Yes, I know I'm late with this update, but I have some good news! I've been feeling well enough to get back to work processing fiber again! 😃 I forgot how much fun blending is, plus I have some pretty cool videos & photos to share with you.
We're going to be making a few really huge changes over the next 6 months or so. First is we'll be launching a brand new website, since we've outgrown Shopify. The second is that we'll be moving everything to a new state...house, mill, 2 parrots, 3 ponies, puppy and all. I'm hoping that I'll be able to put together some articles and videos during the process, but if you don't hear from me its because of that. The best way to get in touch if you need to is to send us an email [email protected].
And now, for some fibery goodness!
The new free code is FiberFun21 .
One of the key differences between cellulose fibers and wool is elasticity. Wool has a ton of curvature & crimp and its SO bouncy. Cellulose fibers are flat. They’re super soft & have amazing drape but essentially have no elasticity.
Check out how this Rambouillet/Angora yarn stretches so much farther than the Pearl/Seacell/Angelina. WOW!
How can the exact same blend make yarns that look & behave differently? There are different types of spinning frames, which affects how the yarn itself will spin. This is how these 2 yarns can both be DK weight but have very different yardage.
Then there’s how the yarn is finished. Some mills will wash & steam yarn after its spun, while others may just steam it. These yarns are from different mills that have their own processes for finishing yarn. Washing the one on the right will make it super fluffy.
Washing a yarn can transform it in surprising ways. This Mixed BFL/Rambouillet yarn transforms when its been washed & dyed. Why? Sometimes there’s some dirt left over after wool has been scoured & processed. Washing it gets any remaining stuff out and really can help a yarn come alive. This is a very gentle example of fulling, since simply adding some water fluffed the yarn up.
What yarns might not full? What yarns are made from fibers that have been specially processed to resist felting? Superwashed yarns. You can see here that these dyed Superwash Merino/Faux Cashmere yarns that I treated the same way as the Mixed BFL/Rambouillet yarns are equally bouncy as the undyed yarn.
Its so amazing how something as basic as water can give life to some fibers. This is one reason why its so important to swatch before starting a project.
I'm so excited to tell you that we're settled in and our website is open again for orders. The move was quite the adventure and its wonderful to finally be home and unpacked. These are a couple photos from December 8, showing the unpacking process. The box with the red & white tape has our mill computer on it. This computer is set up with Linux Mint & Express VPN as part of our cybersecurity strategy. Having to pack this computer was part 1 of why we had to pause online sales. We have other computers, but this is our only Linux computer. While we could have used another computer, we feel the potential cybersecurity risk wasn't worth it.
The next part was packing our current inventory. That had to go into a container of its own for transport down here to Florida. Then came the process of unpacking everything. When we're making top or blends, we use plastic cans to help hold the fiber as its going through the machine. They also work really well as packing containers! Between the cans & ...
I’m really excited that I can finally fill you in on our biggest project yet, the one I’ve been hinting at and the reason why we’ve been so quiet. We’re going to be moving south to Florida! We’re doing this for several reasons, most importantly being that the climate down south is a lot friendlier for fiber processing and that same climate is a lot better for my health. I have basically had to figure things out myself with some pretty serious health issues, since it seems like the entire world has gone insane and the doctors up here can’t think critically anymore. Its a sad state of affairs, but it’s turned out to be a good thing since my health has been the primary motivator to us moving. I’m really, really looking forward to living in a place where I can be healthier and also be able to process fiber without having to battle so hard for enough humidity.
We are going to be at Rhinebeck this year, virtually, and we’ll be kicking that off within the next few days. We ...
Today is the day where I put the finishing touches on our brand new website! While it might not be the prettiest site, it is a lot more secure and faster too. This is phase 1 of the site if you will, a very stable, secure bare bones site that's not very pretty but is extremely functional.
In phase 2, we'll be adding a beautiful theme so its as pretty as it is stable & secure. We also have plans to make international ordering a lot easier. Right now, spinning performance videos are linked on top & blend pages. In the future, we'll be able to embed them right on the product pages.
The best part of our new ecommerce platform is how easy customization is. The downside to that is the amount of time it takes to do the customizations. The issue of time is why we're rolling this new site out in phases, since doing everything that we want to do right now will take too much time. Stability, speed & security are going to have to take precedence over aesthetics. At least for now.
This is a ...
