Summertime, baseball, and a great new Tiny Tote! Whether you are a fan of the Baltimore team or the backyard bird, here’s a great new bag. Just big enough for lunch or a small project–makes a great summer purse or easy beach add on. Approx. 7″ x 9″ x 4′
$45
As always, other teams, colors, and patterns available.
So, what I know about football would probably fit inside our new Raven’s Tiny Tote. Still, it’s perfect for game snacks (or a beverage or two), a small project to take to the stadium, a sporty purse…or just showing your team colors–and the Raven’s do have great colors!
Add the self-striping worsted weight yarn in Raven’s and a pair of needles and make it a kit!
–Don’t worry O’s fans, you’re next!
(All other teams by request–we also do college and high school–all sizes!)
Need a little project? Or a big one? Know someone just learning to knit? How about the ultimate gift for the gifted knitter? Our new package has it all:
A mini-tote project bag, quilted shell, fully lined, 2-6 pockets for needles and notions, embroidered. 7.5″ x 6″ x 4″
A skein of Studio E Backyard Boys yarn: this one is 80 yds. worsted weight in Nancy’s Long-Ass Winter Shetland colorway. Alpaca, shetland, mohair, and custom blends available, dyed or natural. Prices vary by fiber and length.
A pair, or set of handcrafted birch needles, straight or circular,
…and for the beginner, a simple pattern for an ear/neck warmer.
The basic beginner’s kit is $95. Prices will vary for custom kits. Contact us today!
We are happy to announce our most recent endorsement–Artemis M., pictured above, has given us her paw of approval. Our bags are cat friendly, cat comfy, and totally cat-nap worthy!
For those unreasonable humans who want a bag exclusively for themselves, don’t forget our nifty cat beds!
–All necessary apologies to Eddie Rabbitt, but the blueberry bushes and I prefer a rainy day and today I’ve been getting my wish. Rainy days mean I don’t have to feel quite so guilty for not being outside building fences, or mowing lawns, or cutting firewood, or making that new hay shed. I can stay in and spin, sew, embroider…(notice that cleaning the house is not on that list?). The boys don’t seem to mind it either, since it means the pastures grow up almost as fast as they can eat them down.
Today I’m hard at work designing a new project–the ultimate in handcrafted knitter’s kits. This kit will feature a quilted, embroidered mini-tote with pockets for needles and notions, a skein of handspun yarn featuring the Boys of Studio E, a pair of handcrafted wooden knitting needles, and an original pattern for a hat, neckwarmer, or other one skein item. Pre-orders and custom orders welcome!
Well, clearly, not for everyone.
This year’s harvest was 32 pounds. Alpaca in pale fawn, dark brown, and white. Shetland in cafe au lait and gray. Mohair in a gray/white mix. Drop us a line if you are interested–we have or can prepare raw fleece, cleaned and skirted fleece, dyed fleece, roving, dyed roving, yarn (any weight or blend), and dyed yarn. Prices vary by type of fiber and work requested.
And though many of you have already seen this, I again present, Delli, the screaming alpaca:
A huge thank you, as always, to Kristen R. for her professional shearing and her great sense of humor!
With this bag, you don’t have to choose! This simple tote will satisfy both sides of your magical nature. Each lady has a hint of green, echoed by the bag’s interior. Silver sylvan leaves grace the sides and base, as well as the interior patch pockets. Quilted shell, fully lined. Two patch pockets inside, two end pockets outside (perfect for your cell phone!).
Available now!
$80
So. Norman. Remember Norman? Sometimes known as Norman the Nefarious Ninja, this is the little, innocent-looking, animal cracker-eating Shetland sheep who took me out earlier this month (pictured with his buddy Shuggah). He has, of course, been more than a little wary of me since the whole horn-grab-hypodermic-needle incident, but I figured I could win him over again in time for our date with the shearer on April 12th. So far? Not so much. Then, inspiration! I was already planning on creating a series of moveable pens this spring and summer. Each would be about 30′ x30′. I’d move the boys from one to the next around the unfenced portion of the pasture in order to give my regular pastures a break. They’ve been a bit overgrazed in recent years and could use a good lime, seed, and leave. Since it was Spring Break week, I’d start early, give the guys some fresh new grass, and get Norman into a pen small enough for easy capture. Uh-huh.
Sheep, despite their reputation, are not stupid. Especially Norman.
Once I’d built the new pen and opened it up, I fully expected the whole gang to rush in and gorge themselves on the new grass. Again–not so much. Turns out, they didn’t really care about the new grass, and Norman knew perfectly well that this was all part of some underhanded plan to touch him and he wasn’t having any, thank you.
I put in some grain. Response? Meh.
More grain, hay, water! Meh.
Fine. I left, figuring to keep an eye out from the house, then go up and close them in once they’d started munching. Only, every time I walked into the pasture, Norman ran out of the pen, before I’d gotten within 50 yards. Then, another inspiration! I grabbed a handful of old lengths of bailing twine from the winter’s hay supply (there is a reason Yankees never throw anything away), and tied fifteen or so of them into a rope, one end tied to the gate into the new pen. In the end, I had to sit some 100 feet away for 45 minutes or so before Norman decided it was safe to enter the new pen, then YOINK! Got ‘im!
He’s a bit upset about having been bested by a mere human, and is clearly plotting his next move between mouthfuls of grass and headbutts with Shuggah. We shall see what shearing day brings–stay tuned!
Spring break, Spring weather….wheeeeeeee! Time to sew–especially since, knock wood, I seem to be fairly intact and pain free this week. This gorgeous peacock design and fabric will come together in a new simple tote. I’m playing with the idea of a zip top–what do you think? I’ll also use the fabric for a knitter’s duffle, in between liming and seeding the pastures, and trying to nice up to Norman again–shearing time is coming fast.
Be sure to get in your order for a new knitting bag in time for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show–I’ll see you there!
I’ve been off the radar for a few weeks–sorry about that. I began a studio refit I thought would take a couple of days. As usual, I seriously underestimated both the amount of work, and my endurance. It took three weeks–but I LOVE it! I now have that ‘clean, well-lighted place’ Hemingway said we all need to ward off the existential blues (or just a cool studio with plenty of space, storage, and lighting–mostly storage!). I find myself just wandering into the room at different times of day–no real purpose, just checking that it’s still there the way I left it, since, part two of the story, I can’t actually sew right now. What had happened was…
Rather than admit to the failings of encroaching age, I’m going to blame it all on the sheep. It went something like this: Capn’ Jack Sparrow, my pale fawn alpaca, was off his feed. When he began to look a little unsteady, I called in the vet. As I had suspected, so did the vet–early stages of a meningeal worm infection. These parasites cause damage to the nervous system and can be deadly, however, it looked as though we had caught it in time (we had–he’s ok). I began the series of injections that would halt the worm’s progress. As a precaution, all of the other animals were treated with a preventative. Except Norman.
Looks like such a sweetie, doesn’t he? He loves his animal crackers–people? Not so much. It took two weeks to nice him to the point where I could try for a grab. As soon as I had hold of that horn, I found myself attached to a sixty pound jumping bean. I ended up in the dirt, mostly on my back, but still hanging on. In the end he got his shot, and I got to walk with a cane for 4 days. Walking is, I am happy to report, a thing I can again do unassisted. Sitting isn’t too bad, but getting up is still a bit of a challenge. Reaching out over a mat to cut strips of cloth? Nope. Maybe next week?
Meanwhile–more spinning! Current project? This gorgeous Merino/silk blend from Mountain View Farm.
