Going a Little Wild
While I was rooting around looking for the Kidsilk Haze for my mom's Waiting for Rain shawl, I happened across this:
There are a couple of stories here. I want to say that this yarn was dyed by the grandmother of all indie dyers, Cheryl Schaefer of Schaefer Yarns. She had a small operation, mighty but very manual, set up in the midst of her home and property within the Finger Lakes region of New York, where she would dye her yarns and sell them to wholesalers. From what I can tell, she retired in 2012 so this was already some time ago, long before the current (and wonderful) phase of indie dyers who are now all over the place doing all kinds of cool things.
I got to see her set-up, but it was long before I knew anything about dyeing - probably about 15 years ago. It was a small field trip that a local yarn store had put together - our fee included the van rental, a box lunch, a nice little tote bag with their store logo, and a tour of Schaefer Yarns. This yarn store closed a long time ago, but I remember them mostly because of this trip and also the enormous but friendly Great Pyrenees that hung out in the store, leaving his hair all over the floor and yarn.
It was a beautiful, warm day, and the trip was very enjoyable. There were yarns everywhere, drying in and around a barn. We were allowed to purchase yarns on site, but only through the yarn store (someone had a calculator and a portable credit card machine). I got this giant skein of yarn; the colorway is called Isadora Duncan, and it's from her Memorable Women collection. I might have planned to make a Clapotis with it; if my timeline is correct, they would have been all the rage at that time.
That didn't happen, but I think it's time this yarn became a colorful, squishy shawl - perhaps something like Brickless. I'm adding it to the current knitting queue, with no idea what that means to everything else going on, but I think it will be fun to work with.
Speaking of the queue -
By the time I'd gotten through the fun chevron part (including a few wee bobbles!), it was time to start the gusset. I don't make a lot of ankle socks, so this was a pleasant surprise indeed! (The stitch definition is terrible in this photo, and probably less than ideal in person, but I still like it thus far!)
In wildlife news - I happened to see several deer running across the field this morning. Some time later, a couple of them were grazing down by the outbuilding. There is also definitely a green haze on the field, so something is growing there now. Back in the woods, the crows and woodpeckers are very noisy; even the acrobatic squirrel is chirping. At one point it sounded like quite the jungle out there!
There are a couple of stories here. I want to say that this yarn was dyed by the grandmother of all indie dyers, Cheryl Schaefer of Schaefer Yarns. She had a small operation, mighty but very manual, set up in the midst of her home and property within the Finger Lakes region of New York, where she would dye her yarns and sell them to wholesalers. From what I can tell, she retired in 2012 so this was already some time ago, long before the current (and wonderful) phase of indie dyers who are now all over the place doing all kinds of cool things.
I got to see her set-up, but it was long before I knew anything about dyeing - probably about 15 years ago. It was a small field trip that a local yarn store had put together - our fee included the van rental, a box lunch, a nice little tote bag with their store logo, and a tour of Schaefer Yarns. This yarn store closed a long time ago, but I remember them mostly because of this trip and also the enormous but friendly Great Pyrenees that hung out in the store, leaving his hair all over the floor and yarn.
It was a beautiful, warm day, and the trip was very enjoyable. There were yarns everywhere, drying in and around a barn. We were allowed to purchase yarns on site, but only through the yarn store (someone had a calculator and a portable credit card machine). I got this giant skein of yarn; the colorway is called Isadora Duncan, and it's from her Memorable Women collection. I might have planned to make a Clapotis with it; if my timeline is correct, they would have been all the rage at that time.
That didn't happen, but I think it's time this yarn became a colorful, squishy shawl - perhaps something like Brickless. I'm adding it to the current knitting queue, with no idea what that means to everything else going on, but I think it will be fun to work with.
Speaking of the queue -
By the time I'd gotten through the fun chevron part (including a few wee bobbles!), it was time to start the gusset. I don't make a lot of ankle socks, so this was a pleasant surprise indeed! (The stitch definition is terrible in this photo, and probably less than ideal in person, but I still like it thus far!)
In wildlife news - I happened to see several deer running across the field this morning. Some time later, a couple of them were grazing down by the outbuilding. There is also definitely a green haze on the field, so something is growing there now. Back in the woods, the crows and woodpeckers are very noisy; even the acrobatic squirrel is chirping. At one point it sounded like quite the jungle out there!
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