Our Story So Far ...

If you've been been following my Kitchen and Garden Blog, At Home On Paradise Cove, you know that I am an avid gardener.  A while back I started learning about saving seeds. A Google search on how to store them brought up an article on pine needle baskets (that’s how Native Americans stored some of their seeds). Of course I had to know more about these baskets. I found online instructions, ordered the really long pine needles; but I needed something to stitch them together with. I remembered that there was a yarn shop in Allyn so on that fateful day I walked into the store, found some lovely ribbon that would work for my project ....

The yellow and orange ribbon in my basket.

 I walked around the store and noticed the display of spinning wheels. I stood there and looked at them and after a while Lois (the store owner) noticed the puddle of drool collecting on the floor. She came over and chatted for a while and she started spinning her web (Lois is good … she’s really good). She mentioned that there is a second Tuesday of the month spinning group and if I wanted to come she would lend me a wheel … 

Merry Christmas!  Taffy was more interested in the alpaca fiber that the wheel ...

With a little practice I was soon spinning yarn.

 At a subsequent visit to the my LYS in Allyn I discovered bottles of dye so of course I needed them so I could create my own colors of roving. That was fun ...

but, well, acid dyes aren't really good for the planet so I started researching natural dyes. And was hooked again...

Logwood dyed batts, silk and yarn.

The seeds for Dyer's Garden have been started in the greenhouse and will go into their beds in the spring.

In the meantime I was starting to build up a really big stash of yarn...

I don’t knit. I have tried … I hate trying to follow a pattern … and rip it out … try again … rip it out. I can make a scarf … garter stitch. Period. So, I had a lot of yarn … and I noticed an advertisement in Spin Off magazine for a loom...

While all this was going on I discovered a group of local spinners that meet in the Belfair library once a month and started joining them.  Last summer I was going through my fiber stash and discovered some super wash merino roving which I knew I would never use.  I put a notice on the Spinster's Ravelry board that I would like to trade it for something else.  Suzanne Griffith offered me part of a Border Leicester fleece ... a fleece?  That's like right off the sheep, isn't it?  And I am off again ...

Her name is "Caramel".  She lives in Montana and she sent me her coat ...

"Caramel"

So, that should bring us all up to date.  Up next:

In Search of Fleece ... Golden or Otherwise ...

Enjoy!