May is my favorite fiber month of the year. Maryland Sheep and Wool kicks off what I feel is the beginning of the fiber season, and my favorite fiber fest is soon to follow. I love the Great Lakes Fiber show for many a reason: its emphasis on handspinning, the lovely fleece show, the variety of vendors, and, most of all, the community.
The GLFS is also where I source much of the raw animal fiber for Laundry Day Atelier. All of my fiber is local and hand processed, and I love making a connection with the farmers whenever I can.
Vendors at the GLFS bring their serious A-game for fiber lovers like me. In 2023, I purchased three Jacob’s breed fleeces Kingsfold Jacobs, and their shepherd Cheryl was kind enough to send me their pictures. Merida is a beautiful lilac ewe, and Cinderella has the typical brown and white spots of Jacob’s sheep (but she does have five horns!).
This year, I hope to meet a few more rockstar sheep through their fleece and introduce them to you.
At the end of April, I paid a visit to my favorite yarn shop for Local Yarn Store Day: The 614 Knit Studio. Andrea and Co. are dear to my heart, and were the first to introduce me to a fiber community. I can never thank her enough.
She always has the yarn that I need, and I was lucky enough to pick up some 100% wool Lichen and Lace Rustic Heather Sport in three colors to knit up some Tabi Ballerina Slippers by Maymade Knits. I haven’t been courageous enough to try felting any of my knits in the past, but I couldn’t resist these slippers. I have this weird love for tabis. We will see how they turn out… Hopefully I will be able to share news of my great success after I knit them up.
I already knit up my gauge swatches, and (miracle of all miracles) got gauge on the recommended needle size holding two strands of the Lichen and Lace together. Felting my swatch is turning out to be more of a challenge since my washer is cold water only. I had to get creative—more on that later.
I will also be planting my flax and dye crops this month. Sarah and Eric from Yellow Finch Gardens have graciously allowed me to plant two varieties of flax and several kinds of dye plants in their fields (probably because they are my parents). I have never grown flax before, so, naturally, I have decided to grow both the Natalie and Aramis varieties and compare the two.
My natural dye lineup this year includes marigold, blue false indigo, weld, dyer’s chamomile, and maybe a few fun surprises from Sarah’s cut flower garden. I already have my eye on her coreopsis.
Both the linen and the dye plants won’t be ready for harvest for some time, but, when they are, keep your eye out for LDA dye kits and fall workshops.
What I’m Working On
In April, I have been working on washing, combing, and spinning up the last of the wool for the fleece judging class taught by Dave Lewis of the Algonquin Spinners and Weavers Guild. This guild puts on the GLFS and trains up the judges for the fleece competition. This year will be my first year judging, and I could not be more excited.
The competition has five main classes: fine, medium, coarse, double coated, and long wool. For the fine wool, I spun up some natural brown fleece from a Merino sheep in Wisconsin. I have to confess, I do not love fine wool on the best of days, and this wool was not having a great day when I met it. For the medium wool, I spun up some Shetland from two of Dave Lewis’s own flock: Druzzy and Diana d’Ore. These fleeces and I got along so much better. Finally, for the long wool, I have some Gotland locks that are waiting to be prepped and spun.
If you’re interested in reading more about my process and learning about the breed characteristics of Merino, Shetland, and Gotland sheep, check back in March after the fleece judging course is over.
Happy spinning!