is where the dye lives. And the inner nut is oh, so yummy. Yes, they are hard to pick out from the shell, but they are worth the trouble in my opinion. So yesterday I broke open the husks and put those into a dye bag and laid out the nuts to dry in the sun.
We grew Hopi Black Sunflowers this year. Bill harvested the seed head several weeks ago, and I’ve been slowly picking the seeds out of the sunflower head. I’ll save these until later to dye, they will keep just fine. I saved the seed heads with some seeds in them to plant for next year. The plants are lovely and grew probably 8 feet in height. There’s nothing prettier in summer than a row of sunflowers.
And then there were the pokeberries. I cut off the sprays of berries and put them straight away into the freezer. I have to read up on how to dye with these. Unfortunately this dye tends to fade but still it will be lovely to try to use plants that our ancestors used.
We also harvested acorns, although we don’t have nearly enough to do anything with at this time. I will just keep adding to the stash until I have enough. And we picked up hickory nuts too. Those are just to pick and eat. They are also hard to crack and to get the nut meat out of, but they are really really nice. It feels great to live in a place where we can go out and forage for dyes and for food.
We have 2 new yarns this year and I’m dyeing up A LOT of it.
The first yarn is called LiViLy Bounce. It is a sport weight. Each skein has 330 yards in each 4oz skein. And it feels so great. It is made from our Cormo fleeces. I haven’t yet put any on the needles and I need to get to that. I know it will be amazing. You can find our available colors here.
The second yarn is Trasna Fingering. It is a fingering weight with 400 yards in each 4oz skein. It is made from our Cormo X fleeces and again so nice to the touch. I have knit a swatch of this one and it has amazing stitch definition. You can find some of the colors here. More colors to come within this week.
I know you will love these yarns that are sustainable, climate beneficial and beautiful to boot!! Remember that when you buy farm yarn you support our sheep and goats through the winter!
Well, it was our first in person show in our area in 18 months. And I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, nearly everyone wore a mask. There was lots of social distance between people as well.
The weather was beautiful. People were happy. And there was lots of squishing of yarn happening.
So thank you for coming out if you did. If you didn’t come out this time, think about it for next time!
Of course if you are local, you can come by during our farm chick studio weekends. Our next open studio is October 30th. We’ll be open from 11-4.
On Saturday our first in-person fiber festival goes live! Yes, it’s in-person. The show is Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. It’s at the Clark County fairgrounds. You can find out more information here.
I’m super excited so see people and to be in the presence of unbridled creativity!
I’m nervous because we haven’t set up the booth in 2 years…will we remember? Will it actually be better?
I’m a little scared too. Will people wear masks and be safe? How can we provide a safe place for our customers?
So many emotions!
I know you must be feeling these things too. I also hope you are feeling excite to touch all the yarn and see all the colors.
We are in the Arts and Crafts Building. We are right by the front door. To keep us and you safe, we will be wearing our masks. We will be bringing a fan so there is more air circulation and less opportunity for the virus to transmit. The festival is from 10-5 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday.
Please do come out for a beautiful fall day! It’s supposed to be just gorgeous weather that day. I’m want this weekend to be a real celebration! Be sure to stop by and show us anything you’ve made with our yarn or fiber. We love seeing all your fantastic creativity on display!!
It’s just days away until Summer is over. And it’s time to be gathering some of the best dye plants in our area. This past weekend, Bill and I headed out to find Goldenrod. It is an amazing dye plant. It grows wild all along the roadways here in Maryland. And we were lucky to find some that had been spared from mowing and herbicides that are used along roads to keep the weeds at bay. They were in full delightful bloom.
My plan is to separate the blooms from the leaves and woody stem. The stems will go into the compost pile. The leaves will be dried and frozen for later dye sessions throughout the winter. The flowers will be made into a dye pot this week.
Here’s what I will be doing…. I will cover the blooms with water (at a neutral pH). In fact I may put my rain barrel back in service, since we should be getting some rain this week. I will slowly raise the temperature of the flower water mixture, careful not to boil it. I will keep the water just below the simmer. Then I will set it aside and let it cool. Once cool I will remove the flowers.
When it’s time to dye, I will presoak my scoured and mordanted wool and then add it to the dye pot. A good rule of thumb is to have equal weights of fresh flowers and dry wool. This will give you a nice shade. I will begin to raise the heat of my dye pot and again keep it under the simmer for 1 hour. I will check it to see if I want to leave the wool in overnight, or just stop there.
Then I can make a determination if there is leftover dye (exhaust) that I can use to dye more yarn in a soft, more muted color. I’m super excited to get started!!
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?
