Monday, February 1, 2010

Finally...the Fiber



Well, if you are from the Boston area you might say fib-ah! Which ever way you say it, there is a lot of fibery goodness to be had in the Northeast and I have just scratched the tip of what's available to New Englanders. My shop of choice when in Beverly, MA is Yarns in the Farms and every bit of my purchases came from there this time.

My mother fell in love with the sweater I am making my Dad, so add a third sweater to knit from that pattern, this time in a Briggs & Little yarn, Atlantic in Sea foam.

I had never seen this yarn before but I'm sold, it's lovely stuff in beautiful colors.

Next up is a sweaters worth of yarn for myself.

The dark plum and green yarns are Dream in Color Classy colors Gothic Rose and Spring Tickle respectively. The variegated yarns are both Araucania Hand dyed Toconao Multy in colors 414 and 410
and it's all to make Tink's Racing Stripe Sweater.

The two smaller skeins of natural and cocoa brown are Bijou Basin Ranch's Bijou Spun
Yak down and cormo wool ( 50/50) in a dk or sport weight. This is petting yarn right now.

The lovely array of LeClerc stick shuttles were a gift from Sue.


I was thrilled. I did try to share them with my Dad, but he has plenty already. I didn't have a single one of this type so it was a delightful and useful addition to my weaving room. Thank you Sue.

I didn't buy any yarn for weaving, I have so much right now and knew a largish order for 5/2 perle cotton was making it's way cross country from WEBS for when I got back.

On farm news, it's pretty quiet although it seems we have a new visitor to the barn. A grey tiger striped cat much like Juno. I just caught her this morning and while cautious, she went and hid right around the corner of the barn as compared to taking full flight. Why have I dubbed her a she, well, if it was a tom, I'd be able to smell him easily, so either this cat has been neutered or it's a female.

The horses all look well and are happy the treat train has arrived home although they are not enjoying the heavy duty mud we've had. Goats all good. Morning feeding is a bit quieter without Angel. She and Smoochie use to enjoy running the dog fence line together as I brought the tractor up to the paddock. I could see them( and hear them) racing in the pen lights. Smoochie still wants to go out, but now looks for his pal in her crate, turns and then walks to the fence line and sits. Breaks my heart to see it and there is very little I can do. The pack is in flux, losing a member means everyone needs to reestablish an order of sorts. It is what it is and I am an outsider looking in.

And for those in the US, Happy Groundhog Day!

9 comments:

Julie said...

I have knitted socks out of the Briggs & Little yarn and it knits up so nice! And what a great color you have there.

Life Looms Large said...

I'm way behind in blog reading and commenting.....so I know you have other exciting posts for me to catch up on too.

So good to see the yarn and know the name of that store for sure! (I couldn't quite remember)

Love, love, love your Mom's sweater yarn! The racing stripe sweater pattern is cool. Will yours have a green front, plum back, and variegated sleeves?

Glad the stick shuttles made it to the west coast!! The weaver who gave them to me would be happy to know that her shuttles are fanning out among weavers!!

So sad to picture Smoochie waiting for his friend. We ended up getting Bailey because Kodi was so lost when our first Brittany died. He couldn't cope with being single dog. Hopefully your pack will shift around and feel whole again.

Still cold, still winter, but at least it's February now!

Sue

PS: That book you recommended looks great. It's on my reading list now!

Jennifer said...

Love the term - petting yarns - I understand that! Glad to see all sorts of projects in the works. I can only imagine how sad it must feel with Smoochie sitting alone at the fence. The beauty is that they are quite resilient creatures.

Tuesday Weavers said...

I wish we had "feel-a-vision" for that stack of yarn. It is lovely! Can't wait to see the finished project.
You and your pals all need a big ole hug...Angel is missed.

charlotte said...

What lovely yarn! I'm sure you'll produce a lot of warm, cosy nd beautiful knitwear!

Cindie said...

oooh, love your fiber finds from the east coast. those colors for the racing stripe sweater are beautiful!

Sharon said...

In a word - jealous.

Leigh said...

What wonderful souvenirs of your trip. That dark teal color is lovely. And the yarn colors for yourself will be so much fun to work with!

Theresa said...

Julie, This will be my first experience with this wool, hard to come by on the left coast I think.

Sue, the sweater back and front are exactly the same so, depending on mood, one can wear the plum or the green in the front.

Jennifer, everyone should have a petting yarn or two, plus the cashmere blend was getting grubby! ;-)

Tuesday Weavers, would feel-o-vision be WONDERFUL! I could make a case for taste-o-vision too with all the great goodies I saw on everyone's blogs before the holidays! Smoochie ( and everyone) has gotten a lot of hugs since I got back, but it seems a few new toys might be in order too. ;-)

Charlotte, I hope so, but you know I am slow as all get out knitting. Good thing I have patient receipients.

Cindie, I fell in love with that Araucania and had to find the others to go with it.

Sharon, you spin beautiful yarns yourself. I've drooled over many of them.

Hi Leigh! The photos don't show that Briggs & Little off to it's best, it's got some wonderful blue nubs and hues in it too. Great depth of color.
The striped sweater should be fun and the yarn is soft and springy.