Battle of Knits

Why I heart Twitter (today)

There are a billion reasons why twitter is so cool. I tweet almost daily and love it. Every once in awhile something really cool happens to me on twitter and I meet such cool folks. This morning I had a brush with someone pretty cool. I was trying to tweet Martha Stewart, long story short… she was having a technology show and tweeted that you could tweet live on her show, so I tried and failed, tried again and failed… (Well, I was doing it wrong!) I noticed this guy @ShepardJim was tweeting Martha to and he tweeting wondering if it was live, I tweeted him saying I doubted it was (found out later– I was right, she is too much of a perfectionist for live tv, if you ask me) and I noticed he had mentioned being from Maine. I tweeted something to the effect of missing Maine, having grown up there… well I check my twitter tonight and he had sent me a link since he noticed I am a yarn-fiend…  http://www.hatchtown.com/ Well, he is a real shepard and has a CSA farm. I love it! They have fiber and yarn, so here is yet another reason I need to learn spinning! There is absolutely nothing I love more than people who raise sheep. So if you are looking for a good fiber deal, his fiber looks luchious! The yarn is semi-worsted and undyed according to the site and it sounds very tempting right now! Maybe after I get all my dental work out of the way I can afford to join! There is nothing more appealing to me than getting yarn straight from the farm. My only wish is that I could pick it up in person. I miss Maine… but not November-May.

That is why I love twitter (today)

Marr Haven: He just does not understand!

Look at how wonderfully chunky it is! I am literally smiling from ear-to-ear just typing this! I first read about this yarn on Knitter’s review and I felt like I was in love… I had to have some. Now that I have it, I have to have more! I wound it up and then decided to photograph it… about 30 pictures later… Josh says “How many pictures of that yarn are you going to take?” I just shook my head and kept snapping away. I wanted to get the lighting just right. This is a fabulous yarn and it is hard to capture the softness on digital film.

HE JUST DOES NOT UNDERSTAND!!!

Look, my dog understands… he can see the beauty he can envision the beautiful soaker it will become for Boo Bear!

From the Knitter’s review: ” While many yarn producers bleach their yarns — even before dyeing them other colors — Marr Haven does not. Hence the initially dimmer, just-off-the-sheep color.
And while many yarn companies subject their fibers to a carbonization process, adding acid to the wash to burn up any bits of vegetable matter, Marr Haven does not. That explains the flecks of hay and grass in the spun yarn.
By not being subject to such potentially harsh chemical processes, the fiber remains entirely scratch free and baby soft. It also retains a higher amount of lanolin, giving the fiber that telltale “wool” smell, softer hand, and greater water repellancy.
The yarn is spun on a mule spinning frame, a rare spinning device that closely duplicates a handspinner’s motion, producing a loftier yarn with a soft twist. (Bartlett Yarns is one of the few other companies that spins its yarns on a mule.)
The loft is so great, and twist so soft, that many of the fibers don’t even make it into the strand. They gently pill up on the surface, producing the tiny oatmeal-like pills mentioned earlier.”

It is so rare to find naturally processed wool. It is hard to find sustainable farms and I feel so good supporting the work Barbara Marr does. I touch this wool and I feel like I know the sheep personally… I feel the TLC between my fingers and I know that there is not a single drop off negitivity in this wool.

Perfect for making a wool soaker for my son’s precious bum. Since I started making wool diaper covers I have been searching for the perfect wool. I found it. I have not even started the soaker, but I know this is the best I will find.