Farming in the shade

I often hear folks admire our wool products and then turn away, sighing, "I'm allergic to wool." There are a few folks who are genuinely allergic to the lanolin in wool. Can't help them, although over time the lanolin washes out and should cause less of a problem. But the rest of those who are "allergic" to wool  may  be reacting to some thing else. The large wool manufacturers need to get a lot of ick out of the raw wool (imagine wearing the same clothes for a year!) and an easy way to do that is to use harsh chemicals. Some of us are simply sensitive to the  way  commercial wool is produced.  Our wool is cleaned using soap and water. In addition, hay natur ally gets in the wool over the course of a year. Each fleece is skirted after shearing, which just means we pull off the worst parts and discard them. In the washing and carding process at the mill some of the remaining hay comes out of the wool, and some is just broken up into really...

We've been spending some time getting ready for Saturday's Shearing Day Open House. We assembled some felting kits. They include felting needles, foam, and an ounce of our wool. If you come to our Open House, you will be able to meet Barbara, who is a fabulous needle felter. You can see some of her work here. Who knows? You might be inspired to start needle felting yourself.  We spent some time cranking socks. If you come on Saturday during the morning, you will be able to see Joyce crank socks on her circular sock knitting machine. We will have some of our socks for sale, if anyone is interested. We also dyed some wool yarn to make socks with. If you come to the Shearing Day, you will be able to watch Kari and Chris spin wool into yarn. Never a dull moment at Shearing Day. Pass the word... For more information, click here .

We do one (1) fiber festival a year. This hardly makes us gypsies, but I like to dream. Other festivals land at bad times (actually, this one isn't landing at a great time, either) or are too far away or already have 4,000 vendors selling exactly the same thing as we sell. But the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival is small, charming, and held on the grounds of the lovely Ogemaw County Fair Grounds. In the fall. What's not to love? Come and see us this weekend. It's worth the drive. You can take your wheel or your spindle and sit a spell with us and visit. The Farmer will be demonstrating sock knitting on his antique circular sock machine during the day on Sunday.

No, Virginia, they won't. Darn it. We're often asked if our socks will last forever. The question usually comes right after a potential customer looks at the price tag on one of our socks. And my answer varies, depending on how serious the questioner is. The basic answer is: No, they won't. Darn it. (More about that later.) A repeat customer sought us out at the Kerstmarkt. He said that these socks "wear like iron". He bought his third pair of socks (in as many years) and told me he wears them summer and winter. I am amazed. And pleased! I have not had such good luck. My big toes are quite a bit longer than their siblings. Despite my best efforts to keep the nails trimmed, the big toenail (short as it is) rubs constantly on the sock. I am careful to switch feet, so I'm not always wearing the same sock on the same foot. But despite my best efforts, sooner or later I wear through the socks. Darn it! I do not have a lot of experience darning. I know this isn'...

I often hear folks admire our wool products and then turn away, sighing, "I'm allergic to wool." There are a few folks who are genuinely allergic to the lanolin in wool. Can't help them, although over time the lanolin washes out and should cause less of a problem. But the rest of those who are "allergic" to wool may be reacting to some thing else. The large wool manufacturers need to get a lot of ick out of the raw wool (imagine wearing the same clothes for a year!) and an easy way to do that is to use harsh chemicals. Some of us are sensitive to the way wool is produced. Our wool is cleaned using soap and water. Also (and we struggle with this part) hay natur ally gets in the wool over the course of a year. Each fleece is skirted after shearing, which just means we pull off the worst parts and discard them. In the washing and carding process at the mill some of the remaining hay comes out of the wool, and some is just broken up into really fine little pie...

This past summer, The Farmer spun some of the wool from our Polypay sheep into a 3-ply yarn. And won a prize. Full yarn here. Now, here's the rest of the story. He took the yarn, and knit some socks with it. Near the end of the second sock, at the toe, he ran out of yarn. He finished the second sock's toe with plain cobalt blue, leftover handspun from the same batch (it was navajo plied, for you spinning techies). But the two socks didn't match. Sock One was variegated from head to toe. Sock Two was variegated from head to almost-toe. And then it was solid blue. He thought, "this will not do." So The Farmer took both socks off the machine and undid the scrap yarn from between them. He then rehung the toe of Sock One back on the machine--one loop on its designated needle at a time. (Yes, he is a patient man.) He then frogged it (un-knit, for you non-knitters) back a ways, and redid the toe of Sock One in sold blue. So that they'd match. These socks were entered...

This weekend is the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan. While we are not vending, we plan to go and enjoy the weekend as usual. If you're going, too, make sure you stop and introduce yourself to us. Look for The Farmer, who will likely be spending some quality time cranking socks. He usually wears his fire department t-shirt when he's out and about, though he has been known to choose his American Lamb t-shirt for sheepy occasions such as this...

This new listing in our etsy shop generated a lot of interest this past week. It ended up in two treasuries (which are collections of items promoted by etsy sellers), and got lots of views. If you click on the photo above, you can read my attempt at a humorous description for the yard of socks... ETA: I guess Blogger is just not going to cooperate with me on this one... To see the listing for the socks, click here. 

Sock yarn on bobbins... A bobbin and its matching sock... A pile of socks underneath the Master machine.  The Farmer will be cranking socks this Saturday (February 21) from 11 - 3 at The Shaker Messenger in Holland, Michigan. If you've wanted to see him at work, here's another opportunity. Socks will be for sale, but there's no obligation to buy. Just come on out and visit for a while! A friend of ours will also be spinning at that time, so you'll get to see the process of converting wool into yarn.

I fielded a phone call from a sock-knitter wannabe (I'll call her B.) last week. She was almost giddy with excitement. B. had called us once before, after The Farmer was featured in the newspaper with his sock knitting machine. She wanted to learn how, and would he teach her? He spent some time with her, explaining the process, as well as what to look for and watch out for when buying a machine. So B. found one that she was thinking about buying, and told one of her friends about it. Her friend exclaimed that she had one of those old things in her basement and B. could just have that one!  At that point, bursting with excitement, B. called us. I had to laugh. Sometimes it goes that way--God blesses us with wonderful surprises.  She came to our house today with her new machine. The Farmer cleaned it up for her and got it cranking. He made one sock, while she watched, and sent her home. Happiness is an old sock knitting machine...

While the cat's away... The mice will play! Looks like the sock knitter(s) have been busy while I've been sitting in meetings. I'm so glad it's the weekend! What are your plans?

**Scroll down to see information about our shearing day on Saturday, December 27.** Okay, so this weekend we got some more great press. Check out the article that ran in Sunday's Grand Rapids Press. Wow--two great articles in the span of a month.  So the phone's been ringing quite steadily with requests (which we can't keep up with) for socks. Today, I had a delightful conversation with a woman who wanted to know why we didn't have any socks listed on our website  that were suitable for her husband or son. You know, "manly socks". I had to laugh. I asked her what "manly socks" looked like. When she gave me some ideas, I told her we have not been able to keep up with the demand, and that all socks, manly and unmanly, have been flying out the door faster than my manly husband can make them.  I chuckled good-naturedly about it all day. So, readers--what does a manly sock look like to you?

We did indeed have bad weather over the weekend, as forecasted. Friday night out at the marketplace was like being in a deep freeze. The diehard parade-goers came out anyway to see Sinterklaas  and we had a fairly good night. Our sheepy display (you can see him in the photos here ) was blown over and broke a leg. We took him home with us and The Farmer splinted his leg late Friday evening. Saturday we felt as though we were in a wind tunnel, with swirling snow everywhere. The roads were pretty treacherous, and I would have stayed home, given half a chance. Again, the diehard Michiganders did not let a little weather spoil their fun. We put very little of our product out on tables and racks, due to the weather, instead choosing to display it inside the booth. Our big sellers were mittens and wool socks. Go figure. After church on Sunday, I spent the entire afternoon catching up on entering the sales in the computer. The Farmer is feeling quite a bit of pressure to keep ahead of the buye...

We had tolerable weather on Friday, our first day at Kerstmarkt. The wind was bitter, but the thermometer read well above freezing. Our heaters kept our blood from freezing, and the best part: no precipitation of any kind! Saturday's weather was even better. It got so warm mid-day that we turned the heaters off! The lovely weather brought out a steady stream of shoppers who were inclined to linger, chat and buy. The Farmer's new toy was a hit with the shoppers. The weather has turned ugly, and the forecast for this coming week has  me shaking in my boots already. Let's hope they're wrong...

A few new pair of socks, ready to roll. Kerstmarkt starts this Friday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. It is WINTER-like, and we are taking donations for a propane heater for The Farmer to use as he sits outside, cranking socks. (Just kidding.)

Whew! The soybeans are harvested (and we've had more rain, so the corn will have to wait). We start our busy show season this weekend. Here's our schedule: Saturday, October 25, 9-2 -- Hamilton Middle School (Booths for Youths) Saturday, November 8, 9-2 -- Eastside Christian School (Eastside Stop N Shop) and we will talk about the Kerstmarkt when it gets a little closer. So in preparation for this first show, we've been cranking and dyeing and thumping and cutting and felting and tagging...and it is my observation that we need a couple more weeks before this weekend comes.  If you are in our part of the world, please feel free to stop out at Hamilton Middle School on Saturday to say hi. The Farmer will have his sock machine along, so look for the crowd in the corner.  If you mention that you read this blog, we'll give you 10% off one item of your choice.

Some of us have been busy dyeing the new sock yarn. We find that it's better not to have expectations, as the yarn often turns out very different than what we plan. We haven't made any total duds yet, however. When they're made into socks, they are just so unique... It's a very gratifying process to start with the sheep and end up with hand-dyed, one of a kind socks!

The crops are not quite ready to harvest yet, and so there's a lull (if you can call it that) in the farm work while we wait. We've had our first hard frost, so much of the garden is done. It's still nice enough weather to have the sheep out in the pastures, so feeding chores are not too time-consuming now, either. Because of this "lull" The Farmer has been using his evenings and weekends for cranking socks. Here is a display of some of the socks he's made recently. Some of them he's made from our wool and then dyed after they are in sock form (look for the tie dye effect). Some of them he's made from yarn we've purchased. And my favorite are those he's made from our own wool yarn that we dyed before it was in the sock format. Stay tuned for more sock production photos...

Not often, but sometimes... Earlier this summer, The Farmer confessed his weakness for antique circular sock knitting machines to a woman who works in antiques/estate sales. "Please keep your eyes open for me, will you?" he asked. Friday, out of the blue, she left a message on our answering machine. "Call me if you get this message within the next 30 minutes or so," she said. "I may have found one." We were both listening to the messages at the same time, and when we heard this one, we looked at each other with chagrin (good word, eh?). It was well past the 30 minutes. The Farmer called her. She'd bought it without our call, just on a whim. Within 15 minutes, she was in our yard, unloading it... Sweet! A little dirty, perhaps, but it looked like most of the parts were there. And the price was so low that if I print it here, sock knitters around the world will convulse.  We paid her, thanked her profusely, and ate supper. Suddenly, the previously-schedu...