Green Mountain Madness

Pisco, Peppers and Painted Yarn Peruvian Style

Dear Bloggies: 

Here I am in Peru with my friend Scott who knows nothing of handpainted yarn but is still fun to travel with. You may know him from Parker Pie restaurant as he is the founder of Scott Sauce in Vermont. We traveled from Burlington to Lima, which is the capital of Peru and got in just in time to see the last half of the NCAA finals between Duke and Butler. We sat in the bar with a bunch of other rowdy Americans toasting Duke with Pisco Sours as they beat Butler.

I had warned Scott about Pisco which is Peru's answer to Tequila and is so potent you drink it through egg whites. He was not sold on Pisco until he tried it and now has developed quite a taste for it with egg whites and bitters.

The next day, we flew to Arequipa and have been here ever since, visiting mills and coops.

We're staying at a wonderful oasis on the river, in the middle of the city center. At one warehouse, we found some great mill ends to bring back, plus spent an afternoon working with a large fair trade co-op to develop 10 more self striping colorways of Fingerpaints. I let Scott pick 5 colorways... let's see if they pass. 

We have been trying all sorts of Peruvian dishes at various restaurants. Scott brought some of his hot sauce for our friends to try, and I brought some maple syrup, of course. Our hosts heard that Scott had his own line of hot pepper sauce and so took him to a restaurant where the owner/chef prepared him a hot pepper dish that even he thought was a bit too spicy. That night we tried Corvina which is a kind of sea bass and it was so good that the next day we went to a big supermarket to see what one really looked like.

One exciting thing is that we think we found a way to help South American indie dyers market their own colorways. We met with a few people who have their own studios and I am hoping to distribute their sock yarns in the US. I also developed a way to blend Supersock with silk. We'll see if that ever makes it past the trial stage.

The weather down here is summery and breezy with no rain--just like Vermont in June, so we feel as if we have a nice preview. Tomorrow we are leaving for Cuzco because we just can't leave here without being inspired by the ruins of Macchu Pichu. I hope you're having as much fun as we are!

Happy Knitting,

First Fingerpaints Socks Arrive at Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

We have never seen socks knit from our new Fingerpaints self striping sock yarn, so imagine our   excitement when the first pair arrived this week. They were knit by Ann Glowacki from the colorway Black Cherry in an original design she calls "Whichaway" socks.

Bloggies, this is a great example of the kind of design we are looking to buy. The yarn is shown to its best advantage as self striping sock yarn, the project only uses one hank and the socks are an ample size and match each other. We must verify that the design is original and proof the pattern before purchasing, but this is the kind of project we are looking for. Nice job, Ann.

 Send in your designs and original patterns! We are accepting 5 designs that show off the self striping aspect of this yarn, and we are paying $250 per project. Your design does not need to be socks, and now of course we would like to see something knit in one of the other 9 colorways.

This is not a contest--we will buy whatever we like as long as it meets our criteria. For more information visit the Cherry Tree Hill Yarn site.

I am off to South America this week in search of high quality fiber, so get those needles going. I'd love to look at your projects when I return.

Back on the Andean Trail

Dear bloggies,

 Next week I am returning to South America to pick out more fibers for Cherry Tree Hill and develop a few more Fingerpaints Colorways. The Yarn Girls at DBNY have asked me to keep an eye out for Mill End bargains as well.

You may recall that last fall I met with a few small fair trade co-operatives in Peru and taught a group of women how to handpaint my Supersock Select sock yarn. It took about 6 months, but we ended up developing 10 self striping Colorways that have become my line of Fingerpaints. 

We have just introduced the Colorways and are now looking for designs that use just one hank of yarn from you. So far, the most popular Colorways are Morning Glory, Herbs & Spices and Black Cherry. 

 In addition to finally visiting the ruins at Macchu Pichu this time, I plan find more high quality fibers. Last year I discovered some wonderful mill ends--Pima Cotton Silk blends in DK, Worsted and Bulky and some Highland Wool in both DK and Sport weights that were great deals.

As the shearing season has finished in Peru. I hope to find mounds of Alpaca to sink my fingers into, as well as Llama and Merino blends.

Yipes Stripes at Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies;

Now that we finally have our first set of Fingerpaints ready for you to knit, I can't wait to see what you do with these self striping sock yarns. The Colorways were especially difficult for me to select and you probably noticed that we had to knit samples in the round to see how they would stripe. We are paying $250 for original designs that we really like and that use just one hank of any of these new Colorways and shows off stripes.

There is no contest or time limit, but we will pick five garments in all, so please fire up those needles. Of course we love socks, but remember my Ravatar is Notsocks and you do not have use this yarn for socks to pique my interest. How about a beret or ear flap hat or pair of gloves or cowl--you have 420 yards to work with--that's enough for a shawlette.

Contact us by email or through Ravelry or facebook to let us know you're working on a design and how to get it to us.

Painted Yarn Designs

 While you do that, I'm going to continue designing water Colorways for my new line of painted garments. Maybe you've seen the original Painted Lace Skirt I showed at TNNA, available as a pattern and soon as a kit. Now I have a new Painted Beret designed by JoAnne Turcotte, which I'm going to teach as a class at Stitches Midwest.

In the meantime I'm planning to go to Stitches South and maybe hang out with the Stitches crowd and Ravelrers. I might get talked into working in a few booths that carry Cherry Tree Hill. We have a new group on Ravelry called Supersockstore--please join us.

Maybe you've noticed our online fiber fantasy Potluck Yarn is getting a makeover. We'll post a new chapter soon, I promise!

Cherry Tree Hill Calls for Designs

Dear Bloggies:

We're looking for your original designs for Fingerpaints, our new self striping sock yarn. We'd like sock designs showing off the way the yarn stripes, but are open to hats, gloves, mittens or anything else that takes just one hank of yarn. There is no deadline--we will accept the first 5 designs we like and are willing to pay $250 each for them. Get famous--we'll publish your name on the pattern, cut you a check and plaster your name all over Ravelry!

Just purchase a hank of Fingerpaints, which has a Supersock Select base of 420 yards/ 4 oz. of 100% SuperwashMerino in fingering weight, knit it up in your original design and send it to:

Cherry Tree Hill Yarn
100 Cherry Tree Hill Lane
Barton VT 05822.

Follow us on Rav--we're starting our own forum called Supersockstore, where we will have breaking news and great deals on all things Cherry Tree Hill Yarn.

Our newest yarn is Supersock Select Lace and there's a a great deal on it at DBNY.

New patterns include the Painted Tam (hat) and Painted Lace Skirt, designs which you knit then paint yourself. For dyes, go to Indiedyer.com. They also have all of our high quality dye hanks. I'll be teaching these classes at upcoming Stitches Events for those of you who want to learn the hand paint technique.

We can't wait until Stitches South--until then Happy Knitting!

Carefree Highways

Dear Bloggies,

I spent last weekend at a rodeo with my youngest daughter Cheyenne, better known to you bloggies as Barrel Girl. She was invited to an Arizona High School Rodeo which meant that she had to qualify and get a number and all that other official stuff which made her pretty nervous. She had her AQHA quarter horse Peaches along, which made things better and although she had clean runs both days, she did not place in the field of 70 high school girls. Even so, it was very exciting to watch and I was very proud that she made the team.

In Arizona we stayed at our cabin in Prescott and of course it snowed six inches which was just wonderful considering it had snowed a foot in Vermont right before we left, causing all kinds of delays at the airports. The desert was beautiful and it was in the 70's in Phoenix which was the rodeo site.

Even though the trip had nothing to do with yarn, I did manage to design and knit a beret from Supersock Select in the Colorway Misty Moor. What can I say? If I'm not knitting, I'm not happy.

 

There are a few more photos from the Arizona trip on our facebook page.

Supersock Select Lace Semi Solids from Cherry Tree Hill Yarn

Dear Bloggies: 

This past week we dyed the last of our new Supersock Select Lace in the same 30 hand dyed semi solids as our regular Supersock Select. My thought is that you can mix and match these semi solids with the with our 33 colorways or knit them by themselves. The yarn is absolutely gorgeous and the softest Supersock you'll ever see. Each hank is 4 oz and 484 yards, plenty for a soft buttery scarf or hat with earflaps or gloves or take two for a large shawl.

Supersock Select Lace is a soft twist version of Supersock Select, and as I mentioned a few weeks ago we will not be milling it again. Although you can knit socks from this yarn, it is better suited to scarves and hats, mittens and gloves, sweaters and shawls. This fiber content is 100% Superwash Merino and it is low micron making it very soft, very high quality and very expensive to produce.

It is sad to see this yarn go, but don't worry, I have saved a few hanks for myself to knit a beret or two. We have sent the first 20 hanks of each semi solid to Discontinued Brand Name Yarn for you to preview, and of course since the yarn will never be produced or available at retail stores, they have discounted it. Let me know what you think of the colors.

Classes at STITCHES from Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

The rumor is true--I am teaching wearable art classes at STITCHES Events for the first time in over 10 years. The inspiration was my Painted Lace Skirt which was featured at the TNNA Fashion Show and also will be shown in Knitter's and Knit N Style Magazines this summer. This is a new handpaint technique in which you knit the pieces of a garment and then paint them before assembly.Most often with handpainted garments, you knit directly from handpainted yarn. 

One of my classes is called Painted Tam--this is a wearable art beret that you knit and then paint with me in a 6 hour session at Stitches. I did paint one over the weekend and also finished writing the pattern. If you want a head start, the pattern, yarn and dyes can be found at Indiedyer.com. The Tam takes one hank of undyed Supersock Select available for $9.00 at IndieDyer. If you want just the pattern, it's available at the Supersockstore.com.

If you are interested in taking a class at my studio, email [email protected]. I am thinking of teaching a hands on wearable art class this spring to a limited number of students. I'll be away the rest of the week in Arizona to watch my youngest daughter Barrel Girl compete in a rodeo. Happy Knitting!

Classes at STITCHES from Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

The rumor is true--I am teaching wearable art classes at STITCHES Events for the first time in over 10 years. The inspiration was my Painted Lace Skirt which was featured at the TNNA Fashion Show and also will be shown in Knitter's and Knit N Style Magazines this summer. This is a new handpaint technique in which you knit the pieces of a garment and then paint them before assembly.Most often with handpainted garments, you knit directly from handpainted yarn. 

One of my classes is called Painted Tam--this is a wearable art beret that you knit and then paint with me in a 6 hour session at Stitches. I did paint one over the weekend and also finished writing the pattern. If you want a head start, the pattern, yarn and dyes can be found at Indiedyer.com. The Tam takes one hank of undyed Supersock Select available for $9.00 at IndieDyer. If you want just the pattern, it's available at the Supersockstore.com.

If you are interested in taking a class at my studio, email [email protected]. I am thinking of teaching a hands on wearable art class this spring to a limited number of students. I'll be away the rest of the week in Arizona to watch my youngest daughter Barrel Girl compete in a rodeo. Happy Knitting!

On Beyond Sock Yarn

Dear Bloggies:
 
For some time now, I have been experimenting with a supersoft version of Supersock Select.  My thought was that this yarn would be suitable for items other than socks.  It's not that I don't like socks, but remember, my ravatar is "notsocks" and sometimes I just get tired of socks.  This yarn is 100% Superwash Merino and it is low micron making it very soft, very high quality and very expensive to produce.  I have been working with a mill to create a soft twist yarn that is also strong, durable, machine washable and of course looks nice when handpainted.
 
Well, we developed a yarn that has all of these characteristics and we have the first run finished on our 33 original colorways.  Here's the problem:  the prices of high quality merino have risen so fast that we are never going to be able to produce this yarn again.  So we have sent the entire lot--between 80 and 90 hanks of each colorway-- to Discontinued Brand Name Yarn.  The yarn is absolutely gorgeous and the  softest Supersock you’ll ever see.  Each hank is 4 oz and 484 yards, plenty for a soft buttery scarf or hat with earflaps or gloves or take two for a large shawl.

And now it's back to the drawing board for us.  Hope you enjoy the yarn!