Tag Archives: Sage Yarn

Cape Cod March 2015

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I took my spinning fibers and yarns a couple days ago to Sage Yarn in Falmouth on Cape Cod. We lived in Falmouth for two years and I always love the chance to go back. It is only 45 minutes from here so it is easy to do.

The first year we lived in a big old sea captain’s home. I grew up on the Connecticut coast and used to hear the fog horn in the distance. The day we moved to Falmouth was rainy and I felt instantly at home because I could hear their soothing fog horn from my bedroom. The next year we lived in a tiny winter rental beach cottage. Size wise we went from one extreme to the other. Almost every evening we could sit in our living room and looked at the most spectacular sunsets over Old Silver Beach.

Cape Sunset

Cape Sunset

Below is the beach as I saw it on this visit. Still spectacular. The white isn’t foam, but chunks and chunks of ice.

Old Silver Beach

Old Silver Beach

I loved living on the Cape and especially loved the off season. The natural beauty was still there and somehow it seemed more like real life then. The nuts and bolts of it.

One of the great things about my time in Falmouth was getting to know Sage Yarn. It is a beautiful bright shop.  Here is the selection of handspun and hand dyed yarn and spinning fibers which are sold on consignment for those of us who love to make more than we know what to do with.

Sage Yarn

Sage Yarn

Well, this year I planned with determination to only buy part of a shared fleece because I have so much. I really tried to walk away from this roving she had but it called so loudly to me that it was impossible to leave it behind. Some of it literally clung to me- well, maybe the velcro on my coat- which I noticed later. It is a Romney/angora combination. 83% Romney and 17% angora. (How do they get the percentages to be so precise??) So unbelievably soft. It is from the Wind Ridge Farm in Ashburnham MA.

Romney Angora Fiber

Romney Angora Fiber

Romney and Angora

Romney and Angora

I looked forward to experimenting with it. I took some of the fibers apart to see what I was dealing with. The Romney is below the ruler and the angora above.  Romney is a sheep that can grow long locks, and angora is from a rabbit and has short fiber. Typically longer fibers like Romney are spun in a worsted fashion which pushes the air out and makes a sleek yarn and shows the fiber’s sheen. The Angora rabbit’s short fibers are spun with a woolen technique which keeps the air in and makes the yarn fuzzier.  Angora needs a lot of twist put in it to hold it together and Romney does not. These Romney fibers aren’t too much longer than the angora so the length differences shouldn’t be a problem. I was excited to experiment to see what techniques work for this blend of fibers.
After playing around today I ended up spinning it with my usual semi-worsted style. I found myself treadling three times as I moved my fingers back about 2 inches each time, and treadling twice to allow it to feed onto the bobbin. The band was on the second smallest whorl to give it a lot of twist but not a super tight twist. It is soft and strong and lovely. I may end up dyeing the skeins when they are made to get unique gradations of color since it contains so many variations of grays.

Romney Angora Yarn

Romney Angora Yarn

Another wonderful result from Falmouth was getting our cat from a fabulous shelter, People for Cats. She was semi feral and for months hid in terror from us under furniture. Things have changed.

Her favorite place

Her favorite place

I love to find new ways to use up leftover yarn and now I am having fun making this afghan.  It is kind of like a quilt in that I remember the items made with almost all of them. In it is my first experience dyeing with black walnuts. There is gray alpaca from Firestar who lives on the Cape. Lots of memories.

Afghan from Leftover Yarns

Afghan from Leftover Yarns

Okay, what I really should be working on is an Einstein coat I started when I lived in Falmouth. I did start it but made the first piece too big so started over again. I told Jen that some day when I am very old I will come walking in with my cane and proudly announce that I have finally finished it!

So much fiber so many ideas so little time.

Spring Cleaning in the Midst of Snow

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Who wouldn’t wake up in the morning and think of spring cleaning after looking out her door at this?

Snow on March 16, 2015

Snow on March 16, 2015

Believe it or not it is starting to melt. Yesterday about another half inch of snow fell around here. I hear people saying that since we have had so much snow this winter they hope we get a little more so we can beat the past highest snowfall record. Snow began to fall yesterday as we were exploring the Mattapoisett/Marion MA towns which are on Buzzards Bay. It started as we came across this 40 foot tall seahorse.

 

Sea Horse Mattapoisett MA

40 foot tall seahorse in Mattapoisett MA

I love roadside attractions, the hokier the better!

But despite the snow my mind knows it is the middle of March and wants me to spring clean anyway. As usual I have made a much too long to do list for the day- vacuum the car, tidy up not only the hen house but also around it, and more fun, go order some quartz countertops to replace the laminate chipped ones. But of course there are fiber tasks too and I never mind doing them:

1) Continue weeding out fiber files. I have a file cabinet drawer full of fiber information and have been trying to be strict with myself and recycle the items I can find on the internet. I like the feeling that only the most crucial remain and will be used, and won’t just sit there blended in with unnecessary paper clutter. Since I love to weigh fiber so I know what I have, I decided to weigh the papers I am getting rid of and so far have weeded out 8.5 pounds of paper including the file folders. I’m not done yet!

2) Get these fibers ready to take to Sage Yarn in Falmouth MA.

Yarn, Batts, Rolags and Locks

Yarn, Batts, Rolags and Locks

We lived there for two years and now are 45 minutes away so can visit easily. Jen still sells my items there. It is a beautiful store and well worth the visit!
Which brings me to my Gulf Coast sheep of the month activities. Last week I had pictures of the fleece of Henna the sheep both natural color and dyed. Here is Henna on combs:

combing Gulf Coast dyed

Very sharp dangerous looking things, and indeed there is a story that a bishop named Blaise in Armenia in 316 performed miracles and was attacked with wool combs and then beheaded because he would not renounce his faith. He was made a saint, Saint Blaise. What a horrible way to get sainthood!

Here is Henna combed.

Combed Gulf Coast

Here is the rest of  fiber after combing.  It is called “waste” because it is not good spinning material. The fibers combed out are very short and any vegetation in the original fiber has come out here. I don’t like to waste anything anywhere so I save it for stuffing the pillows I weave, felt for cat toys, and more.

stuffing from Henna March 2015 (1)
I will blend Henna with something not yet decided and make a lovely one ounce batt.

Here is my last Gulf Coast fiber, a washed pound of Fernando. I have used parts of his fiber for other things and now plan to put the rest through the picker when it visits at the end of the month. Wool combs look benign compared to the picker. You will see!

Fernando

Fernando

I don’t remember how much I had initially. If I did it wouldn’t sound like much compared to a whole fleece which before washed can weigh 3 to 8 pounds and much more. My spinning friends and I  buy fleeces together at fiber festivals and then split them up. Choosing together and sharing are fun. It gets each of us more variety of fiber, and relieves some guilt over buying more which we don’t need but can’t live without.

So, off to spring clean. Who cares if it still looks like winter? It feels right and that is what counts. I will also day dream of gardens lying under the snow. In Mid-January when we had no snow my friend Sandy and I started to plan co-operative gardening. We now live an hour apart so it won’t be a shared plot but we will help each other with the spring tasks of getting them up and running. I got my Fedco seed catalogue and started a list, and then the snow began. I’ll put reading it today on my to do list!