The 'Itty Bitty Gift Shop'

Today I added some of our Farm Raised/Spun items to the 'Itty Bitty Gift Shop' up at Panorama at the Peak. Boy say that 5 times fast!

Panorama is a restaurant I have the honor of working with up in Berkeley Springs WV - their goals as a restaurant align with mine as a producer - sustainability, respect for the environment and all life in general - so I'm always happy to help them out with their ideas and ventures!

Next time you are in Berkeley Springs, stop by and say 'hello' - sample the local fare, and check out our hats!

Special Etsy Announcement - My Shop is OPEN!

After hearing from everyone, "why aren't you on Etsy".....



Will be adding items as time permits!

Yarn - to mill or not?

I've been debating having some of my wool spun at the mill - I was able to handspin almost all my Black Welsh this year (minus one sold fleece), and four additional purchased fleeces - yet my 'stash' is still 4 boxes large! Considering all my wool I have hands on from start to finish, this is obviously going to be a huge leap of faith - or maybe just an exercise in 'can Andrea not micromanage'.

I've been 'collecting' samples from as many mills as I can get my hands on - and one of which is Zeilinger's. My friends at Rockbridge had their yarn blended with their Romney and it's a gorgeous menswear type color - I'm going to have a vest knitted up for my dh in this and some of my Black Welsh handspun.

I do have a bunch of this here on consignment -if you are interested in trying - it is a crisp worsted - 6 oz hanks, 220yards - $24.99 - Email me to order some and I can get you the correct shipping on it.

Hats!

So apparently, I'm not the last person on the face of the earth that doesn't know how to knit :-) My mom has been taking some of the Black Welsh and other yarns that I spin and knitting them into hats for market. And people love 'em! We will have them in the Local Harvest Store (along with Black Welsh Sheep pet toys!), and I'm offering a few styles for purchase, right here from the blog -

This is 'a rare breed's' child apple design - available in red or green, with or without worm! Hat is 100% Wool - Stem and Worms are created with wool right from the farm that I have spun. Sizes are:

• Infant (0-18 month)
• Toddler (18-3 yr)
• Child (3-7)

$25 each, shipping is only $2.50.

COLOR AND SIZE

RED - Infant (0-18m) RED - Toddler (18m-3y) RED - Child (3y-7y) GREEN - Infant (0-18m) GREEN - Toddler (18m-3y) GREEN - Child (3y-7y)

Worm?

Yes No

There is something incredibly satisfying about working with fleece from your own sheep. After shearing and washing, then carding, you get a good idea of what the fleece 'wants' and a lot of times the personality of the sheep plays in my mood when I spin.


Here is Sterling, in lace weight - actually over 18 Wraps Per Inch (hard to tell from this pic but that is pretty tiny!) This is 2-ply spun on one of my drop spindles - a Swan by Grafton Fibers. It turned out so well I am wrapping it up tomorrow to send out to the Fall Fiber Festival for the skein competitions.

Anyone have a good pattern for just over 100 yards of lace weight yarn??? This one will be hard to part with!

Andrea

More BLUE!

Isn't she BLUE-TIFUL???? We have two BFL ewes now - I have learned this wonderful pattern is called 'English Blue' - teardrops, and then they have a silver saddle which in the goat world I'd call a 'belt'!

More on these girls as time permits!

Andrea

A Rooster Stolen

Well, not really a rooster, but a portrait of one -

Here is the link to Kat's Blog entry about her painting -

http://artzkat.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/its-been-a-while/



Andrea