Treat Yourself to Yarn!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. If you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, here's your chance. Rising Moon Farm now has yarn for sale.

So here's the yarn's story: The sheep were sheared during a lovely late March party. It's cold here, so if you're going to be outside, you've got to turn it into a party.

Then the fleece hopped a ride with my aunt and uncle back to Broadus, Montana, where a relative who owns the Big Sky Quality woolen mill cleaned, carded, and spun it into white yarn. Then the US post office brought it back to me from Montana.

Then up to St. Paul, where a very talented woman named London hand-dyed and hand-painted the yarn. (www.myfriendlondon.com---please paste this address...I can't seem to make the link work.) London did lots of fun, spring and summer colors, just what we need to get us through the winter!

I've had several knitting experts look at the yarn. When Annie Modesitt, author of Romantic Hand Knits, and Joanne Seiff, author of Knit Green, raved about 'spring' and 'great hand' and how soft the yarn is, it really set our little shepherd-hearts a' poundin'.

It turns out that Merino sheep isn't the only breed to yield a soft yarn---our yarn is wear-against-your-skin soft, and is sturdier than Merino. Our sheep are a Corriedale cross, and Corriedales were developed by crossing Merino with English Leicester sheep.

Our friend Kathy took a skein of undyed yarn and pronounced it wonderful for cables. Here's a little sample she knit: (Thanks, Kath!)




I kept two skeins for myself, and have started a pair of socks. I'm including what I've done so far so you can see that there isn't any irritating striping. London is a master dyer!

Here's the hand-painted sport weight I chose:




And here's the sock, so far...



What follows are your choices:

1) one natural brown yarn (no dye, just Mother Nature and Ewe #704)

2) 10 colors of hand-dyed worsted yarn

3) 6 colors of hand-dyed fingering yarn

4) 7 colors of hand-painted sport yarn


London dyed the yarn in batches of 2-4 skeins, so you may want to buy all of a dye lot so you'll have enough for a project. The approximate length and weight of each DYE LOT is listed after each color, as is the price.


Here we go.... (UPDATE---much has been sold, but there are some lovely skeins left! Here's what's left:

3 Coral, 1 Green Grass, 3 Tangerine, 2 Lavender, 2 Pretty in Pink, 2 Bright Turquoise, 1 Pink Roses, 3 Candy Corn)


1) Non-dyed, non-painted... Just some lovely brown yarn that Ewe #704 made all on her own...



We have 0 skeins of this.
1 skein at 3.1 oz, $ 9 SOLD Laura
8 skeins at 3.6 oz, $ 10 (3 sold 12/28, Amelia...5 SOLD to Laura
1 skein at 4.2 oz, $ 12 SOLD Laura

(This naturally colored yarn is not quite as soft as the other yarn, so you might want to use it for something that won't be worn directly against the skin.)



Hand-dyed Worsted Weight:



I realize that yarns don't usually have subtitles like books do, but this yarn has one: The Color That Freaked Out the Camera. It's a lovely color, bright and lively, but not as flourescent as the camera thinks.

Coral: 3 skeins
3.6 oz (208 yds): $13
3.6 oz (208 yds): $13
3.7 oz (215 yds): $14




Purple Rain: 0 skeins
3.4 oz (195 yds): $13 SOLD--Kathryn
3.5 oz. (200 yds): $13 SOLD--Kathryn
3.8 oz (220 yds): $14 SOLD--Kathryn




Cornflower: 0 skeins
3.5 oz (200 yds) :$13 SOLD: Karen
3.8 oz (220 yds): $14 SOLD: Karen




Tuscan Gold: 0 skeins
3.5 oz (200 yd): $13 SOLD-Ellen
3.7 oz (215 yd): $14 SOLD-Ellen
3.8 (220 yd): $14 SOLD-Ellen




This green is brighter than in the photograph.

Green Grass: 1 skein
3.4 oz (200 yd) $13 SOLD Peg
3.5 oz (200 yd) $13 SOLD Peg
3.6 oz (208 yd) $13





Faded Denim: 0 skeins
3.4 oz (200 yd) $13 SOLD
3.5 oz (200 yd) $13 SOLD
3.7 oz (215) $14 SOLD



Corn Tassel: 0 skeins
3.5 oz (200 yd) $13 SOLD-Ellen
3.6 oz (208 yd) $13 SOLD-Ellen





Celery: 0 skein left
3.5 oz (200 yd) $13 SOLD: Amanda
3.6 oz (208 yd) $13 SOLD: Amanda
3.7 oz (215) $14 SOLD: Sarah Jane






Summer Straw: 0 skein left
3.3 oz (190 yds): $13 (SOLD--Phyllis)
3.6 oz (208 yd) $13 (SOLD--Phyllis)
3.7 oz (215) $14 SOLD---Pam




This is another color that made my camera cover up its lens and cry out in pain, "Too bright! Too bright!" Big baby.

Tangerine: 3 skeins LEFT
3.7 oz (215) $14
3.8 oz (220 yds): $14 SOLD--Ellen
4.0 oz (230 yds): $14
4.1 oz (240 yds): $15






Hand-dyed Fingering Weight:



Autumn Leaves: 0 skeins
3.6 oz (360 yds): $19 SOLD--Kathryn
3.8 oz (380 yds): $20 SOLD--Kathryn




Lavender: 2 skeins LEFT
3.4 oz (340 yds): $17 SOLD Peg
3.7 oz (370 yds): $19
3.8 oz (380 yds): $20




My Blue Jeans: 0 skeins,
3.1 oz (310 yds): $16 SOLD--Pam
3.3 oz (330 yds): $16 SOLD--Pam
3.5 oz (350 yds): $19 SOLD--Pam
3.7 oz (370 yds): $19 SOLD--Pam




Rhubarb Sauce: 0 skeins
3.4 oz (340 yds) $17 SOLD: Sharon
3.5 oz( 350 yds) $18 SOLD: Sharon
3.7 oz (370 yds) $19 SOLD: Sharon




Pretty in Pink: 2 skein LEFT
3.1 oz (310 yds): $16 SOLD Peg
3.2 oz (320 yds): $16
3.4 oz (340 yds): $17




Bright Turquoise: 2 skeins left
3.3 oz (330 yds): $16
3.4 oz (340 yds) $17
3.5 oz( 350 yds) $18 SOLD---Maggie
3.6 oz (360 yds) $19 SOLD--Maggie





Hand-painted Sport Weight:



Lemon Lime: 0 skeins left
3.3 oz (190) $15 SOLD--Renee
4.0 oz (230) $17 SOLD--Renee
4.1 oz (240) $19 SOLD---Ellen






Wild Blue Yonder: 4 skeins (I like this so much...may selfishly keep..not sure)
3.9 oz (225) $17
3.9 oz (225) $17
3.9 oz (225) $17
4.0 oz (230) $17



Pink Roses: 1 skein
3.8 oz (220) $17 SOLD Peg
3.9 oz (225) $17 SOLD Peg
4.6 oz (265) $19





Lilac Bush: 0 skeins
3.9 oz (225) $17 SOLD-Pam
4.0 oz (230) $17 SOLD-Pam





Mother Earth: 0 skeins
3.8 oz (220) $17 SOLD-Pam
4.0 oz (230) $17 SOLD-Pam





Watermelon: 0 skeins
3.7 oz (215) $17 SOLD: Kath
3.9 oz (225) $17 SOLD: Kath
4.3 oz (250) $19 SOLD: Kath




Candy Corn: 3 skeins
3.8 oz (220) $17
3.9 oz (225) $17
4.0 oz (230) $18


There. That's it. Hopefully there's something here for everyone!

What next?

Claim the skeins you want in this blog post's Comment Section, where I'll also post updates about what's available, or email me directly.

Then please send a check to Rising Moon Farm, Box 21, Zumbrota, MN 55992. Please include $5 for postage if you're ordering 1-3 skeins. Postage for 3-5 skeins is $7.50, and 5-10 skeins is $10. Once I receive your check, I'll ship the yarn.

Sorry we aren't set up to do PayPay yet... something to work on in the future if people like the yarn.

We are SO excited about our yarn...from our sheeps' backs, to yours....

Wishing you a warm and safe New Year's!

Catherine and The Farmer (who will never take up knitting, but who's proud as punch of the yarn from her sheep)

I'm a Yarn Tease

So we raise sheep. We shear the sheep. Our shearer Drew says, "This wool ain't worth much." We like Drew. We believe Drew. Drew knows a great deal about sheep and wool.

But our dear friend Drew isn't a spinner or a knitter (at least not that we know of), so he must be forgiven for not knowing that our wool is actually very good for spinning and knitting. We sold some yarn and roving made from it a few years ago, then had more spun into yarn this year.

Our friend Kathy knit with it, and raved about its softness, even though there isn't a speck of Merino or alpaca or angora in it. She said it makes great cables, which will mean something to those of you who knit, and not much to non-knitters, or to knitters like myself too cowardly to try cables. She showed it to a friend who designs patterns for Vogue and teaches knitting, and Annie thought it had great 'spring' and immediately took some home with her.

It's been interesting, as shepherds, to begin paying more attention to what happens to the fleeces once our sheep are done with them.

And now we've hooked up with a great hand-dyer, and she's happily dipping our yarn in dyes and painting them with dyes and having all sorts of fun. Here's what she's done so far....




So, this is just a tease, 'cause she's not done yet. When she finishes, we'll give the yarn silly names, perhaps put labels on them, then offer them for sale on this blog, and on our website. So check back mid-January, when you've recovered from the holidays and feel a need to increase your stash (that's knitter talk, by the way. I'm so good at picking up jargon, no?)