A Classic Conundrum

WANT to write. NOTHING to write about.

My poetry mentor, Erich Hintze, always encouraged me to include important content in the title and continue the poem with no thought break between the title and the body of the poem.

There you go, Erich.

Today is a wordy day with no anchoring topic.  Music & words are filling my head so loudly while I spin & knit that I can't listen to my good husband when he talks to me.

When this happens, I catch myself talking internally to SOMEONE, as if I'm writing a letter.  Maybe I'm just doing some lazy (ie: not actually writing it down) journalling.  I invent tag lines to blogs and articles that I'll never write.

Let's see there's:

Hit the Tiresome Button!: What NOT to post on FACEBOOK or RAVELRY

How Making Stuff Keeps Me From Going to Jail

Short Bus Luddites

What Would Lorelei Do?-Advice for Mothers with Brainy Daughters 

Stop Talking!

Etc, etc.  

I guess these are mostly rants.  Anyway, these things (and many more) are rampaging through my brain today.  Soundtrack: Sting Live in Berlin. Audible only to me.

Pictured below is the sweetest girl I know.  She knows just what to say when this mood is upon me!

Dixie Marie

Let's Get Going!

I love the holidays. Definitely.  But I'm soooooo ready to get back to work again. Pondering colors like mad. Looking and looking at the world, flipping through my books, watching the light change...Which color next?

Here's the beautiful violet color I achieved last dye session.  I carded the mohair with some Romney - isn't it delicious?

While I was sighing & longing over one of my British interior design books, I hit on the idea of trying to get that most serene of all colors, Duck Egg Blue, frequently featured in historic British homes.

The slightly greyed-out Coopworth I was working with helped me get REALLY close. On pure white roving I got aqua, a whole different mood.  Duck Egg is a slightly "dirty" color and the packet labeled Robin's Egg Blue just didn't cut it on its own, so I added a teeny bit of plain yellow.

I need some more baskets, obviously!

A VERY FULL BASKET of 

Random Roving Yarns!

New Year's Goal: a full stock of my own yarn in my shop (www.villagebooks.info) by the time I re-open in April.  Stay tuned....

A Day to Dye For!

While I was working in my bookstore & yarn shop, I realized that I had WAY TOO MUCH brown & grey yarns (even tho' the Maine Shetland has just about sold out)!  So out came the Cushings acid dyes and my pots and some Romney batting from my friend Betty's farm in Winterport.

Royal Blue + Buttercup Yellow + Romney = lovely, Park Bench Green!  One of my husband's very favorite colors.

Watching the dye bath change from green to a series of gorgeous yellows was a treat too!  Mohair locks from Jefferson gleam in the 3 shades of olive, warm yellow & peach-yellow that resulted.

Of course, PURPLE just had to follow - my painter's soul cried out for it.
And guess what? Royal Blue + Magenta + Romney = purple.  Or periwinkle & lilac.  LOVELY.  Ran to the last, clean mohair locks I had and threw them in the pot.  The final color is a stunning violet that just glows on mohair.  The result is on the wheel right now & will be viewable in the next chapter.

But THIS YARN does me (& Betty & Cushings) PROUD:

Don't forget to check out my website at www.villagebooks.info for the latest in great used books and fabulous Maine yarns!

Bright holidays to you & yours.

Karen

Last Day!

The Holiday Open House at Village Books ends today at 5 pm.  Stop on by for some hot, mulled cider!
 Last day of this season will end Christmas Eve, 3 pm.  Until April please either call me to arrange a visit (207-845-2133) or go the new website www,villagebooks.info for updates on book titles and hand spun yarns..

Spinning & Dyeing, Dyeing & Spinning

Here are the latest yarns from Random Rovings, my new yarn company.  I'm taking this winter to develop a yarn that I love to spin & want to sell in my shop. It will be ONLY from Maine-raised, sheep and/or goats and Maine-processed wools. (And no, Village Books is NOT going out of the book business - VB is still the best used book store on the MidCoast!)

Above, from left to right, are a single ply Romney, a double-ply Lincoln Romney blend, double-ply Shetland, & a crazy art yarn made from Mohair & Lincoln plied together.   All are from small Maine farms and all are dyed with Cushing dyes. I love the Mohair!

Dyed & Uncarded

Bobbin O' Mohair

But the Shetland has also captured my fickle heart. So soft! So many shades of brown! So much fun to spin! Sigh...You can expect to find several serious skeins of natural Shetland for sale at VB during our Holiday Open House, Dec 3-5.

Then, of course, there's the CASHMERE.

This wee bowl is from my goats.

 

              Winnie

 

     Lucy

VB will also be featuring raw cashmere & gorgeous yarns from Black Locust Farm, just up the road. Yvonne Taylor is my goat mentor & I can only aspire to the greatness of her cashmere products at this point.  But my girls & I are working on it! They're both out under the apple trees fiercely concentrating on growing beautiful fiber as I write this post.

Village Books is open Fri-Sat, 10-5 through Christmas.  If you are curious about the new yarns or want to know about new titles in books, drop me a line (karenjelenfy@gmail.com) or call 207-845-2133.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen

Our Yearly Party!

Annual

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

at

         VILLAGE BOOKS  

18 WALDOBORO RD, WASHINGTON VILLAGE
207-845-2133

                  

         Fri,  Dec 3         10 am – 7 pm

Sat & Sun, Dec 4 & 5   10 am – 5 pm

               

            Now featuring yarn & roving from

 Maine sheep & local crafters

              Food, friends, unique, handmade gifts!

              Best used book selection!

Regular hours until Christmas are 10-5 pm Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

Village Books is all set to become a Cushing Perfection Dyes Dealer.  The brick & mortar shop at 18 Waldoboro Rd, Washington, Maine will be stocking the Cushing Acid Dyes (for protein fiber) starting this month.  When I am a vendor at sheep & wool festivals and fiber events, I'll be toting the Cushings along too!  Cushing Perfection Dyes is an old Maine company operating out of Kennebunkport.  No need to take your fiber dollars out of our lovely state! And Mid-Coasters save on shipping costs, while enjoying a scenic trip to the best used bookstore in Maine.

Next up: Fiber Maine-ia, University of Maine, Orno, Oct 16 & 17!  Gently used fiber arts books, handspun, hand-dyed Maine yarn, roving and other goodies for spinners, knitters, weavers, crocheters, hookers, etc...