handmade by stefanie

After more than ten years of knitting, I can still have new experiences - even with well-covered territory such as merino yarn! This recent merino experience actually took me by surprise: I've spun with it, I've dyed it, I've knit with it, and I've even crocheted with it...I was pretty sure I knew all there was to know about merino! Turns out, there are four different classifications of merino fiber, sorted by micron count range . At the bottom of the spectrum is Strong Merino , which ranges from 26-22.9 microns; above that is Fine Merino , which ranges from 20.1-23 microns; next up is Extra Fine Merino, which ranges from 20-15.6 microns; and at the very top of the heap is Superfine Merino Wool , with a micron range of 18.5-15.6. If you're into numbers and wondering how these four classes stack up against other fibers you may be familiar with, here are a few for comparison's sake: BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) has a micron range of 24-28, Cashmere goat down ...

Last weekend, I finished my handspun Terra Shawl ! It took pretty much both weekend days of working faithfully on the border stitch pattern, but I was so excited to finish that I didn't even think about working on anything else! As you can see, it's quite large, and it's soft and squishy, too! I've been wrapping myself up in it all week since it's still quite chilly here in Chicago. You may recall that I purchased the fiber from WEBS at the beginning of the year - 12 oz. total of Abstract Fibers' Targhee Top in the Gorge colorway. I started spinning it near the end of January and continued to work on it ever-so-slowly throughout February and into the beginning of March ! Thankfully, knitting the shawl was much faster than spinning the fiber into a usable yarn; the entire shawl  was completed in just 13 days! I used Jared Flood's Terra  shawl pattern from Brooklyn Tweed, which was super-easy to follow, and US 9 Nova Cubics needles from Knitter's...

Purchased at SOAR: CVM blend roving I met Ellen and Wanda, the two women who run Fiber Curios and Sundries , at SOAR this past October. Their booth was filled with interesting natural fibers and hand-dyed yarns. After chatting with Ellen for a while, it became clear that they had an incredible passion for locally-grown, sustainable fibers. The company is relatively new, having started last year (their  website  says that neither Ellen nor Wanda have given up their day jobs yet!). I was able to interview Ellen via email* to learn more about their dedication to sustainable yarns and fibers and find out what's in store for 2014! Etsy shop purchase: 100% CVM roving + fiber samples Your shop is dedicated to locally grown and sustainable fibers. Tell us why sustainability in fiber production is so important to you and why they should also be important to handspinners! When the issue of sustainability is raised, the reason that is at the forefront in my mind is to dec...

I was really excited to be greeted by this when I woke up this morning: We live about 20 minutes from O'Hare, and even though I'll probably never get to see these cute little guys while they're at work, it makes me deliriously happy to know that somewhere nearby, a herd of goats are doing their goaty thing!  Now if we could just get our own neighborhood to do away with the lawn service and hire some adorable goats instead....