3 things about Mucklmarl yarn

3 Things on Thursday gives me a manageable way to jump back here with yarn that is on my mind. Mucklmarl from Starcroft Fiber Mill in Maine
#1 the yarn is spun only from sheep that live on islands off the coast of Maine

 In June I was Downeast helping with the annual island sheep roundup with my friend Jani Estell and her Nash Island sheep. Their fleeces are what she uses for  beautiful fiber and yarn at her mill.

 Along with Nash Island, which is her all-white largest flock (100+), she keeps a mixed colored smaller flock even further from shore,  on tiny Flat Island.  I usually travel up for the larger shearing but this year I was lucky enough to make the Flat Island outing  on a wild and woolly early June day.

 You can see ,from this view of the crew setting up the temporary corral, that there were what Mainers call "seas". Which means, wind and plenty of waves and whitecaps. It was an exciting ride out to the island.

Part of the flock decided to go for a swim to avoid roundup (!), which was also exciting-- and frustrating. They had to be left unsheared till they dried off.  More than half of the population made it into the fencing.

 Looking down on the skirting table. That's normally my station but I was shirking my duties at that moment. Flat Island has a rocky outcropping, so I could get these views looking down on the action. This made me ridiculously happy.

 

Beverly Army Williams skirting in great style. Look at that  gorgeous fleece. Also at her Elizabeth Shannon apron she made from an Ellen Mason pattern.

#2 the yarn is marled,  plied with one strand of colored sheep and one natural white

 Jani  released a new yarn called Mucklmarl that's spun from the fleeces of these colored Flat Island sheep plied with her white Nash Island. It is bouncy and soft but also woolly and just exactly what I want a sweater of! I came home with an SQ (sweater quantity) and am  spending waaaaay too much time considering my options of what to cast on.  

 Sarah Hunt, aka Fibertrek, and the leader of the Wool Scout retreat along with Jani, knit a Dreyma pullover  in the lighter shade of Mucklmarl with a solid for the colorwork. Love this!

Right??!!!

Our little secret. heh. 

#3 sometimes it's hard to decide what to knit when you have an SQ of yarn that is special to you I want to knit a pullover, something slouchy to wear every day. Top contenders at the moment are The Weekender,  LouLou , Circe or maybe Such a Winters Day...  but I am open to pullover suggestions! What have you seen?

Mucklmarl is worsted weight with a little bit of halo so it could be knit on a 7-9 needle. If you want some, it's a limited release, sold  by ClementineMaine online or if you happen to be in Rockland Maine, stop in.

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whew, it feels good to be back! what are your knitting plans for the cooler weather ahead?

bts: at dragonfly fibers

Behind the Scenes again! I'm just going to warn you, many distracting yarn photos follow.  I was at Dragonfly Fibers studio in Maryland last month, for the loveliest of jobs, helping them set up a permanent photo studio at their workshop and business.

Kate and Nancye make stunning yarn which, distractingly, was everywhere in their headquarters. My head was swiveling around like an owl's the whole day oooh oooh ooooh.

Their yarn is  gorgeously dyed on beautiful bases, with brilliant and subtle colors.  So their photos need to be reliably lit and consistent, to share the goodness online. I love love love consulting jobs like this, where I can apply my little slice of nerdy-photo- knowhow with talented people.  It's mindboggling to look at all the parts to running a successful yarn business.

There's sourcing and ordering miles and miles of naked yarn--and then winding it into dye-able skeins. 

And of course the logistics of dyeing and drying  large quantities, and reproducing great colors time after time.  That blue with black in it, in the photo above this one,  just kills me. 

Then it all has to be patted and  twisted and tagged before it goes out into the world. Which seems like no big deal when you've just got ten skeins in a basket.  Scale that up to hundreds and hundreds of skeins...and there's a whole lotta twisting going on.

It's the organizational side that would kill me, personally. (That and choosing names for the yarns, which Kate has amongst her super powers). So many laundry baskets and storage bins ready to roll. Obvs prepping for Rhinebeck NY Sheep & Wool is going to require many many many bins.

Dragonfly Fibers doesn't have a retail shop at their studios but there is an area that is set up store-like, if you happen to be by on a studio visit. That's their colorway Beaches, which stopped me in my tracks.  Though I didn't bring those home with me, you'll be glad to know I didn't leave empty handed,. And I managed to control my chronic indecisiveness by choosing one skein and asking Kate to choose a second for me.  I'll share it in another post. Oh, ok... spoiler: my beauties are Low Tide and Poseidon, which tickles the mermaid in me no end.

A very very good version of  Christmas ? 

I swear this was just sitting around. Love love love love love.  We used their yarn in a couple of projects in our book , and I've since knit my favorite hat from Drop Dead Easy Knits, my Sidekick in their yarn.  Dragonfly Fibers yarn is stocked in many shops, and of course they sell online,  but if you happen to be at  festivals  this season...definitely stop by. 
PS. They are killing it with the new photo studio we set up, as seen on Instagram yesterday. When they launch a new website, prepare to be wowed!