The Big Picture--Being a Shepherd's Friend

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my business and the art I produce for spinners, knitter and fiber artists. Bear with me as I delve into the how's and why's of my business, Inspiration Fibers.

As a "mission statement", my shop has a purpose of educating fiber artists about the different characteristics of breeds of sheep while using a method that supports small farming in America.

All across the nation, there has been a snow-balling movement to focus on "local", or at least American. There are groups of thought ranging from buying only American-made products to buying only products made/grown within 100 miles of where you live.

"Sparkles" from Whispering Pines Shetland Farm. Her fleece will be featured in October!

As a business owner, I decided I needed to find my place within this movement to base my shop on. And, as a soon-to-be shepherd, it only makes sense for me to support small farming in America. I think spinners and knitters want to support these small farms, as evidenced by the huge turn-out at fiber festivals over the past few years, but not all are up for the labor-intensive wool washing process or have the equipment for carding large quantities.

When I originally began my Etsy shop, I purchased wholesale roving and yarn from a large wholesaler that imports from England. I was able to provide high-quality wool at reasonable prices. Great business model, but I found I was excluding myself from a group of artists and consumers that were more focused on the big picture. And I wanted to be a part of that group! These are things I truly believe in and needed my lifestyle and art to reflect those beliefs.

Romney batts from "Honey Bear" of Long Meadow Farm

Now I purchase, at retail price, fleeces from small farms that focus on a single breed of sheep. Beyond supporting the shepherds, by focusing on a single breed, I can provide a monthly breed study for spinners and knitters. All my "Sherpherds' Friend" products come with information about the farm (and sometimes the actual sheep) and the breed. I wash, dye, pick and card all the wool myself. Every lock of wool had passed through my hands at least four times, and sometimes it's hard for me to let go of the finished batts!

All Shepherds' Friend products come with educational and informational material

Feel free to click around my blog to learn more about the Shepherds' Friend program, and see the first month's pages dedicated to Corriedale sheep, Argvarden and their sheep, Elsa. Romney from Long Meadow Farm will be up soon.

Creating a Signature Yarn

It's a Fiber Arts Friday and Crafty Friday! Click on the links to check out all the other great blogs that are spreading some fiber-y goodness around the world today! Better yet, join in!

I know that the title of this post sounds a little high and mighty, but I've been trying to work on getting a green yarn that is "me" for my Etsy shop banner and my blog banner. I was going to use Corriedale because I've been saving some back for myself to make a sweater, but I just couldn't get the right "pop" with it; mainly because Corriedale is one of the finer medium wools and has low luster. Wonderful to wear, kinda boring to photograph.

So I decided to play with some of the Romney that I recently dyed, and created a nice green yarn with lots of sheen and I'm pretty happy with it. Amazingly, it includes equal parts emerald, teal, gold, dark brown and dark blue. I love blending colors on a drum carder: it's just wonderful how you can acheive a solid color from afar, but up close it's full of complex colors.

I left the yarn on my niddy noddy and took some preliminary photos for a banner. The ones here won't work for the shape of a banner, but they were so pretty, I had to share!

Romney Yarn on Niddy NoddyWith roving in backgroundMy logo is finished, and today I'll be working on incorporating photos with the logo and getting all my sites looking pretty. Not really a very fiber-y Friday to-do list, but worth the work!

My Creations in the World

I love getting to see what people do with the yarn and fiber I've created. I plan, I make, I admire, then I send it off into the world to be loved by someone else. Sometimes it's hard!

One of my best friends brought over a neck warmer she's knitting for a friend, and, being the good friend that I am, I ooohed and aaaahed over it. It really was beautiful--she'd spun the yarn herself and then knit the warmer in an Entrelac pattern.

She smirked at me and said, "It's your BFL."

Oh. Don't I feel sheepish? It was a Color Blending Kit of BFL that I'd dyed more than a year ago and she bought from me. The woman she's knitting for had bought the finished yarn from her and then gave it back to have it knitted as well.

I was so pleased with myself. Especially after finding out that the woman who owns the yarn, and will soon own the neck warmer, loved the yarn so much that she took it with her to hold during her meditation sessions. That just warms my heart! Of course, the beautiful spinning  and knitting done by my friend is what makes it soft, loveable and squishy, but I'm pretty happy with my role in the finished product, too!

On top of that, I had a past customer send me a link to her Ravelry picture of her finished yarn with another of my Color Blending Kits!! It was called purple pansy and included a roving of brown and a roving of purples to be plied together.

Heiress21's Purple Pansy Hand Spun YarnThis was only her second hand spun yarn! Can you believe it? Just beautiful. AND she spins on a drop spindle. I know that's how most of us learn, but I'm still amazed at the patience you need to finish a whole skein of yarn on it. I really take my wheel for granted!

Really, I love seeing the Color Blending Kits most of all. I plan two colors to be either drafted together or plied together, and even though I base them on color theory, I really don't know what they'll be like once spun up. It's hard for me to turn some of them lose without spinning them myself. They're little mysteries that are just too tempting!

Thank you to all my past and future customers for creating such beautiful and inspiring work with my supplies!

I have a logo!

I've been working with Madeleine from Madeleine R Designs on an official logo. Here it is!!!

I can't wait to use it in a new banner and avatar! That's how I'll be spending my day!

Happy Birthday Nana! A Gift of Conceptual Knitting

Today is my mom's 60th birthday, and I can't be with her. She lives in Texas and I live in New York, so getting together right as school is starting is a little hard.

This year, we decided to treat her to a hand made gift from each of us. Hannah filled a package with a hand-sewn bunny, some shrinky-dink jewelry and a beautiful card. The boys hit the kitchen and Josh made brownies (my grandmother's recipe!) and Seth made cookies. Mike sent her a very funny book with a nice, lengthy note, and I sent her a little piece of togetherness.

Mom's lace scarf.

This is one of the most conceptual pieces of knitting I've ever done. I began by spinning up some of my own hand dyed Targhee, then I wanted a little bit of Mom to ply with it. And guess what I had in my stash? A nice, 1 oz. cloud of cashmere from Granbury, TX--the town she lives in! I had bought it the year before without a clue as to what to do with it! I hand carded it into little rolags and drafted with a long draw to make it soft and halo-y. I plied the two together for a nice, sock-weight yarn.

So I had a yarn with Mom and me twisted together, but I needed a project. I only had 2.5 oz. total. And Mom lives in Texas. It's not like she really needs a wool sweater with lace trim, or a wool hat with a decorative border. It's hot there. There's very little need for what I do!

We were packing for our July trip to Texas, and I knew I needed to start whatever it was I was going to knit, or I wouldn't get it done. (I know me!) When I found it!!! Lisa Lloyd's book A Fine Fleece, which is one of my favorites, has a great scarf pattern called Road Not Taken. On Mike's to-do list the morning we left was "make copy of this pattern." I caste-on on the plane to see Mom and Dad, and worked on it all the time we were there, not letting on that it was for her!

That was my best decision of the whole project. You know when you look at knitting you've finished how memories of what movie you watched, or what group of ladies you were with when you were knitting it come back to you? I was with my mom when I knit this. I have memories of riding in the car with her and sitting by her pool. That's such a rare thing in my life because we only see each other a few times a year. I'm so happy that I could capture that time together in knitting, and send it to her on her birthday.

"Road Not Taken" 20-row repeat scarf from the book A Fine Fleece

I mailed it earlier this week, and she opened it last night and loved it! I'm hoping she'll use her new birthday camera to take a picture of her in the scarf so I can add it here as a follow-up. Hint. Hint.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!