Yesterday I picked up the last of the wool from Green Mountain Spinnery. If I were an experienced blogger I would have had my camera ready for this event. Instead I can only tell you about the trip. It is such a great drive. Heading out on rt 22 through Cambridge, NY and then to Bennington, VT. Unfortunately the moose are gone. On the trip to deliver the wool to the spinnery the moose were in abundance on the sidewalks of Bennington. My guess is that they were put away for winter, but it was disappointing. Then the drive takes me through Wilmington. I took a few minutes and stopped to browse. There is a gallery in an old church with the most amazing things. My favorite was the vegetable art; a variety vegetables that were sliced and dried into parchment. WOW!!

Today is the beginning of the dyeing marathon. I was able to dye warm colors with the gray that I had picked up in October. But now with the white I can get those bright colors. Today list includes the neon green, bright blue, yellow, pinks...any other ideas??



I was fortunate to have a driver yesterday. While riding I was working on a new hat. This is a pattern from Jared Flood. It is free on ravelry. I just love it. I didn't have any multiple colored skeins to use when I started this, so I used three different colors. By the end of today I will have those multiple colored skeins to use. Can't wait!! It fits so well, and it is any easy, fast knit. This would be a great hat for a man's gift.



Don't forget that knit nite is tonight, 6:30 to 9:30 pm. All are welcome!! (if your here you will be the first to see the new colors)

frosty morning

I thought about waiting for the sun to come up this morning for a picture, but the frosty pasture is so peaceful that I couldn't resist sending this to you. I love the look of contentment. They are happy sheep. So much to eat and nothing to do but eat and sleep. As the sun comes up they will begin to wake and wander around the pasture in search of that perfect piece of grass.
The sheep are grazing one of our hay fields now. There is still one hay field left before we will need to start feeding hay. Each weekend Tom works on moving a fence. He has to take one fence up and move it to the next hayfield. But every day that we go without feeding hay is a savings. This seasons rain made hay making very difficult. It also made for lots of pasture. This is the first time that I can remember in a long time that we have not been supplementing the pastures with hay in November.

The knit/spin in this week will be on Wednesday, 11am-3pm. I am looking forward to a big group this week.

indigo and onion skins

I seem to be in a natural dye mood. I purchased the indigo at Maryland this spring. The summer got away from me and all of a sudden I decided it had to be done before cold weather and snow set in. We did the first pot last Wednesday at the knit gathering. It was so amazing to see the oxidation. It was a first for many of us.

It has been busy around here and I didn't get back to it until today. If you know me you know that I am not about to throw out perfectly good dye, so I threw some sock yarn yarn into the pot. It seems I should have done the second pot right away. The yarn is blochey, I think because the dye pot sat around for nearly a week. Maybe not, any ideas?

The yellow yarn is from onion skins. For the longest time I could not seem to get a nice yellow with the lanacet dye that I normally use. This is what I had been looking for along.

Maybe some of you can help, what should I have done to exhast the rest of the dye?

Last night was the first knit nite!! We toasted the beginning of this new yarn shop adventure of mine.



Join us Wednesday 11am to 3 pm for the daytime gathering of knitters and spinners.

Tuesday Nov 3rd, 2009

It is election day! Of course the sheep aren't really worried about that but I am sure they will appreciate the removal of all of the pesky road side signs that have been blowing around. Weather is gray and cooling off but that does not reflect what is happening on the farm!!

I am embarking on a new venture with the remarkable fleeces that my sheep produce. I am currently scheduling knitting and spinning lessons for November and December at the farm in Northumberland.

Please look on the website http://www.fostersheepfarm.com/ for more details.