hand dyed alpaca

I'm introducing a new line of handdyed laceweight yarns this month. The fibers range from 100% baby alpaca to merino/silk/cashmere blends. Here is one new colorway still in the dyepot.

red hots!

This is a wonderful new blend of roving from Louet, 80/20 bluefaced leicester wool/silk. I dyed it with Country Classic dyes, and spun up this single ply. Two skeins are available, with 195 and 160 yards. It has a great sheen.

happy fat chunky singles!

It could be the name of a dating service, but it's not!

and now for something completely different

Chunky single ply yarn! Okay, maybe not that different. I finally figured out how to do these, using the plying flyer and bobbins of my Lendrum wheel. MUCH easier!

forest laceweight

550 yards of 2- ply laceweight! This is 100 grams of Louet organic merino.

I plied a total of one thousand yards of laceweight yarn yesterday, a new record. The roving it's made from is shown in an earlier post, called Scarab Beetle and Scouting.

dye study

These color cards are part of a dye and fiber study I'm working on. The different yarns and fibers dye with subtle variations, so it's good to know before you start mixing colors. I have over sixty dyes, so this is going to take awhile to complete, but will be invaluable to creating reproducible, consistent colorways.

handspun

This is my current spinning project. Eight utterly luscious ounces of bluefaced leicester wool that I recently dyed in one of the Pocket Meadow Farm signature colorways, Lavender Sea. The first batch, already spun up, is slightly darker, and it will be plied with this when I'm done.


This merino/silk blend is a departure from what I'm usually doing, and I can't wait to get started on it.

new mini mochi

Aren't these wonderful? We have all of these new colors plus lots of others of this great yarn. Nice for knitting, and especially great for crochet.

back to knitting

I've been working on a new pattern for a wearable spring scarf; the pattern (free) and kits will be available soon! This is Plymouth Royal Bamboo, a silky, luscious bamboo yarn with an incredible sheen and drape. Overall length is 44"; it stays in place all day with a simple overhand half-knot.

single ply yarn - continued explorations

First up, Mini Mochi in Neptune. I wish a photo could capture the saturation of the colors and the softness of this yarn — it's a visual and tactile pleasure to work with.


The second scarf in progress is made with Noro Silk Garden Sock. I used an F hook to crochet this; it's about 40" long with one ball. Again, the colors are much more saturated in real life.


Lastly, Noro Kureyon Sock on an E hook. This one has a great, handspun texture. With about 100 yards more per ball than the Silk Garden, one ball will be sufficient to make a good size scarf.

continued explorations

Single ply yarn with crochet; this swatch is made with the leftover plying single from an earlier project. It's tightly spun, and was never meant to be used without the untwisting that comes from plying, but I had a few yards left over on the bobbin, and tried it out. The fiber content is merino and silk, and it's worked up with a great texture and beautiful hand.

With a yarn with this amount of twist, you need to crochet right off the bobbin, as it will turn into a tangled snarl in a skein. Not the easiest way to work, but the resulting fabric is fabulous.

revisiting crochet

Crochet has a bad rap. Who can forget all those "cast iron" crochet projects of the 70's? The problem, in my view, was the inappropriate choice of yarn and fiber.

When making a garment of crochet, the overriding concern is the "hand" of the fabric. Over the years I've found that I like the hand of fingering and sport weight single ply yarns best for crochet, particularly for garments. Hand refers to how the fabric drapes, how soft and flexible it is. The lighter weight yarns with slight thick/thin texture tend to produce the most interesting, pliable and soft fabric.

Fiber choice can also contribute to the success of the project, with natural fibers winning out over acrylic every time. You are not limited to wools though — blends using silk, bamboo, alpaca, tencel and rayon are excellent choices, as these fibers tend to drape well.

There are many wonderful yarns suitable for crochet. The scarf pictured is crocheted with Lanaloft, a sport weight wool single from Brown Sheep with a nice range of solids and handpaints (we currently stock the handpaints). With 145 yds per 50 gr ball, it takes only three balls (and three evenings!) to make a long, wrappable scarf, about 6" x 72". Total project cost: $21.50. Email me for the free pattern.

We'll have kits on the website this week with four yarn choices, including two from Noro, and the fabulous Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace.

the Great American Aran Afghan KAL

Please join us for the Pocket Meadow Farm 2010 GAAA knit-a-long, starting in February. The goal will be to complete one block a month. You can participate locally at the shop (knit-in dates to be announced), or remotely/vicariously if you are out of town for advice, company, support and showing off!

Worsted weight yarn, apx. 4000 yards. Recommendations: Louet Gems, Cascade 220, Patons Classic Merino, Plymouth Encore.

january sale at the shop

Please visit the shop this Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday for our annual yarn sale! Tons of great values, and prices up to 50% off on books, yarn, and more!

new work

Felted bags for a show at the Ice House. The main section is knitted (Cascade 220) and the flaps are handmade, dyed and overdyed felt. Resin buttons to complete the look (snap closure).


Clutch bags are apx six inches square, handbags are about 7 x 10 inches.

batts!

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.

Finished yarn —

spinning

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

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!

Yay! Finally!!

the knitted rainbow

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".