I am suddenly having the weird urge to knit Christmas stuff. Stockings, ornaments, a tree skirt... this has never happened to me before.
But it must be time to pull out my Handknit Holidays and see what I can do.
28 July 2008
19 July 2008
SHEEP!
I have been knitting up a storm. I just haven't been blogging much. But today I went on a Farm and Fiber Tour in central Vermont. I bought a CSA share in a farm there, and got a box of chocolate-brown wool (already spun, worsted weight) and other homemade Vermont goodies... and then Husband and I got to visit my farm!
So here I am on the farm. I am about certain that the sheep from whom my yarn was made is that brown one just over my left shoulder in this photo. She matches the pictures that the farm gave me with my yarn (and the owner told me so). Belle's wool was blended with another sheep's (Azalea -- not pictured, she was sold two weeks before), but it's mostly hers. Lucky lucky Husband gets a sweater or something made out of this yarn.
We also visited two other farms. One had Shetland Sheep (the sheep above are Romneys), which are smaller and have different faces. The Shetlands were less comfortable being around people, and we had to use a grain mixture to entice them to come anywhere near us. The whole flock except for three very brave sheep ran away when we entered the pasture. Only two would get close enough for me to feed them.
The other farm was also a woolworks, and by the time we got there the sheep had packed off and gone to a completely different part of the farm -- they were done with the humans. So we toured the woolworks for a while, which was fascinating. The owner washes, cards, and felts or bats wool for lots of local farmers; she has a neighbor who dyes and spins the wool, or she sends it to other spinneries like Green Mountain to be processed into yarn.
All in all, a great day. And I am psyched to start working with this yummy yarn. Mmmm, chocolate sweater-y goodness...
So here I am on the farm. I am about certain that the sheep from whom my yarn was made is that brown one just over my left shoulder in this photo. She matches the pictures that the farm gave me with my yarn (and the owner told me so). Belle's wool was blended with another sheep's (Azalea -- not pictured, she was sold two weeks before), but it's mostly hers. Lucky lucky Husband gets a sweater or something made out of this yarn.
We also visited two other farms. One had Shetland Sheep (the sheep above are Romneys), which are smaller and have different faces. The Shetlands were less comfortable being around people, and we had to use a grain mixture to entice them to come anywhere near us. The whole flock except for three very brave sheep ran away when we entered the pasture. Only two would get close enough for me to feed them.
The other farm was also a woolworks, and by the time we got there the sheep had packed off and gone to a completely different part of the farm -- they were done with the humans. So we toured the woolworks for a while, which was fascinating. The owner washes, cards, and felts or bats wool for lots of local farmers; she has a neighbor who dyes and spins the wool, or she sends it to other spinneries like Green Mountain to be processed into yarn.
All in all, a great day. And I am psyched to start working with this yummy yarn. Mmmm, chocolate sweater-y goodness...
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