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As we have new class photos, fun new show and tell ourselves, or special projects our customers bring in to share, we'll post them here!

9/1 Both Martha and Kathleen brought show & tell to the last Knit n'Nosh. Kathleen knit this bib set using Sierra and a pattern from the Mason Dixon knitting book which creates a lovely thick fabric and Martha is crocheting another granny square lap blanket....this time using Silk Garden and Lamb's Pride. Both projects are beautiful and inspiring.

8/23 Several customers came by with fiber, yarn, and even a pair of white mittens to put into the indigo dye bath on Saturday! And I learned a lesson about indigo.....I put the dye pot back on the burner to reheat since the morning dyers had left quite a while before the afternoon group arrived and I felt it needed to heat up again. But then several of us meandered up front in the store and got engrossed in a discussion about Kindles vs. Nooks and we lost track of time. By the time I got back to the pot it was boiling....heartily! The rolling boil must have exhausted the reducing agent because the first few things we put in the pot in the afternoon did not take the dye. But I added more reducing agent and a touch more washing soda and voila....great dye pot again! Here are some photos of the range of blues people chose to dye....

8/17

The first month's Vermont Yarn Club CSA features the Cormo sheep and I'm sending out 2 lovely Cormo yarns from a farm in the south central part of the state along with a couple of patterns designed for the yarns and influenced by the roaring 1920s fashion. So the 7 colors (brick, violet, charcoal, toffee, gold, teal, and sage - I know the picture looks more chartreuse, but the yarn is actually quite subtle in real life!) I dyed for the participants to choose from are from the palette of colors typical from that era. A little vintage and a lot of fun! I was particularly excited to source 6 incredible beaded buttons to send with the yarn ... the perfect adornment to the hat project.

8/7

Donna Piro has been knitting, fulling, and then needle felting embellishments on hats and mittens for kids....this absolutely adorable set she just completed for the child of a friend of her son's! She also brough in a couple of fun hats she'd done using Kureyon and Lamb's Pride, but I didn't get a photo of those. This kid's set was just so much fun, I forgot all about the great hats she did!

I hadn't actually felted anything in about 10 months and needed something for Show & Tell at this past weekend's meeting of the Northeast Felting Guild meeting which met here. So I used the partial felts (since it needed to be done quickly) and an idea for a scarf that came from both an 8 harness weave structure I've woven and my current exploration of "plaids" . The scarf used 125 resists, the result of which you can't really "get" from the photo....but it gives it interesting dimension when it is actually worn.

7/14 A few yarn samples I dyed with bloodroot from the garden that was trampled when a tree was removed a couple of weeks ago....more about the experience on the blog.

I don't know why exactly, but I've had an itch to work plaids for over a year now. I played around a bit with felting plaids last year and now I'm finally scratching that itch and exploring plaid from various vantages, in depth....here's the first ... a crochet pattern I worked up for the fall. Betsy knit up the store sample and fine tuned the pattern....now she's working on the knit version and I'm about to warp the loom this afternoon to explore a really non-traditional plaid experiment that I'm weaving to felt. Stay tuned for this pattern and others for the fall!

6/26

BJ, who should be awarded the most productive weaver, spinner, and knitter since she has new show and tell just about every week, brought by this wonderful bag she crafted using some handwoven fabric scraps she had as well as a felt swatch she did when she learned the basics at a little workshop I did for the Vermont Weavers Guild here in the spring! Great way to put scraps and "experiements" to great use!

For those of you who missed the Balloon Tied Knit event here last Saturday, here are a few more pics of the balloon ties we knit up for the show...

6/16

In between dyeing up some sample yarns for the Vermont CSA and dyeing locks, I threw in some silk gauze and some soft silk organza to dye up to coordinate with a really old piece of nuno felt I had laying around. I had given the felt swatch (along with a lot of other aborted felt reject samples!) to Christine Fries (art quilter extaordinaire) to play with. She's been working up a class to offer here this fall on surface embellishment on felt using freeform stitching. I decided to use this piece as inspiration in my dyeing last week! I hope to have the class schedule set by July 31st, so stay tuned for more examples of Christine's work!

BJ brought by a sweater she knit from some fiber she spun from the store. It has a lovely soft hand and is a llama/wool blend in a lovely, rich oatmeal color. The pattern she used was from a Rowan magazine.

6/8 I just posted a new free pattern....this crochet sun hat uses 1 skein of Katia Paper and was pretty quick to make. The brim can be turned up or down for a variety of styles.

5/17...Paula Dorfman sent in this photo of the table runner she did in a felting workshop here this winter and three customers brought in socks for Show & Tell during our Sock Extravaganza here this past Saturday....The tractor socks were knit by Cindy Cole, the Turkish socks by Liz Alton and the Fair Isle by David Wasser. To see a little clip of the socks on display here, as well as photos from the little free tutorials we did during the Sock Event, click here.

5/6...just back from the Maryland Sheep & Wool Fesitval...be sure to check out this link for a little recap of the event this year....

A few of the bronze buttons we crafted here last weekend with jeweler Kerin Rose!

4/14 My sister knit up these knee socks for my niece Morgan using a pattern from Folk Socks and in a silk sock yarn by Online that we had at the store but I put in my winter clearance in February. The socks feature a pretty little lace pattern which you can see if you enlarge the photo.

4/6 BJ stopped by to show us the Habu kit she knit to wear to her niece's wedding rehersal dinner, I believe. Anyway, it looks great...she wishes she'd knit the sleeves a bit wider and plans to tighten up the V at the neckline. The furu-furu in it is really fun....gives it lots of interesting surface texture, which the photo may not show off very well, so click on it to see the enlargement!

. And I had to show off the horse my niece felted for me for my birthday...another wonderful piece of horse art to add to my collection (what started with 1 wall, is now pretty much filling up 2 walls....rather like my yarn stash....it keeps taking over more and more room). If any of you are heading to Maryland, she will be selling some of her felted creations there....be sure to stop by Building 5....The Spinning Studio/Vermont Wheel booth to see them.

3/30...Juanita dropped by for some more fiber the other day. She's been needle felting hats since the workshop back in February and brought a couple by for show & tell....

and here are some photos from this Saturday's button making event that Chris did...what fun! I expect these felt buttons will hold up better for all the pushing thru the button hole than others I've made which, over time, wear thin by the abrasion of the buttonhole. Others had fun making buttons with words or photos from magazines....

3/22 new show and tell for spinners and felters....

3/16

Dee brought in this hat she crocheted over night out of the new Katia Paper yarn. It's perfect for a summer sun hat, a bag (see the yarn page for my project), or even a garment! Not that it's soft and cozy, but like Habu yarn, it's great for a unique and artistic layer. Betsy's been eyeing an openwork vest from the latest Vogue that is done in a ribbon...big and open....that would look great in the Paper as well.

3/6 My niece brought show and tell by this week when she came to cover the store for me Saturday so I could card more wool (see some works in progress below). She brought several new rugs with her and I forgot to photograph them, but I found a picture of this one which she finished earlier this winter and I never showed here, so be sure to click on it for a closer look! And here's a photo of a closeup of the tree.....

And I continue to plug away at carding up the fleeces I dyed for the store....

2/21

Some friends and fellow felters came over last night and we played on the drum carders....carding up test batts to felt and spin....here are some photos and for some insight on our thoughts about the outcome...check out the Blog Here

This was the junk I had collected on the lickerin earlier in the week making some custom batts for spinning .... but I saved it and then put it into a batt itself and felted it last night....here it is post felting It looks better in person, of course, but for waste fiber anyway it was worth the few minutes of felting....I think I'll put a few beads on it and sew it into a little knitting accessories pouch for a friend whose birthday I just missed! It is much darker than the batts from which this waste was culled....here's a picture of the spinning batts and a little vest made from one so you can see the difference!

We all decided Willa's batt reminded us of a southwestern sunset...she didn't felt it yet. Lynn felted up the sample I carded to show them how to use the equipment....I randomly grabbed some hideously bright colors and then we toned them down with some grey...here it is pre and post felting. Linda's reminded Willa of a piece of bacon pre felting (we decided Willa needed to eat something) but after felting we thought it rather looked like a meteor shower ...deep teals and blacks in the background with the shot of gold ... And for those of you who spin...here are a few swatches knit from some batts....(neither have been washed yet....either as yarn or as swatch and they were spun & plied rather quickly on a drop spindle so they bias a bit...but they give you an idea of the colors we played with anyway)

2/17

BJ and Marty shared with us this week....

BJ spun and knit this lace shawl and kid's sweater: the former with some merino/silk and the later with the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights is really soft and lovely, as is of course, the merino silk (but you'd expect that)! Both are beautiful.

Marty bought 5 sks of Noro's Transitions last year at my clearance sale and then after the fact decided to make a hooded jacket! So, of course, she didn't have enough yarn. But she brought in the color of Noro she bought and together we chose some complementary colors of Lopi (because it knit at the same gauge) and she worked the 2 types of yarn and 5 different colors together to create this wonde ful jacket. Which she finished just in time to clear her docket of projects so she can take advantage of this year's Clearance Sale!! It's fabulous!

2/11

I'm finally getting back to work on the custom batts for spinning and felting....here are a few pics to wet the appetite. Hopefully they'll be done in another week and online then for sale.

added a bit of sparkle to some

for those who don't like sparkle..

and for those who like texture....

a hat spun and knit from a custom batt

2/3/10

Pat stopped by today to show & tell her latest knitting project...a moebius bag from the 2nd Treasurey of Knitting. She knit it in Malabrigo and it felted beautifully.

1/26

Dee has been knitting up these chunky snowboarder earflap hats like crazy. She says they're quick and easy. Here she double stranded Lambs Pride Bulky, but others have used Expressions, Big Softee and Encore Mega.

1/13

Just wanted to share some masks that Linda Van Alstyne made...she'll be here this fall to teach a felted mask class for those of you interested....just in time for Halloween!

12/21

This Sublime hat has been popular this holiday season. Martha knit this one...I believe the pattern is from Ravelry.

11/12

I learned to tat decades ago and can't for the life of me remember even how to get started again, but I found these old pieces of tatting around and thought I'd felt them into some lampshades this weekend. Since I have nothing completed this week to show and no customers brought show and tell this week, I thought I'd show a "before" and next week I'll have the "after" photo of what comes of recycling these old pieces. So check back next week to see what comes of my playing around this weekend!

11/4

Various clog toppers freeform crocheted in Sara's class last week. I didn't catch pictures of everybody's, but you can see how varied and beautiful they all are. Hopefully once everyone felts them and applies them to their clogs we can all get together for a group shot wearing them! If you haven't done any freeform knitting or crochet, you should treat yourself to an evening of "scrumbling". Get a group of friends together, and maybe a bottle of wine if you like or some good chocolate, and pile all your scraps in the middle of the table and go crazy! I think most people taking this class found it incredibly "freeing" to not be working from a pattern and to just "go with the flow". It really allows you to be creative and step out of the box! You don't have to undertake a huge project. As Susan reflected on the process and one of her pieces, she was thinking what a great patch pocket it would make on a new jacket she bought that had no pockets and is lovely, but plain. A freeform felted patch would be perfect as an applied pocket!

A felted jacket I recently made that was inspired by the colors of fall here!

10/6

Sharon's felt lampshade class was a great success...shown below is Terry's lampshade... she still had a little stitching to do and was planning some final touches to the base...along with a couple of Sharon's completed examples..

For those of you who missed the Habu Trunk Show, the kits are in and available for sale here as well as online.

9/15

Marty shared with us her Iro block afghan..almost done and looking gorgeous!

Clogs that Sara did for the store model for her upcoming class here....don't miss out, sign up today!

9/9

Seems to be the week of the felted scarf! And all so different and beautiful!

Judy felted this scarf using Northern Lights

Joan felted this using a mohair boucle yarn on an irridescent silk scarf blank.

Robin felted one of these into an iridescent silk scarf like Joany, but using fiber instead of yarn and the one on the right she felted silk fiber into a Felbi Felt

9/2

Martha's crocheting a lap blanket out of 220 Superwash and it's wonderful....I'm so glad she brought it to the Saturday Spin n' Knit. It reminded me of a granny square afghan my sister Roby crocheted for me when I was 6 and I SO remember my friend Terry and I spending hours trying to choose which square was our favorite! We did a bit of the same on Saturday....grown women oohing and ahing over which square we each liked best on Marthas lap blanket! Anyway, it prompted me to share a photo of the one my sister did for me (which I cherish to this day) along with the square I recollect was my childhood favorite! We have a really fun crochet class scheduled for the fall...a really cute pullover vest of flowers that's perfect for layering over a t or turtleneck...so if you're inspired to learn crochet, check the class out.

8/25

"Fascinators" (which is just a fun name for a cocktail party hats) in various stages of completion at the hat class at Felter's Fling in Massachusetts earlier this week! This is not the type of hat I'd get much chance to wear here, but because they are so fun and Linda and I want an excuse to don ours, I've decided to hold a Hat party here at the store this November in honor of St. Catherine, who I just learned is the patron saint of milliners! Check Events for more details, but start thinking now about what hat you'll wear! And if you don't have a hand felted hat, check out the classes for a chance to make a Fascinator yourself! Pictured above left to right...the group of felters and fascinators at Fling, me in my fascinator, a hat felted from a custom batt (coming soon to the store), and a cloche felted from the merino top.

8/12

BJ brought by 3 show and tells this week. Here's the first. She hand spun 4 ozs of the merino silk blend (color sea mist) and then knit this shawl (the shawl is a pattern Betsy did up for Ella Rae Merino Lace Yarn and which we have available here in the store).This shawl has a lovely hand and although from a distance the shawl looks tan, when you see it close up it is full of suble peaches, greens, etc. You can see how much darker a fiber looks when spun up compared to the top. Hopefully the enlargement does the colors justice! She spun and knit this to match some fabric she found and is planning on making a suit ou of. Thanks for sharing, BJ. It's beautiful!

8/7

I had two customer show and tells this week, but the photos must be on my other camera because I could not find them this morning! I did come across this photo when looking for them, however, and decided, in honor or the Fiber Challenge we're hosting this fall, to share it. Each month a group of local felters and I gather and challenge ourselves to experiment with techniques and designs we wouldn't otherwise make the time for. In one of the earlier challenges, we were given photo graphs and our challenge was to interpret them in felt-however literally or figuratively we chose. This corncob is a wet felted example of my challenge results.

7/28

Carol brought her felted lidded vessel by for show and tell to the group felt scarf event here this past Saturday. Started in Lisa Klakulak's class here this spring, Carol has since added the shellac and attached the handle and even stitched it...it looks great!

7/22

For some reason this spring I got in my head that I wanted to crochet some espadrilles. I think it was all inspired by a photo I'd seen of a pair which sort of coincided with a trip to the garden center where they happened to have 1 ball of this really heavy hemp twine on clearance and of course I love the Patagonia cotton yarn I stock. So it seemed like a project that might be fun for the summer. I think I originally thought it might be a fun class too. But I got sidetracked and it got put on the back burner. But I'm all about finishing things off right now, so seeing this ball of hemp and the skein of Patagonia sitting on my bookcase for 3 months was really getting under my skin so I realized that, even if I never wore them or offered it as a class, I just had to figure them out. So that's what I did Friday night while I was home making sure Chloe didn't scratch her stitches out. Now I hoped that I could scratch this off my list and move on, but of course, doing them just generated all sorts of ideas for improvements, embellishments, new styles!

7/14

Kate Castle and Laura Lacroix came over with a friend for the silk demonstration on Saturday and brought some show and tell of the felting they've been having fun with since they were here for Lisa Klakulak's class in April. The first two needle felted wall hangings were done by Kate..she incorporates a wonderful 3-d relief in her work that I'm afraid my photographic skills might not have captured, but be sure to click on the enlarged picture of each and perhaps you'll get an idea of it. Laura has had fun with both wet felting vessels (the fish below are garden ornaments) and with needle felting incredibly detailed paintings in wool. Again, be sure to enlarge each photo to really appreciate the artistry here!

7/1

BJ spun 6 colors (3 each of blues and rusts) of Mo Roving and then knit this entrelac bag...she even made the fimo button!

Rhonda spun colorway "icy winter" of Northern Lights as a singles and is knitting this garter stitch shawl. It's got a great drape.

6/17

A closeup of a scarf I just finished in a new yarn that is being spun for the store and featuring a design I just did as part of a new series of store patterns for the fall

5/26

Deb brought in a beautiful shawl she designed using up scraps of yarn and the mitered technique she learned from Knit to be Square by Vivian Hoxro, available at the store.

5/18

I missed getting pics of everyone's felt flower, but here are some of the flower creations that came out of this month's intro to felt class.

4/15-lots of customer show & tells this week!

first, Rhonda came in to share her latest spinning...panda-wool that she spun and dyed...the color variation is gorgeous and my photographic skills don't do it justice...and the yarn feels heavenly

then Deborah came in to show her finished baby booties- she felted them in last Wednesday night's free event here...she had never done traditional felting before and she was so excited to have learned she came in to merino top to show her mother and daughter how to make them

then BJ stopped by to post a flyer about the Weaver's Guild show (vermontweaversguild.org) coming up in May and she showed me several scarves she wove out of the handpainted chenille from the store.

just yesterday, Kathleen stopped by and shared her latest spinning: Northern Lights (color Icy Winter) she has been enjoying all year and, on the right, my rambouillet roving. She LOVED spinning the rambouillet - it was her first time trying this fiber.

4/7

Our unfinished vessels(left) and mine completed (right) from felted lidded vessel class this past weekend....join us July 25th for a class reunion to see the finished vessels and to work on a group felted scarf project to raise money for Heifer

Willa brought in her "Aretha" hat for show and tell. She felted it in the hat class here a couple of weekends ago and then applied all the wonderfully fun sequins when she got home. Here's another photo, looking straight on, that was taken on a shop mannequin before Willa agreed to model for me!

Inspiration from my niece, Neysa, who has been needle felting these incredible rugs. For pics from her class here last weekend, check this out). Some of these rugs are available for sale.

To see more detail on this rug, click here

Inspired by a page from a Vermont Fish & Game calendar, Neys needled this rug for her home.

Sculptures by Dorian McGowan using Habu linen paper as beard, cap and hair!...

Santa XMAS ornament by Liz Alton....needle felted. Every year Liz comes up with a great new fiber ornament!

An entrelac swatch showing what participants in the Kathryn Alexander classes this past weekend enjoyed learning...sections from a sweater knit by Kathryn

Baby Cupcake hat knit by Kathy Bruce.

Kochuron Felted Mittens knit by Martha Sacco.

Check out the scarves in progress that the current Intro to Weaving Class is making...they're fabulous!

Felt Flower Window Box