Dare to dream – a flock for you?

Did you notice that Susan over at Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm (and Hudson Valley Fiber Farm), the first fiber person to create a fiber CSA, is giving away goats?  That’s right.  She has more than she needs, and she is giving away a handspinner’s flock of Angora goats, complete with a shed in which to house them.

Write an essay about why you want to be a shepherd, and convince Susan and Erin that you have a good plan (it would help, for instance, to have some land), and these lovelies could be yours.  Details here.

I’m blogging about it in a shameless attempt to win the PR helper’s stash of goodies.  (So you may be sure that Steven will do so next.)

C’mon, someone has what it takes to raise goats, right?  My outlaws’ land in Texas would be perfect, no doubt.  Someone else I know has lakefront property in the family……

The Clown Car of Yarn Bags, or Kristina Got Yarn Stormed

If you follow the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm blog (as I do, since they were the first ever fiber CSA I'd heard of), you may have heard about the Yarn Storm project. The basic idea is to unite unwanted/unneeded stash yarn with knitters who could use it, for whatever reason. My friend Kristina, who quit yarn acquisition cold turkey after finding herself unemployed, was just on the receiving end of "a stash busting yarn storming box of sunshine" (as the letter accompanying the box describes it) - and I had the amazing good fortune to be visiting her when the box arrived. Thus, her box makes my blog!

The box is big (mug is for scale). And heavy. We were stunned at how much great fiber was in there - it just kept coming and coming. As we were unpacking it, S1 quipped "this is the clown car of yarn bags." Oh, yes, it is ... there is enough yarn for seven complete projects in here. Seven!!!

Kristina was blown away. Witness:

In this box, she found

1. Kathmandu Aran - a lovely, green, aran weight tweedy yarn - 85% merino / 10% silk / 5% cashmere - an unbelievable 13 balls
2. Ingenua Print - a fuzzy mostly-mohair yarn that will be perfect to pair with something for felting - 2 balls
3. Mary Jane's Attic - handdyed fine wool yarn in a chunky weight single ply - the label says "great for felting" and the colors are perfect for kids' stuff - 3 hanks
4. Cascade Yarns Peruvian highland wool in a chunky weight - hot pink (maybe good to pair with something else from the box?) and feltable - 4 hanks
5. Zara Plus extrafine merino in a creamy white - this yarn is cabled (I think); it's constructed of nine separate 2-ply strands - the result is a lightweight, airy, squishy, warm yarn that would be lovely for cablework hats or scarves - super soft - 6 balls + a partial ball
6. Sensations Angel Hair - this is a combo yarn with lots of eyelash bits hanging off, but it's so soft and wonderful - multicolors (brights! maybe to pair with the hot pink yarn?) in a wool/acrylic/nylon blend - 2 100 gram balls
7. Trio of Pixies kit from Weir Dolls - 4 colors yarn and wool (?) roving for stuffing these delightful little dolls which look not unlike those little gremlins that took over the Starship Enterprise on one episode (does anyone know what I mean?)

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Kristina will make things from these yarns that she and her young daughter will love. She's been knitting exclusively from stash for quite some time now, and this infusion of new yarns totally made her month. The folks at Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm could not be any more thoughtful or gracious about sharing yarn love. Nancy (and crew), you scored bigtime with this box. Way to go!!!