Tag: Covid 19

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sometimes I get wild ideas

So, dear reader, you already know that all the yarn shops are closed. The restaurants are closed. The fiber festivals are closed and going virtual. There aren’t any sports. And our homes are now our offices and schools.

I always do a special colorway for large festivals. And Maryland Sheep and Wool is in 2 weeks. I had to get up off the couch and put together a special colorway.

My wild idea was to make a corona virus colorway. But then I thought, Lisa that’s really weird. Maybe people will be upset or put off about it.

Corona colorway on Chinook

Then I thought some more. I relied on my Biology Major background and thought about viruses. And it lead me to think about how miraculous our bodies are. How our bodies make antibody particles that basically neutralize the virus or bacteria that has invaded the body.

So my corona colorway uses the colors in the electron microscope image that we see online and on the news every day. And my antibody colorway uses complementary colors that “neutralize” the virus colors.

Antibody Colorway on Chinook base

I’m taking pre-orders for these. I am offering them in the Chinook base, Corrie Sock base and Sparkly base. Click here to grab a few for yourself and gifts for your knitting friends. I will be dyeing these to order. I will keep you in the know about when you can expect them. I expect to be able to dye and dry within 3 days of your order, then out in priority mail so from the date of your order you should have this yarn in your hands in one week.

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widn *what I’m doing now*

So life is not normal and will probably never be normal. We, individually and as a society will be permanently changed by the social distancing, the fear of the virus and the uncertainty about how long this will be and will we be safe or will we be sick….

January through mid-March were full of new colorways and lots of creativity in preparation for the Spring shows. If you are a long time reader of my blog (or even if you’re new) you can see all those fun colors on new bases. But as you all know, festivals are either cancelling or going virtual.

I spent a couple of weeks feeling down and trying to figure it all out. And I started to read more and to take a few classes online. But I had an angel. An angel that helped to get me out of my funk and to allow the creativity to flow again. Rose is my angel. She had a lot of yarn made from the fleeces of her Coopworth sheep. She didn’t want to dye it herself.

So I started a custom order for her skeins. She brought fingering weight and worsted weight yarns. We decided that the fingering weight yarn would be variegated and fun for socks and some scarves. And the worsted would be done in sweater quantities in more semi-solid colors.

I’ve had so much fun working with this wool and working with Rose to make her color dreams come true.

Do you need a custom dye? Do you have a yarn in mind that you can’t find at a shop or show? Well send me an email and maybe we can work it out together, while we are staying apart.

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Social Distancing: Week 2

How are you all doing? I’m not gonna lie…I’ve had my ups and downs. I have been calling more people in order to have some more human contact.

I’m proud that I have the online store really well stocked. I’ve been taking photos. I’ve been making some videos too. You now have multiple ways to see what I have in the shop for you. Yes, I can’t help you in the feel department. I think I’ve described the products well. But please, if you have a question about the yarn or the roving or the sock blanks or the kits. Just shoot me an email.

I have a whole shipping station set up. Oh and guess what? I am out of packing tape…WHAAA? Yes but it is on order and should be here by the end of the week. And I have a work around in place. So your purchases will be packaged, labelled and set to you.

I just saw on the news that doctors are suggesting that you leave your packages outside, or untouched for a day. You can put it in a closet or in your garage for the 24 hours. Just to be safe. Not from us, but from whoever else has touched the package since we sent it to you.

So be safe, be happy, be making, be yarn buying and be hopeful.

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Canceled Festivals? No problem

We just found out this week that Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is not going to be held. This is the first time in it’s 47 years that it is being canceled. The first shows of the year, Fibernate and HomeSpun Yarn Party are also canceled. It’s hard to put into words just how I feel. On the one hand, I’m glad that we are taking Covid 19 seriously. I am glad that by canceling we are putting our neighbor’s health on par with our own. I’m sad to not be seeing all the wonderful knitting and crocheting and spinning and felting that you have done since the last time we saw you. I’m sad to not be able to see the excitement in your eyes as you think about a new project you could make with my hand dyed yarn or roving.

This is a time for a pivot. Especially if you have bought yarn or roving from me in the past. You know what to expect with my yarn. So the pivot will be that you will start to buy online.

I’m still here for you to ask questions. I’m here to take you (on your phone or ipad) into the studio and help you pick out the yarn you want to buy. I’m here to package it up and get it in the mail to you. I have been uploading virtual yarn shop videos to my YouTube channel all week, so you can hear about the yarn and see the colors I currently have. You can access them here.

BFL roving in Raisin Colorway

This weekend, Sunday specifically, we are trying a new experiment. During the hours that HomeSpun Yarn Party would be held, we will be having a virtual yarn party. From 12 to 5pm, we will have a special sales code for 15% off and any order over $100 will have free shipping. Anyone who buys during that time, will also be entered in door prize giveaways from the team at HomeSpun Yarn party. You can get the secret code in 2 ways: join my email list here in the popup window and I will be sending out a blast Sunday morning with the code OR tune into the HomeSpunYarnParty facebook group here on Sunday from 12-5. This is the first time we are trying a group virtual festival, so we’d love to see this work well for you.