New Baby at Farmhouse Yarns

Farmhouse Yarns is a favorite around here (Andy's Merino, Lumpy Bumpy, Fannie's Fingering just to name a few). Beautifully hand dyed yarns, natural fibers from local American farmers--it's wonderful to imagine all those happy sheep while we're knitting or crocheting.

Carol, the owner of Farmhouse Yarns, sent an email announcing the surprise birth of one of her sheep. Since this blog has been dedicated to birth announcements of late, it seemed appropriate to share it with you.

The baby was 9-1/2 pounds and up and about. Both mother and baby are doing fine.

Makes you want to buy a sheep farm, doesn't it? Well, at the very least, think about this cutie the next time you're knitting Farmhouse Yarns.

Lenpur Linen

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I love spring. Well, not the allergies and fluctuating weather (really? sunshine and 70 degrees and tomorrow it's going to snow?! that hardly seems fair.) but I love the yarn!

The favorite spring yarn around here seems to be Rowan Lenpur Linen.

First of all, the colors:

All those greens!

I know what you're thinking. Linen is stiff and hard to work with. And what the heck is "lenpur" anyway? But I'm here to calm your fears. Lenpur is cultivated wood fiber (yes, it's a link for lenpur.net) and this yarn is soft and wonderful, even before washing. And at a DK gauge, it's perfect for spring sweaters.

Like this one. (And that's Summer Tweed underneath--another perennial favorite!)

The book has a few beautiful sweaters in it. Including the one on the cover. Did I mention that the stitch definition is fantastic? We've even got a few people making the Yosemite sweater out of it!

Personally, I like this sweater. Although I realize that it probably has more to do with the big chunky necklace and the pool. (If she was holding a puppy, or standing on the beach, I would be done for!)

Daylily

I've never been fond of novelty yarns. Maybe it's because I learned to knit at the peak of scarf mania at a wonderful yarn store, so I learned my derisive attitude along with my knit and purl stitches. I tend to like natural fibers and hand dyed colors.

So why the heck am I so in love with Daylily? [rav link]

It's a cotton/nylon/acrylic blend. It looks like a ribbon, but it's not. The colors are interesting, subtle but shimmering. Usually I'm lusting after the 100% cottons this time of year (I love spring and summer knitting--cotton is my jam!) But I find that everyday I'm at the shop, I end up bringing a ball of Daylily to sit next to me at the table so I can just look at it.


I'm not alone. Most other people have fallen for this sweater.



Carla was good enough to model it for us (since I always hate when sweaters are just shown on hangers--it always makes me think, "What's wrong with it that a human being doesn't want to try it on?" But worse is when baby sweaters are modeled by dolls. Gives me the hebejeebees!) and she was also kind enough to wear a dress that coordinated so nicely with the garment.

It's the Scoop Necked Cardigan from the Daylily book. A very versatile cardigan that takes 7 - 12 skeins.

But I'm not going to make it. I was thinking (dreaming, scheming) about a short-sleeved February Lady. [rav link] The perfect spring sweater.

Malabrigo!

The Malabrigo is here! And it is so delicious, you don't even need to knit with it to enjoy it. Mary Beth demonstrates how wrapping it around one's head makes a very fashionable turban.

Knit Misti for me...

Even after the sale, we still have a lot of Misti Alpaca yarns left, especially the Chunky
and the Hand paint Chunky.
One skein will make this scarf. It's a free pattern from the Misti Alpaca website.

Hand painted yarns can be pricey. But one skein? That's so easily justified!

What is it?

Is it the beginnings of a baby blanket?

A scarf knit at a gauge so tiny that only Liz would attempt it?

It's Flat Feet, our newest sock yarn from Conjoined Creations.

See? It's even living with the other sock yarn, so it must be true.

It's time for a Change...

It's a new year, we've got a new president...isn't it time for a new knitting bag?

We just got a shipment of Namaste bags. They will also be 15% off during our Super Bowl Sunday Sale. If they last that long.

Speaking of Hermione...

Schaefer names their colorways after important women. Look who we found in the company of Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks.

The yarn is beautiful, but we decided that it is a little too colorful for Hermione. We imagine her in something a bit more subtle and conservative. This color looks more like Luna, or even Ron. (See, Becca? I poke fun, but I'm no muggle!)

Colourscape!

Even with all the craziness of the holidays, I managed to finish a sweater. From casting on to seaming, the whole thing took me a week. Now before you try to throttle me with your own unfinished projects, let me just tell you that US 10. 5 needles and a beautiful variegated yarn go a long way. It's the new Kaffe Fassett yarn from Rowan, Colourscape Chunky.

Check out these colors--er, I mean colours! (I love blogging with a British accent. It's brilliant!)

It's delicious enough to eat. Maybe that's why I chose to knit the sweater out of Candy Pink.

The pattern is from the new Colourscape book. I made the smallest size and it only took three hanks. The sweater was knit in two pieces. The bottom was knit bottom to top and the sleeves and top were knitted side to side. Notice how it stripes differently. The great thing about the patterns in this book is that they take advantage of the colo(u)r changes in this yarn. I loved working with it so much, I'm already fantasizing about my next project. I think there might be an entrelac scarf in my future!

Lots of Sugar n Cream!

When I was working on Friday, a HUGE shipment of Sugar n Cream came in - something close to 200 balls in approximately 30 colors. Frugal fannies take note: the solids and ombres are only $2 per ball; stripes are a mere 50 cents more. That means you can buy 18 balls (like I did) for a little over $30. Browse the Mason Dixon books for inspiration!

Perdues in Paradise Alpaca Farm

Last Thursday was the annual shearing at Perdues in Paradise Alpaca Farm in Taylorsville, KY. Suzanne Steiger (www.steigerbeat.com), her three-year old daughter Paloma, and me were there!Paloma was apprehensive of the alpacas. She even hesitated when given a chance to nuzzle with a baby alpaca.
Paloma is crazy. Look at how fuzzy he is! (And his fiber is the softest and most expensive.)

But to her credit, the shearing was a bit intense. They tie the alpacas down when they shear them. The alpacas, being sensitive animals, are none too pleased and make groaning and bleating sounds.


But these guys totally know what they're doing. Every spring, they come all the way from New Zealand to shear animals all across the country.

And here's the finished product.

Animals:
Fiber:


Still, Paloma felt much better outside the barn, hanging out with the "alpaca dog" as she called him.


The Knit Nook will start carrying roving and yarn from Perdues in Paradise Alpaca Farm in a few weeks. Nothing like farm fresh fibers!