Savings in the stars...

The Lantern Moon Star Stitch Markers.  New at WEBS.com.

the Lantern Moon Star Stitch Markers, that is. The set is under $10 (budget friendly) and your knitting friend will thank you for such a colorful and functional addition to their knitting accessories.  Grab online at WEBS or visit your local yarn store.

Butter Hand Cream made by Amazing Grace Farms for KnitPicks.com is scrumptious!

Visit Holiday Knitting Central at KnitPicks if you need to create your holiday wishlist or shop for the knitters,spinners, new knitters in your life.  There's also a Stocking Stuffer tab for just that perfect knitting thing-a-ling....and to help you stay within your budget, click on Gifts By Price!  I really love the 4oz Butter Hand Cream for only $7.95 from Amazing Grace Farms to keep my hands smooth.

Shopping for a little treat for yourself and need a wallet friendly experience?  Try DBNY for great sales on store closeout items.

Keep it simple, knit with verve, and enjoy your holidays.


Margaret (actually feeling a bit jolly - hmmm, very interesting)

Fiberfantastic Family Fun...

The 38th Annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival
 West Friendship, MD Howard County Fairgrounds
Saturday May 7, 2011 - 9 am to 6 pm
Sunday May 8, 2011   -  9 am  to 5 pm

2210 Fairground Road
West friendship, Maryland 21794-9604

The work life has been seriously getting in my knitting way, lately, but I did want to remind you to mark your calendars for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD. Some of your favorite vendors are attending, along with sheep shearing, food, classes, and demos. Go early and stay late...there's plenty of parking for cars and buses and it's totally FREE!  Good, right?  Thought you might agree.  I've been going for several years, and it's one of my favorite fiber events.  Try to go early though, because it really gets crowded.You can download the festival flyer here.

This event is family and fiber friendly. They do ask that you leave the doggies and other pets home, however.


Visit the website for all the latest info.

Be bold and knit as if no one is watching...
Margaret

©MargaretNock, 2011. All rights reserved.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
buzzle.com


Felting - The Complete Guide

AlterKnits Felt: Imaginative Projects for Knitting & Felting


Start Spinning


The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes: Personalize Your Craft with Organic Colors from Acorns, Blackberries, Coffee, and Other Everyday Ingredients
Are you buzzing in the hive yet?  Here's you invitation for CreatingTheHive, the crafty place to bee.

Uncommonly upcycle...

It's Tuesday, sunny with just enough of a chill and I'm surfing the web for an upcycle project, while simultaneously putting my tax receipts in a slo-mo holding pattern.

Are you with me?  Check out the upcycle projects that await your attention.

Upcycled Knitting Envelope Tutorial from the fabulous Kala on her blog, Vegancraftastic.



Newspaper, Plastic Bags, Dog Hair...Upcycle Them into Yarn from CraftStylish member, Matt Embrey.



Upcycled Crochet Washcloth, as seen on Knitting Daily TV, Episode 611.  You will need to join or sign in (it's free) to the site to download patterns.

Sweater Potholders can be found at Uncommon Goods for those of you who would like to bypass project mode and go straight for the purchase to support the upcycle movement.  While you're there, take time to read the brief product story.

Are you starting to look at your old sweaters in a new way? 

Margaret (enjoying visions of upcycling and renewal - and a smidge of Spring cleaning)



Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls)



Pretty Little Potholders (Pretty Little Series)


Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book

Follow the thread and see where it leads you

Today we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to Fort Howard Park for the Defenders Day celebration and re-enactment.  It was nice to see so many families out with children visiting the encampment, and learning about the history of the area. 

Of course, my knitdar went off when I discovered girls in period costumes knitting, weaving, spinning and dyeing. Heavenly!  Here are a few pics I thought you might enjoy.

Good day! A lovely woman of the period spinning and educating the crowd gathered around.

Iron kettles were used to soak fiber, boil walnuts, acorns, tomato leaves and other items from nature to make dye.

 

Large wooden spoons were on hand to gently stir and move fiber.

Voila!

I hope you take some time to look back in history and honor the skills of your ancestors.  Our world is rich with color, history and textures.  Follow the thread and see where it leads you.

Marg (enjoying living on the blue planet)

Knit Knitavian Style:  Allow your knitting adventures to begin.

Cover Me Amazing Snood

© Margaret Nock, All rights reserved.

Vegetable Dyes: A Book of Recipes and Information Useful to the Dyer

Interview with Stephani Camp of Tomorrow Farm

It's interview time!  Gather 'round the knitting couch with your coffee, tea, or iced mochas and let's get started.  Stephani Camp was one of the first crafters I met on CreatingTheHive, the wildly popular, and new crafting community.  I really appreciated that she was part of a family run Alpaca farm, crafter, and someone who enjoys spinning and dyeing Alpaca fiber.  I was doubly excited when I visited her Etsy shop, TomorrowFarm and saw a wonderful array of items.  Click your needles together and wave your hooks to welcome Stephani Camp of Tomorrow Farm.

 

Q. Stephani, when I first visited your website I was immediately taken by the fact that you are a small family owned business and Alpaca farm. You also have quite an array of classes. How do you balance the business and family life since they are so intertwined?


A. We all play a part in the business. It just seems a natural extension of our family. The kids love helping with barn chores before they start their school work and often while they work on school work, my husband and I are right next to them working on spinning, knitting or other fiber projects for the farm. Somehow it just all seems to work together.


We have found that we work better without a set schedule. That’s not to say we don’t schedule in orthodontist appointments or farm visits. We just don’t let the schedule run our lives. The key to our balance is being flexible. Things happen, especially on a farm, that take precedence and our family understands that.

Q. I was thrilled to see that your Etsy shop, Tomorrow Farm, is filled with items a knitter or spinner delights in. How did you decide on the inventory, and did you go through trial and error, or did it all just come together easily?


A. I think I had the inventory set in my head before I ever opened the shop. I knew what I wanted to offer and had a great time putting it all together. The majority of our products are made right here on the farm. We raise our alpacas for their fiber and then turn that fiber into rovings, yarns and other finished products that people can wear and enjoy.

As a compliment to the things we make here, we added certified organic fiber dyes from Greener Shades and SpinOlution spinning wheels which are made right here in the USA. I love supporting other small family companies and try to work with them as much as possible.

 Q. The name, Tomorrow Farm, made me instantly feel that your lifestyle is very eco-friendly. A visitor to your web site can see the love and care in everything that you do with the business. Do you have eco-friendly knitting tips you’d like to share with us?


A. My biggest eco-friendly knitting tip is go natural and local. Reduce your yarn’s carbon foot-print. Natural fibers such as wool and alpaca are renewable resources and don’t require large amounts of energy to turn into something wonderful.


Get to know the farms and animals your yarn comes from. Knowing that the yarn you are using comes from happy animals and a chemical free environment, makes the project you are working on much more special.

Q. Excellent advice! Stephani, what is your favorite part of the business? Do you have favorite items in the shop?

A. My favorite part of this business is just the fact that it allows both my husband and I to be home and raise our family on the farm. This is our full-time job, but how many people can share what they do with their kids every day? It’s so much fun watching our kids interact with the animals and just recently one of them decided that they wanted to start their own little shop of knitted items. I love their creativity!

Now asking me if I have a favorite item in the shop is like asking me which one of my kids is my favorite. I do have a couple favorites though. I am in love with the SpinOlution Mach II spinning wheel. This is the wheel that I use most often and will always be the one I recommend to others.

My other favorite would probably be the alpaca yarns. They are so soft next to the skin and I love that I can name which animal on the farm they came from.
Q. We all crave our quiet time and have a certain place we go to charge our creativity. Where is yours?



A. My husband was nice enough to build me a fiber studio this past winter. I have a habit of hiding in there with the door shut and the music blaring when I need “me time”. The family knows that if the door is open they are welcome, but if the door is shut they better go find daddy.


Stephani, please share with us any upcoming events, sales, or new items you’d like us to know about.



New items to look for will be alpaca spinning batts. I have been dyeing fiber like crazy and making fun alpaca batts for spinning. These are fun, colorful and of course come straight from the animals here on the farm.

Also our very first knitting patterns will be released to the public sometime in the middle of September. They will be available as just the pattern or in a kit with the pattern and enough yarn to complete them.


Sounds exciting, Stephani, and I can’t wait to see the knitting patterns and kits.


Thank you so much for allowing us a glimpse into your creative and family life, and for taking time away to do this interview. You have definitely inspired us to be more green in our approach to knitting, flexible and creative. We look forward to watching you grow and create wonderful items for your shop.



You can also vist Stephani at TomorrowFarm on Facebook, Stephani Camp at CreatingTheHive, and the TomorrowFarm web site.

Support your local spinner...

Last week we had a chance to go to St. Mary's.  While we were visiting, we saw the Craft Guild of St. Mary's, a group of crafters and artisans from the area, who were there to spin, weave, and sell their crafts.  The Guild also has classes available.  Naturally, I was drawn to their tent and sale table.  I snagged a wonderful handpun wool by Tracey Pintell Quade, a member of the Craft Guild.  I came home with my prized handspun wool and created the ribbed scarf pictured above.  I added a strand of Patons SWS in Natural Earth to create some accenting colors to the already beautiful color of the wool.

Wherever you roam, I hope you find the knitty, crafty, and yarnie and support their efforts any way you can. 

Happy Tuesday!
Marg (enjoying historical Maryland)
The Legends of Sotterley

2010 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

It's hard to believe it's that time again.  The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is coming this weekend. 

The 37th Annual!!! Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival
Saturday May 1, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM and
Sunday 2, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 2010
at the Howard County Fairgrounds
2210 Fairground Road
West Friendship, MD 21794-9604


Schedule for 2010


This is a wonderful event for the whole family.  Come early and stay late, visit over 250 vendors, demos, and more.  There's everything for yarn lovers, knitters, spinners, crocheters and all things fiberfantastic.


Stop by the website for the full scoop.  Carpool with some of your friends - take the family along and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend.


Marg (wishing I had a yarn barn of my own)





Rowan Knitting Magazine 44


Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine Number 37