A Blue Ridge January

January in Meadows of Dan sometimes looks like this:



And then sometimes it looks like this:

What I'm spinning: "Bluegrass" Hand dyed, hand carded Romney wool from Thistle Cove Farm
What I'm knitting: Fingerless mitts and Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Hibernating
What I'm reading: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for book club and
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Craft-Lit podcast, Dracula by Bram Stoker

This lamp post in front of the shop delights me. I suppose because it reminds me of Narnia.

A Mad Hatters' Tea Party

My Fibery Mad Hatter's Hat

When I decided to start blogging at the first of the year, I made a promise to myself that I would make a post every day, even if it was only a photograph or a quotation. I haven't quite kept that promise. It's not so much that I'm busy, although I am, with setting up the shop and keeping the bills paid on time. It's more that there seems to be only a few days when there is something new to say. Most of my days march along with a certain sameness to their hours.

A Classic Merry Widow (the hat, I mean)

This past Sunday, however, was very different from all the days surrounding it. I took the day off because I was invited to a Mad Hatters' Tea Party at the house in Croquet Hollow, just over the hill from my place on Squirrel Spur.

The next victim

When I arrived there were already hats in the making, and the process was entertaining, if a bit grim for the participant. The hats are made of sheets of packing paper and clear packing tape, and the idea is that each hat is unique and fits the participant. To make it fit, the hat is formed TIGHTLY over the face and head of the, uh, volunteer.

Is she still OK in there?

Then the edges are rolled up into a hat brim and the pleased new hat owner heads off to decorate her new creation. They all turned out beautiful, very different from each other and they all reflected the unique personalities of their creators.

A real charmer (and so is the hat)

There was a little contest to see which hat was the most popular. It was tough to vote but Mary D. was the winner for her quirky creation.

Mary's fun hat

We had a lovely tea with wonderful savories and sweets and three different blends, including an unusual Hungarian herb tea and a flavorful African black tea. There was an interesting mix of intelligent people, good friends new and old and the discussion was great between exclamations of admiration for the table and food.

Sweet Stella

The family dog, Stella, wasn't always sure what was going on but since everyone seemed to be having a good time she was OK with it. It was a wonderful and relaxing afternoon and I was ready to go back to work after having so much fun.

What I'm spinning: "Bluegrass" A hand dyed Romney batt
What I'm knitting: Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John
What I'm reading: The Golden Ass by Apuleius
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Craft-Lit Dracula
How the diet is going: Haven't lost any weight according to my cheap scale but a few inches are gone here and there

A Peek At the Bookshelves at Greenberry House

A few of the history titles at Greenberry House

The Calm Before the Storm

Snow is supposed to be on the way but today is gloriously warm and sunny. At least, gloriously warm for January. I've been hurrying to get a bunch of things done before the weather changes. Bringing books and paper into the shop so that I won't have to go out onto the road if the snow really happens, getting a few groceries so I can nibble while I work and bringing in lots and lots of wood at the house.

So I've accomplished most of that, and suddenly I've been hit with a remarkable lack of initiative. All I want to do is lay down and take a nap. Possibly because I haven't been sleeping as well as usual the last few nights, or maybe it's because the weather really is going to change and it's triggering some latent need to hibernate. Whatever the reason, this lack of ambition is seriously cutting into my creative efforts at the moment. I really have so much I want to do, and there aren't enough hours in a day, even without a nap!

Speaking of creative, I had a wonderful opportunity last month to take a class with Merike Saarniit, knit designer and extraordinary teacher of all things Estonian knit. Wooly Jumper Yarns in Floyd hosted this local class and I learned amazing things. The fingerless mitt above is what we learned to make and they have become my constant companions since I finished the pair. They don't exactly match, but don't tell Merike!

What I'm spinning: Finished the East Friesian and haven't started another batch. Maybe some dyed Romney in my future
What I'm knitting: Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John
What I'm reading: Just finished the Trollope and haven't started another book. Weird. But there was a handspinner in La Vendee!
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Craft-Lit podcast - Dracula
How the diet is going: Holding my own, getting lots of exercise

Winter Beauty

We're having an unusually warm winter here in Meadows of Dan. Two light snows and a short cold snap have been the extent of it so far. Today it's foggy with a little rain, more like March than January. I keep thinking the weather will get bad and I will have to stay in and spin! I did get back to the wheel last evening and finished spinning up a bobbin of East Friesian wool.

Yes, this is from a sheep. Apparently this breed, the East Friesian, is a relatively recent import to America from Europe and is used as a dairy sheep as well as a meat breed. According to the online resources I checked the wool is considered coarse, but the wool I've been spinning, from a local farmer, is pretty nice. Not extremely soft but certainly not unpleasant. Would be great for hats and mittens. This wool was clean but there are some short cuts in it. I'm going to recommend that they fuss at their shearer and make sure their fleece skirters shake out the fleeces to get the second cuts out.



Things are moving right along at the shop, thanks to the help of a lot of people. My stepdad Wendell put up my larger mailbox so I can keep mailing eBay purchases out and maybe receive some yarn and knitting needles from here and there. Linda and Mary have been coming and helping organize and Stella, Beth and Kathleen have visited and cheered us on. Peter and Kathleen did the huge bulk of the work in moving over all the displays and a lot of the remaining yarn and fiber stock. It has been a wonderful community effort and I'm grateful. Right now I'm pricing books from storage and getting them onto the shelves in the book rooms. An April opening date is certainly looking possible right now.

A New Home for Greenberry House

During this past year Greenberry House has been nestled into a corner of Mountain Meadow Farm and Craft Market, thanks to the generosity of my sister-in-law. We had a great season, but due to the limitations of space I could only represent a few of my talented spinners and farmers there. I spent most of the summer searching for a new home for the shop and ended up considering moving out of Meadows of Dan entirely to find a good location.

The couple of deals I was working on to relocate fell through, and at the same time the renter moved out of my uncle's house on Concord Road here in Meadows of Dan. It's about half a mile from the old shop location and on the same road, and when I walked in to look the little house over for a prospective renter, I realized that it would make a wonderful home for Greenberry House.

Thanks to the help of some wonderful friends, I'm already getting moved in and most of the displays are set up. I'm really excited about the future of Greenberry House here and, although the location may present some challenges, I'm sure knitters and spinners that want wonderful artisan yarns and locally produced spinning fibers will find us. I'm planning to do some fiber shows this year to let the world know that GREENBERRY HOUSE IS BACK!

What I'm spinning: East Friesian wool from a local farmer
What I'm knitting: Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John
What I'm reading: The Greene Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine,La Vendee by Anthony Trollope
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Deep Space Nine Marathon
How the diet is going: Doing pretty well, thanks to a lot of walking and the exercise group two times a week.