Hello dear friends, the yarn shopping website is up and running! I am pleased to be able to show fabulous pictures of the colors and yarns I’ve been working with all year available for purchase through Pay Pal.
To check out the new website click on the text jorstad creek.
Available for purchase is the icelandic yarn, finn sheep yarn, finn-alpaca, and merino. Check it out and let me know what you think.
I am working on a blue-faced leicester (BFL) tweed sock yarn from a British source, dyeing them in beautiful muted colors. I am also adding new colorways for the merino fingering and sport weight yarns I already offer. Working with dyes in the outdoors in below-freezing weather is a challenge, but I am determined to persevere. I must add to my stock because I was asked to provide a vendor booth at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival in Tacoma, Washington February 14 – 17, 2013 at the Hotel Murano. The fiber fair has no entry fee, so I hope you will attend and stop by my booth to say hello!
I am also pleased to add that I will offer Gotland/Finn Sheep roving for sale. The Gotland breed, like Icelandic sheep are another hardy short-tailed breed originating from the island of Gotland, Sweden. It is Sweden’s largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. My source is a little closer to home near Auburn, Washington. The shepherdess has been working with Finn sheep stock to develop animals with an increasing percentage of the Gotland sheep characteristics, with the result producing prize-winning fleece. The fiber has a long staple, with beautiful wavey locks evocative of the Lincoln breed. This fiber will produce a medium weight yarn, with versatile characteristics as well as strength from the long staple, for a variety of uses. I was fortunate to be able to find another small farm to work with to create more northwest-based yarn.
In addition to the Gotland/Finn roving I hope to have two new yarns for sale in the natural grey colors that the Gotland breed is known for. These yarns are made from about 50% Gotland/Finn lambswool mixed with adult fleece, to produce a strong and soft result. I’ve got my fingers crossed that these will be back from the mill in time for Madrona.
Just off the needles from my dear friend, fellow knitter (and fabulous designer) Kaia Petersen is Evelyn A. Clarke’s “Brimnes Shawl” made from the icelandic yarns I offer. This pattern is available from www.ravelry.com as a download-able pattern, or as part of her new e-book of icelandic shawl patterns. We will roll-out kits for the large and small size of this pattern in the natural colorway and a few limited dyed colorways exclusively at Madrona. If there are any left I will post them on the website for sale after February. I look forward to seeing you soon in Tacoma. Kerry Graber
Jorstad Creek 