New Yarn: Fatter Sheep

There's a new sheep in town - and it's fatter that you thought!  New at Asheville Homecrafts is Fatter Sheep yarn from Farmhouse Yarns.  Fatter Sheep yarn is hand dyed in semi-solids and multicolor skeins.  Sweet or vibrant, the shop has lots of colors so you should find colors that you like.  It's 99% wool with a nylon binder, giving the yarn a good bit of texture.  The call it 'Fatter Sheep' for a reason - it's a very bulky yarn - perfect for knitting on size 10.5 to size13 needles.  And it's put up in big skeins - 150 yards at 5.5 ounces for $24.  Long yarns mean fewer knots in your knitting or crochet -and fewer ends to weave in. But the nature of the dyeing means that you might want to alternate your knitting between 2 skeins.

Keep your eye on the blog this week - I'll keep tempting you with yummy and luscious yarns!

All Stocked Up: Needle Felting

Whether you want to make lovely flowers, adorable animals, tiny people, even jewelry, visit our needle felting section.  If you've already discovered needle felting, than you know how much fun it can be to jab wool with sharp needles.  If you are new to needle felting, you can begin to create amazing 3 dimensional wool sculptures. 

We've recently received a number of new books and supplies.  Check out A Touch of Felt by Lynn Farris, Simply Needlefelt by Jayne Emerson or any of the other books for instructions and inspiration.   But woman (or man) cannot felt by books alone - we must have supplies!  And that means fiber and needles and just maybe a few other supplies.  Take a look at our range of natural fibers from local farms as well as hand-dyed roving from our favorite artists.  We have wool, mohair, alpaca, silk and more ready to be transformed by your imagination and a few pokes of the needle. 

If you are just getting started, our staff is happy to help you.  Drop by any time, but make Friday evening your special time to sit and knit.  We gather 'round the table, starting a project, helping one another, or just knitting among friends - old and new.

Just a note to our readers:  Many of these blog posts are created by AnneMarie, one of the many fiber artists who work with Judy and Marie to make Asheville HomeCrafts the exciting Asheville fiber center that it is.  If you have an idea for a blog post, leave a note in the comments. 

Opening Day at the Fair

It's opening day at the 2010 North Carlina Mountain State Fair. It begins on Friday, September 10th and runs through Sunday, September 19th. As always Marie and Judy will be demonstrating spinning and basket making while selling a number of handmade items - many that they make at the fair. Look for the Asheville HomeCrafts sign in the the Heritage Walk area.

While you are there, stop by the exhibit building to see the knitting, dyeing, weaving, spinning crochet and other work that people have entered. The quilts are always amazing and so are the baskets and heirloom sewing. Giant pumpkins? We got 'em! Jams and Jellies? we got those too! Al kinds of handmade food and craft items, plus student work, amazing flowers, and so much more.

Asheville HomeCrafts, the Shop in the Grove Arcade will remain open throughout the fair, so if you are inspired by the blue ribbon winners - or the 'people's choice' award that you would give, treat yourself to the yarn , fiber or needles that will get you the blue ribbon next year!