Wool Tour Goods

The Wool Tour was glorious. I only did three of the five stops but I managed to spend all of my allotted amount (and a tad over...) and I was exhausted by the end of it. We also added a few stops of our own, like German John's Bakery in Hillsboro (delicious homemade pretzels and pastries), a thrift store and an antique store. There was also an adventure into the bushes when my traveling companions asked me to climb into a ditch on the side of the road to cut some pretty red berries for them.


Our first Wool Tour stop was the actual first stop of the tour, The Wool Room in Antrim, NH. Then we went to Chauncey Farm in Antrim, and from there we went to Mirage Alpacas in Washington.




On the left, four skeins of Mirage's Merino from Mirage Alpacas, 100 gram skeins (120 yards), for a Narragansett Bay Scarf (Ravelry link). On the right, four skeins of Wool'n'Ewe single ply in Garnet from Ewe & I Farm in North Sutton (240 yards per skein), for a Clapotis. The woman who sold it to me told me that my money helps feed her sheep! I love hearing things like that. I also love knowing where my wool is coming from, and that I'm supporting local farmers and artisans.

I also managed to pick up three aprons (did you know that I collect aprons? I will show them all to you someday): the light green is from an antiques store, the brown with yellow rickrack is from a thrift store in Hillsboro, and the red and white is from Thyme and Ewe Farm in Claremont. I especially love supporting them because they rescue old, unwanted and abused farm animals and take care of them. Plus, they sell genuinely wonderful things, like handmade aprons and jam and hand-knit mittens.

This patchwork bag is also from Thyme and Ewe Farm. The plastic bag in the back is a rug hooking kit from Windfall Farm (you can see all of their designs and order from their website here). Because I don't have enough fiber hobbies ;) Those two skeins of yarn are Cormo wool from The Spinning Bunny in Antrim, to make a pair of Guernsey Socks.

Last, but certainly not least, my whole haul in the beautiful handmade basket from Ghana. This was from Pumpkin Moon Kids booth at The Wool Room, and it was only $27! I've seen them for much more at other places, and this one is also certified Fair Trade.


It definitely helped to have a list of projects this year, and I was careful about where I picked the projects from. Lisa Lloyd's book A Fine Fleece and Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Yarn were both excellent because they have more homespun-looking projects (and information about yarn). I also chose to make smaller projects so that I could get more projects out of my tight budget, as opposed to making a sweater (maybe next year!). I'm very excited to have lots of delicious local yarn to work with this fall and winter. Happy fall!

All is well

There is apple pie!




And a cat who loves my afghan so much he chews on it while kneading his paws and purring like a motorboat:

And it's the Wool Tour this weekend!

Secrets and Sheep

My swatch for the Secret of the Stole Knit-a-long. I finally managed to get the needles today (even though Pearl's was technically closed, she sold them to me anyway), I picked up my beads yesterday, my yarn is wound. I'm ready to rock and roll.




I promised I would show you what I bought from the Wool Tour this weekend. I was a little nervous, because I brought my mom, grandmother, and my mom's friend (who all appreciate the fiber arts but aren't necessarily obsessed), and I thought I would take too long and they wouldn't have a good time, but we had a blast. One stop is a farm, and they loved that place. We bought pumpkins and gourds, and my mom bought currant jelly (for this amazing jelly and mustard sauce for cocktail wieners, and currant jelly is ridiculously hard to find at the grocery store) and sheep earrings for me from this great place that houses animals nobody wants anymore. My mom also bought a t-shirt that says "Stitch more, bitch less" (she's a cross-stitcher). My mom is awesome.



The dark roving is a wool and llama mix from Riverslea Farm in Epping, NH. (Blogger is being weird and won't let me add the link, Google it and you'll find the site). They had some beautiful colorways as well, and I love that they display their balls of roving in hammocks.
I'm not sure where the lower two balls are from (it was from the Mirage Alpacas stop in Washington), but they are a blend of wool, llama, alpaca, and mohair. I wish I could remember the name, because her prices were excellent. I have the Wool Tour guide still so I can look it up later.




I apologize for the pictures being so dark but it was rainy yesterday and so there wasn't much natural light. Hopefully they will spin or felt up beautifully and I can take better pictures then.




The two balls are from Brimstone Hollow in Hancock, NH. They were at the Sheep and Wool Festival this year so I'm hoping they are there this spring as well. I cannot put into words how much I love their colorways, and their prices are also excellent. Also, this is from a sheep named "Zachariah" which I thought was funny because my brother's name is Zachary. The two braids of wool (how much do you love that?) are from the Dana Basket Co. and the colorway is called "Mossy Oak."


Believe it or not, I didn't buy any yarn. I'm trying to only buy yarn that I have a pattern for, and right now I'm pretty backed up on projects. So now I just have to varnish my spinning wheel and have my dad tune it up again so I can spin (like it's that easy).