I first discovered Philsophers Wool a few years ago, when I stumbled upon a book of their Fair Isle sweater patterns in a library in Colorado. Since then I’ve admired them for their commitment to producing local, natural, and fair trade yarns–unlike most wool buyers, Philosophers Wool pays farmers a fair price for their fleece (think a couple dollars a pound, versus a few cents from most wool buyers) and still make a profit.

Last month I was staying not far from the PW farm in Kincardine, ON, and jumped at the chance to see the farm in person. What transpired was a lovely visit, including good conversation with the owners, Ann and Eugene, a tour of the farm, and the chance to model their newest sweater designs in exchange for some yarn (look for me on the new sweater kits if you see their booth at Rhinebeck this year). The local/organic ham sandwich Ann made me for the drive back was a treat, too. Yum. Now for some photos:

A few members of the farm flock of Dorset sheep:

This chicken kept a close eye on me as I wandered near the coop:

The full palette of yarn colours, as seen in the foyer:

I also bought some roving, since I couldn’t resist the opportunity to spin some of their wool myself. It’s now spun, skeined, and waiting to be made into hats or mittens (or possibly sold as is).

Clearly I deserve some sort of award for Blog Neglect, but the briefest of updates as to my goings-on in fibre arts these days:

- More classes at Ariadne;

- Potential involvement in an upcoming issue of Twist Collective;

- Devoting time to building an inventory to sell at Puces Pop this October (hopefully);

- Handpainted spinning fibre. By me.

With all this going on, I think I need a real website…

I’m excited to say that I will be teaching an intermediate level spinning class, Spin 102, at Ariadne Knits in June. Having taught a lot of people the basics of spinning, I’m happy the lovely ladies of Ariadne are having me back for a workshop on fine-tuning your spinning skills: it’ll cover different drafting styles, working with fibres other than wool, and other skills for creating the yarns you want. There will be lots of fun fibre to play with, including carbonised bamboo and hand-blended batts.

I’ve been having such a fun time teaching my learn-to-spin classes, so it’s great to be able to offer something at the next level. There’s another workshop in the works at Ariadne too… one on working with raw fleece and fibre preparation. Look for info on that next month!

I’ve been working my way through a pile of old issues of Spin-Off magazine, courtesy of the local guild library. There are quite a few articles on teaching spinning (of particular interest to me these days) as well as some wonderful technical articles. Dense, jam-packed information; a real pleasure to have access to these. I like the current form of Spin-Off, but I’d love to see a return to more technical articles. Anyway, a few little things I’ve noticed:

- The folks who make the amazing Pat Green Carders have been using the same photographs in their ads since at least 1983;

- I know moths are the bane of every handspinner and woolworker, but the repeated advice in those early 1980s issues to store mothballs with your fleeces and yarns is really scary. I found one mention of the potential toxicity of naphthalene and p-dichlorobenzene (the chemicals in mothballs), but I think there’s good reason this recommendation doesn’t ever show up in Spin-Off today (the incidence of hemolytic anemia, especially in children, after exposure to naphthalene should be enough to dissuade any fibre artist from keeping it in their home… at least I hope so).

- Man, did people ever like spinning wool in the grease! I never spin in the grease (it gunks up my wheel, and I think you can never get the finished yarn truly clean… I even wash the dust out of my alpaca before spinning it), but I see references to it over and over. It’s something I never see in Spin-Off these days, probably because there’s so much readily available commercially-prepared fibre out there. And maybe people just realised it’s much more pleasant spinning clean fleece (at least in my opinion).

- Qiviut! For only $20/ounce! Well, back in 1983…

I was recently surprised to learn that those ubiquitous accessories of consumer culture, polyethylene plastic shopping bags, have been banned in multiple countries (unfortunately not the US or Canada). They’ve been banned for good reason, as not only are they cluttering up both cities and countryside, choking animals and contaminating soil as they photodegrade into small toxic bits, but they’re also largely implicated in the formation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I see no reason for plastic shopping bags to continue to exist, as the reusable alternatives are both inexpensive and convenient. Now, as for my part in all this:

This is my version of the Saturday Market Bag. It’s knit from organic cotton and stretches to hold a rather large amount of stuff, yet it squashes down to a small and portable size. I modified the original pattern by using a toe-up sock cast-on so as to knit it in the round (I hate seaming, and a seamless bag is a stronger construction anyway), and grafted the handles to the edge of the bag using Kitchener stitch. This is a great summer project and I’ve already started making a couple more using up some cotton yarn in my stash.

Even though the phrase ‘carbon footprint’ has only recently entered my official vocabulary, for a long time I’ve made the effort to shop locally whenever possible, especially when it comes to food. It makes a lot of sense to me: things are fresher (and often therefore healthier), there’s a better chance that small-scale farms are profiting as opposed to large corporations, and less fuel is consumed getting items from the producer to me.

I’ve met a number of people lately who’ve been applying the same concept to their yarn/fibre buying habits: only buy locally produced yarn, from within a 100-mile (or 160 km) radius of where you live, and I’ve been toying with doing the same thing. Since I spin and now make the lion’s share of my knitting yarn from raw fleece, I’d have an easier time of this than someone who relied on a mill for their yarn–there are far more sheep farms than woollen mills out there. I’m not sure I’m ready to take on this challenge, but I’d be interested to hear from people who have:

What are your criteria for the 100-mile yarn diet? Does the yarn you buy have to be milled within 100 miles of you, or is yarn that’s milled elsewhere but dyed locally (I’m thinking of my own love for Rubber Grapefruit here) be acceptable? What about grown locally but spun elsewhere? I’m curious to find out what others have done with this.

Seriously, I do. I’ve taught two classes at Ariadne Knits so far, with another scheduled for early May and more in the works. The response from my students has been overwhelmingly positive and I’ve loved being able to share the craft with others. I’ve noticed that people generally start out the class a little nervous, unsure of what they’re doing and how to get from fluffy unspun wool to yarn. However, there’s this moment where everything clicks and people smile and relax and suddenly they can’t stop spinning. I scheduled a break during the second class and announced, “Okay, now we’ll break for 15 minutes and there will be no official instruction. Feel free to get coffee or snacks, or keep spinning if you want.” Just about everyone kept spinning which, when I think about it, is exactly what I did when I was taking spinning classes too.

Not only does it feel great to teach others and have them fall in love with the craft, but I’ve met a lot of wonderful people through these classes as well. I’ve been making a lot of new friends and connections, and it’s exciting to be involved in the fibre arts scene as it starts to really take off in this area (Ontario/Quebec), and in spinning itself (which I see as about to become ‘the new knitting’).

I’ll be doing one more beginning spinning class at Ariadne in June and adding in a Spin 102 class as well, and meanwhile I’m starting up some beginning spinning classes at Workshop Boutique here in Ottawa. It’s keeping me busy but I love it.

Photo from my first class at Ariadne Knits.

For a while I’ve noticed that there aren’t a lot of opportunities to learn to spin in this region, which surprised me given this area’s long history of fibre arts activities. There are a couple of guild-affiliated classes around, but they tend to be expensive and offered more for guild members rather than the general public. So, a couple of months ago I started posting on message boards on Ravelry about looking for a place to host a spinning workshop. The owners of Ariadne Knits graciously offered me the time and space at their shop, and as of now I’m scheduled to be teaching there (scroll down to get to my class) at least once a month. I’ll be teaching afternoon workshops on beginning spinning on a drop spindle (with the possibility of other topics in the future) and as of now, my March and April classes are fully booked. It’s exciting to be be able to share my spinning knowledge with people in a fun, affordable way, and at such a great venue. It’s funny that I couldn’t find anywhere in Ottawa to do the workshops but easily found a place in Montreal. Not that I mind going to Montreal at least once a month! I’ll post pictures after the first class.

I have so many friends who are having kids right now (and oddly, all of them have had girls so far), so it’s bootie/baby sock mania for me. I found this pattern for lacy baby socks and quickly knit up this pair:

The pattern calls for size 0 needles and the smallest I have are 2’s, so the socks would fit a toddler better than a baby. I also added an extra row to the heel flap in order to avoid the ridge of reverse stockinette on the heel of the original pattern. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill’s Supersock (hand-dyed, machine washable, and soft–perfect for baby gifts) in the Dusk colourway and was purchased at Ariadne Knits in Montreal. Ariadne’s been an online shop for a while but only recently opened the doors of their brick-and-mortar shop. I have to say, I was really impressed with the shop. It has a very inviting layout that’s both airy (with the huge windows and uncluttered shelves) and cosy (with the woodstove and places to sit). The owners have done a great job stocking popular yarns that can’t be found elsewhere in Montreal (Cherry Tree Hill, Lorna’s Laces, and O-Wool, to name a few) as well as offering creative patterns exclusive to the shop, classes with well-known fibre artists and designers, and fun extras like embroidery kits. Although I went in just looking for a skein of yarn, I ended up spending a couple hours chatting, knitting, and drinking coffee with the owners. It’s definitely going to be a stop on my itinerary every time in Montreal.

I need to blog more pictures, including the other booties I’ve been working on, as well as my new spinning wheel(!). Unfortunately these past several weeks’ worth of grey, dim weather have meant the lighting in my apartment has been terrible for photos. There was actually about 15 minutes of sunshine this morning but I missed my opportunity with the camera. Maybe this is a good impetus for me to build a lightbox.

The wee tiny socks, ready for their new role as mail art:

My first attempt at using watercolours since kindergarten. Oh, and that’s a ship diagram between the socks (with navigational lights).