Typically, this weekend we would be joining many of the New England fiber producers at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival in Deerfield, New Hampshire. This year’s festivities have been cancelled, so we’ll wait patiently until 2022 to gather.
In the meantime, we wanted to share a very small batch of Limited Edition yarn that we would have showcased at the fair, as well as an opportunity to do a bit of armchair travelling to learn more about the original source of this fiber!
We hope that you’ve enjoyed looking through the collection of accessory patterns that we designed over the past decade to feature our Simply Fine yarn, in our previous blog post. We’d like to continue the story, and share a bit more with you.
Over a decade ago, we first created Simply Fine yarn to provide a lighter weight single-ply sibling to our deliciously soft and minimally processed Green Mountain Green Yarn. These yarns include a blend of 60% Fine Western Wool and 40% Kid Mohair, two of the softest and most luxurious fibers we spin here at the Mill.
We offered the fingering weight yarn in the same three undyed natural shades as our Green Mountain Green: Dark, Variegated and White. As a demand for beautiful hand-painted skeins grew, we asked our friend Melissa Johnson to hand dye our creamy white skeins. She worked her magic in mini batches of 4-6 skeins at a time, and every skein was a work of art.
Thea Colman’s newest pattern is remarkable in several ways. We’d like to introduce you to Wild Mountain Thyme, and tell you all about it.
The sweater is a top down tee with an elegant diamond motif featured along the yoke. Intentionally placed yarnovers add subtle detail around the colorwork, and the fit is loose and boxy. Sleeves and body are short, but the silhouette is easily modified. Notes are in the pattern to alter as desired. By trying your garment on as you create it, you can ensure a perfect fit!
Elizabeth Doherty released her newest pullover pattern this week, Sian. It is a top-down slipped stitch sweater that is a dream to knit and wear.
This design, and the slipped stitch texturing that is featured in it were inspired by a trip to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Each of the stitch motifs reflect a different aspect of that landscape, including the waves, walls, flocks of sheep and little stone huts of the islands. Her pattern calls for a DK weight wooly wool that will allow that design to pop with clarity and retain comfortable elasticity.
Tomorrow night on Zoom, we will be sharing a special collection of Thea Colman’s patterns with the Vogue Live attendees who tune in! There is still time for you to register so that you can join us at 6pm EST January 14th, 2021. We thought that we would summarize the details of these gorgeous patterns […]
We have much to be thankful for as this tumultuous year draws to a close. Thanks to your continued support, our Mill is open and running safely and smoothly. We are grateful for your trust and affinity. Many new friends have discovered our yarns for the first time, and we look forward to sharing more […]
We’ve added a new shade of Yarn Over to the selection currently available, just in time for the release of Denise Bayron’s new pattern: Wave of Change Pullover. Our Pasture colorway features a soft green color with flecks of primary colors that will remind you of a wildflower meadow or an impressionist landscape. We love […]
In her new e-book, Cowls: A Colourwork Sourcebook & Patterns, Inspired by Persia, our friend, knitting designer and podcaster Mina Philipp explores her Iranian heritage, and the motifs found in traditional Persian woven rugs. This exciting collection of 12 new designs will be published on Thursday November 5th, 2020. This 78-page full-color e-book contains information […]
While the hot cider donuts at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival tend to get the lion’s share of the credit for the greatness of this event, we’d like to argue that it’s the “Rhinebeck Sweaters” that steal the show. This gathering inspires most of us to wear our newest creations. It is not […]
This week, we thought we’d share with you a few additional details about our new pullover pattern, Elevate. Kate found inspiration for this stunning yoke on one of her early morning coffee walks to downtown Brattleboro last spring. While she was waiting at a crosswalk she noticed the manhole cover under her feet and she […]
My grandmother lived through the depression and took that phrase to heart. We here at the Spinnery, aspire to waste as little as possible in our production process, to ensure that every ounce of fiber that was grown, shorn and delivered to us with care is put to its highest use. We capture the leftover […]