Minnesota Spring, Fleece, and How to Discover the State...

Spring has sprung here in Minnesota, and aside from no more snow, greening up grass, and budding trees, it is also the time when sheep get sheared and fiber abounds. 

Last week my daughter and I headed out on my second annual fiber buying trip. Hailey was on spring break, and between the good weather and rumors of fresh fleece, baby lambs, and a new puppy in the air, we planned a road trip out to north central Minnesota. 

The sky was bright, the roads were clear, and my car was fully fueled. We had two farms to visit, and our maps were in hand. This day was going to be ours to build memories.

Our first stop was estimated to be two and a half hours away from where we live. Three and a half hours later we found ourselves helplessly lost after taking a wrong turn outside of Osakis, missing a turn due to a wonky map, and then losing all access to cell phone reception. Hungry and in need of a "pit stop", we chose to find the closest city. Thankfully that was Eagle Bend, the city just outside of our first stop.
 
We pulled into a gas station to try and get directions. Within minutes the awesome folks in the gas station were opening maps, checking their GPS, and calling friends and family on local farms to try and get me back on the right path. Fortunately the neighbor of the farm I was looking for walked in. He chuckled, and then drew me a map of how to reach the farm we were looking for. To make sure that we didn't lose this precious scrap of paper, I ran it out to my car and set it on the dashboard.

Of course, we were hungry by now. Fortunately there was a cafe hooked on to the gas station. We went in, sat down, and I made the joke that "... I should have taken a left in Kukamonga."Hailey was not impressed. (Laughter)

We gobbled up lunch, hit the facilities, and headed out to the car. The wind had REALLY picked up by now. As I opened my car door I noticed an updraft that blew my maps into the air, including our precious hand drawn map. And it was at this moment that Hailey and I had a slow motion "Hollywood Moment". As she opened her door, the papers fluttered wildly and were sucked out her door in a whirling vortex, blowing all over the dirt parking lot. I shouted for Hailey to try and capture the map. And, THANK GOD she is super athletic.

After sprinting, dodging, stomping, diving, and lunging after that map, she finally managed to get her hands on it. And, like the bad mom I so often am, I couldn't stop laughing at her hustle. It reminded me of an old time film where Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, or Laurel and Hardy try to chase down a hat blown away by a strong breeze...

 

... And again, Hailey was not impressed. (giggle-snort)

Nerves calmed, maps TIGHTLY in hand, we headed out. And in 10 minutes we found ourselves pulling into the driveway of the first farm, Flat Rock Farms. This lovely little farm is owned by the Ayers family, former residents of the suburb where we currently live. Diane quickly greeted us and took us to see her flock, and miniature Llama "Santiago", in the barn. She had one new lamb (Zelda), and was waiting on the birth of six to seven more.


After about an hour, she pulled out the fleece that I had reserved weeks earlier. I had a 7 lb Jacob's Ram fleece waiting for me from "Elliot", and a 10 lb Border Leicester fleece from "Gwendolyn", who was a happy, food loving ewe after my own heart.

A sneak preview of the Border Leicester
fleece that I had purchased. Look at that staple!

"Elliot" the Jacob's ram is on the left.
Notice his multiple horns. The Jacob's
sheep can grow up to 8 horns total.

Lydia's Flock. Photo by E. Katie Holm

 Before too long we headed out to farm #2. This was going to be MUCH easier to find as it was literally right outside of Little Falls, MN. Within 30 minutes we found ourselves pulling into the unmistakable Icelandic sheep farm of Lydia and Jared Strand. 
As we pulled up to the house, we were greeted by a diverse flock of freely foraging chickens of all sizes, shapes, and colors, closely followed by Penny the Corgi, and Lydia. 

On of the ladies waiting
to deliver her lambs.

We were quickly taken to the barn to see the sheep close up. At that time, Lydia was waiting for 30 of her ewes to deliver their lambs. She fortunately had one white ewe had delivered two black lambs, which was pretty much the cutest thing ever. And I honestly believe that it was in that barn that my little city girl was transformed forever. 





After a brief conversation with her ewe, Lydia picked up a lamb and handed it to Hailey to hold. My kiddo was just tickled to bits, melted entirely, and you could see bliss just fill her. And I don't think she will ever be the same. 

This lovely little lamb was a good and strong, but oh so peaceful. You could feel the little horns forming on her head already. She was solid black, and her sister had a little smudge of white on her head. Just precious I tell you.

We also got to go into the hen house,  and Hailey got to hold fresh, warm eggs right out of the roosts of the hens. She was pretty much in awe of this.

I wonder how many other city kids got to do this over their spring break?

After a nice tour of the farm, and an opportunity to meet their new resident, a Vietnamese Pot Belly pig, we headed indoor to talk about yarn. See, Lydia's Flock isn't just about having beautiful animals as pets. Her flock is about the whole animal, all of the gifts they have to offer, especially when they are happy, healthy, and allowed to live in as much of a loving environment as possible. And this level of love, care, and knowledge shows in the yarns that are produced from the fleece of her sheep.

Last fall I picked up the fleece of her only black ewe. On this particular day I was fortunate enough to pick up several hanks of yarn in an array of colors. I even managed to get my hands on some glorious wool blend sock yarn. My goal was to get her yarns back to the Twin Cities area, and available to people here immediately via my online shop, The Palette and Purl.

Natural cocoa brown, Natural Grayish White, Natural Gray, and Natural colored/Oatmeal sock yarn

As we wrapped up our business and headed out, we chose to stop and get a bite to eat before starting the long trek back home. And it was at this point, over dinner, that my kiddo looked at me from across the table and said...

"I had a GREAT time with you today Mom.

We need to do this again sometime soon."

Mom for the win. ^_^

P.S. I will be washing and cleaning fleece over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more details on how to get your hands on locally grown, sustainably raised, lovingly cared for fleece.

Get it Clean, get it Free - Dish Scrubbers Pattern...

2015 has been off to a solid start so far, filled with projects both big and small. And, while I both knit and crochet, I've had a lot more crochet commissions as of late, and that's pretty great. Perhaps the biggest commission request I get is for dish scrubbers. And yes, while you CAN go out to the store and just buy scrubbers, who doesn't love a little self sufficiency and creative expression in the common place. I meant, really. How many kitchens truly match those lovely yellow and green commercially produced scrubbers?

I've also just received word that March in National Crochet Month. And to mark the occasion, I've detailed my process so that you can make your own scrubbers in just about every palette imaginable.

To make your scrubbers you need the following materials and tools (shown to the left):

- Cutting Surface

- Straight Edged Ruler or t-square

- Scissors or Rotary Cutting Tool

- Size H/8 Crochet Hook

- 100% Cotton Yarn

- 2 yards Coarse Tulle

Begin by laying out your folded up tulle and, using a straight edged ruled and rotary cutter, cut the tulle in 1-1.5" strips. This part CAN frazzle you as the tulle tends to get caught up on itself, the scissors, your clothing, etc. This is where a good straight edged tool can really help out by holding the it flat and keeping the uncut portion away from the cut ribbons. What you end up with will be a pile of ribbon cut tulle that looks like a giant mess.

In this next step, you will want to tie together the ribbons of tulle into a ball to work from. I have found that most tulle is just too thin and soft to use as a single ribbon. So, I double mine up. Start by taking four pieces of ribbon. Layer two together, and then tie the bundle of ribbons end to end with a good knot. Trim off the excess tails for a smoother ribbon. Wind your work as you add on more tulle to prevent an irritating mess.

Once you've completed the cutting, tying and winding, you're ready to start making your scrubber!

This is visually what ought
 to happen to your work.

Starting Row: Hold netting and yarn together and create a slip knot as your beginning loop. Chain 5. Join with a slip stitch to form a circle. Chain 1.

Round One: 8-10 single crochet in the center of the ring. (How ever many that you can fit) Join with a slip stitch to form a ring. Chain 1.

Round Two: 2 Single crochet in each space of the previous row. Join with a slip stitch to complete row. Chain 1.

Round Three: 2 single crochet in the very next space. Then, [*1 Single crochet in the next space, 2 single crochet in the following space*] Repeat this pattern to end. Join with a slip stitch. Chain 1.

Round Four: Single crochet in each space. Join with a slip stitch. Chain three.

Round Five: You will now form the sides of the scrubber. Double crochet in each space around. Join with a slip stitch. Chain 1.

Round Six: Single crochet in each space. Chain 1

Now that you have formed the top and sides, it's time to form the backside by reducing the work...

Round 7: Begin to reduce this side down by using a single crochet stitch to crochet 2 together all the way around. Join with a slip stitch.

Repeat “Round 7” until you have closed off your scrubber.

Now that the scrubber has been formed, it is time to secure the stitching and flatted out that shape. Using either your crochet hook OR a tapestry needle, run your fiber through each side of the scrubber a few times to create a flattened shape. I've tried my best to illustrate this in my photo. Once the final stitching has been secured with one last knot, I like to pull any remaining tail through the scrubber and out the side, where I neatly trim off the ends. Also, At this point feel free to squish, pull, and reshape your scrubber into a nice round, flat shape, and then...

TO-DAAAAH!!!! You have now completed your scrubber!

NOW, feel free to repeat this process with as many times as you can, with as many color combinations as you like. The sky's the limit here. And don't forget that these scrubbers can be tossed in your dishwasher, or hot water cycle of your dryer, and reused over and over. And once they've just plain worn out, take comfort in tossing them knowing that the cotton yarn will biodegrade leaving only a small amount of plasticky tulle business left behind. This means that, for you die hard gardeners like me, you COULD compost the scrubbers if you so desire. (This is what I've done in the summer months) OR, if you don't feel up to making your own, just drop me a line via my online shop at: The Palette and Purl

 

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial, and if you have any questions about this project, or suggested edits to improve or supplement it, please do not hesitate to drop me a line.

Sometimes you need a little manure...

NOTE: Apologies in advance for mild, colorful, yet entirely illustrative, language. 

OK. If I didn't say that the latter half of 2014 was anything BUT great, I'd be lying to you. We got the hope of a second child at the end of the summer, only to be greeted with my being laid off after 15 years of gainful employment... and then the sudden death of our unborn child. At the height of the cold winter darkness, just prior to Christmas and the New Year, we found ourselves sad, financially broke, and trying (as a family) to figure out what our next step would be.

I mean... what do you do with all of that shit??? (Yeah. I said it)

Well, I'm going to take a moment to hearken back to my formative years out on the prairie and farm lands of southern Minnesota. See, out there you've got nothing but farm, after farm. Farms for raising livestock. And farms for raising crops. Sometimes you will see farms doing both.

Now, on a typical farm, there is more than just one animal in the barnyard. We're talking 50+ of one kind of animal. And while a large head of cattle may seem like money in the bank, they produce a lot of... erhm... shit. A LOT. So much that it fill the springtime air with "Dairy Air", or derrière for that matter. (giggles)

But the farmers don't let that get them down, because that shit's useful!

No seriously. IT IS!!!!

If you remove it from the barns and compost it, you get some GREAT fertilizer. That fertilizer helps to make the crops grow, the flowering trees to produce fruit, and gardens everywhere to stretch, and reach, and make beautiful things happen. Without it... you've got dirt.

Where am I going with this? Well, we are the farmers in this life, and if you're like me, you've got a lot of that shit piled up. So, in 2015 we have decided to go forward, emotionally and financially compost it, spread it around, and allow new blessings to come up.

This past week, we entered into the new Lunar Year, the year of the Ram/Sheep. And, you guessed it, they produce a lot of good shit. So, I'm taking this new Lunar New Year as a cue to embrace that shit, and make it happen. I've begun to open up my Etsy shop more, am making more of my hand spun yarns available, have started taking on bigger commissions, and have begun to look into what possibilities, both big and small, may lie ahead for me.

But, first I need to crack out that shovel, get to work, and see how this shit fertilizes everything. (giggles)

For more information on my shop, how you can become a part of the movement, or just get to know more about me, just click on any of the product buttons below to touch base with me via my Etsy store. Or, join me on Facebook and Pinterest if you happen to be floating around those communities.