June the Sheperdess

June the knitted Shepherdess does what I would like to do all day: knit in the fields and watch the sheep! ... that and have amazing curly red hair...

Summer on Ewetopia Farm has been a productive season. A new flock of sheep, a thriving crop of big lambs, a robust and semi weeded garden.... or at least the tomatoes, that I used the push mower to "weed". It's good to be a shepherdess!

Dyeing Class!

You asked for it, and now I'm finally taking the leap! Ewetopia will be offering our first dyeing class September 18th from 12-3pm. $65 will get you 3 skeins of local yarn dyed by YOU, plus the knowledge to go home and do it yourself! We will go through kettle dyeing, space dyeing and hand painting using low-impact acid dyes with white vinegar. The class will be held in our dye studio at Ewetopia Farm just east of La Farge (about a 30 minute drive from Viroqua). We have limited space so please call to reserve space soon.

New Project - Antonia Vest

At the Shepherd's Harvest Festival in the twin cities a few weeks ago I was inspired by a woman's scarf which was quite simple, garter stitch length wise, but knit the majority was knit in a fine lace weight mohair and then had single rows of a thicker cotton yarn occasionally thrown in. It looked woven and not knitted at all! Loved it! Although i saw many beautiful hand knits that weekend, this one stuck in my mind and I decided to work this concept into a basic pullover vest and knit out of our brand new lace weight brushed mohair and multi-colored hand dyed Rupunzel (a beautiful 100% tussah silk single ply).

The vest is worked length wise in two pieces (a front and a back) and has short rows across the bottom for a more flattering fit. I think this will look fantastic with a wide belt. I have named it after my favorite Bohemian heroine from "My Antonia" by Willa Cather.

Thank you MN Knitters!

Thank you Minnesota knitters for 2 fun weekends of fiber shows! First was the Yarn Over in Minneapolis put on by the MN Knitters guild, super fun to see Nicky Epstein, Lily Chin, Cat Bordhi, the girls from Ravelry and many more!

The next weekend was a bit warmer thankfully since the Shepherds Harvest in outside at the Washington County fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, MN. But this has to be one of my favorite shows, especially when the weather is nice! Sheep, dog trials, fiber judging, classes, and vendors (4 whole barns of them!) Our booth was next to Briar Rose (a beautiful autumn colored booth that is always full of fiber enthusiasts). We are already planning next years show and have just placed a huge order of natural yarns to dye and restock our empty trailer and shelves in the shop before Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair (Grays Lake, IL June 24-26)

Mae Louise

Welcome Mae Louise! She was born at home on April 5th, just after midnight. She was a day shy of being 3 weeks overdue and it took a bunch of castor oil to convince her to come out, but once she made up her mind she thankfully did not take long, about 4 hours of labor and 7 minutes of pushing! She is a wonderful and sweet babe!

Rosalind Cardigan Completed!

This was a fun project, and I am excited to say it actually looks good on me! Better than the mannequin at least since I have arms! Better pictures to come...

It was quick to knit and is a cropped length to look good on everyone since it is more of a swing sweater and does not have side shaping. The sleeves have two options, it is shown here in a 3/4 length sleeve, but also has a full length option. I have the pattern off to the printers soon and will be available by the end of the month.

New projects

One of the latest sweaters to hit my needles that keeps me from going crazy waiting for this overdue baby to be born! This sweater modeled after my Ariana Shell, is a cardigan version with a different lace yoke. My mother has a beautiful sweater that she *gasp* bought, it has a gorgeous crocheted yoke and she wears it quite a bit at wool festivals. People always want that pattern and we have to admit that we did not make it (very embarrassing) but now we'll be prepared to show them a similar design that includes all knitting! I am knitting this out of our Hand Dyed Peruvian Tweed (100% Alpaca dk weight yarn) and getting a worsted weight gauge at 4.5 sts/per inch, this makes the garment soft and supple and light weight. But it would also be very nice in a thicker more substantial yarn for a warmer and firmer garment.

New summer yarn!

What a gorgeous new yarn. I am absolutely wishing I did not have 3... or maybe 5 sweaters in the works currently or I would be starting a summer tank out of this new yarn! It is a 50/50 blend of Tussah silk and Viscose. With beautiful shine and drape this would make the perfect evening shawl to dress up any summer outfit!

Ariana Shell

A brand new design from Ewetopia, a perfect lacy shell for summer! Knit in our super soft Hand Dyed Peruvian Tweed alpaca yarn with only 1-2 skein(s)! Alpaca is great for summer wearing because it's hollow thermal properties make it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This shell is knit starting with the lace yoke knit flat and then stitches are picked up for the body that is knit in the round.

March is in like a Lamb!

Thursday we had a visitor with us at the yarn shop! A 2 day old ram lamb that was not getting enough from his mama came with Stella and I so we could keep an eye on him and keep him fed and warm. Stella as you can see by the pictures took this upon herself and kept attempting to feed him throughout the day. The milk he enjoyed, but the whole wheat bread that she especially tore into small pieces and put in a bowl for him he did not.

Although normally i don't mind a "special" lamb or two a year, I am glad to have found this little guy a great home with a family who will be less stressed to keep him fed 6-8 times a day in the next month or so than I with a baby of my own due anytime!

Cables!

I seem to starting an awful lot of cabled designs right now, could it be last couple months of pregnancy making me a bit "loopy"? The green project is a cabled yoke for a sweater to be determined as a pullover or cardigan, I started it with the intent of making a pullover, but have recently been inspired to make it a cardigan with a wide button band and a swing type body. Feedback would be appreciated! The rust colored band looks like a headband right now, but will actually be a super warm hat. I made one as a birthday gift for my aunt a few days ago, and decided that I was fed up with my hat being to slouchy. This design knits the band one way and then stitches are picked up and knit in the round, this way, even the softest alpaca (usually deemed to drapey for a hat) should work just fine, I am knitting mine out of Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky, the first one I made out of an Alpaca/wool/silk/donegal blend, which worked beautifully. I will update you on how it wears and stretches, if it does work check out ravelry or the shop for the pattern!