Author: Andrea

Since the late 1990's I've run a small NJ farm producing 100% USA made, one of a kind fiber products. I was a chemist and technical librarian for nearly 30 years running my fiber farm part time. As of March 2013 I was able to become a full time fiber farmer! Most of my animals are rescues or seniors living full happy lives on the farm with funding from product sales. I raise Angora goats and Shetland sheep as well as endangered chicken breeds (Ameraucana, Australorp, Delaware, Dominique). All products are made using fiber from my animals or combined with fiber purchased from other small USA farmers. Hand made products are made in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, USA while machine processed yarn and roving are made at small mills in the USA. Most people are so far removed from farm production that I consider it a special mission to inform and educate on what is involved. My blog provides inspiration, heartache and learnings from what happens here on the farm. To learn more about natural fibers please take a look at my "Fiber Facts" brochure.

Gene-edited chickens to help preserve rare breeds

Posted on 2017-02-18 by Andrea

Hens that do not produce their own chicks have been developed for use as surrogates to lay eggs from rare breeds. The advance – using gene-editing techniques – could help to boost breeding of endangered birds, as well as improving production of commercial hens, researchers say.

DNA deletion

A team led by the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute used a genetic tool called TALEN to delete a section of chicken DNA.

They targeted part of a gene called DDX4, which is crucial for bird fertility.

Infertile

Hens with the genetic modification were unable to produce eggs but were otherwise healthy, the team found. DDX4 plays an essential role in the generation of specialised cells – called primordial germ cells – which give rise to eggs.

Surrogate hens

Researchers say that primordial germ cells from other bird breeds could be implanted into eggs carrying the gene edited birds. The hens would then grow up to produce eggs containing all of the genetic information from the other breeds.

These chickens are a first step in saving and protecting rare poultry breeds from loss in order to preserve future biodiversity of our poultry from both economic and climate stresses.

Dr Mike McGrew, The Roslin Institute

First in Europe

The surrogate chickens are the first gene-edited birds to be produced in Europe. Scientists from the US biotechnology company Recombinetics also worked on the project.

The study is published in the journal Development and was funded by strategic investment from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

2016 Year in Pictures

Gallery

Wet Snowstorm

Ozzie Sleeping on Washed Shetland Fleece

Jasper on Washed Shetland Fleece

Fuzzy First Day Found (~4 days old)

Fuzzy Taking a Bath

Fuzzy After Taking a Bath

Fuzzy talking to Andrea

Soaking Wet Baby Robin Day of Fledging

Geese on Shed Roof

Twin Fawns in Buddy’s Pasture

Jasper Supervising Baby Chicks

Goldfinch Family Learning to Eat Sunflowers

Goldfinch Family on Sunflowers

Goldfinch Family on Sunflowers

Goldfinch Family on Sunflowers

Sunflowers

Dominique Hen in Catnip

Coq Au Vin – Ameraucana Rooster (Photo Courtesy Alice Su)

Blue Heron on Rowboat

Cardinal Flower

Monarch Butterfly

Great Spangled Fritillaria

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Hummingbird Moth on Lilac Monarda

Dragonfly at Pond

Ingrid and Starlight (Photo Courtesy Alice Su)

Jessie, James and Rembaldi (Photo Courtesy Alice Su)

TyDye in Deep Snow Path

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Sock Knitting Exploration

Posted on 2017-02-13 by Andrea

I’ve decided to do a project exploring fiber content and construction techniques for socks. At the rate I knit it could be a lifetime project!

For my first project ….

Used FLK (Fish Lip Kiss) pattern for sizing and heel. Since it’s my first time using this pattern I used plain knitting for the body of the sock. This is only the second pair of socks I’ve ever knitted. I want to work up to Magic Loop for both socks at one time but this pair was done on two circulars, and I did an inch on one sock then an inch on the other sock in order to avoid the dreaded SSS (single sock syndrome). It worked!

This variation used Wooly Yarn (nylon wool blend, see Halycon yarn for example) held doubled with my yarn in the heel, and the next one will use 100% mohair for the heel. The yarn used was Rambler’s Way Handpaint Rambouillet DK (100% American wool and spinning) which is spun with a high twist. Loved the yarn! It is super springy and knits soooo easily. I had to watch out for splitting the yarn (my knitting Achilles heel) and accidentally creating yarn overs when increasing.

I used Turkish Cast On (my 1st time – love it!) and kept each sock separate (on it’s own set of circulars). The Woolly Yarn used for the heels was hard to use as it kept sticking to my fingers and I split the yarn frequently – luckily I didn’t have to do any frogging!. It took about 40 hours of knitting for the pair.

They fit fairly well initially but stretched lengthwise while wearing. Due to the size of the yarn they don’t fit in regular shoes but are fine in boots or slippers. I was surprised to find I did not like the feel of the purl bumps on my feet so am wearing them inside out with the knit side facing in. So far they are holding up well.

Learnings:

High twist is needed for 100% wool yarn to wear well, particularly low micron wools such as merino, rambouillet, cormo, etc. I use 25-50% mohair in all my own yarn blends to ensure good wear performance. Size (weight) of yarn impacts which shoes the socks will fit into. Soft springy 100% yarn will stretch significantly so this needs to be taken into account for sizing.

Next….Same pattern, same wool, two at a time (TAAT), 100% mohair heels – thinking about a stitch pattern for foot and leg. See Sock Knitting Exploration Version 2.

Project info

Pattern: Fish Lips Kiss Heel by Sox Therapist

Needle: US 4 – 3.5 mm

Yarn: Rambler’s Way Handpainted Rambouillet DK, = 600.0 yards (548.6 meters), 10.58 ounces – I used half a skein; Colorway: Sunglow;Purchased at: Discontinued Brand Name Yarn

Construction Details:

Toe up, each sock on it’s own circular working one then the other about an inch at a time

Turkish Cast on (4 stitches = 8), wedge toe, increased (inserted a backwards yarn loop) 4 stitches/ row up to 24 stitches then increased every other row up to 40 stitches total

Foot and leg: Stockinette (on circulars so straight knitting)

Heel: Carried Wooly Yarn with Rambouillet yarn

Finish: 2 x 2 rib for an inch and standard loose bind off

Socks Version 1
Socks Version 2
Socks Version 3

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Maine in Short Rug

Posted on 2017-02-13 by Andrea

I was commissioned to hook a 2′ by 3′ rug for the Short Family in Maine as a Christmas gift. I used my homespun and millspun hand dyed yarns, all of which are wool/ mohair blends as much as possible but due to the short timeline for producing this rug I also used purchased yarns (details). Even so I had to spin an extra 2 skeins of Starry Nights yarn for the night sky…can’t imagine how long it would have taken to dye and spin all the yarn colors needed for this size rug! The backing is 100% cotton 13×13 epi Monk’s Cloth.

The design was created based on royalty free clipart and photos, then enlarged using Ronyasoft Poster Printer. The Short family lives on a lake (or pond as they are called in Maine) which has loons and they often have bear, coyote and moose visitors near the house. Additionally one of the family members worked at a state fishery for many years raising rainbow trout. The rug was designed as a unique reflection of the Short Family.

Maine in Short Rug Back Before Finishing

Back of Rug Before Finishing

Maine in Short Rug Front Before Finishing

Front of Rug Before Finishing

Moose Side, Back of Rug Before Finishing

Center Front of Rug Before Finishing

Bear Side of Rug Before Finishing

Learnings

Even at this large scale details such as eyes and color markings on the loon did not show as well as I would have liked but the use of finer yarns than in other parts of the rug helped. The paw prints took a long time because of the many color changes needed and because I used finer yarn to get better detail. For the coyote I used a tweed (white and grey) yarn to better mimic the color variations in their natural coats.

Working the lines of color around the animal outlines is an area I will work to improve on future projects. I found it easier to get the shapes to hold true if I hooked the objects then worked the colors directly around them while holding back the yarn that formed the outside of the object from underneath. Horizontal lines of varying color produced a nice impression of moving water.

Yarns Used

Info on the yarns used is given below. The picture links to the full description and creation details for the yarn where available.

Colorway: Starry Nights roving

Weight: Sport (12 wpi) 2ply Handspun

Fiber Content: 41% DWF Mohair, 59% Shetland wool

Used For: Night sky

Colorway: Coreopsis

Weight: Sport (12 wpi)

Fiber Content: 50% DWF Mohair – 50% Shetland wool, hand painted (dyed) after mill spinning

Used For: moon, stars, shooting star

Colorway: Aquatics

Weight: Sport (12 wpi)

Fiber Content: 50% DWF Mohair 50% Shetland wool

Used For: water and forest

Colorway: Forest Dreams

Weight: Sport (12 wpi)

Fiber Content: 50% mohair 50% shetland wool

Used For: forest and ground

Forest Dreams

Colorway: Green With Envy

Weight: Sport (12 wpi)

Fiber Content: 50% DWF Mohair 50% Shetland wool

Used For: forest and ground

Green With Envy

Colorway: Sky Blue

Weight: Sport (12 wpi)

Fiber Content: 50% DWF Mohair 50% Shetland wool

Used For: water

Sky Blue

Colorway: Dark Grey

Weight: DK 2Ply Millspun

Fiber Content: 68% DWF Mohair 32% Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester Wool

Used For: edging

Colorway: White

Weight: Sport (12 wpi) 2 Ply Millspun

Fiber Content: 50% DWF Mohair 50% Shetland wool

Used For: loon

Colorway: Tan

Weight:Worsted (9 wpi)

Fiber Contet: 50% DWF Mohair 50% Shetland wool

Used For: moose antlers, bear muzzle

Weight: Sport (12 wpi) 2 Ply Millspun

Colorway: White Grey Tweed

Fiber Content: 68% DWF Mohair 32% Shetland Wool

Used For: coyote

Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway: Rosado Pink

Used For: Rainbow Trout

Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway: Aztec Turquoise

Used For: water

Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway:205 M Grassy Knoll

Used For: forest and ground

Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway:Forest Shadows

Used For: forest and ground

Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway: Midnight Green

Used For: forest and ground

Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway: Turkish olive

Used For: forest and ground

Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway: 114 Storm

Used For: body of moose and bear

Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair USA spun)

Colorway:Burnt Sienna

Used For: eyes

Saco River Dyeworks (Maine) 6ply rug yarn

Weight: Worsted (9 wpi)

Colorway: Black

Used For: Paw prints, edging around animals, loon, canoe

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Gift Idea

Posted on 2016-11-30 by Andrea

How about a hand made yarn bowl filled with a skein of luxury farm fresh yarn? Take a look at these beautiful combinations for inspiration…

For those who like colors….

Aquatics Hand Dyed Yarn in Wendy Clay Blue Yarn Bowl

and those who like natural colors….

Nuts Natural Colored Yarn in Wendy Clay Natural Stripes Yarn Bowl

Skeins can be wound into center pull balls for knitting or rug hooking convenience at no charge, just ask!

Wendy Kastan’s yarn bowls can be found on her website WendyClay.com She also makes beautiful buttons.

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Chair Seats – Cats Who’ve Owned Me Series – 4

Posted on 2016-10-15 by Andrea

This chair seat is called “Cleaning Up” and features Sandy taking a bath. The design is based on my photos of him. I’m still experimenting with different colors and textures of yarn to find the best for picturing a cat. This time I used white and tan yarn and hooked the stripes explicitly.

I used my homespun and millspun hand dyed yarns, all of which are wool/ mohair blends (details). The backing is 100% cotton Monk’s Cloth. I used 13×13 epi cloth.

The wildflower patches are millspun yarns that were hand painted after the yarn was spun. The background fields were done with yarns that were kettle dyed before spinning.

Back of Chair Seat

Sandy

Front of Chair Seat
Before Finishing

Learnings

Good contrast in the colors chosen and work with scissors after hooking to arrange the lines as hooked makes the details much clearer. Sandy’s face shows clearly on the back of the chair seat but still needs some work on the front side. Since the colors are so close in value, it is hard to see his face details unless the lighting is bright.

I liked the look here of generic blobs of color versus trying to hook detailed flowers or grasses.

Yarns Used

Info on the yarns used is given below. The picture links to the full description and creation details for the yarn where available.


Wildflower Patches in Background:		Coreopsis – hand dyed (after spinning) 2 ply millspun – 50/50 mohair/wool. This yarn is shades of yellow with sections of yellow and white designed to stripe.
		Mardi Gras – hand dyed (after spinning) 2 ply millspun – 50/50 mohair/wool.
		Wildflower Meadows- hand dyed (after spinning) 2 ply millspun – 50/50 mohair/wool.
		Iris – hand dyed (after spinning) 2 ply millspun – 50/50 mohair/wool. The same yarn was also used for the edging.

Gravel Path:		Natural Dark Grey and Light Grey DK 2Ply Millspun 68% Mohair 32% Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester Wool.

		I used natural DWF white mohair/ wool yarn for the rocks along the gravel path (same yarn as for Sandy’s body). Sport White Millspun 2 Ply 59% Mohair 31% Shetland Wool.
Background Fields:		Pearl Green kettle hand dyed (before carding) millspun.
		Forest Dreams hand dyed (before carding) millspun. Designed to look like a forest at a distance for use in weaving and rug hooking.
		Aquatics hand dyed (before carding) millspun. Designed to look like pond water for use in weaving and rug hooking.
		Green with Envy hand dyed (before carding) millspun.
Sandy:		I used natural DWF white mohair/ wool yarn for most of Sandy’s body. Sport White Millspun 2 Ply 59% Mohair 31% Shetland Wool.
		Tan DWF mohair/ wool millspun was used for Sandy’s stripes. 3Ply Millspun 50% Adult Mohair 50% Shetland Wool 2.5 Oz Skeins
Edging:		Iris – Hand Dyed (After Spinning) Millspun. The same yarn was also used for wildflower patches in the background.
Lettering:		A small amount of hand spun, turkey baster hand dyed roving (white with small amounts of orange and blue) was used. A ball of roving was soaked in water for an hour, then injected with colors using a turkey baster, heated to boiling for 30 minutes to set the colors, then washed before hand spinning.

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Chair Seats – Cats Who’ve Owned Me Series – 3

Posted on 2016-10-09 by Andrea

This chair seat is called “Rori Shows Her Belly” and shows Rori on a rug in a typical “scratch my belly” pose. The design is based on one of my photos of her.

I used my homespun and millspun hand dyed yarns, all of which are wool/ mohair blends (details). The backing is 100% cotton 13×13 epi Monk’s Cloth.

The rug Rori is laying on is made of 4 different green millspun yarns.

Back of Chair Seat

Rori and Sandy

Front of Chair Seat
Before Finishing

Learnings

Details came out better with the more enlarged size of the cat. Also, contrast is key to making small details visible. The 13×13 epi Monk’s cloth worked much better than the looser version designed for embroidery.

Yarns Used

Info on the yarns used is given below. The picture links to the full description and creation details for the yarn where available.

Rug:		Pearl Green kettle hand dyed (before carding) millspun.
		Forest Dreams hand dyed (before carding) millspun. Designed to look like a forest at a distance for use in weaving and rug hooking.
		Aquatics hand dyed (before carding) millspun. Designed to look like pond water for use in weaving and rug hooking.
		Green with Envy hand dyed (before carding) millspun.
Rori:		Since natural black isn’t readily available in mohair (black mohair is dark grey at best) I bought a skein of Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted Onyx. It’s a USA made 15% mohair/ 85% wool single ply yarn.
		I also used mill spun natural DWF white mohair/ wool yarn for Rori’s tummy patches. Sport White Millspun 2 Ply 59% Mohair 31% Shetland Wool.
	/td>	Eyes: Coreopsis hand dyed (after spinning) millspun. This yarn is shades of yellow with sections of yellow and white designed to stripe. I used a small amount from a section of yellows.
		A small amount of Natural Dark Grey DK 2Ply Millspun 68% Mohair 32% Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester Wool was used to create depth around the chin line and between the toes.
Edging:		Iris – Hand Dyed (After Spinning) Millspun
Lettering:		Ooops! Forgot it on this one so embroidered on the back.

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North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival 2016

Posted on 2016-10-02 by Andrea

Had a great time at the North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival in Ridgewood this week. I met so many interesting and kind people (vendors and attendees!). Here’s a pic of my setup thanks to Wendy “Clay” who does gorgeous clay buttons and yarn bowls!

Dancing Waters Farm Booth at NJFAF 2016 Ridgewood NJ

Dancing Waters Farm at NJFAF 2016 Ridgewood, NJ

I got to show quite a few youngsters (and their parents) how to make yarn starting from a sheep/ goat haircut. Lots of felters and a few hand spinners attended. Weather was gloomy outside but we were pretty lively inside the building!

Upcoming Event – NJFAF Ridgewood NJ Sep. 30-Oct. 1

Posted on 2016-08-31 by Andrea

I’ll be at the NJ Fiber Arts Festival in Ridgewood, NJ Thursday 6-9 Sep. 29 and Friday and Saturday 9-5 Sep. 30 – Oct. 1. See their website for directions. If you want me to bring anything specific, just let me know and I hope to see you there!

Chair Seats – Cats Who’ve Owned Me Series – 2

Posted on 2016-08-14 by Andrea

This chair seat is called “Nap Time” and features Sandy and Rori napping against the night sky. The design is based on my photos of the two napping on my bed. I’m experimenting with different colors and textures of yarn to find the best for picturing the cats.

I used my homespun and millspun hand dyed yarns, all of which are wool/ mohair blends (details). The backing is 100% cotton Monk’s Cloth. I used 8×8 epi cloth since I’d already washed the fabric and drawn the design on this cloth found in my stash. The next chair seat will use the new 13 epi cloth I ordered as it is designed for rug hooking and should make the hooking go more quickly and efficiently.

I designed Starry Nights roving with various blues, purple and black with bits of yellow to look like the night sky in weaving and rug hooking. This “rug” used a lot of it as I went with a fairly simple background so the one skein I had spun was not enough! Had to stop and spin another skein when I was nearly finished. Oh well, it means I’ll have some ready for another fiber project.

“Nap Time” in progress. Moon, sky and part of Sandy shown.

Starry Nights roving and 1 ply on bobbin.

“Nap Time” Completed

Back Side Showing Closeup of Modified Cat Faces

Sandy and Rori – the cats being depicted

Closeup of Cat Faces on Right Side Before Re-hooking

Learnings

For this size “rug” (roughly 16″ x 14″), the subjects need to fill the space as much as possible for any detail to show and look right. I’m trying to find an easier way to enlarge my drawings than redrawing from scratch based on a grid. I looked at buying on overhead projector or enlarger but they are fairly expensive and my scanner/ copier doesn’t enlarge. Still working on this.

Cats aren’t brown, but orange isn’t right either. I may have to design a roving or yarn that will give me the greyed orange with cream stripes that says tiger cat to me. In the first chair seat I used tweed yarn and it gave a nice random tan and white color to the cat. In this one I used a hand spun with random brown and white color changes. The way the colors fell gave a stripe to Sandy’s back and mostly brown elsewhere. With some planning I could create stripes where they are wanted but it would take a bit of work.

Black is also tough to re-create as mohair isn’t really black except in new born kids, it turns to grey, so it would have to be dyed to get that color. Additionally, shades of black would be needed to allow any details of the cat to be seen. The size of the rug makes the addition of whiskers pointless – they would either not be visible or take up a disproportional amount of space versus the rest of the body. The eyes were an issue too because of their proper size in relation to the entire body. Since the smallest object that can be hooked is 3 punches with the needle, that fixes the eye size in relation to the rest of the design. In this case the eyes seem too big for the body.

On to Chair Seat number 3!

Yarns Used

Info on the yarns used is given below. The picture links to the full description and creation details for the yarn where available.

<td Yarn Dark Grey DK 2Ply Millspun 68% Mohair 32% Shetland, Blue Faced Leciester Wool - By the Pound A small amount of Natural Dark Grey DK 2Ply Millspun 68% Mohair 32% Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester Wool was used to create depth in Rori, around the chin line and the inside of the ears.

Sky:		Starry Nights hand dyed (before carding) roving. Designed to look like the night sky (variegated blues, purples, black and bits of yellow) for use in weaving and rug hooking.
Moon:		Coreopsis hand dyed (after spinning) millspun. This yarn is shades of yellow with sections of yellow and white designed to stripe. I used a small amount from a section of yellows.
Cats:		Brown and white random color hand spun skein from a (stash) roving grab bag for Sandy. Since natural black isn’t readily available in mohair, I bought a skein of Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted Onyx from Alpaca Direct as they had the best price when I was shopping. It is a USA made 15% mohair/ 85% wool single ply yarn. I used this yarn for the black cat (Rori).
		I also used a mall amount hand spun natural DWF white mohair/ wool yarn for Rori’s white paws and stomach patches. Sport White Millspun 2 Ply 59% Mohair 31% Shetland Wool.

Edging:		Iris – Hand Dyed (After Spinning) Millspun
Lettering:		A small amount of hand spun, turkey baster hand dyed roving (white with small amounts of orange and blue) was used. A ball of roving was soaked in water for an hour, then injected with colors using a turkey baster, heated to boiling for 30 minutes to set the colors, then washed before hand spinning.

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DNA deletion

Infertile

Surrogate hens

First in Europe

Related links

Project info

Learnings

Yarns Used

Learnings

Yarns Used

Learnings

Yarns Used

Learnings

Yarns Used