Happy Saturday! I hope you are doing really well.

Virtu-Wool Festival

This morning, I got to take part in Virtu-Wool, an online fiber festival taking place on Facebook live. It’s actually still going on through tomorrow with each participant spending 45 minutes showing what they have to offer and doing demonstrations. Here is the link to the event on Facebook. You have to click on Discussion to see the presentations, and it has been a delight seeing the other vendors’ amazing work.

To tell the truth, I was quite nervous. This introvert has never done even recorded video much less live video. I was so worried that I would run out of things to talk about, but given the length of my typical newsletter, maybe I shouldn’t have worried! I actually ran out of time before I ran out of topics, but that’s okay. I showed a couple ways to take apart an art batt to spin and also talked about different types of hand-dyed colorways, and then I gave a tour of my backyard booth.

I’m really grateful to Lorna of Bewitched Pigments for organizing this!

Here is my video from this morning:

In case you can’t see the embedded video, here’s a link to it on Facebook.

Les Misérables Collection

A couple years ago, I created a yarn collection based on the characters from Les Misérables on Cashmere Sock, and this week I decided to bring a few of them back into the shop on Sock Perfection this time around. From left to right you can see Javert, Jean Valjean, and Cosette.

You can see them in the New This Month section of my shop or theSock Perfection collection.

I think these three would be fantastic together as a shawl, don’t you? I actually think Joji Locatelli’s Suburban Wrap would be a great choice given the distinct colorways.

Javert is all black and white because he just cannot see the good that Jean Valjean does and keeps hunting him regardless. Jean Valjean is a very dramatic colorway that matches his complex personality. There is red for passion, purple for his self-sacrificing nature, gold for his goodness of heart, blue for loyalty, white for virtue, and black for the darkness of his life.

For Cosette, I dyed her colorway with purple for self-sacrificing love, pink for gentleness, blue for loyalty, and white for purity. Cosette actually sold out this morning, but I’ll be making more very soon. If you need it, feel free to email me so I can put it at the top of my dye list.

Hand-Dyed Polwarth Top

I also dyed up some more organic Polwarth top in my Nebula colorway. This is the fiber I like to recommend for beginning spinners because it is almost as soft as merino, but the longer staple length makes it easier for new spinners. It’s also just one of my favorite fibers because it has fantastic loft and squish. Here’s the new colorway:

More Yarn

I am going to be placing an order for some more So Silky Sock and Squoosh DK in the next couple days. I would love to get your feedback on whether you use DK yarn in the summertime or not so I can decide whether to get a lot or a little.

That’s about all for today. Have a great weekend, and stay well!