Starting my year with fiber

I got a great start to the new year in terms of creativity, fiber, relaxation, and new friends. 

Last year we visited Nezinscot Farm after seeing it in Down East magazine - they make their own cheese, meat, and yarn, including angora and wool. Dave noticed a sign for a new year's weaving retreat in January, so I noted it and signed up for two days of classes.

Because I had my own rigid heddle loom, they let me come in on Saturday for that and then do a basket class on Sunday. I was hoping to learn at least one new thing, and I learned several!

Patterned weaving

The above is a plain weave, believe it or not, but you alternate colors so that there are two strands of each. I used their yarn - a beautiful cream undyed yarn and also a gray that was overdyed with turquoise and brown.

One of my new year's resolutions is not to buy anymore superwash yarn, instead opting for beautiful natural fibers. This was as natural as you can get, you could really feel the lanolin while you worked with it. 

I was super happy with the result, as well as the little basket I made on Sunday and got to take home. The basket came together in about four hours and is called an Appalachian melon basket due to its size and shape. You cross two hoops, make a god's eye to hold the dowels in place, then weave the basket bottom.

I learned a lot about basket making and weaving on the retreat; there are baskets for everything. Garlic, herbs, firewood, eggs... I guess if you are on a farm and need a basket for something, and you are making the basket yourself, why not make it in the exact perfect shape?

The funniest part of the class is that two of the other attendees, who stayed the night (I went home each day) were from Chicago! We had a lot of fun talking about home.

Another quick fiber project I worked on this month was to make a puffin for a coworker. The backstory is that she asked in a meeting whether people eat puffins, which caused a bit of an uproar because not only are they beloved and cute, they are also endangered. 

So, of course I had to find a cute puffin pattern and make it for her. A lot of the patterns on Ravelry are sorta cartoony, but I found a cute one that was fairly realistic while being simple. He ended up a bit bigger than I expected, but I really like how he turned out. I put a "don't eat me" sign on him and I'll be giving it to her this week. (Would have done this morning, but everyone is working from home today due to the weather.)