Ever Heard of a Urkrainian Loom? (You want to.)

Customers really have their value some days! So we're talking about this unsightly pile in my classroom, when she randomly asks me, "Have you ever heard of the Ukrainian Loom?"

"Nope."

"Well you want to."

What a tease, eh?! So the second she's checked out, all Merry-Christmas'd, and sent on her happy way, guess who rushes back to the computer to bring up YouTube and search for these mysterious Ukrainian Loom videos. Yeah... you probably guessed it.

Well, I done found this!



Ok, those of you who know me, probably know there's little love lost between me and the humble knitting loom. They are great, but not great for me. I know how to use one. I've taught all my kids. I've even contemplated dating one. But when it came time to take him home and introduce him to mom... yeah, it didn't work out. We just weren't meant for each other.

But this one? Oh my, such beautiful hooks and pins! And look! The pattern is different on each side! Such loom knitting glory!

I think I'll just spend the afternoon sitting here eating Christmas Fudge and watching this guy knit instead of digging through that scary burlap sack in the false hope that there's an operator's manual for that knitting machine buried somewhere within...

Libby Needs Her a Hat!!!

Well, like we couldn't all see it coming... The single digit highs hit and Libby's hat goes missing! Both of them, actually. So I'm wearing my ancient acrylic cabled huffler (hat/muffler) that I made in college and dreaming longingly of toasty warm wool-covered ears again.

I'm sure any normal, sane person would just get a new hat. Or at the very most, grab a skein of yarn from the shelf and quick knit one up tonight over a hot mug of gingerbread tea while watching a pleasant holiday movie. (Hee hee, okay, in my house that's probably Shaun of the Dead or American Werewolf in London...) So what does Libby do? Yeah, you got it, she starts to eye that fresh pile of Buffle Batts over in the bin waiting to be packaged and labeled. They do look delicious... Black BFL, Bamboo, Alpaca, Mohair, Camel Down, Wool Noil... slightly inclined toward striping... blue and grey... I did make an awful lot of them... Mmmmmmmmm.

Yup, I'm afraid I've repossessed two oz of them and diz'd them into roving for a lovely 2-ply. But them I'm thinking, I need ear flaps. Two ounces won't be enough... So off I go to the drum carder to whip up some more BFL/bamboo/alpaca loveliness!


I laid it out so when I diz it off it comes out ready for self-striping. I'm starting to like this plan! I've decided to do the brim and flaps in this non-noil yarn. (Especially with my mild mohair allergy. I love mohair to death, but putting that fiber anywhere near my face is a certain recipe for disaster. Grrrr. Luckily the amount of mohair is slight and pretty dander-free so I'll be okay spinning it at least!) Perhaps N-ply the stuff so I can be lazy and not divide such a small amount (it's only about 1.6 ounces.)

So now I just need to spin it up as quick as I can this afternoon so I can simmer me a cup of tea, fire up that zombie movie, and crank out a hat before amputation is necessary! I can do this... I can totally do this.




(I'm hoping to get the rest of the Buffle Batts listed over on etsy next week just in time for last-minute Christmas shopping :D )

The Not-So-Spooky Deer Wheel

Remember the plate that wanted to be a wheel so bad it climbed through a brick wall to come live in our shop instead of the antique store next door?

This plate?
Towards the end of summer the wheel design finally fell into place and we've been working on it between other jobs. The Spooky Deer just seemed way too lonely, wandering through it's blue and black bushes, searching for it's companion. So we gave him a friend. I mean really, what's better than one spooky albino deer wandering through a creepy forest filled with blue trees? TWO spooky albino deer wandering through a creepy forest filled with blue trees! How could we go wrong? Really.

So we were informed by a highly influential person that "The Spooky Deer Wheel" perhaps wasn't the best name for a spinning wheel. (Okay, it was my mom visiting us on vacation.) I needed something to put on the bin label so she'd stop pestering me and "Gemini" seemed to fit the description. It's got twins on it, and well, my mom is a Gemini so it flattered her enough so that she'd leave me alone about my mad naming skillz.

Today it got it's first touch of color! This is a blue & navy HitchHiker wheel.




We're hoping that the weather warms up just a tad and we'll have her finished next week. This wheel isn't spoken for yet and will be available for sale at that time. (She'll be priced around $600.) If you want to place dibs (half down) email us at info@Northerndyes.com