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knittykat
Seriously Hooked
USA
710 Posts |
 Posted - 07/22/2004 : 10:53:20 AM
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Last weekend I went up to Michigan to visit my dad's cousin on her farm, which happens to be a few miles away from Marr Haven Wool Farm. What a wonderful experience!
The owner is a wonderful lady. Her little shop is filled with her mule-spun yarn from her own sheep, plus lots of spinning fiber (some from the sheep, some from other sources). She is happy to let you browse and enjoy yourself and play with the yarn.
We really wanted to see the sheep, but most of them were out in the pasture. She did let us see her rams, however, and we got to see her sheep herding dog direct them around. Since we were interested, she told us about the shearing and showed us the bags of raw wool from the shearing.
I bought a bunch of wool and it feels so wonderful. I know Clara did a review on it. It makes your hands feel so soft from the lanolin, and it smells like wool (which is a good point for me). It comes in a bunch of heathered colors, plus natural, light grey, and dark grey (sheep colors :-) For me this was such an awesome experience--to see the sheep and touch the wool in all of its stages and learn about the process and then be able to take home some wonderful soft wool. I am usually first to complain about itchy stuff but this wool just feels luscious. It is also really cool to be playing with the fiber from the sheep you actually saw--it's a nice connection to the naturalness of wool.
You can order the yarn on the internet, but if you happen to be in the area of Allegan, MI (a bit south of Holland) it is worth the trip to see the farm and all of the wonderful things in the shop. Just had to share!
Kat in Illinois |
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Patience
Permanent Resident
USA
1076 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2004 : 09:18:25 AM
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Kat,
I must agree with you on what a wonderful gal the owner of Marr Haven is!  Although I've never actually been to the farm in person, I've had many lovely talks with Barbara, the owner, and she could not be more helpful and friendly if she tried, LOL.
I just purchased one of her kits for the Aran shawl and though I haven't been able to start it yet, the yarn is heavenly, as you described! Which yarn did you get and what are you going to knit with it?
Cheers, Patience |
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knittykat
Seriously Hooked
USA
710 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2004 : 10:18:33 AM
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I bought a one pound cone of the pinkish sport weight to make a turtleneck sweater for myself. I also bought 3 skeins of the natural colors--one white, one light grey, one dark grey. I am intending to make a scarf with sheep on it. She had the most darling sweater patterns for sweaters with sheep on but I know myself well enough to know I will not ever wear a sweater with sheep on the yoke!
I started playing with the 'scarf yarn' but haven't started my sweater for fear of screwing up and wasting the beautiful yarn. I am usually not like this but I have had the last several projects take forever and turn out bad, so I don't trust my own swatching or measuring so I've been procrastinating and petting the yarn now and again. I did open up a skein of the natural white and played with it and passed it around the table at my s&b. Everyone knit a row! It's working up so soft and fluffy I'm going to order a few more cones and make a throw for my couch. YUM. I will wrap up in it and never come out!
One thing I found is the yarn is very opinionated. It told me it did not, under any circumstances, want to be knit on Denise needles or aluminum...it demanded to be knit on my handmade wooden needles. So I have to make 2 new pairs of needles in the necessary sizes to appease the yarn. :-)
Kat in Illinois |
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iwannaknit
Warming Up
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2004 : 10:21:17 AM
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Hi, Kat. Can you bring a sample of the sport weight yarn tonight? I checked out their website and am thinking of ordering.
I Wanna Knit |
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knittykat
Seriously Hooked
USA
710 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2004 : 11:52:33 AM
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Hey Barb, I'm happy to bring a sample of the sport weight yarn. In fact, I'll also bring the color card she gave me with all the colors so you can look at it. If by odd chance I don't make it tonight, I'll just bring it next time. :-) But I think I'm coming tonight.
Kat in Illinois |
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iwannaknit
Warming Up
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2004 : 12:35:47 PM
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Thanks!! Hopefully tonight you'll be there. If not there's next week.
I Wanna Knit |
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