I go to a lot of fibery events where lovely fibers are available for sale. I've seen hundreds of vendors of fine handmade wares - knitting tools, jewelry, yarns, spinning fiber, spinning wheels, buttons - everything I could imagine. And I see it weekend after weekend.
So when I see something I've never seen before, it's a big surprise. This past weekend at the Woodstock Fleece Festival in Woodstock, Ontario, I saw three things I've never seen before, all of which I thought were terrific. One was pre-weighed, pre-portioned nylon to be spun with other fibers into sock yarn. There were little tubes of different weights in different colors, with notes on how much to add to different types of fiber for different weights of yarn. Love it! But since I don't spin, I don't need it.
Then I saw this. Turtlepurl TurtleToes yarn. I love it! I love the colorway, and the fiber, and the way it self-stripes on a typical sock. This is their web shop, and this is the link to the yarn I bought. (I've borrowed the photos at left directly from their website.) The owner usually divides her sock skeins into pairs so that folks can knit two at a time, but I bought a single 450yd hank. I'd love to make socks, but my immediate thought was to make gloves, and see how the stripes distribute themselves across the fingers.
I also saw an antique sock knitting machine, which was operated by a hand crank. If you're into such things, it was remarkably beautiful. A woman was using it to make socks, and demonstrating how moving different pins around made different patterns. It was manufactured in 1924, and a pair of socks, excepting the heels and toes which were added by hand, can be made in about 15 minutes. Photos to follow in a future post, when the crazy days of Rhinebeck are behind me!
So when I see something I've never seen before, it's a big surprise. This past weekend at the Woodstock Fleece Festival in Woodstock, Ontario, I saw three things I've never seen before, all of which I thought were terrific. One was pre-weighed, pre-portioned nylon to be spun with other fibers into sock yarn. There were little tubes of different weights in different colors, with notes on how much to add to different types of fiber for different weights of yarn. Love it! But since I don't spin, I don't need it.
Then I saw this. Turtlepurl TurtleToes yarn. I love it! I love the colorway, and the fiber, and the way it self-stripes on a typical sock. This is their web shop, and this is the link to the yarn I bought. (I've borrowed the photos at left directly from their website.) The owner usually divides her sock skeins into pairs so that folks can knit two at a time, but I bought a single 450yd hank. I'd love to make socks, but my immediate thought was to make gloves, and see how the stripes distribute themselves across the fingers. I also saw an antique sock knitting machine, which was operated by a hand crank. If you're into such things, it was remarkably beautiful. A woman was using it to make socks, and demonstrating how moving different pins around made different patterns. It was manufactured in 1924, and a pair of socks, excepting the heels and toes which were added by hand, can be made in about 15 minutes. Photos to follow in a future post, when the crazy days of Rhinebeck are behind me!
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