Tag Archives: Fiber

my new favorite yarn

Posted on November 26, 2011 by | Comments Off on my new favorite yarn

i’m obsessed with juniper moon farm’s new commercial yarn line, especially willa. 60% merino, 40% superfine kid mohair – the softest, squooshiest yarn i’ve knit with in a long time. and a range of gorgeous colors, including pomegranate and steel:

juniper moon farm yarn  juniper moon farm yarn

you’ve already seen me in my warriston sweater, knit with willa. it’s my go-to sweater for fall days on the farm – any farm.

warriston sweater in juniper moon farm willa

and now i’m knitting another sweater in willa – aidez (ravelry pattern link). i’m way behind, but i’m participating in a knit-along organized by allyson at the sweatshop of love. progress is slow, since farmer woob keeps harassing me to finish knitting her socks instead, but i’m looking forward to finishing another cozy sweater out of willa.

juniper moon farm yarn willa

i love this yarn!


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sheep shearing, or where the hell have i been lately? part two

Posted on November 24, 2011 by | Comments Off on sheep shearing, or where the hell have i been lately? part two

part of my bio says i’m a ‘wannabe shepherdess.’ since sheep are currently not legal in NYC and since chez farm’s square footage wouldn’t support sheep anyway, i have to get my shepherding jollies away from home. i visit my friend shepherd susie at juniper moon farm as often as i can and i never miss a shearing celebration.

angora goat at juniper moon farm  

i went to sheep shearing school last spring (to learn how to shear sheep, natch). shepherd susie has a professional shearer, but she’s usually kind enough to let me shear a sheep or two so i can get experience.

sheep shearing is hard work, but great for your triceps and hamstrings. and abs. and back.

      

not to mention – good for the sheep. i’m looking for more sheep-shearing opportunities.

all photos except the last one were taken by farmer woob with her iphone camera. the last photo was taken by my friend amy, aka wooly mama of merry magpie farm.


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Speaking of fiber . . .

Posted on July 29, 2010 by | Comments Off on Speaking of fiber . . .
I vacuumed yesterday . . . at least I tried to vacuum.  For some reason, my Oreck just wasn't picking up the way it should and there was a strange sound.  So I unplugged it and turned it over.

Wowsers!!

We've had this Oreck for about a year now (it's our second), and I'm sure I haven't turned it over--ever.  And boy was I missing a lot.

You're looking at the roller brush, completely enclosed in fiber.  There was barely a bristle that was showing through all the fibery goodness.  Did I say it was enclosed in fiber???  Guess I'll be changing my habits and removing fiber pieces from the floor before vacuuming from now on!!  Yikes.

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Adventure!!

Posted on May 25, 2009 by | Comments Off on Adventure!!
Very early Saturday morning I, thanks to my new Rav friends Suzy, her husband Frank and adorable precocious daughter Sierra, set off to visit more Rav friends and others at Jacob's Reward Farm in Parker, TX. I got a REALLY early start. It had been decided that we'd leave Norman (which is about 60 miles from me) at 0630. That meant I'd need to leave about 0530 and get up about 0430. So full of excitement I set my alarm after returning from high school graduation ceremonies. My nephew-of-choice Tyler was one of the graduates! (Yay...but when did he grow up???)

Sleep was difficult...I kept waking up wondering if it was time yet, but finally the alarm went off. I had to prod Zo awake. Even the cats looked confused. And after they were all fed, I looked at the clock and it was 0345!! Eeek...too late for any more sleep. So, I took a soaky bath, ate my Cheerios and headed off.

So excited! Suzy met me at her door and it was like I'd known her forever! I gotta say, if you ever want to go on a fun road trip, you need to go with these folks. I laughed soooooooooo much.

Finally after negotiating some of the Dallas/Ft Worth area (I would NEVER attempt to drive this!) we arrived! Greeting us was Cindy and her husband, the owners, and also Susie, the owner of Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm/Hudson Valley Fiber Farm, the first fiber CSA (community supported agriculture).

The weather and the setting was super!





Pleasantly warm, good shade, and beautiful people!

Susie did a dyeing demo, and later after paying close attention, Suzy appeared to be a mad scientist mixing potions :)





Not to be ignored, the animals seemed at times to be quite interested in us too.





This little Babydoll Southdown was my favorite. Probably because he liked for me to scritch his ears. I'm SURE I was his favorite scritcher and I could easily fall totally and hopelessly in love!



We ate, we spun, we knitted, we talked, we laughed, we ate some more, and laughed some more and told stories and asked questions, and laughed. Nirvana!

Then time for spinning lessons. Cindy had cleverly made CD spindles with her farm logo on the cd. Very clever indeed. And Susie had a lesson. Go Susie!



And, ohhhh there were chickens! I adore chickens. I love watching them be their busy, little selves. There were chickens all over the place. I think Cindy said she had 29. These were hanging out in the coop doing their chicken things as Sierra discovered. And yes, some eggs came home with me! Nom.nom.nom.






All too soon, it was time to head home. What a great adventure! I loved meeting people who I'd met on Ravelry and the local people that came to support Cindy and meet us. I think, if she lived closer, I could become a real pest!

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Fun, Food, Friends and Fiber

Posted on May 11, 2009 by | Comments Off on Fun, Food, Friends and Fiber
What a great group of nouns! Yesterday was the Rt66 Fiber Rendevous in Edmond and I fought my way through rain and road construction and it was every bit worth it.

While I have great friends locally, only a couple are fiber folks. So getting to be surrounded by them is all wonderful. Some of them I see a couple of times a year so there are lots of "How you been? What are you working on?" etc. And there was fiber and yarn and looms and spindles and all sorts of good things.

There was also a potluck but due to some apparent misunderstandings, there didn't seem to be enough food for all that were there. So Katya and I went across the street to a Pita shop (whose name I don't remember) and I had the BEST sandwich I've had in a long time. I need to find an excuse to go to Edmond again :)

And, yes, I spent money. I took cash in my pocket so I was controlled but when I left, I had $2.25 cents left. That would have been gone also but I couldn't find anything for sale at that price. Dang!

I bought yarn and fiber. I'm gonna spin well if it's the last thing I do. Here's the goods.



The green and orange skeins just hopped into my bag as I walked by the table they were on. And I certainly didn't want to be labeled a thief. So I happily paid for them and sure...I need green and orangey yarn. All the rest of the yarn was in a big box. Someone was destashing sock yarn. Be still my heart. The big skein of brown tweed (which is much prettier in real life) was $10 for 400+ yarns and the others were $3!! The brown..which looks really drab in the photo is a really soft tweed sock yarn. I could only find one of the rainbow skeins and it certainly isn't enough for a pair of socks but it was a lovely antidote to a very gray day. The big ball of roving is Ramboulliet and the little one is Ramboulliet and angora. And I know the R's owner so it's kinda like spinning with a friend. It spins like butter on my spindle. Well sometimes rather lumpy butter but you get the idea.

Today has been about catching up with laundry etc, and playing with the new stuff. Oh and soaking in the tub with some really yummy bath salts my girl sent me. She seems to have a real talent for making this and I told her that since I got some for Christmas and some for Mother's Day, she has inadvertently started a tradition. And I'm all about traditions. And, for me, it's a special day. The kitties and the dog have been unusually attentive and who doesn't like a fur/dog hair snuggle?

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Fun, Food, Friends and Fiber

Posted on May 11, 2009 by | Comments Off on Fun, Food, Friends and Fiber
What a great group of nouns! Yesterday was the Rt66 Fiber Rendevous in Edmond and I fought my way through rain and road construction and it was every bit worth it.

While I have great friends locally, only a couple are fiber folks. So getting to be surrounded by them is all wonderful. Some of them I see a couple of times a year so there are lots of "How you been? What are you working on?" etc. And there was fiber and yarn and looms and spindles and all sorts of good things.

There was also a potluck but due to some apparent misunderstandings, there didn't seem to be enough food for all that were there. So Katya and I went across the street to a Pita shop (whose name I don't remember) and I had the BEST sandwich I've had in a long time. I need to find an excuse to go to Edmond again :)

And, yes, I spent money. I took cash in my pocket so I was controlled but when I left, I had $2.25 cents left. That would have been gone also but I couldn't find anything for sale at that price. Dang!

I bought yarn and fiber. I'm gonna spin well if it's the last thing I do. Here's the goods.



The green and orange skeins just hopped into my bag as I walked by the table they were on. And I certainly didn't want to be labeled a thief. So I happily paid for them and sure...I need green and orangey yarn. All the rest of the yarn was in a big box. Someone was destashing sock yarn. Be still my heart. The big skein of brown tweed (which is much prettier in real life) was $10 for 400+ yarns and the others were $3!! The brown..which looks really drab in the photo is a really soft tweed sock yarn. I could only find one of the rainbow skeins and it certainly isn't enough for a pair of socks but it was a lovely antidote to a very gray day. The big ball of roving is Ramboulliet and the little one is Ramboulliet and angora. And I know the R's owner so it's kinda like spinning with a friend. It spins like butter on my spindle. Well sometimes rather lumpy butter but you get the idea.

Today has been about catching up with laundry etc, and playing with the new stuff. Oh and soaking in the tub with some really yummy bath salts my girl sent me. She seems to have a real talent for making this and I told her that since I got some for Christmas and some for Mother's Day, she has inadvertently started a tradition. And I'm all about traditions. And, for me, it's a special day. The kitties and the dog have been unusually attentive and who doesn't like a fur/dog hair snuggle?

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