More Winter

Well, this past few weeks have been pretty slow. I don't remember a time in the past when it stayed this cold for this long. We finally bit the bullet and moved from the farm to a small house we own about 100 miles south. We have propane at both places. When it gets really cold, a five hundred gallon tank lasts about three, maybe four weeks in the farm house. When propane gets up to $5.00/gallon, that works out to a lot of money to stay warm! The house down here is much smaller, tighter, and easier to heat. We have an electric heater that we run all day. Clint installed a wood burner in the basement. We have needed very little propane here.

I brought along the dogs, my spinning wheel, several boxes of wool, my blending board and some knitting and several books. There is no television here. We have no internet either, except for my iPad. There is no CD player or stereo. Cabin fever is setting in!!! I have been keeping busy with knitting and reading. I am working on writing and proofing several new patterns. These will be available on this website.

I also started to spin a new line of yarns: Landscape Yarns.  I hope to be able to post some examples soon. I am excited about this new line of yarns. As with all Arachne Yarns, these new yarns will be hand spun from local fibers in either natural shades or dyed with local plants.

I am waiting for the weather to clear up enough that I can venture out on a road trip. There is a small fiber mill about 60 miles from here that I would love to go visit. I have been meaning to check it out for some time now. I plan to visit there this spring before we move back north.

I want to head up to Northcroft Farm to see what Joan has for new wool. It is shearing time there. She raises sheep, alpaca, and angora goats. Joan is a spinner herself, and a fiber artist. She specializes in producing first-rate fiber for the hand spinner. Joan also is an author. Her blog is called Sheep Notes. It is both fun and interesting.

There is a blizzard today so I guess I will stay here where I am safe and warm. No road trips today. The dogs are all napping. Time to make lunch and start a project for the afternoon!