Yarn - Flying Goat Farm

Posted on March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 by Lisa Check — 2 Comments

FO Friday Cowl Edition

Here is a pile of my finished cowls. I have knit all of these over the past couple of years. I love cowls. Have I told you that before? I love them because you put them off and they never fall off. They never unwind. They don’t drag on the floor. They are just perfect accessories in my opinion. All but one of these is my own design as well. The zephyrette cowl patterns are available here.

Do you like to wear cowls? Reply to this blog and let me know.

Posted on March 4, 2020March 4, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

Thoughts about cost of local farm yarn

Recently I bought a back issue of TapRoot Magazine. I was intrigued because the issue’s theme is: Wear. And since I’ve been spending the first part of the year thinking and studying and planning in a fibershed, local fiber kind of way, it was a perfect fit. The article that drew in my attention is by Tamera and Char White of A Wing and A Prayer farm.

They write about all the costs in raising and feeding the sheep that is making that yarn all the way through shearing, processing, dyeing and selling farm yarn. They really drill down in to the costs of hoof trimming (in time and money), the vet costs and the shelter for the animals. They chose one ram’s fleece which yielded about 12 pounds of wool. It became 33 four ounce skeins. The total cost for those skeins is a little over 1500 dollars. The wholesale price would be $46 and the retail $67. That is a LOT for a skein, right?

They also write about the emotional costs of raising sheep for local yarn. And also the rewards of raising your sheep to make yarn. We are a community and we love our sheep. We hope that you love our sheep and yarn as well.

With your purchase of our local farm yarn, you are supporting those sheep and goats whose fiber you are using to make a garment or a household item. Think about buying from a producer of good wool yarn. It comes in all colors and all textures. It is not all scratchy. It can be smooth and soft. It can be squishy like our Livily and Trasna yarns. It can be durable for socks and slippers like our Stratus and our mohair. We are working with our mill to make more weights of farm yarn so that we will have a farm yarn for every garment or other handmade item that you want to make. Click on any of the photos to be taken to our website to find farm yarn for your collection.

Posted on February 19, 2020February 19, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

book review Faerie Knits

My absolute favorite author is Alice Hoffman. I love all of her books and all of her short stories. There is always an element of the paranormal whether that be a witch or a heron husband. She writes stories of family and love and apple orchards and death beetles. Perhaps her most well known book is Practical Magic which was made into a wonderful movie.

So when I saw that she co-wrote a knitting book with her cousin, well, I just had to have it. I was fortunate to get a signed copy, but not so lucky to actually meet Ms. Hoffman. I did however have a really nice conversation with Lisa her cousin.

This book includes 14 fairy tales which were originally published in Faerie Magazine. Each story features a heroine who knits and a knitted object. I think that my favorite of all the stories is the one featuring the Blue Heron. This heron story has made appearances in Hoffman’s books, most recently in “The World That We Knew”.

I also love that each well written pattern includes Knitting Wisdom to explain some technique or to help with making color decisions.

The mix of patterns is very diverse. There are items you could make in an hour or two and there are larger more intricate patterns. I think the mix also is good for beginners, intermediates and maybe even some advanced knitters. I highly recommend this book for it is a good read and inspires great knitting.

Posted on February 17, 2020February 17, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

curated skeins for your next shawl

At shows and even here on the studio tours that we do, I hear people saying that they have a hard time picking out skeins for larger, multiple skein projects like a shawl or a sweater. That is part of what I love about my job. I have an entire room of color and it is so much fun to pull together skeins. Here are a few of the trios that I pulled together today. You can shop for your own curated skeins by clicking here

Three different bases but the same fingering weight: Golden Mosaic, Golden splash and Agate

Hyacinth Mosaic, Violet, and Forest Violet

Carnival, Fiesta Sparkly and Fiesta Chinook

Barn Door, Crushed grape and Stormy Mosaic

Posted on February 10, 2020February 17, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

Fun was had by all

We had a full weekend of workshops. And each student made great yarn or adorable chicks. Dawn and I are not always the best at remembering to take photos. Here are some from my Dye your Socks workshop.

I have another one of these workshops coming up March 7th. Click here to grab a spot. There are only a few left.

Not a yarnie? Dawn has an egg painting class. You will learn how those beautiful Ukrainian eggs are made in the workshop. Click here to secure your spot in this class.

Posted on February 3, 2020February 17, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

Next Shawl?

What shawl is in your queue? What shawl will you be knitting next?

One of the steps that is so hard for knitters is to put together skeins that will make a great shawl. Skeins with enough differences to be interesting but have enough similarities that the shawl will be gorgeous. I’m helping with that problem by putting together curated trios of skeins that are fingering weight that are perfect for many, many shawls.

All you need to do is pick a pattern, grab some needles and cast on. You can see all of the options in our web store here. These are all one of a kind. So if you see something that thrills you, it would be good to snatch it up.

Posted on January 29, 2020February 17, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

more new colorways

I’ve continued to work with our MCN base (SW merino, cashmere and nylon fingering weight yarn). It is so lovely to work with. It will make lovely socks of course, but also a shawl with great drape or a sweater. You can snag some for yourself here.

Posted on January 27, 2020February 17, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

yarn spotlight: Cacao

This is a 100% mohair yarn made from the fleece of our mohair goats. The leader of that pack was a lovely goat named Cacao. That’s because she was milk chocolate when she was born. She faded throughout her life. This yarn is a 2 ply that is DK weight. It is a light tan color with lots of sheen.

This is a great yarn to use for outer wear. You really won’t want to put this next to your delicate skin on your neck. But a hat, mittens, sweater and even slippers would be a great use for this yarn. You can grab some for yourself today here.

Corstorphine Sweater using Cacao and Puck

Posted on January 24, 2020February 17, 2020 by Lisa Check — Leave a comment

yarn spotlight: Puck’s Choice

Puck’s Choice yarn is a farm yarn made from the fleeces of our beloved Puck, our first sheep. She was a BFL cross, a typical lustrous longwool sheep. I took her fleeces and blended them with charcoal mohair from Twilight and her babies as well as a black alpaca fleece that I purchased from an alpaca farm in Virginia. The blend is equal parts of these 3 yarns. The result is a wonderful dark charcoal yarn that has varying saturations of color.

This yarn is a 2 ply that is a DK weight yarn. It is soft and durable. Is it next to the skin soft? No it isn’t. But it will make a great sweater. I imagine an Icelandic inspired yoke sweater that is all the rage. You can add beautiful color for the colorwork and have Puck as the body of the sweater. It will make great hats, showing off cables or even lace. And it will make good socks and slippers. It is really versatile.

If you are local, in Maryland, you could use this yarn for the garment competition at MD Sheep and Wool Festival. There is a special award for those using a Maryland yarn. If you are within our fibershed, you can call this local to you and make a garment for your #oneoutfit100days. You can be sure that these animals were treated well and even spoiled. The yarn was made from animals with names. You can get the yarn by clicking here.