Spinnery News

Announcing our next Knittter’s Weekend

We are pleased to announce that Angela Tong will be the featured instructor for the Spinnery’s 2020 Spring Knitters’ Weekend Retreat.  Our workshop will be held in Brattleboro, Vermont from Friday, April 3rd to Sunday, April 5th, 2020.

Angela Tong is a knitwear designer and instructor. In her former career, she was a jewelry designer with a jewelry design degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. After she had her first daughter, she started designing knitting patterns and has never stopped.

Master Angela’s Tips and Tricks for her Monsoon Shawl (modelled by the designer above). This design is one of Angela’s most popular shawls from Interweave Knits. It is knitted on large needles in a luxurious worsted weight yarn. The half-circle shawl works up quickly and plays color runs against a variety of lace and texture patterns.

In the class, we will work through all sections of shawl; the garter stitch tab, garter ridge eyelet section, lace section and the knitted-on edging. By the end of the class, students will have all the necessary skills to complete a Monsoon shawl at home.

Skills needed: Students should know how to knit, purl, yarn over and cast on.

Your registration fee of $395 per person includes three meals (Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner) and nine hours of instruction. This Spring, we are delighted to be able to host the event at the Hampton Inn, in nearby Brattleboro. They are offering us a special rate of $99 / $109 a night for us.

Registration Forms can be found on the Spinnery website, here.

Soon to be released

As you may have seen on Instagram, a new issue of By Hand Serial is due to be released later this month and it focuses on our neck of the woods!

“In Issue #11 of By Hand Serial, we visit New England as we travel through Vermont and New Hampshire at the peak of the fall foliage season.

The New England makers we meet have a great love and deference for their land, their communities, and the region’s history and traditions. These artists pair local resources with traditional forms of creating: milling yarn, weaving cloth, sewing garments, making baskets for daily use. Form and functionality mesh seamlessly, creating beautiful materials that find use and purpose in our everyday lives. It is a joy to learn more about these makers, their materials and motivations, and the work they do to keep alive the values of hard work, handcraft, and artistry.”

© Jenn Bakos Photography

We are thrilled that this issue includes a new pullover sweater design by our dear friend Amy Christoffers.  Her Spruce Peak Pullover calls for Spinnery Mewesic!  “Mewesic yarn, a 100% wool with just the right amount of heft and texture to show off the lace stitches that make up the body of this garment.”  ⁠

The pattern is worked in the round from the bottom-up and features a readily memorized lace pattern.  The front and back are split at the armhole to be worked separately and then joined at the shoulder with a 3-needle bind off.  The stitches for the sleeves are then picked up and worked down to the cuff.

You’ll be as delighted as we are with her generous size range.  This sweater is designed to fit bust sizes 37-72″ with between 2-12″ positive ease.  The yarn requirements for the sizes 37 (41, 46, 50, 54)(59, 63, 68, 72)” call for 5 (6, 7, 7, 8)(9, 10, 11, 12) skeins of our DK weight yarn.

We got so excited about this new design that we asked Amy to share an early copy of the pattern with us.  Our scourer Megan has made quick progress on her version of the Spruce Peak Pullover with our new Touch of Grey color.  We hope to have this beauty ready to display at our booth at Vogue Knitting Live in New York City next weekend.

You can pre-order a copy of Lookbook 11: Vermont & New Hampshire from us. It will ship to you on the official release date, 1/25/20 without delay!  In the meantime, we hope that you’ll be able to join the fun of the fiber festival in Manhattan.  We have all kinds of fun new things to share with you there.

Planning ahead

We have a new design for you to consider adding to the top of your queue so that it is ready to wear for Spring.

Cap Sease’s Stansfield vest harkens back to Vermont’s agricultural past when practical knitwear needed to transition from town to field and back. The rugged texture of this lightweight layering piece is created with a simple repetition of knits and purls, rendering a lofty fabric that is an instant classic.  (While we have shown it here modeled only by men, this pattern is intended to be unisex and will be equally useful and appealling for women.)

This pattern features bottom-up construction that is worked flat up to the armholes.  The two front sections and back are worked separately until they are joined at the shoulder with classic three needle bind off.  The piece is finished with a garter stitch border at the armholes and along the neck, where button holes are placed evenly along the placket.

 

Designed to be worked with our fingering weight yarns, this vest will make an ideal lightweight layering piece that could work equally well for him or her.  Cap’s pattern includes sizing from 34 (38, 41, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62)”/ 86 (97, 104, 117, 127, 137, 147, 157) cm and calls for 3 (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6) skeins Lana, Meadow or Forest (400 yds each).  It is shown here in Plateada Lana.

You might also want to consider working with our Moorit Singles or Simply Fine skeins that are put up at a more generous 450 yards per skein for the three undyed colors. Our Simply Fine Skinnies are put up at 224 yards per skein and would allow you a larger palette of fresh spring-like colors to consider.

We hope that you enjoy this little preview of Spring.  It will be here before we know it!

Coming soon

Before you know it, it will be time for our January Sale!

Soon to arrive in your mailboxes (email or actual) will be our annual Sales Flyer! From Monday January 13th to Friday February 14th, 2020 we’ll have special discounts available on some of our most popular yarns!

You can find a digital copy of our flyer here. You may want to plan your purchases by reviewing your pattern options and making sure that you’ll have the yardage you need!

For those of you shopping online, be sure to shop among the SALE ITEMS, to ensure proper savings. (those listings won’t be visible on our website until our sale begins on January 13th). You’ll find additional options of single project quantities (less than 20 skeins) from the yarns and colors listed on the flyer.

The happiest of seasons

All of us here at the Spinnery Co-op would like to wish you and yours a most delightful and peaceful holiday season.  We hope that you have ample time on your hands to enjoy with friends and family doing what you love most.

We’ll be closing the Mill on December 25th and January 1st to spend time with our loved ones.  Our Mill shop will be open with modified hours over the next couple weeks.

Tuesday December 24th and 31st: 9 am – 4 pm

Wednesday December 25th and January 1st: CLOSED

Thurs & Fri December 26th & 27th and January 2nd & 3rd: 9 am – 5 pm

Saturday December 28th and January 4th: 10 am to 4 pm

Sunday December 29th January 5th: 12 pm to 4 pm

We hope that you’ll be able to plan your visit to arrive when we’re here to help you pick out the perfect skeins.  We look forward to seeing you soon and sharing the joy of the season with you in person!

 

A new and improved Ice Blue!

Back in late August of 2018, we announced that we would be downsizing our Mountain Mohair color range and discontinuing 7 shades.  That news elicited a strong response from some of our fiber friends who have been working with our Mountain Mohair for years.

At least one of those shades had such a strong following that we decided that instead of removing it from the line, we would improve it.  We’re pleased to announce that Ice Blue Mountain Mohair is back and better than ever!

The new color recipe is a bit more complex, with a bit of green and gold, hinting at depths of color deep within an ice flow as well as the glimmer of sun shining through icicles.

Now is your chance to cast on for Cesium designed by Sachiko Burgin and featured in a past issue of Pom Pom magazine (from 2016).  Our Ice Blue color was used for her design and is shown on the model below.

© Amy Gwatkin

We may be preaching to the choir, but we feel that this yarn is ideal for stranded color work.  The lofty woolen spun construction allows the yarn to bloom beautifully when blocked, making your stranded designs crisp and clear.

For example, our friend Emily’s Vintersol by Jennifer Steingass shows off the possibility of this shade. We love how her sweater pairs this soft blue with undyed neutrals for a dramatic effect.

© SlvrSprngWanderer

The possibilities are innumerable!  A quick search through the dozens of projects on Raverly that have been crafted with this shade will take your breath away.

What would you like to get started with this lovely new and improved shade?

Other takes on a perfect pullover

A pair of new patterns that call for Spinnery’s Mewesic have been published in the past couple of weeks; and we think that you’ll want to take a closer look at both.

Fresh from the pages of the newest issue of Taproot Magazine 36: WEAR, is Beatrice Perron Dahlen’s Sabellica, shown here modeled by the designer and her younger sister.  On the left is a cropped version made with Brickhouse Mewesic and on the left is a longer version made with Mean Mr. Mustard

@threadandladleThe design is named for the latin term for kale, one of Beatrice’s favorite cooler weather veggies. Sabellica’s pattern includes sizes from 30 (33 1/2, 38 1/2, 40 3/4, 48, 50 1/2, 53, 55 1/4, 60, 64 3/4)” /  76 (85.5, 97.5, 103.5, 110, 122, 128, 134.5, 140, 152.5, 164.5) cm and calls for between 4 and 11 skeins of our DK weight yarns depending on the size and length you choose.

Her design has you working the pullover from the top-down, so you’ll be able to try it on as you go adding length where you prefer.

On Beatrice’s Instagram feed she shares her thoughts about this design.  “Sabellica is knit up in Green Mountain Spinnery Mewesic, and I’ve already been living in this pullover. It includes a top down construction, a circular yoke with an eyelet pattern throughout. It’s great over a long sleeve for functional warmth, but it has options for a long sleeve as well.  Photos by the ever talented Hannah (@mindfulfolk) in one of my favorite Maine places!”

If you’re looking for a whole new outfit, and are as comfortable sewing as you are knitting; you could layer this sweater over Ellen Mason’s Smith River Tunic (whose pattern is also included in this issue)!

For those of you looking for a great pattern geared towards men, you might agree that Carol Feller’s new Corcra Pullover is a winner!

© Joseph Feller

Shown here (with approximately 4 inches of positive ease) in Purple Haze; this top-down sweater features a beautiful textured thermal stitch to create an interesting and wearable knit.   The saddle shoulders and short row set-in sleeves it will fly from your needles!

Carol’s pattern includes a broad range of sizes: 38.75 (42, 45.5, 50.5, 54, 57.25, 62.25)“ / 98.5 (106.5, 115.5, 128.5, 137, 145.5, 158) cm with a recommendation for 4-5” / 10 – 12.5 cm of positive ease.  It calls for  8 (8, 10, 11, 12, 12, 13) skeins of Spinnery Mewesic, but you could substitute any of our DK yarns such as Alpaca Elegance, Cotton Comfort, or Sylvan Spirit.

While these sweaters may be better suited for 3 season wear here in wintery Vermont, these could be terrific layering options for our friends in warmer parts of the world.  We hope that you agree!

A feast for the senses

Happy Holiday!  We hope that your day will be filled with delicious traditions to be shared among friends, family and neighbors.

Over the Holiday Weekend after Thanksgiving, the Spinnery will be open special hours as a participant in the 41st Putney Craft Tour.  Over this special weekend local artists and craftspeople open their studios to the public, offering you a unique opportunity to see them at work, learn more about their creative process and find artfully made holiday gifts that support their endeavors.  While you are exploring the area, we hope that you’ll be able to visit our Mill to share in the exciting wooly offerings that we’ll have on hand.

We’re releasing a new FREE pattern for the holiday knitting season.  Our Gathering Hat is a very quick knit, making it a great option for last minute gift making.

This sturdy topper calls for bulky yarn and can be worked up in just a few hours with a single skein of Yarn Over or our Capricorn yarns.  The hat is worked from the bottom up. featuring slipped stitch ribbing and clever decreases that form a five pointed star at the top.  The pattern is charted for your ease.

We’ll also have a fresh stock of our very popular Ugly Christmas Hat Project Kits.  This fun project kit includes all the yarn and the pattern to make an ugly holiday hat of your own for just $32.75. If you aren’t a knitter, but know someone on your gift list who is, you may want to pick one up as a gift that will certainly bring some laughter to your holiday gathering.

And last but certainly not least will be our annual Sample Sale! We’ve selected dozens of beautifully handknit items that are ready to find new homes.  These items were made to test our patterns and provide several color or sizing options among our sample selection to help visitors plan their projects.  We are bursting at the seams with gorgeous samples that can now be retired to make room for what’s next.  You’ll be able to find sweaters, hats and more!

This offers you an amazing opportunity to purchase hand knit items made with Green Mountain Spinnery yarns at unbelievably reasonable prices.  Plus, a percentage of the proceeds from these items will go to benefit the Putney Food Shelf: our local foodbank that needs our support especially during the holidays.

We hope that we’ve succeeded in enticing you to come and visit.  The Spinnery will be open 10 am – 5 pm Friday November 29 – Sunday December 1st; and we can’t wait to see you!

A great layering cardigan to brighten your winter

Our Mill shop is diminutive; so our staggering yarn selection can have a strong impact on visitors as they come through our doors.  Our wide range of Mountain Mohair colors (right inside our front door) makes for a delightfully eye-catching display that brightens many a grey day.

We’ve seen how the perfect hue can call to a crafter and bring them joy as they reach right out and squeeze their favorite skein, wondering aloud what it will become.

Cap Sease’s new cardigan pattern uses our Mountain Mohair to great advantage and we want to share Sanderling with you this week, in case you are wondering how you can use this delightful yarn to make something beautiful.

A Sanderling is one of many small shore birds with a delicate gait that leaves mesmerizing patterns in wet sand. This classic crew neck cardigan features an easily worked lace pattern that is reminiscent of these tracks.  That lace gives this cardigan a delicacy that belies its straightforward boxy shape and easy construction.

The pattern is worked from the bottom-up without shaping, making it a great layering piece that will work with almost anything in your winter wardrobe.  The body is worked to the armholes, then split so that the fronts and back can be worked separately, to be joined at the shoulder with a three needle bind off (that could be bound off and seamed if you’d prefer).

Each sleeve is picked up along the armhole edge and worked with the same charted lace pattern.  Regular decreases provide shaping, and Cap suggests that when the stitch count prevents you from working a full lace repeat, you simply work those stitches in stockinette.

The neckband of the sweater can worked with or without buttons and buttonholes , depending on your preference.

Cap’s pattern includes sizing for 34 (38, 42, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62)” /86 (97, 107, 117, 127, 137, 147, 157) cm and calls for 7 (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) skeins of Mountain Mohair or Weekend Wool (140 yds each) or 4 (4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8) Maine Organic or Vermont Organic (250 yds each).

We hope that this new design appeals to you as much as it does to us.  We can’t imagine a better way to spend your upcoming holiday weeks, than with some delightfully soft and beautifully colored yarn on your needles.

Planning your holiday weekend

Thanksgiving Weekend is Putney Craft Tour Weekend, and we’ll be celebrating our 41st Anniversary Year!  This Open Studio event has been designated one of Vermont’s Top Ten Winter Events.  You don’t want to miss it.

November 29, 30 and December 1 (10 am – 5 pm)

The 41st Annual Putney Craft Tour, the oldest continuing crafts tour in the country, is held during the long Thanksgiving weekend and gives shoppers, visitors and collectors another reason to be thankful. Glass blowers, potters, jewelers, weavers, painters, woodworkers, – even artisan cheese makers, and winemakers- invite visitors to come in to their studios, discover, ask questions, sip hot cider and buy that one-of-a-kind gift direct from the artisan who made it.

Part of the fun is meandering through the beautiful Vermont countryside, following the map to find these prominent craftspeople and view the works where they are conceived and created. Most studios do demos. The weekend is promoted as the “Putney Craft Tour’s Craft, Culinary and Performance Weekend” with wine and cheese tastings and performances at night at Next Stage and Sandglass Theatre. Location: Putney, Westminster, Westminster West and Saxtons River, VT.

Visitors may start at The Gleanery Restaurant, 133 Main Street, Putney for info, maps, and a preview exhibition of the artisans’ works. www.putneycrafts.com

This year, the organizers will be hosting a Photo Competition: Snap pictures as you visit the studios and post them on Instagram to win a chance for a $50 gift certificate.

We have lots to share with you.  We will be offering Mill tours, we have some exciting new yarn offerings, and you’ll find our annual Sample Sale during which you’ll be able to purchase one of a kind hand knit items at prices you won’t believe!  We hope that you can stop on by, we look forward to your visit.

A Special Inviation

Fibershed Woven Together: From Farm to Fashion Within Fifty Miles

On exhibit November 4, 2019–January 3, 2020.
Opening reception Saturday, November 9, 11 am–1 pm.

FIBERSHED Woven Together: From Farm to Fashion Within Fifty Miles, celebrates the successful production of bioregional wool fabric (woven from yarn spun here at the Spinnery) that was fashioned into original designs by ten local craftspeople.

From bespoke shoes to flat caps and everything in between, ten expert artisans turned the flat fabric into one-of-a-kind, wearable items.  Alongside the completed apparel, the fiber, yarn, cloth, and narrative storytelling materials will be on display to educate the public about producing local textiles—introducing them to the land, the people, and businesses integral to the journey.

This exhibit features the work of: Leonore Alaniz, Daphne Board, Katie Cavacco, Larisa Demos, Anna Gilbert, Erin Kiewel, Gretchen Laise, Joanne Semanie, Sarah Shields, Nur Tiven (and Green Mountain Spinnery).  We are proud that we we asked to spin the yarn that was woven into this very special fabric used by the artists listed above.

Western Mass Fibershed received a microgrant for this debut project from Fibershed California, an organization that develops regional fiber systems that build soil & protect the health of our biosphere. With this funding, our local Fibershed organization embarked on a two-part mission: first, to navigate new territory to map the process and potential for future bio-regional cloth-productions and second, to inspire, educate, and generate interest for locally sourced, sustainable materials.

Uniquely situated, regional resources enabled the metamorphosis from farm to fabric within a 50-mile radius!

The exhibit opened earlier this week on Monday, November 4.  This weekend marks the opening reception on Saturday, November 9 from 11 a.m.–1 p.m.  There, you can meet the Fibershed founders, farmers, spinners, weavers, and designers who are involved with this exciting project and others interested in sustainable practices.

For questions and to learn more about this project please contact WMF co-founder Michelle Parrish, 413-461-5588. She is a natural dyer, weaver, spinner, and blogger living and working in the Connecticut River Valley of Western Massachusetts.

Our shop hours

As evenings begin to fall earlier in the day and when Daylight Savings shifts our clocks (both internally and externally), we will be adjusting our shop hours just a bit.

Starting on Monday November 4th our Mill Shop will be open:

Monday – Friday 9 am to 5 pm
Saturday 10 am to 4 pm
Sunday noon to 4 pm

We will always be able to offer FREE Mill tours to groups that visit us.  We can best accommodate groups of 8 or fewer, and typically have the staff on hand to walk you through our production floor on the spur of the moment Monday – Friday 10 am to 2 pm.  Emailing or calling us ahead of your visit is appreciated and will allow us to ensure that you have a woolly great experience!

We look forward to your visit.