Tag Archives: FibreTown

We’re back!

Good Morning Friends and welcome back, I mean me! My sincerest apologies for the absence but we have literally been without internet for 31 days! What didn’t help was lots of snow and icy road conditions, making going out difficult, too. In this rural location, we rely on the cell tower for our businesses’  communications, internet, weather, news, etc.  (In one conversation with an AT&T representative, “Paul” remarked that he was looking at a computer map that shows cell strength.  He said that around us it was completely white.  I asked, “What does that mean?”  “It means nothing, it means you have nothing,” was his reply.)

As you know, we had already been having AT&T tower problems for the last few months. The entire tower crashed, however, exactly two weeks before Christmas. I had several Christmas blogs in mind that will have to wait for next year, such as how to make Christmas Stollen, a German holiday bread studded with candied fruits and filled with almond paste. 

So time to catch up on some other news, as well as four weeks of Emily Estrada’s Fibretown Podcast :)

Meduseld is thrilled to be an advertiser inWild Fibers Magazine’s Tenth Anniversary Issue. I have been reading this magazine since before we even started up making yarn, and it is like traveling overseas without leaving the comfort of your living room. It covers diverse natural fibers all over the globe. My only complaint is that they don’t cover the wonderful domestic farms very often, but hopefully there will be more attention given to our own country’s fantastic (albeit struggling) fiber industry in the future.   Look for our ad in this issue, which contains a link to our free Icicle Shawl Pattern. 

We were not idle while the net was down. I started some seed trays for a friend who is firing up her own “high tunnel” or hoop house. While most of the seedlings are coming up fine, I have had the most frustrating time keeping a mouse out of the cucumber and squash trays, having to replant each time some four legged creature makes a feast of my seeds. I even put the four legs of the table in buckets of water and the little varmint still gets to them. BTW, sprinkling hot red pepper over the dirt doesn’t stop the mice either. I have now planted those trays for the fourth time. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Coming up: Maple syrup making, new yarn I am expecting from the mill, gardening plans for 2014, and some recipes I have been testing while things were “quiet.”

Meduseld on Fibretown Podcast

Meduseld was included on Emily Estrada’s latest Fibretown Podcast!

If you are not watching her podcast yet, I urge you to watch an episode.  One episode and you’ll be hooked!  Emily is engaging and skilled, and it is always inspirational to see her latest projects.

In this episode “Gifted,” Emily shows some of Meduseld’s products including maple syrup, a beeswax candle, and a custom skein of Romney in a colorway made with Emily in mind, but that happens to also match the Meduseld logo.   It is in rich gold, deep royal purple with splashes of burgandy, and Bavarian Forest green.

Meduseld Romney emily

The Romney yarn is a fun, highly dyeable yarn.  If you would like your own custom skein please email me at meduseld@live.com.  Not only can I make custom lengths so your projects will have no knots, but I can dye it in custom shades. 

 

Flower Fairy

As you know, I am inspired by Emily Estrada’s podcast FibreTown.  In a recent podcast, she showed an adorable knit tulip fairyshe made based on a whimsical and imaginative book by Susan B. Anderson, called Topsy Turvy Inside-Out Toys. 

topsy turvey

Emily’s work was adorable and I decided instantly to make one as a birthday present for our little Sprite.  Trouble is, I can’t knit like that, at least not in 3-D  shapes.  Rectangles and triangles are about my skill level in knitting, so I decided to see if I could crochet one of these little fairies.

I started foraging for yarn ends to use and found that I did not have the colors that were in my imagination.  I also wanted to make her with some sparkle and definition.  I settled on crochet lace thread and sequins.  Here she is, finished just in time for our own little fairy’s birthday.

crocheted fairy

 

I started at the crown of her head and worked single crochets down with gradual increases.  Her “nose” is two double crochets joined liked a popcorn stitch.

I liked Emily’s idea of adding wings.  I made these by modifying an Irish crochet lace pattern.  They have the Irish rose in the middle, and arches and picots that are so abundant in Irish lace. 

Irish crochet fairy wings

I attached over 300 pieces of “hair” hooking them like a rug through her crocheted “scalp.”  This will hold them tightly for a child’s use.

fairy hair

Since the theme of the book is Topsy Turvy, I also made this fairy to be flipped over, her dress becoming the petals of a flower.  I made the stem into a loop so that the fairy can be carried over a wrist.

fairy over

I recommend this book even if you crochet.  It is filled with creative ideas that can be converted from knitting to crochet.  And, these are excellent gifts and provide a terrific way to use up ends of yarn from other projects.  I am placing the book in Meduseld’s Amazon Store.

 

Meduseld Worsted Romney Yarn on FibreTown

Meduseld worsted romney yarn

The most recent FibreTown podcast showed two of Meduseld’s yarns.  Emily Estrada, with FibreTown, will be offering a choice of either to the winner of a drawing she will have when she reaches 100 members on her Ravelry group.  As of today her group called fiber town podcast has 91 members, so it won’t be long.  Make sure you go and join up.  It is a fun, active group where people share their FO’s (finished objects) and their WIP’s (works in progress)  Emily has many skills that she shares and its a good way to learn about some of the yarns and rovings that are available.

One of the yarns Emily showed was Meduseld’s Worsted Romney yarn in 200 yard skeins.  Here I have made some swatches that show how it knits and crochets.  But first, a picture of its luxurious drape.

Meduseld Worsted Yarn

The first swatch was knit on U.S. size 7 knitting needles which would be 4.5 mm.  This worsted yarn has approximately 12 wraps and the suggested needle size is between 7 and 9 – U.S.  As you can see in the picture, it has remarkable sheen.  This swatch has some stretch and has a lovely handle.

Worsted Romney Knit Swatch

The next swatch was crocheted on a size G (4mm) hook, and created a nice tight fabric.  The stitches are all double crochet.  You could certainly use a larger hook, and projects made with this should work up quickly.

Worsted Romney Crocheted

 

We will be listing this yarn on Ravelry.com for the members who want to be able to identify it with their projects.  It is available to buy in our store here. 

 

FibreTown Follows up on Jacob Roving

Emily Estrada of FibreTown, follows up on her January 30, 2013 about Meduseld’s Jacob roving.  She demonstrates the yarn and the wool hat that she has made out of the roving.   You see it in this podcast:

 FibreTown Podcast February 13, 2013

Emily discusses an upcoming prize give-away she will have when she reaches 100 members.  The prize will be Meduseld yarn.  Sincere thanks to Emily for telling everyone about our farm!

You can visit Emily’s blog at: http://fibretown.blogspot.com/, and you can find her on ravelry as chainoffools.

Here’s her St. Valentine’s Day greeting…

 

Chainoffools St. Valentine's Day Greeting

Chainoffools St. Valentine’s Day Greeting

We have added some more Romney roving to the store, as well as some 100 percent Romney in worsted weight.  These are soft, shiny, 200 yard skeins that weigh   3.5 oz (approx 100g) each, and are priced at only $15.00 per skein.  If you want to buy more than three skeins, please email and I will take off $1.50 per skein.  Click on the Meduseld Farm Store link to the right.

 

Romney yarn - 200 yard skeins

Romney yarn – 200 yard skeins

A few weeks ago, I showed everyone how to dye wool using Cushing Perfection Dyes.  One of the colors I used was a brilliant canary yellow, although they had it called “chartreuse.”  I had visions in my head of carding it with an aquamarine that I had done last year, and I thought that triple plying those would create a beautiful, springlike effect.  Well, no more….

My yarn! Ahhhh!

My yarn! Ahhhh!

Yes!  My dog, Beowulf, had other ideas.  He took the bag of fleece off the front porch and dragged it out into the yard to play with!  Bad doggy! 

 Happy St. Valentine’s Day to everyone!

 

Meduseld Jacob Roving Featured in Fibretown

logo_meduseld150B

 

We were thrilled (and grateful) to learn that Meduseld’s Jacob wool was recently covered in Emily Estrada’s blog, Fibretown.  I remember Emily at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival and I think there’s another bottle of maple syrup in her future:)  She discusses the roving and even our maple syrup at about minute 13:00.   Watch until she talks about the maple syrup!

FibreTown Video

Emily is a serious fiber artist with many skills and she profiles projects and different kinds of yarn and roving that she uses in her knitting, weaving, and spinning projects. 

She is also on Ravelry.com where she has a strong following.   On Ravelry, look for chainoffools in people or fibre town podcast in groups.

And here is a link to her blog.  http://fibretown.blogspot.com/

We still have some roving available in our store.  This particular roving was a mix of two lavender grey jacobs we have.  These two Jacobs  are also the source for Meduseld’s pale grey Jacob yarn.  Click on the link to the Meduseld Farm Store to to your right.  In the next few days, you can also find the maple syrup :)