Knit Stars Season 8: Breaking the Ice kicks off this fall, and I'm a Star Maker with exclusive kits I'm dyeing up for Ginnifer Goodwin's master classes (that's Snow White from Once upon a Time!!). Students of season 8 can preorder the kits through Knit Stars until Friday, May 19th. This way, you can have your supplies in hand before you embark on your knitting journey with Ginnifer Goodwin, as well as the 9 other Knit Stars you'll have access to!
This kit is extremely special to me because it features one of my favorite farm-to-needle yarns, SHETLANDIA! Seriously I Love. This. Yarn. It's produced entirely in Michigan, and I've been involved in each part of its creation from skirting (yes, RAW wool and all the smells) to color creation (so much color!!!) to dyeing the final skeins for the KS kits. This is the ultimate group project. Tall Cotton Farms and Windswept Farms raise the sheep and Zeilinger Wool Co. processes the skirted fleece int to yarn. then it comes back to me to play with. I'm humbled and blown away to have the opportunity to put this farm-to-needle yarn on a bigger "stage" so that people can hear all about what this ACTUALLY means. I'm thrilled down to my toes that Ginnifer Goodwin wants to play with my "woolly wool" as she put it.
If you would like to read more about Shetlandia, (sure you do!) check out my post in the "From Farm - To Needle" series I've been doing with Jill Bigelow Suttell of The Bean Knits
]]>Let’s talk about the sheep!!! Near my home is Tall Cotton Farm, a lovely place where Scott Drabik raises Shetland sheep and Border Collie stock dogs. He chose shetlands because they flock less than some other breeds, making them more of a challenge for the dogs in training. They’re adorable and fun to watch, and their fleece comes in all. of. the. Colors. White? You betcha! Brown? Yep! looking for some lovely gray? Ohhhh yeah, we’ve got you. Some of them even have all of the hues on ONE fleece, called a Badger fleece.
In more recent years, these natural colors have fallen out of favor, giving way to many more white sheep than multicolor. I have to say, though, that I love a natural fleece in all its glory. We’ve been working on showcasing as many tones of the shetland as we can. This has a few hurdles, like minimum weights for processing, but we’ve done our best to create three yarns that give an idea of the wonderful variety and still have enough in a run to stock up our booth.
These yarns, we’ve called them Shetlandia, have been a bit of time in the making. I’ve been purchasing Scott’s fleece for several years, but had to hold off on processing when 2020 happened. You see, without shows to sell my goods at, I needed to wait until I could be sure I could pay for the processing and still be able to get all of Scott’s Clip (meaning all of his fleece for the year) because I made a commitment. This is another part of the farm-to-needle process for me: commitment. Once I start making a FTN yarn, my intention is to continue it. I don’t often do one-off runs because I believe in the whole cycle continuing with as much consistency as I can give it. That includes yarn support for new patterns that the designer can count on being available as an option to replicate their sample, not just as an example.
With the sorting of the colors (OH THE SORTING!!) and scouring and spinning and plying done, we now have 3 undyed sport-weight bases in our Shetlandia Lineup - the simply named “Shetlandia” that is white/ecru, the “Shetlandia Buff” that is the first of our 3-ply farm-to-needle yarns, and the “Shetlandia Dark” that contains all of the various grays from the clips at Tall Cotton Farm. With these lovely hues to begin with, you can just imagine how my dyer’s brain has been exploding with ideas (THREE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COLORS WITH THE SAME DYE FORMULA), and the beauty that has come dripping out of the dyepots. These are all 3 very special to me. They’re rustic and soft and springy, and the perfect yarn for sweater knitting (Steeking anyone??).
Check out the Glacial Drift Pattern by The Bean Knits if you’re curious how it knits up.
You can see Jill's Shetlandia response HERE
]]>Superior: A merino yarn.
Happy Goat Lucky Ewe Fiber Farm is located in Mason, Michigan. It was established in 1987 by Bridget Kavanagh, on what was originally the Dobie Farm, settled in 1836. Along with 50+ Merino sheep and a small flock of angora goats, the farm has been home to a pollinator sanctuary since 2018.
The fiber farm originally began in 1991 when “Grandpa Doc” gave Bridget’s kids (ages 4 and 3 at the time) an ewe lamb to bottle feed. They named the ewe Meryl Sheep (Sesame Street gets the credit), and she was the beginning of a love affair with fleece.
Bridget’s children are grown now, but she has continued to raise adorable sheep on the farm, producing incredibly soft fluffy merino fleece, and does sell starter flocks, along with much needed guidance and education, for the would-be fiber farmer.
I first encountered Bridget’s merino in a yarn produced by The Michigan Fiber Cooperative, as a blend of merino and alpaca in a worsted weight. After that yarn was no longer being made, I spent a couple of years wishing to create something like that. Then I had the chance to talk with Bridget at the Tip of the Mitt Fiber Fair and express how much I loved her fiber. We made a plan for me to purchase 100 pounds of her merino fleece in the spring of 2020. She was even going up to her sister’s near East Jordan and offered to transport it, a huge time saver for me between dyeing and parenting.
I was so excited when the skeins were shipped to my doorstep and I could SQUISH it the first time. This sport-weight, 2-ply yarn is a real dream with its bounce, warmth, and amazing softness. It is ideal for against-the-skin wears and a joy to work with in every project I have knit with it. Fast forward, and I’m now on my third run of Superior from Bridget’s sheep, and I hope to never stop producing it.
Recently, Jill Bigelow Suttell released not just 1 but 2 new patterns designed with this delectable yarn: Code Breaker and Morse Code.
Morse Code is available in both a v-neck and crewneck pullover (above), and Code Breaker is the cardigan version (below), knit back and forth.
You can find the patterns on Ravelry, as well as Jill's Website here. These “sister patterns” use mosaic colorwork (slipped stitches) to create beautiful patterns in the knitted fabric. I opted for the V-neck and absolutely LOVE how it came out. It takes 8 skeins of our 2022 Superior (5 MC and 1 each CC), and just HUGS me in the crisp fall air. I’m already getting a lot of use out of it, and I’m excited to wear it all winter long.
As I’ve said before (over and over), I love farm-to-needle yarn. I love the feel of it: the drape and the structure, rustic or next-to-your-most-sensitive-skin soft. I love it all. When I started designing our unSalted base, I was at the Michigan Fiber Festival across the aisle from Hidden Valley Farm & Woolen Mill, with the super lady boss, Carol Wagener, and helper (and photographer) extraordinaire, Carrie Flores. Carol and I got talking, as is wont to happen, and I started sizing up her lovely Coopworth fleece. Carol and Paul raise Coopworth and some Corriedale (as well a few donkeys) on their farm in Valders, WI where they also have a fiber mill that processes fiber to roving for clients and their own sale. They’ve been running the mill since 1997 and are amazing folks.
Back to MFF - After playing with a bit of the raw fiber, I snagged Claire, my business partner, and showed it to her for her opinion. She looked at it and went “go for it!” And so, as we were packing up Sunday, I bought most of what Carol had left with her at the show. After getting home, I started working with it to see what fiber it might “play nice” with. Huacaya Alpaca was plentiful in my area from various farms.. So, we went for it. Our first full run was 50 pounds of Coopworth from HVFWM and 50 pounds of Alpaca from multiple farms around Michigan, processed into a 2-ply worsted yarn at Hoof-to-Hanger mill in Bridgeman, MI. It was divine. Since it had fibers from “both sides of Lake Michigan” we called it unSalted, cause we’re quirky like that.
unSalted has a lovely sheen and softness, strength and stitch definition. It can take a beating (or frogging) and just keep on going. It’s funny because I never know exactly how a yarn is going to turn out until it is in my hands, but this one was all I hoped it would be. I’m now dyeing my third round of unSalted, this one with alpaca from Northern Dreams Alpaca Farm and processed at Ewetopia Fiber Mill in La Farge, WI. I still use the Coopworth from HVFWM, and I love it just as much as I did when it was only an idea.
To hear more about the the yarn portion, you can catch up with Jill's “to needle” part of our collaboration here
*Coopworth photos used with permission from Carrie Flores
This job is a passion.
This passion involves stinky raw wool (a smell I actually adore), test blends in my studio after scouring and drying various fibers, spinning those blends on my wheel or drop spindle to see how they act at different weights and plies, shipping fiber or hauling a vehicle FULL (and I do mean full) of fleece to one of the fabulous mills I'm fortunate enough to work with, and then waiting (the waiting!!!) as they do their part - scouring, drying, picking, carding, spinning, plying and skeining each into a dyable yarn for us.
Let’s break it down some more - The mill takes all of that lovely and odiferous fiber and scours it. That means they wash all of the vegetable matter, dirt, sand, and poo out of the fleece with very very hot water and a special kind of soap. After this, it has to dry. If you’ve ever been in a drying room at a fiber mill, you’ll know it smells exactly like you would expect: Wet wool. I love it. The drying process can take awhile, especially if it is extra humid out, but the wait is worth it.
After it has been scoured and washed, the fiber is put through a picker, a machine that pulls the locks open to disperse any remaining debris. Then, the wool heads to the carders; this can be one or a string of giant drum carders that brush out and blend the fibers before they go to be spun into yarn. After it is spun, yarn can be plied together, usually with between 2 and 8 strands. An unplied yarn is a “single,” which can also be used as is. I have a bit of a love affair with 2-ply yarn and have had our farm-to-needle bases spun up this way. Anyway, back to the mills - The fabulous folks there do ALL of this for us. Seriously. ALL. OF. IT. I’m in awe of the dedication and work that goes into the beautiful skeins that make their way to me.
Even as I’m typing this, I’m getting distracted by 2 particularly glorious boxes that arrived from Stonehedge Fiber Mill containing 2 of our FTN bases: Superior and Smitten DK - more on those soon.
Catch up here on Jill’s “To Needle” post from 2 weeks ago.
]]>From Farm: Where it starts.
Farm to needle!!! I feel like I talk about this all of the time, but I’m realizing that I may be throwing terms around without actually saying what I mean. When I talk about farm-to-needle yarns, I literally mean just that. Why Knot Fiber’s farm-to-needle yarns start with me at the farm and end with a special blend of yarn made just for me. Let me tell you a bit more, starting at the farm.
I love working with farmers and shepherds of fiber animals and visiting their farms to meet the various breeds of sheep or alpaca that grow the fiber for my special blends. I spend time tromping around muddy fields to meet the flock or watch a herding demonstration, pawing through bags of fleece in the back of my SUV because it’s 11F outside, snuggling a 2-day old lamb because it happened to come before shearing, and skirting fleece as they are shorn off of the animals.
Let’s dig into the nitty gritty of it: Farmers/producers/shepards raise flocks of sheep/alpaca/yak/buffalo, caring for them, worrying for them, doctoring them when needed, planning out breeding to keep genes strong, making sure they are available during lambing season, making sure ewes make it through and can mother their young, taking care of those that cannot, and the young that need mothering. In addition to all of that, they must make sure that they have a shearer lined up for the spring so that they can take off the year’s worth of fiber for further use, and sometimes also food with meat, cheese, and milk. It’s a big job, and they do it well and tirelessly.
Phew! So that’s a tiny bit of what our farmer friends do to help us have such beautiful fibers to work with, be it spinning or knitting or weaving or nalbinding. I love that I’ve been allowed a window into these parts of the textile journey, and I can’t wait to share more in the months to come.
Check out the first “To Needle” installment from The Bean Knits here!
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Enter Jill Bigelow-Suttell as friend, collaborator and designer (psssst - check out The Bean Knits. You’re welcome). We played merry-go-round for about a year before we finally met, and now we have SO. MUCH. FUN. Jill is a fabulous person to bounce new yarn/fiber/kit/show ideas off of, and (bonus) she used to own a yarn shop, so she understands that part of things too! Now, we get to collaborate on Farm-to-needle yarns and patterns they can grow up to be!
This whole series of blogs was actually Jill’s idea (she’s brilliant). My part is the “From Farm” portion and then I punt it back to Jill for the “to Needle” portion.
See, this is just perfect for me because I get to write about my favorite thing: Fiber, and all the things surrounding it; the animals, the farmers, the mills!! Oh my! If you’ve met me, you know that this is the subject that lights me up, kinda turbo power (look out), and I’m ok with that. It’s a great thing to be excited about in my humble opinion.
So, welcome to From Farm - To Needle. I hope you enjoy our ramblings about our favorite things.
Check out Jill's part here - we'll be kicking off the really good stuff next week: 7/8/2022
]]>I awoke in the gray of dawn this morning feeling lonely. The weight of "distancing" felt too heavy. I picked up my phone to see what new things had happened overnight, and my eyes landed on a post from friend of mine.
Jenna, a science teacher at a local school, posted this morning that it is the spring equinox. I had forgotten. She encouraged folks to track the sunrise and sunset, watching the days overtake the nights and continue to lengthen until summer solstice.
I looked out the window to the sky streaked with red into purple that spoke of energy waiting, light returning, and, most of all for me, hope. I realized I needed to be IN the equinox today. I needed to feel that early morning air, so I stepped out and through the patch of woods behind our house into the open field beyond. As I went, I was thinking about a recent article in "Spin Off" about making something from nothing. The article explored making cording from nature's castoffs. I sat down and drank my coffee in the middle of a soggy field with a chill in the air. It felt perfect. I gathered a few strands of damp grass and started working. It felt rough between my hands as I first "spun" and then "plied" a short length of cording. This was healing work, heart work, and tactile work all at once.
Returning to the house a bit later, I felt able to continue this social distancing with a new perspective: This can be healing in more than one way. We can remember how to make something from our cast offs. We can take food scraps and create a tasty broth to nurture our bodies at the next meal. We can take last year's refuse from grasses not yet awake and create cording to hang cheerful sketches or cards from. We can just be kind to each other. We can do the necessary work to keep our most vulnerable safe and feed our own hearts in the process.
Now, I'm feeling thankful for friends like Jenna and publications like Spinoff for calling out the things around us that can brighten our day, literally and figuratively, even when things seem the darkest.
]]>I have mad respect for the folx having to step back and make that call on their own - I'm talking before anyone TOLD them they had to. That takes foresight, selflessness, and guts. Pushback happens in those situations, and sometimes it's unkind. Trust me when I say that the organizers of these events would go forward as planned if there was ANY way to do that. Cut them some some slack (like, a lot), and for the love of all of the things, support your independent makers wherever you can. They're hurting right now, too. Even if it's just reaching out to say you believe in them, that's huge. Knowing our community stands with us is a gift. It can help us push through to the other side.
FYI: This applies to all kinds of events/crafts/genres. So, be kind and do what you can. We all count on each other.
Some things we are talking about doing over here at WKF are Facebook and Instagram Live events to just check in and see how our sequestered friends are doing, additional knit alongs to bring us together and help us feel connected (albeit online), and at least one Facebook live sale to help offset the lost income and still provide the fuzzy yarn fix that will be missed without these events. We're working on others, and we'll share them as we can (like the brand new yarn pictured that we're about to release).
In the meantime, please accept our cyber hugs. Stay safe, and, for goodness sake, wash your hands.
<3 Kat
]]>We've been busy this year, which is fantastic. We've never had a year like this one, which is also fantastic. So far, 2019 has taught us more about what we are capable of (so much!) and also that maybe we don't have to do allll of the things we are capable of. We've traveled over the midwest and down to Tennessee, and we love it. There are times when it can feel like a revolving door here at home, but the deep love that is our Fibershed community has shown us reminds us time and again why we pack our bags for the next show.
This weekend's adventure is the Ann Arbor Fiber Expo, and we have some beautiful new colors to share with you! Be sure to come and say hello to Jill of B-Ewe-tiful Design and Barb of Quilling Maven. They're the official booth babes for this weekend, and we are lucky to have them! (don't worry! - Christina is still our official tie breaker. She just wasn't able to make it for this particular show).
I'm resting up now so I can bring you my best Saturday and Sunday. I look forward to getting the chance connect with our community in person again this weekend.
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We've reached that time when leaves are unfurling and the light is (finally) returning. We are weary and ready to take some time to rejuvenate ourselves as well. The end of April/beginning of May marks a brief "break" for us here at Why Knot Fibers. Two of our biggest shows of the year are done (and just happen to be back-to-back). Now we are taking time; time to rest, time to recuperate, time to be parents and spouses, and time to be alone, to center our hearts and recharge our souls. This is a most precious and important thing that we can do for ourselves, finding the balance between frantic flairs of creation and and rest.
Soon, we will be bustling with show prep and dye prep, and the natural dyes that we love so much will be available with the summer days beating down. But this hushed moment before everything bursts forth is such a joy in it's quiet anticipation. We have been making plans for the coming year even during this rest period.
We recently sat down to look at the past months and the next few months at our "monthly meeting." This month, we were able to not just meet, but relax at a local cafe and go over what we have planned for the next quarter, and what steps we need to take to get from point A to point Z (and all the points in between...point Q is really tripping us up), and how to break those down into manageable bits so we're not completely overwhelmed when we dive in. |
We had a small amount of Finn and Alpaca fiber we procured, before this years shearing. In January, we sent it off to Hoof to Hanger, a new to us mill in Bridgman Michigan (their equipment comes from the dear folks at Stonehedge Fiber Mill). We first met Sue from Hoof-to-Hanger at the 2017 Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, and we knew they were our people when they challenged us to a taste test of their local wineries to prove they have the best wineries in the state (we are looking forward to the challenge), but now that we have received a sample of our Smitten, we know that they are both amazing to work with, and the product is perfect! They are as dedicated to our yarn as we are. As they did not produce the first batch of Smitten, they wanted to send us a sample before processing all of it. They had washed and spun 1 pound of the fiber for us, packaged it up, included a handwritten note, and sent it off to us. They also told us how nice the fiber was, and what a great job we did skirting it, which is a surefire way into our hearts ;) The sample yarn has already been wound and cast on, paired with a skein from the last batch, and it’s nearly identical (maybe even softer!). So we are one step closer to having more Smitten DK (sweater quantities!) in stock. We are taking pre-orders now as we only anticipate this batch being about 80-100 skeins of the DK-weight yarn. There will be more yarn later in the year (including fingering) after the sheep have been sheared. You can find pre-order info here. |
Photo courtesy of Iron Wheel Farms
In 2018, Why Knot Fibers will be offering 3 lines of yarn that are produced fully in Michigan or the Great Lakes region. It is only January, so lambing has not started but we are at work with our farmers determining how much fiber will be available and also connecting with other farmers who may have as yet unprocessed fleece. We sent out a relatively small - around 50 pounds - batch of fiber to the mill this week to give us enough Smitten DK to tide us all over until the 2018 shearing season is complete! If you want to follow along with the shearing and lambing, check out Iron Wheel Farms on instagram. They are expecting 80 lambs this year… so if you wanna raise your own sheep, you can!
Kat saying "Look at that staple length!"
At a recent fiber fest, we talked with Hidden Valley Farm’s Carol and ogled her fleeces - as we do - and discovered a new-to-us breed of sheep and it’s fiber, called Coopworth. The fleece was so lovely that we bought what they had on hand right there! This discovery inspired us to produce a second line of locally-sourced yarn, called unSalted. A 50/50 blend of Coopworth and Alpaca in a worsted weight from farms in Wisconsin and Michigan, the first mini batch of unSalted heads to the mill this week! As soon as we get the details just right, we will offer this yarn for sale, so stay tuned.
Also new this year, we now carry Freshwater Fiber, from the Michigan Fiber Cooperative, dyed in the same Michigan-inspired color pallet as our Smitten yarn. This yarn is just lovely! A blend of 50/50 Michigan raised merino/alpaca, its beauty is not fully appreciated until you knit with it. Luxuriously buttery and smooth, it is a treat to knit with and a treat to wear. So far, we have made baby sweaters, colorwork hats and Christina is working on mukluks - her feet will be so happy! Find out more about this yarn and how it is produced on the Michigan Fiber Cooperative website here.
We are excited to be back in the studio and playing with the last of our 2017 harvested natural dye products - Hopi sunflower, a little bit of coreopsis and some black walnut! - and planning the dye garden and placing our seed orders. In the middle of a cold, snowy winter this is an especially enjoyable task!
Stay tuned because we will be sharing updates of the Farm-to-Needle process of Smitten and unSalted!
The nature of small-scale farm-to-needle products means that the quantities we produce are limited. If you want to be sure you get yours, we recommend pre-ordering now. When you preorder, you can select what quantities and colors you want, and we will confirm your order before we dye it. We do have some remaining 2017 Smitten yarn in both fingering and DK weights, so snap them up before they are gone!
]]>A typical show weekend for us starts the afternoon before the show, outside the dye studio (aka Claire's house) in Traverse City, where packmaster Kat loads our trailer with everything we need. Depending on our destination, we bring everything from tent poles and peg boards to mannequins, display hooks and - of course - bin after bin of yarn. Kat is a genius and always manages to fit everything we need in a way that is efficient and safe in the trailer. Then, we hop into the truck and off we go!
The ride down to the event is always fun for us. We are lucky to not only be co-workers but also friends, so we usually spend this time in the car catching up on all the various goings-ons, business-related and otherwise. We also play a fun game called “trying to remember what we forgot to pack,” with different levels of success on every trip. Copious amounts of snacks and coffee are also required (Claire keeps us fed and is our amazing navigator). We typically drive anywhere from two and a half to five-plus hours for show, and whoever’s not driving gets some quality knitting time in the car - although Kat and Claire have both been known to sneak in a few stitches behind the wheel (always stopped at a light though! Shhh!)
Once we arrive, the real joy starts - it’s set-up time! Everything gets hauled out of the trailer and into whatever space we’re occupying, and we start building our display and getting yarn up and organized on the pegboards. We take pride in creating a booth set-up that is both beautiful and easy to navigate, and this process takes time. It’s a lot of work, and as the evening progresses we get tired and hungry, but there is nothing like seeing all of our yarn out in all its glory. Once we finish, we reward ourselves with dinner and relaxation wherever we are staying for the night. By relaxation, we mean doing some last minute label-printing (thank goodness Claire also has a background in graphic design!) and kit-organizing, but usually there’s wine involved so it’s all good!
The day of the show, we usually get there early to make any final adjustments to our display, and then customers start showing up! Truly our favorite part of participating in these events is getting to meet and hang out with the people who enjoy our yarn. It’s always a blast when people bring items they’ve knit with our yarn to show us, and we love looking at patterns and helping folks find the perfect fiber blend or color for their next project. For us the day usually passes quickly because we’re having so much fun. We also take turns leaving the booth so we can walk around and check out different yarns and catch up with other vendors - they are our friends too and it often feels like a reunion to be together again at the various shows throughout the year.
At the end of the day, we start taking inventory and psyching ourselves up to pack and load the trailer as quickly - but neatly! - as possible. We all have families to get back to so we usually drive back to Traverse City the night of the show. Once all the yarn is cataloged, we pack it back into the bins, take down our display gear, and haul it all back to the trailer. Kat works her packmaster magic yet again, and with any luck we are on our way home before too long. This time of year, our drives back north are dark and cold, so we listen to lots of Prince and Beyonce - and drink plenty of coffee - to make it back to the studio safe and sound.
Fiber expos and LYS trunk shows are the heart and soul of our business, and it’s because of all the wonderful interactions and friendships we build with knitters all over the state. Although we spend the day or two after a show catching up on sleep, they truly energize and inspire us to keep creating the yarn we love.
Haven’t made it to a show yet this year? Or maybe you’ve been to them all and want to keep the streak alive? We will be at Spun, the local yarn store in Kerrytown in Ann Arbor on December 9 and 10 for their two year anniversary celebration! We will be bringing some special treats just for the show, as well as many of our usual yarns and holiday kits. Come say hi; we are looking forward to seeing you there!
]]>Becoming involved in the local fibershed has been a dream of a decade for Kat of Why Knot Fibers; from the plants grown and foraged for color to the animals raised for their fleece. She longed to know the whole story of her clothes and knits; the farmers and processors, the dyers and weavers that touch each item along its way. Claire also felt the need to understand what goes into the final product, all the variables, and how that affects the outcome. It started with Kat showing her how to hand spin, and then dyeing and then she too caught the bug about wanting/needing to know and be a part of the whole process.
While we did a small run of yarns from fiber grown locally, it turned out it was not enough and it only peaked our interest in branching out. Smitten yarn is our first big jump into realizing that dream. Why Knot Fibers has nurtured relationships of trust and friendship with farmers, shearers, mills, and local yarn shops in an effort to bring you a farm-to-needle yarn that is as close to the source as can be. Smitten yarn is a 70/30 blend of Finn fiber and Alpaca, spun at Stonehedge in East Jordan into two weights, DK and Fingering, and can be ordered in limited quantities.
The Finn fiber in Smitten was sourced from Iron Wheel Farm in Beaverton, Michigan. If you’re unfamiliar with Finn sheep, you’re in for a treat. It is considered one of the more versatile sheep, being both a good meat and hair sheep with a fleece that has an against-the-skin softness and boasts a lovely springy crimp. The sheep are friendly and sociable, not to mention cute and snuggly!
Huacaya Alpaca was the blending fiber of choice and hails from several farms around the state and was provided to Why Knot Fibers by The Alpaca Barbers, Matt and Katie. It was important to Kat and Claire that there be enough to complete a 1-skein project with, so Smitten is available in DK weight with 250 yards per skein and Fingering weight with 400 yards per skein. It is made up of 70% Finn sheep fiber and 30% Huacaya Alpaca fiber.
Working with farmer and fiber enthusiast Christina Barkel and Michelle Ferrarese (owner of Birch Point Farm), we are beginning the cultivation of our own Michigan-grown dye plants. We are currently able to harvest dyer’s coreopsis for gold and orange, goldenrod and willow for creamy and bright yellows, and pokeberry weed for mauve and purples. We have also planted Indigo and are beginning the fermentation process to extract the pigment in order to start dyeing with it. Other plants we are pursuing are madder and dyer’s alkanet, both of which need to establish for several years before the roots can be harvested. We plan to expand our indigo and coreopsis beds next year, and then, who knows.
Views from our natural dye workshop last weekend We feel so privileged to have been able to share our love of fiber and natural dyes with a group of folks as enthusiastic about locally sourced and naturally dyed products as we are! | |
These ladies blew us away with their curiosity and willingness to experiment with color and layering. Our hearts are full. We have a most loving and vibrant fiber community. Photos: Top L-R showing indigo, willow over-dyed with indigo, goldenrod. Bottom L-R Madder, madder over-dyed with indigo. |
If you weren't able to make it to Wool and Honey last weekend, you're in luck! We will have a limited number of naturally dyed Michigan yarns, as well as a palette of 12 Michigan-inspired colorways on our new Smitten yarn at the Michigan Fiber Festival next weekend.
August 18, 19, & 20, 2017
Find us in building 8B, booth #40
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We are over the moon to be heading down to Woven Art in East Lansing this weekend! We will be bringing some of our most sumptuous yarns for your perusal, along with a couple of new patterns from Kokoro Patterns!
Come and get your yarn fix!
Trunk Show: July 14 & 15th
Deck Party: July 14th from 4-7 pm, weather permitting
Light refreshments will be available - we hope to have grilled peaches and ice cream!
The event is FREE, but please RSVP with Woven Art for the Deck Party.
Why Knot Fibers is heading to Holland bright and early tomorrow to set up for the 2017 MLH Marketplace. We are teaming up with Bricolage Studios for a weekend sure to be full of fibery goodness!
Not planning to attend the conference?
No problem! The MLH Marketplace is open to the public.
One of the things we try very hard to ensure in our show booth is that it is a visual delight, easy to find the yarn you are searching for, and pricing and content are clear. Our goal in our booth is to help ensure the next project you are searching for will be successful. Our previous online shopping forced you to go one place to see in-stock one of a kind things, and then another for dyed to order, and keeping it all update was time-consuming enough to make it hard for us to do.
We still have plenty to add (think kits!), but it is bursting with fabulous yarns, easy to find upcoming events, and a lovely new page with all of our current colorways (in rainbow order - of course!).
We have also created a new section called Oh! Stash it! This is the home of one-of-a-kind, non-repeating, let's just play yarns, which we have had with us at shows, but have not been easily available elsewhere.
We are also introducing free shipping on orders over $75! (just enter Ship in the discount code section on checkout)
We have always offered a discount on larger orders of 10+ skeins and that is now integrated into our online shopping.
Use the code 10+skeins (for orders over $250) to get 10% off and 20+skeins (for orders over $500) to get 20% off.
So, take a minute to check out our new online home. We built it just for you - and let us know what you think! We love feedback.
In the past couple of weeks it’s felt like Michigan just cannot pick a lane, weather-wise. We’ve had more than a couple glorious, sunny and warm days this February - the kind that make us northerners squint up at the sun, stretch out our limbs and rejoice. We’ve also had many days of gloomy grey skies and schools closed due to snow. One week we have projected highs in the 50s one day - and six inches of snow the next.
These wild weather swings keep life interesting. My current knitting project is also a study in contrasts - I’m knitting the Brio-Garter Hat by the one and only Stephen West. This project allows me to dip my toes in the two-color brioche technique - something I’ve admired my whole (short) knitting life. I didn’t know before I started the hat that this stitch is actually a form of double knitting! Each round of two color brioche is knit twice - once with one color and again with the second.
I chose two yarns that are completely different yet complement each other perfectly. The first is a Why Knot Fibers Swift base, colorway koi - a beautiful, one of a kind mix of blues, oranges and a splash of purple in there for kicks. Luxuriously soft and comfortable against my ears, it’s always a treat to see how yarn this variegated knits up. The second yarn is a solidly charcoal, rustic small-batch yarn from our friends Zach and Lindsay at Fat Toaster Farm just outside Grand Rapids. Its spun from their flock of Jacob sheep - an ancient breed that produces lofty, warm and springy yarn. Switching between these two yarns every round of my hat is such a pleasurable endeavor - it keeps me entertained and and mindful of the wide variety of yarn experiences available. The bright, vivid colors in the Swift remind me of waking up to a gorgeous sunny day, and the comforting, sheepy Jacob yarn helps me enjoy the wintery mix that still remains.
Speaking of small-batch yarns, we have an exciting new project in the works that we can’t wait to share with you. Recently, we traveled downstate to pick up many fleeces from our farmer friends in Michigan. Our next stop was to drop them off at our favorite local mill, Stone Hedge Fiber Mill in East Jordan. They will be spinning up skeins of DK and fingering weight yarn for us - a custom blend of fiber grown, spun, and dyed right here in Michigan. Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Instagram, and here through our website for updates on when this one-of-a-kind yarn will be available to you.
By Christina Barkel
Farmer - Knitter - Blogger - Why Knot Tie Breaker
]]>I see the sun shining on the snow, and I’m struck with how fast we have come to this point: A new year. Somehow, it seems to wipe clean all the pieces of the last year, as though we are given an imaginary clean slate to begin our plans anew. I know that I’ve been spending more than a few minutes on Ravelry plotting out all the things I MUST knit this year. My intention this year is to only queue up the projects that I’ll actually do. That said, I admit that I am feeling the urge to cast on all of the things. ALL. OF. THEM. With that in mind, we’re dyeing what feels like ALL of the things so we can all do just that. We'll be bringing some of these goodies over to West Branch this Friday evening and Saturday morning at North Woods Knit & Purl. We are ecstatic to partner with this new shop in Michigan and look forward to sharing this time with other yarniacs.
What new patterns are you aching to try? What new color speaks to your soul? What WIP are you bringing back into the light of day to finish or frog into new life? Is there new type of yarn that you’re just dyeing (haha) to try out? Is there a new fiber combination that makes your hands itch (get it?) to spin anew? Tell us! We love hearing from you. We love hearing about your journey. We love building that relationship, and it feeds our soul to share in those experiences. After all, we wouldn’t have any of this without the people. There would be no yarn, fiber, patterns, or projects. We Heart you.
Happy New Year.
]]>Well, winter finally came to the Northwest Lower Peninsula here in Michigan, and it had a good chuckled too. We went from balmy 60s temperatures to frigid 20s and below in just a couple of days. I will say that this has made me want to snuggle up with my knitting for a while. So, I did. It also makes me want to break out my cross-country skis and have myself a moonlit ski....and then knit some more with hot tea.
Along with that, we’ve been dyeing all the things (some on purpose…some not so much, but still lovely) and spinning, knitting, and visiting with friends and family.
We heard from our friend Jan over at “Knitting: A Love Story” blog, and, let us tell you, she has created something just stunning! It’s a “knit the day” scarf from our own Starlit yarn in many, many colors. Check it out over at www.knittingalovestory.com. We love her – we’re sure you will too!
]]>Time is almost up to order this limited colorway!
One week from today, we will stop taking orders for our limited-run color: Spiced Cider. That gives you 7 days to order yours. We've knit up a sample cowl so you can see Spiced Cider in all its glory and how it pairs with each of the colors we've selected! We love this color so much - and we're sure you will too!
Savor $25 Sole $25 Spunky $28 Siren DK $32 Steady $25
Savor Pairing $50 Sole Pairing $50 Spunky Pairing $56 Siren DK Pairing $64 Steady Pairing $50
Happy Fall! This time of year seems so fleeting, yet somehow we’ve packed a lot of life in already. We continue to grow our business, work our desk jobs, and spend time with kids, families, and friends. Life is full, and we are always looking for ways to balance it all, savor what we can and not drown in the “busy”. This is why we love connecting with you at expos and trunk shows. This is why we knit while working - or in Kat’s case, walking! - just to finished that WIP a little sooner. This is why we wrap our loved ones in hand knits and why we snap pictures of small moments in our days - do you follow us on Instagram yet?
One of my favorite late-fall traditions is Candletime, which is a practice that helps bring a little light into the ever-darkening evenings this time of year. The idea is simple - when you come home at night, light a candle, grab a special drink, take a deep breath, and be present in just that moment. One of our favorite drinks for this special time is spiced cider - we are from Michigan after all! We sometimes reach for warm apple cider with a doughnut or indulge in hard cider spiced with cinnamon from our favorite local brewery. And because, when we get together with fiber, dye, and adult beverages, we get a little silly - and very excited to share a special little treat for this time of year!
We are offering a limited run of a new color – Spiced Cider: A warm rich cinnamon with hints of orange and blush. Starting on Halloween, and running through Cyber Monday, you can pre-order Spiced Cider in select baseweights on our Etsy site (Savor, Sole, Spunky, Steady, and Siren DK - a new base weight!). And, because one is never enough, we also offer two additional colors to pair alongside Spiced Cider, either Plum - a deep purple perfect for hats or cowls - or Patina, a steely green gray from our newest color lookbook. When the quantities run out, or Cyber Monday ends, we will stop taking orders and start working on delivery, with yarn at your door before Christmas! We hope you will indulge along with us in this savoring of late fall, crisp days, cool nights, warm woolens, glowing candles, and little treats.
Plum and Patina nestled in a pile of Spiced Cider.
It is the dog days of summer here in Michigan. We’ve been blessed with a hotter and drier summer than normal this year, which is great for the tomatoes growing in the garden. A couple weekends ago, at the Wine and Wool Festival in Jackson, we huddled under our booth tent while storm after summer storm rolled through - once it cleared up, the sun came out and suddenly it felt as though we were selling yarn in a steamy sauna. A chilled glass of riesling helped - we were at a winery after all!
I’m currently knitting a cardigan, and yesterday at the beach the sun beat down on me while I held a large pile of wool on my lap. Why work wool in the summer, when the temperatures climb and most people strip down to bathing suits? Here in Traverse City, even as the days fill up with lake swims, bonfires and ice cream scoops, during the month of August we notice a subtle shift in the evening. The sunset ends slightly earlier. The heat breaks for a morning and, reminded of fall, we pull on a layer. The relentless wave of tourists suddenly slows as soon as the dreaded back-to-school routine begins. Summers are glorious, but fleeting. I know I’ll be shaking sand out of that cardigan when the first frost hits. For now I’ll set it aside between rows of colorwork to jump in Lake Michigan and cool off.
We’ll be selling yarn, fiber and notions at the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan this weekend (August 20-21). Even if it's hot and sticky, we’d love to see you and talk about your fall fiber projects. We’ll have several new colorways for fall, inspired by the change in seasons, as well as our classic favorites. See you there!
]]>Here we are again packing up the trailer in (at least) 85-degree heat and what feels like 90% humidity. Why do we do this? Because we love this. We love yarn. We love seeing other “yarnies.” We love meeting all of you face-to-face. Really, we just LOVE our job.
This time, we get to wake up with their lovely coffee and breakfast pastries, nibble on lunch vittles from their café, and luxuriously taste wine and cheeseboards for the afternoon – all surrounded by yarn, roving, wool, and fiber supplies and tools of all kinds! Because, really, what could be better than coffee, yarn, wine, AND food in one place? Pretty much nothing in my book.
Don’t miss your chance to take in the view, stroll the vineyard, learn something new…and pick up some yarns in colors that you won’t find in any store (you know, the colors we save just for you!).
Here's your reminder to get over to Sandhill Crane Vineyard TOMORROW for their fabulous July Wine & Wool Festival from 10-5. Because, really, what better way to celebrate than with a toast and a knitting circle? Do you need a little coffee first? No problem. Their cafe has you covered with both beverage and lunch stuffs! Trust me. You won't want to miss this.
Visit the Sandhill Crane Vineyard's event page for
more information, or check out their event on Facebook!
Need 3, 5, 12 skeins that match? No problem.
Acorn |
Blue Jean Baby |
Antique Violet |
We know the frustration of working for hours on a large project only to find that the last couple of skeins just don't match quite right. We've got you covered.
Introducing dyed-to-order from Why Knot Fibers.
Pick from any of our colorways, and we'll dye a little or a lot, whatever you need, just for you. Now you can start that next project with confidence knowing that all of your yarn will match because it's from your own dye lot!
Click here to head over to our website and order any of our signature colors!
Order Shire (Pictured above) or
any of our signature colors
You can feast your eyes (and your fingers) on our rainbow of colorways in person at Sandhill Crane Vineyards' Wine & Wool Festival Next Saturday, July 30th and the Michigan Fiber Festival August 19th-21st
]]>If you’ve been on our Etsy shop lately, you may have noticed a new category called “Oops-ertunity.” This the same quality of yarn (the same yarn in fact!), but the color is not quite a match to our colorway, so, we’re taking our “oops” moments and turning them into opportunities for you to get some sweet, sweet yarn at a bit of a discount. Curious? Slid on over to our Etsy Shop now to see what we’ve posted this week.
Also, come see us in Jackson on July 30th at Sandhill Crane Vineyard’s Summer Wine & Wool Festival to see what new and fun items we’ll have….
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