Homespun Yarn Party + Update

I got in!!! I'm so thrilled that I was accepted to be a vendor of the Homespun Yarn Party in Savage, MD! I'll be posting details about the location and time, but the event is free and will be an exciting one-day smorgasbord of quality fiber from some of my favorite fellow fiber artists.

Instead of weekly updates, I'll have to cut back again to save up stock but I'll be offering an update tonight including 4 colorways of Classicbatts, 2 Battling batches, and fresh hand-dyed Merino wool tidbits.

I'm pretty tickled about these colorways, dark and rich and very sweet. I'm using a base of Polwarth (not organic) but it's blending up with other fibers like silk and soysilk beautifully. I've been reluctant to purchase large quantities of Polwarth since the last few bumps I had purchased several years ago were filled with gunk and sticky bits, but this bump was perfectly processed with nothing but creamy vanilla softness. I dyed it up as soon as it arrived on my porch, such a pleasure to work with and spin!

Another half year later..

As always, I'd rather be carding than blogging. This means I haven't blogged at all during the past six months, but I have logged in hundreds of very happy batt-making hours.

One of my main goals this year is to have 3-4 online updates each week. Instead of saving up my woolies for massive updates, I'd love to vary the times and offer smaller updates more frequently. We'll see how that goes! I'm down with a sinus infection at the moment, so last week's update just didn't materialize. I'm expecting to have enough battlings and batts to pop re-stock my Etsy shop on Sunday around 9pm EST. Here's a goodie from last week's sell-out:

2015 is going to be an exciting year in many other ways, not just in more frequent updates. Most importantly, I'm going to be vending and attending (for sure) THREE events this year, hopefully more.

Maryland Sheep & Wool:  May 2-3 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD.

Zombie Knitpocalypse: June 24-28 in Rochester, MN.

Into the Wool Fiber Retreat: September 3-6 in Crossville, TN.


I can't say which I'm more excited for because this will be my first year vending at retreats. It seems like a few relaxing days of knitting followed by a few vending hours might be the loveliest thing ever. EVER. Especially now that my son is 2 years old and a complete tornado. A break to knit and chat is exactly what I need. I'll also be applying for Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival and my application for the Homespun Yarn Party is in, so keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

On the knitting front, I'm participating in my very first Knit Along! It's Melissa Stajda // hey_lady_hey 's pattern named "Topography Kerchief" and I love the way it's knitting up with this stripey DK-weight handspun I spun just for this project. The knit-along is ongoing until February 16th, so join in and cast on, the project flies with DK weight yarn! To get the same look I'm getting, select three colors of fiber and spin long stripes of your main color and shorter (36" approximately) stripes of your colors to feature with the textured ridges. Chain ply it up, ta daa! This blend was created with organic Polwarth wool, black tussah silk, purple hand-dyed soysilk, thrum scraps, and silver holographic sparkle. I'm probably adding tassels to the ends and maybe the corners when this is finished.