Sponsor: Tucked away into the heart of Leelanau County, where cherry trees, centennial farms and wine grapes meet the shores of Lake Michigan, is a knitter’s paradise and that place is Wool & Honey.
Wool & Honey’s focus is on thoughtful companies who add their own stories to our little spot in the world–brands that highlight fibers that mirror the exquisite natural beauty of their area. Michigan fiber artists are paramount—and their selection of locally grown, dyed, spun yarns and fiber is unparalleled. The hive is the center of it all–it’s home. Home to bees of all ages and ability levels, each adding a bit of shine to a vibrant community. Every day, these tiny workers gather pollen–powdery bits of fluff–and with a little time and effort, transform it into gorgeous, golden nectar. How similar we knitters are to the bee! Taking nothing more than two sticks and a string, we create warmth and comfort, fabric to clothe and decorate our bodies.
On September 27th from 7-9pm, Stephen West will be spending an evening at Wool & Honey, sipping cocktails, trying on his huge collection of knitted samples and listening to Stephen share the Westknits story. This event is free and everyone is welcome, so make sure to mark your calendars so you don’t miss this special evening and the big giveaway of the night, a HUGE basket filled with Stephen’s favorite yarns. Make sure to visit woolandhoney.com for more info on this and another exciting event in October, when Jared Flood and Julie Hoover of Brooklyn Tweed visit. Join them for brunch, knitting and tricks and tips and end the evening with a cocktail party. Tickets go on sale this month, so make sure to join the Wool and Honey newsletter and follow along on Instagram @woolandhoney.
Fiber folk: When I first happened upon the mother-daughter collaboration Biches & Bûches, I was starstruck. The nature inspired aesthetic and wholesome knits looked as if they had appeared out of one of my wooly dreams…or Pinterest boards and belonged in my wardrobe. But even better is the story behind this partnership, where they started and where they’re headed. Beginning with their Scandinavian roots, Astrid and Caroline have created something quite beautiful and moving…and I hope you’re as inspired as I. You can find Biches & Bûches at bichesetbuches.com and on Instagram at @bichesetbuches
Sponsor: Montana Green Insulation is located in Malta, Montana and is a family run operation, by Thayne Mackey, his wife and two children. In 2009 Thayne and his family downsized their farm and started Brookside Woolen Mill where they create their wool insulation product. They run an organic wool processing operation, with high efficiency heating systems, solar water heaters, recycling and settling ponds for waste water, bio-degradable soaps and eco-friendly disposal systems for the vegetable wastes produced by sheep. Their woolen products include Montana Green Sheep Wool Insulation, Reclamation and Revegetation Mats, and Bio-wix wattles and booms for petroleum spills on land and in water. We used the wool insulation for our yurt platform and decided to do so because of the incredible properties of wool insulation and it’s R-value. I hope you’ll consider learning more about wool insulation and using it for your next building project. Find Montana Green Insulation at montanagreeninsulation.com and listen to Thayne’s fiber journey in episode 43.
Fall/Winter Woolful Knitalong: It’s been nearly a year since I’ve hosted a knit along and the Fall/Winter season seems the perfect time to start anew in some wooly pursuits. I’ve found the hardest thing with knitalongs is to keep up…the intention is there, but then life happens; work, deadlines, family, new projects…and you loose steam and often the project goes unfinished. So a yearly instead of quarterly knit along seems more fitting. We’ll still have relative dates set for prizes and such, but if it takes us the whole year, so be it.
So beginning November 1st, let’s celebrate the cooler seasons with a Biches & Bûches inspired knitalong, casting on one of their patterns, kits or with one of their yarns. You choose how you’d like to join the knitalong and then we’ll get started. Visit bichesetbuches.com to be inspired and look for more details in an upcoming podcast and blog post.
Giveaway: The winner of last weeks giveaway is Beth Everson, you’ve won the Yarnicorn Cowl pattern and kit from Knit Collage. Congratulations!
This week’s giveaway is sponsored by Biches & Bûches and they’re giving away their newest project kit that’s yet to be released, their first Winter mittens kit. The winner will receive a kit in the color combination of their choice, which includes two balls of Biches & Bûches Petite yarn. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post.
Music by Jónsi.