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MONTH AND YEAR
Greetings...even if it is a month late!
July went so quickly, I never got a newsletter out last month!  And I don't quite have every fall class posted yet, but I wanted to get this newsletter out since there is room in this weekend's Natural Dye Class and I hate to think that anyone interested,  might miss this great opportunity!
 
Since it is the last for the season, jump on this chance to bring the color of nature into your fiber arts while the plants are still abundant and we've got the dye studio set up in the garden! 
 
This Saturday,  Aug 13th, is the last chance this season to learn about Natural Dyeing. And since there is still lots of great dye opportunities this fall, you'll have lots of time to still harvest carrot tops, queen anne's lace, goldenrod, chicory, birch, etc to dye up some wonderful colors this fall if you take this class!

The animation above shows the color swatches participants in the two day workshop here in July took home in their notebook of handouts from class!! We won't be doing as many as these in a 1 day class, but we'll get a nice range and f you need to be convinced to take this class, take a gander at that (or this fabric that I printed with natural dyes to the left here)  to appreciate the range of colors possible from nature!!
 
"Carpe diem" and register here today!
 
You'll be inspired and happy you did - it's a fun day and it's amazing what nature has to offer our knitting, felting, spinning, weaving, stitching, basket weaving, quilting, etc!
New inventory and project ideas....
Big Love (Ravelry pattern) knit using Homestead - a great value and lovely "hand" 
 
 
Some new knit & crochet stuffed animal kits have been added to the store's repertoire, including this octopus, a girl doll and a pouty duck - Quack Quack!
 
 
 
 
 
 
10 new colors of both a Polwarth-Silk blend, and a handpainted Corriedale top, will make this a colorful fall for both spinners and felters!
 
And for knitters 
interested in gradients, two new products from the popular Sweet Georgia Yarns have arrived:
 
- Party of Five 
Minis and also Sock Blanks.
 
 

 
A beautiful new Zauberball arrived - Cashmere! Ohh, la, la!
This cowl used 1 skein each of 2 colors. The beauty of this yarn (aside from it's uber softness, that is, :)) is that is has the softness of cashmere and the price of extrafine merino!  Four great colors to choose from. 
 
Suri Stratus, a lovely new brushed alpaca laceweight arrived so you now have an alternative to the kid-mohair's we stock if you are looking for a soft and fuzzy something to carry along with a heavier yarn. Or use it by itself!
 


We're stocking more sashiko supplies now. Several new colors and thicknesses of threads (solids and variegateds) as well as various pre-prinited designs (in washable ink) that provide you a pattern to stitch. Napkins, wall hangings, bags, offer something for everyone from beginner to experienced and for someone wanting a big project to take them thru the winter to the quicker projects with a more immediate gratification!
 
And here are a few pics from the recent Shibori Shawl class we offered in July - the photo I took of Kim's beauty came out really blury so I haven't shared it here, but photos of the other 6 participant's gorgeous shawl designs are shown below. If you're interested in doing some shibori and some sashiko,  you should check out the Shibori n' Sashiko class scheduled for this fall (scroll down) - Virginia who was here visiting from Florida said this class was the highlight of her trip! 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
Maria was still unstitching her tree (seen left) so you can't fully appreciate it yet, but you get the idea!
 

Yarns with the environment in mind....
I mentioned in the last newsletter how most of the new sock yarns I saw at the show in Chicago were featuring a biodegradeable nylon in the yarn. While it will not degrade while you wash and wear it, after 5 years in an oxygen free setting such as a landfill, it will completely degrade. Like the wool it is spun with. That sort of environment-friendly consideration among yarn mills and manufacturers was the highlight of the show this year.
 
Another environmentally friendly approach to yarn manufacture that I wanted to share with you today, is a subtle, but significant one that I only recently became familiar with myself. So we all know what a superwash wool is - one that has been treated at the mill so that it will not shrink or felt in the washing machine.
 
70% of all "superwash wools" are created using what's called the chloring-Hercosett treatment - one in which the fibers are treated with a chlorination and then coated with a resin. Stay with me a minute, I promise this next sentence is as "science-geeky" as I'll get! This process releases AOXs into the environment (AOX stands for "absorbable organic halide" which is a type of pollution which we don't like). Whew....the geeky stuff is behind us...
 
So the industry has been experimenting for years with alternatives to the "superwashing" process - from enzymes to radiation to other gentler chlorine and ozone methods. Several of these don't release (or release less, AOX) but they are slower and more expensive. Or they alter the hand/feeling of the fiber or turn the fiber yellow & are smelly and therefore require another step to neutralize the smell...
 
 
But some mills in Italy (including the one that Laines du Nord and Juniper Moon use for their yarns) use an approach that does NOT release AOXs. Oops....I just realized that I promised a little too soon that the science was behind us! Bear with me. This is kind of cool...
 
This alternative system employs "plasma" treatments. Plasma is a fourth state of matter! Who knew?! Back when I was a kid, matter had to be one of three states - gas, liquid or solid. Well, apparently that has changed and now there is a fourth state, plasma!
 
Apparently, in this state, high voltage excites particles so they disassociate into positive and negative "somethings" (I assume ions) and these in turn disrupt the chemical bonds on the fiber surface which somehow (it was beyond my understanding of physical chemistry to understand) makes the fiber machine washable, without the AOXs and resin treatment that are not great for the environment! OK, we're done with the science. Now the easy to understand part that's relevant.....
 
Here's the surprise that I just learned about last week that relates to all this science hocus pocus I just took you thru  - Juniper Moon's Patagonia and Santa Cruz and Blue Faced Leicester yarns are machine washable (apparently because of this plasma approach).  So even tho' they are not labeled "superwash" because they have not had that chlorine-Hercosett process done to them - they can be machine washed. As can other yarns I have on order this fall that are milled out of the Laines du Nord mill  in Italy! 
 
How great is that?  Not only do these Juniper Moon wools maintain their resiliency and elasticity (qualities that are lost in wools that go thru the chloring-Hercosett method), but both Patagonia and Santa Cruz yarns are organic, are merino and are spun form non-mulesed wool (that's wool from sheep that are humanely treated!). 
 
This eye-opener has taught me to read my labels more closely since I had somehow completely missed the point that these Juniper Moon yarns could be machine washed! Now, as I write this, I wonder if that's why Rowan's Felted Tweed is also machine washable (since it also does not have the "suprewash" label and so I've wondered how it can be labeled this way)?  I'll check with Rowan about that and get back to you next newsletter! 
 
The key with these NON superwash, but machine washable yarns is that they should not be washed in HOT water - that's why the label (maybe you can discern it from the photo above) shows a washing machine with a 30 degree marking inside it. (p.s - thats 86 degrees fahrenheit).which means the temperature should not go above this. So now those of you already knitting with one of these Juniper Moon yarns know they are machine washable under these circumstances if you didn't before. And those of you who haven't yet tried them, have YET ANOTHER good reason to pick some up today!!
 
 
Next up....
The yarn I ordered from the carbon neutral mill in Uruguay hasn't arrived yet, but I look forward to introducing that to you next month!



Fall Classes are posted online ... for the most part?
I've still got a few to post and a few pics to add, but for the most part the classes we're offering here this fall are listed now.
 

I do have several new classes in the works for the winter/spring session that I'm excited about, but if 
there is a class you are particularly interested in seeing us offer for the winter session, feel free to email me.
 
It is always a crap shoot what to offer and when, so it is helpful to know what customers are interested in. Otherwise, I just do what interests me (:)), what I think customers might like, what Chris and I "think" we hear customers asking about, or what we haven't offered in a while! 
 
Class List
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Northeast Fiber Arts Center  •  7531 Williston Rd  •  Williston, VT 05495

http://www.northeastfiberarts.com

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