From Ewe to Yarn

White Barn Sheep and Wool

New Paltz, NY

March - April 2017

Shot and Written for the Times Herald-Record

It was a warm spring day when Paula fired up two large pots with propane to begin dying. Artist, farmer and owner of White Barn Farm Sheep and Wool Paula Kucera was about to go to work creating a custom dye lot on a newly returned batch of carded and spun wool, sheered from the sheep on her farm in New Paltz, NY.

Just steps away from her fiber shop, Cormo and California Variegated Mutant, CVM for short, sheep sheep graze in their pasture. Once spring nears, Paula enlists the help of sheep sheerer Aaron Loux from Cummington, MA, nearby farmers and those just curious to see the proceedings of how to sheer a sheep as she systematically goes through her flock.

The first up to be sheered are the pregnant ewes since the hormones produced for birth will alter the quality of their wool. After the sheep are sheered, the fleece is then skirted for vegetable matter, dirt and overall quality. Once the fleece has been vetted, it is then bagged and tagged with the corresponding sheep it came from and sent off to Battenkill Fiber in Greenwich, NY, to be carded and spun into hanks of yarn.

Several months later, the yarn is then sent back to White Barn Farm Sheep and Wool, where Paula gets to work dying the fiber. Similar to dying an Easter Egg, a mixture of water and vinegar are placed into large pots, which are then heated. Then depending on the inspiration of the season Paula creates a custom dye lot. With spring in the air she concocts a vibrant pink color named “Hot House Flowers.” Once the dye is mixed and added to the pots, the hanks of yarn are soaked in a small tub of water. The next step in the process is to squeeze out all excess water before placing the yarn in the pot to absorb the dye, stirring occasionally to distribute it evenly before being removed. From there, the yarn is left to dry before twisting it into shape, and placing it in a basket for fiber fanatics to knit or crochet it into something beautiful.

Adventures in Lace Knitting Part 1

I've been dabbling in lace knitting and decided to make something a little larger than a swatch or wash cloth and embarked on making a scarf. After looking around on Ravelry and securing some yarn I decided on the Foreign Correspondent pattern created by raveler Lexy Lu.

It was a fun pattern that I could quickly memorize and take with me, however if you're the kind of crafter who likes to watch a movie or tv show or listen to some podcasts while creating something, then be sure to pay extra attention to what you're doing. Although this is an easy pattern, there are couple of times I ended up repeating the wrong row, and after all the YO's (yarn over) and K2Tog's (knit two together), I really didn't want to go back and rip those rows out.

Although it's a wee bit on the short side (I ran out of yarn), I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and plan on making another one.

Nerdy Knitting

So I've been knitting away on my Fourth Doctor scarf in hopes of having it ready for the upcoming New York Comic Con, unfortunately though I don't think that I'll have it ready. So in the meantime I've created a couple of other knitted creations to wear instead and show my Whovian pride with.

First up is a pair of fingerless mitts inspired by the infamous scarf. I learned some lessons the hard way as this was my first time changing colors while knitting in the round on some DPN's. Unfortunately this mistake is rather obvious when I decided to color change directly from stockinette to ribbing, but oh well, I still do enjoy them.

And I finally broke out the size 1 DPN's and some crochet thread to create a mini bowtie pin to wear, which was a lesson in patience when knitting in such a small gauge.

I need to figure out to knit something from the 10th Doctor, as well so all three of my favorite Doctor's will have some sort of knitted representation. I also plan on knitting one of the hats worn by Emma in Once Upon a Time as I've recently gotten into that show now as well, but I'll have to see if time permits.

Can't wait till the NYCC!

And Thus it Continues...

An update on the 12 foot long Fourth Doctor scarf from Doctor Who, which I've picked up and put down several times to work on other projects or just from the sheer madness of doing the same stitch over and over and over. . .

Anyhoo, I'm hoping that it'll be done in time for the New York Comic Con in October.

Photos by Jennifer Stiles 

The beginnings of the scarf can be seen here.