Pocket Meadow Farm Fiber Arts

batts!

2009-10-06T22:35:00.005-05:00

This batt is representative of what I'm playing with now in handspun. The dark brown is from our little wether Blackberry. I'm adding touches of dyed Leicester Longwool from our girls and dyed cultivated silk.

spinning

2009-10-06T22:27:00.005-05:00

I'm making my way through this massive bag of bluefaced leicester roving. It's two pounds — doesn't sound like much, does it? That translates to days and days of spinning though, for a 2-ply yarn. I have 8 skeins done, with probably another 4 to go. The Apple Butter Festival is coming up this weekend, and I want to get as much handspun ready for that as possible.

new in store

2009-10-01T15:44:00.005-05:00

I'm really liking this new pattern from Louet. It's got flattering, simple shaping, and it looks easy to knit — mostly stockinette, with that nice horseshoe lace band. It's designed for one of my alltime favorite lace yarns, Kidlin, which consists of a strand each of laceweight mohair and linen. The linen gives body and stitch definition, and the mohair does the fuzz part. Nothing else like it on the market!

Kit — (small/med, 40/44") $75, (large, 48") $89, (xlarge, 52") $103. Some colors may be special order, so call first!

we're OPEN!

2009-09-04T14:49:00.003-05:00

Yay! Finally!!

the knitted rainbow

2009-09-04T14:23:00.005-05:00

Mini Mochi is a new yarn from Crystal Palace that we just love. It's a sock weight single-ply wool and nylon blend. This scarf took one ball; we're kitting it up for a longer version. Shown, 6" x 42".

moving progress

2009-08-23T19:12:00.004-05:00

Moving the shop is a huge, exhausting endeavor. These cubes are heavy. Thanks to some great friends (and their kids), it's proceeding quite nicely.

I'll miss being able to look out and see the sheep grazing while I'm working, but you can't beat the commute — two and a half miles from home.

summer lilies

2009-08-23T19:11:00.004-05:00

movin' on up!

2009-08-08T09:30:00.002-05:00

Pocket Meadow Farm is getting a new home! A small but wonderful retail space has become available in town, and we will be open for business there September 1st.

antisocial networking

2009-08-05T17:03:00.005-05:00

Don't you think it's getting insane? I got an email today from a professional organization I've worked with. They proudly state that I can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Linkedin and that they have blogs for every department in their organization.

As a small business person, I know I have to draw the line about "networking" activities somewhere, or I'll be sitting in front of a screen 20 hours a day. I can spend hours and days just on Ravelry, the knitting database/network site. Just reading and answering email has turned into a 2 hour block of time every day. Very little time is left each day for actually doing my life's work. Like television or other socially acceptable drug forms, it just adds up to a huge productivity-buster in my book, and the insidious thing is that it's so easy to justify it.

I'm stepping back for a bit...

When did we stop doing what we do and now just network about what we used to do?

hummers, the good kind

2009-07-11T13:34:00.002-05:00

I think I'll keep him

2009-07-04T10:25:00.002-05:00

getting the news

2009-07-04T10:15:00.005-05:00

Living in a rural area, newspapers are sometimes hard to come by. A friend recently turned me on to Newspaper Direct, an amazing service that provides over one thousand papers from around the world electronically — on their date of publication. Now every morning I can sit down with the Washington Post for an hour and keep in touch with "reality". A random sample...

relic

2009-07-04T10:13:00.001-05:00

July coupon!

2009-07-02T14:02:00.004-05:00

Due to technical difficulties, the coupon isn't working on the website, so here it is. Click on the image to enlarge, then right click to save, then print.

summer sale

2009-07-01T17:12:00.005-05:00

Sale flyer for the one week summer yarn sale at Pocket Meadow Farm!

monetize?

2009-06-30T09:31:00.004-05:00

That really isn't a word, you know. Its something google came up with, and I've caved in to. Maybe a few clicks will buy me a bag of dried beans at some point, and that's a good thing.

You gotta like this though — how many blogs are going to come up with the keyword combination to generate these listings?

New weaving project!

2009-06-28T19:25:00.009-05:00

Just got this on the loom — it's Louet's Cottolin, a 60% cotton, 40% linen weaving yarn. I sell it in the shop, and it's on sale now. This is my first project using it. The sale is to celebrate the launch of Weavolution, the social networking site for weavers.

I'm playing around with randomly varying a few individual strands of the blue-greens in the warp. It might be nice to throw in some warm reds and oranges; I'm still debating it. Opinions?

The NEW New Deal

2009-06-28T16:59:00.006-05:00

Growing up as an artist in Washington DC, I had great appreciation for the wealth of public artwork in town, but little more than a basic understanding of how it came to be created. Given our current disastrous economy and my fears — as part of the arts community — about my part in it, I've been reading up on the Great Depression. Some of the approaches to tackle the joblessness back then seem relevant right now.

I'm talking about the New Deal, the WPA, and the CCC. Not only did the WPA create jobs for thousands of artists, artisans and craftsmen (as well as the general population), it left a legacy of public art that is a fascinating look into the social values of the time.

Wikipedia has a great overview on the WPA. It got me thinking...

Maybe it's time to revisit this idea.

new in the shop

2009-06-25T15:47:00.001-05:00

Pagewood Farms sock yarn. These + lots more colors!

the seven farm essentials

2009-06-03T18:01:00.032-05:00

Continuing on the "essentials" theme...

Aside from good infrastructure such as high tensile woven wire fencing, a reliable source of water, a decent pasture and a good hay farmer nearby, there are seven farm essentials I absolutely can not live without —

1. Muck boots. Worn every single day of the year. A good pair will last forever.

2. Hog panels. Just about the most useful dang thing on the planet.

I have used them for displays, keeping goats out of the new apple trees

a sheep fold, gates, pens, a five-bay composting bin and temporary fencing.

3. Pallets. If you don't store your hay off the ground, you'll be wasting a lot to mice and mold. Good for stacking firewood in the winter. Good for firewood when they start breaking up. I don't lust after $400 Italian shoes (actually, these are three times that much).

Well, okay, those are kinda cool.

I lust after 40 new solid-top hardwood pallets.

4. T-posts and a post pounder. It's pretty hard to get a 6 foot fence post through clay and shale unless you have one of these.

5. A rooster. Ornamental, protective and loyal to his girls.

"How about me? Am I essential to you, mom?"

Hmmm.

Moving along...

6. Muck buckets. The more the merrier.

7. A couple of goats. Anyone with even a quarter acre of yard could use a goat or two to trim weeds and poison ivy. The nicely distributed fertilizer is an added bonus.

8. How could I forget? the best thing to have on a farm is a couple of good friends to help out when you can't manage to do it all.

essential essentials

2009-06-03T16:13:00.006-05:00

I've been making small batches of soap for a couple of years, and they are starting to sell well at the farmer's market and in the shop, so I had nearly depleted my stock of essential oils this month. My new order just came in today and opening that box was like a kid's Christmas. Lemongrass and lavender; ylang ylang, orange and star anise; Siberian fir needle and rosemary — these are a few of the scent blends I do. These are all true botanical essential oils and are a bit pricey (the oils shown here were about $300 including shipping) — but worth it when you experience the finished product. Synthetic "fragrance oils" can not compare.

I also got some good emollient oils — avocado, hemp seed, castor and aloe. One of the additives that I use on a regular basis is beeswax. This adds a silky feel and longevity to the soap. New blends for the summer are grapefruit with lime and cornmeal as a kitchen bar, and lemon with basil and pumice as a gardener's soap.

Essential oils are not used in commercial soaps (like you'd find in a grocery store) but you will find them in artisan soaps everywhere (check the label). Next time you go to a farmer's market, organic food store or bath shop, treat yourself to a hand made soap — you'll be supporting a craftsman and enhancing your everyday life.

Spin-in-Knit-in

2009-05-27T11:10:00.003-05:00

From fiber to fabric in record time...hand teasing longwool locks, spinning, and knitting from the bobbin.

This is the start of the mitered square shawl that will be donated to the Morgan County Arts Council in November. Thanks for everyone who attended and participated in our Sorta-Sheep-to-Shawl event!

pretty spectacular!

2009-05-22T20:22:00.002-05:00

Isn't this gorgeous? Its spun by Andrea, from my dyed fleece. I am so excited to see this kind of stuff being done with the wool produced by my flock.

I got distracted today

2009-05-20T19:12:00.008-05:00

I've been seeing this cat hanging around the last couple of days, been hearing mysterious little squeaks and mews...this is why, I guess. I gave mom a good meal to get her used to people (part of the evil plan to one day nab her and take her to the vet for the Big Op).

I found another one later, and they all have no tails, just like the mom. It's a Morgan County feral cat thing, just a huge genetic pool of tailless cats with this coloring.

I am NOT taking these cats in. No. No. and NO. We have six already. But my backyard is pretty idyllic for wild cats to live in, and there is plenty of shelter for the winter with the derelict animal houses, so as long as I can capture them at some point for neutering, it's all good. They'll be on their own mostly, with occasional meals from the Big House, and I'll put out water, but I'm really maxed out on being able to feed the existing crew right now — with lambs on the way in a couple of weeks!

Berkeley Springs Studio Tour + Knit-In and Spin-In

2009-05-20T08:38:00.004-05:00

The Studio Tour is coming at this Memorial Day weekend. We are planning a special event here — a "modified" sheep-to-shawl demo (modified because the sheep were sheared a month ago! and because everybody is invited to help).

We are inviting your participation! I'll show you how to prepare and spin from longwool locks, so bring your drop spindle, wheel, and knitting needles (size 5 or 6). Our spinning teams will handspin the dyed longwool locks, and the knitters will create small squares (any size) which will be pieced together for the shawl.

The finished shawl will be donated to the Morgan County Art and Elegance fundraiser in November.

Please note that individual instruction in spinning or knitting for beginners will not be possible during the event (there's only one of me!), so some basic skills will be needed to participate, although everyone can help with fiber prep!

The artwork shown above was a group project to showcase the artists on the tour. My square is the felted green leaves on the top row.

Date and time: May 23, 24, and 25, 11 to 5. I hope to see you here!