Last weekend was supposed to be our open studio, but alas we had lots of snow instead!
I’ve been dyeing up lots of new colorways. First up is some new Zephyrette colors. Our zephyrette is a light sport weight blend of baby alpaca (cria), cashmere and silk. It is OH SO lovely!!
And finally, since we weren’t open this weekend, here is my special yarn that was inspired by Peonies, which are my favorite flower. It is dyed on our Chinook base which is Superwash Merino, cashmere and nylon.
I’ve just added a beautiful wool farm yarn. It’s called Fingal. Well it’s not really new, but I just realized that I still have a lot of this lovely yarn. This yarn is made from BFL (Blue Faced Leicester) wool from our farm and Grindstone Ridge Farm. I had this in the back of other yarn and I forgot about it.
Let me tell you about this yarn. It’s oh-so soft! It has a lot of luster from the BFL. This is a 2 ply worsted weight yarn. Each skein has 200 yards. And there are so many wonderful color choices right now. More colors to come as well.
This yarn will make lovely hats, mittens, cowls, and sweaters.
Today, I thought I would highlight some of my naturally dyed yarn. This yarn is our PolyPay worsted weight yarn. It was grown in Virginia on a partner farm. I had it clean, carded and spun into this wonderful 2 ply.
Each set has four 50 yard mini skeins. Some are gradients and others are just colors that look great together.
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
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!
These farm yarns are perfect for all of those garments. We have colors that are great for all your needs, whether that’s a young one who loves pink or camouflage or if you are trying to match your wardrobe. We have farm yarns that are fingering weight (Trasna Light), worsted (Livily) (Polypay and Fibershed Polypay) and DK (Trasna). We just got a sport weight back from the mill, so that is coming up before the fall shows!! We also have mohair yarns that are mostly natural color right now. So head on over to the shop here and choose the Farm Yarn tab to see it all!
I have so many baskets and vases filled with little bits of yarn leftover from this project or that one. Do you have those too? I bet you do.
What to do with them? Here’s a video that highlights one way that you might want to bring those bits back into a useful life.
Those bits can be used to make scrappy socks or a strippy sweater or a granny square afghan or a jelly roll knitted blanket. I think they would even be fun to use in an entrelac project.
When you have your bits organized by color and by weight, you are ready to just pick it up and make something that you will love. This is all part of the push to use our resources wisely. Happy Making!!
It’s time for our Farm Chicks Open Studio. We’re calling it Yarn Affair this time and our theme is Hygge. I’ve written about this previously in the blog. We will be open 10am to 3pm on January 16th….this Saturday. We will be having a Zoom Happy Hour from 4-5pm EDT. I will be sending out the zoom link in my email blast tomorrow. So be sure to sign up for my mailing list to get the info.
Each month we pick a photo as an inspiration for the 3 of us: Flying Goat Farm, Dancing Leaf Dyeworks and Avalon Springs Farm. This month we picked the above photo of a cozy reading or knitting space.
This month I decided to make a mini-skein pack. I wanted to have all of these beautiful colors. I wanted them separate and not on the same skein. So I will have the mini-skein packs ready for sale this weekend and also on the website by Sunday. Each pack as five 100-yard mini skeins ($40). They are ~500 yards per pack. The yarn is my Corrie Sock Yarn which is a superwash Corriedale wool with nylon blend. This yarn is one of my work horses. It is great for socks, but equally wonderful for a shawl, scarf or hat. It is a fingering weight yarn with nice drapablity.
Okay, it’s a strange time right? The stores have limited hours and limited availability. The festivals are all virtual. And it’s hard. It’s hard to find that skein you’re looking for. It’s hard to trust that the skein will look like the photo when you get it. It’s hard to try to look through all those Ravelry patterns to find your next project. Let’s not even get into the changed look of Ravelry and all the distress it’s causing many of us.
I know you’re knitting or crocheting or spinning or felting. You have to be, in order to maintain your sanity and to feel creative and positive. I am too.
Have you just given up? Do you say to yourself, “I’ll just use my stash. I’ll just find patterns in the books or magazines that I bought a while ago. I’ll just use the needles I already have.” And even if all these things aren’t thrilling to me, it is just too hard to do online shopping.
So how can I help you find what you need? Well there are a few ways…. First of all, you can make an appointment to come by. Bring yourself and up to 2 others. We will all wear masks. I have hand sanitizer. It’s a nice drive in the country.
Secondly, you can make an appointment for a Facetime appointment with me. I can help you shop for a project. You can ask me the same questions you might as in person. We can set up a project for you with the yarn and the pattern. And then I can send it to you in the mail. Especially if you want to make a Casapinka shawl or one from Steven West or maybe a nightshift, where you need so many different skeins. I can help you put it together. That’s the part I love. I love working with you to come up with skeins that will make wonderful projects.
NIght Shift made with Synergy yarns
So how do you set up an appointment? Just shoot an email to info@flyinggoatfarm.com and we can get out calendars out and make a date.
Lastly, I am holding open studio days. The next one is September 19th. Of course we will all wear masks. I will have the hand sanitizer and I’ll let 2-3 people in the store at one time.
Yes this weekend will be pretty busy around here. We are vendors at Vogue Knitting Live. See here for details. AND we are having an open studio on Saturday…. 10am to 3pm.
Here are the details: Wear your mask! We will have hand sanitizer for you to use when you enter and also when you leave. We will allow 2 people in the studio at a time. If there is a wait, we will have chairs appropriately spaced. So you might want to bring your knitting with you.
There are 2 other farms open on Saturday: Avalon Springs Farm and Dancing Leaf Dyeworks. So make a day of it!!
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!!
Monday through Friday 11-3
Closed Saturday and Sunday (Except Open Studio days)
