Alright folks….thanks for being patient. It took a while but we are almost done unpacking and shelving our latest yarn shipment. Lots of new yarns and some old favorites. Plenty to choose from….over 3000 skeins!!!
Sorting, sorting and more sorting. Pricing. Re-loading the price gun…and re-loading again. Trying to shift inventory to make room on the shelves. Now you know why it took so long!
Come on everyone……vote that micro poll. We need some feedback.
Just in…Get Spun: The Step-by-Step Guide to Spinning Art Yarns
Want to learn how to spin the cool, funky art yarns found in knitting boutiques (at boutique prices) or on handspun websites in limited-edition amounts? Popular spinner Symeon North demonstrates how to spin unique and creative art yarns. Techniques are explained and photographed for clearer understanding.
Intended for the advanced beginner to intermediate spinner, this book includes some basic spinning fundamentals as well as more advanced techniques using non-traditional materials such as fabric, beads, cocoons and plastic. An overview of blending using a drum carder and home dyeing are also included.
Please follow this link and take our micro poll. Here is your chance to let us know what type classes interest you. If you don’t see it on the list, email it in. If you don’t want to follow the link to the micropoll site, you can take the poll on our home page.
Up for Consideration:
Choose TWO favorites when you take the poll. Possible classes are 4 hrs each, so two classes could be taken per day.
Think Outside the Sox
Showcasing more than 50 winning designs from Knitter’s international knitting contest, this collection features patterns from around the world—which include color work, cables, lace, Latvian braids, and toe-up and top-down designs. Photos and instructions included and designs are clearly rated for skill level. Socks designs range from fashionable to traditional to completely eclectic. Whether you make any of the socks shown or not, this book is lovely to look at and totally inspiring.
We have been getting ready for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival for a couple of months now. However, the intensity always picks up the closer you get. It always reminds me of that line from that Christmas song about making a list and checking it twice–at this point, our lists have lists. Lots of new colors in the NSSS (not so solid solids) this year. In fact they are more “not solid” than ever before.
We are leaving out on Wednesday, so the shop will be closed and the phones off. You can email but I won’t be able to answer questions until I get back. Drop by & say Hi if you make it to the festival.
Heard yesterday that Kent Ferguson had died. Kent was a fixture in the fiber community and at festivals around the East and Midwest. Known to many as the guy with the cowboy hat at Ohio Valley Natural Fiber (or just Ohio Valley for short), he and Ginny produced a lot of nice sliver and yarn for sheep, goat and alpaca breeders all over this country–us included. When we purchased the Eidman CVM flock, we also bought all the fleeces that were in storage. Kent turned those into some really nice 2 and 3ply yarn for us. Over the years there have been some key people in the fiber community that we knew could help with a problem or direct us toward an answer–if they didn’t have it already. Kent was one of those people. It will truly be strange this year at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival to look down the building and not see that straw cowboy hat moving through the crowd.
OVNF carries on and will be featured as one of Mike Rowe’s “Dirty Jobs”. Filmed last year, it ill be aired sometime in 2010. The Ferguson family has requested in lieu of flowers that donations be made to Doctors Without Borders in Kent’s name.
We will be closed Thursday, March25. Roofers are finally coming and we have to be at home. Sorry for the inconvenience but it has taken forever to get this scheduled….and we REALLY need the roof fixed.
Now available in the library, Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan.
Another nice book for anyone interested in dyeing their own custom yarns & fiber. Great pictures and interesting technique variations that are well suited to the home or hobby dyer. Definitely worth the look.
Saturday, February 20, 2010 is going to be Problem Solving Day at the shop. If you are having a particular spinning problem–fiber, wheel, technique or whatever–bring it with you and we will try to help resolve the issue. I will be available to custom fit stretchy drive bands for you and P will be on hand to handle spinning or string drive band issues. If you have antique wheel troubles, we will try to assist with those as well or at least try to point you to reasonable & knowledgeable repairmen.
Please feel free to call ahead & bring me up to speed on your situation. That way I can be sure to have the proper tools on hand and don’t run around looking like a chicken with my head ……on backwards!
Had a phone call the other day with a spinner having a take-up problem with her Schacht matchless wheel. It turned out to be something really simple and something that if you get in a hurray….well you may have the problem yourself. Here is a graphic from the Schacht website of the set-up for double-drive spinning.
Notice the direction the bobbin is placed on the shaft–large end towards the orifice.
Now here is a graphic of the set-up for scotch tension or flyer-lead spinning. Notice this time the large end of the bobbin is away from the orifice. One of the great features of the Schacht matchless wheel is that you can spin either double-drive or scotch tension as you prefer. However, if you accidentally get your bobbins in the wrong position it will affect the take-up during spinning…..causing you to sit and scratch your head because it was working on the other bobbin just fine. So, the next time you think you are having a mid-life moment…..check your bobbin.
