New Name, New Blog

We have changed our name.  Grafton Fibers is now DyakCraft.  And DyakCraft has a new blog location – http://dyakcraft.wordpress.com

Coastal Knitting

sounds good right about now. We woke up to a malfunctioning furnace, which filled the house and the immediate village with acrid smoke.  As a result, the heat is off, the windows are open, and I’m thinking a nice, warm coastal location might be just the ticket.  And then we get a call from a shop opening up in beautiful Beaufort, SC.

I then went onto the Internet to find out a little about Beaufort, and no wonder these folks are looking for fiber supplies – even the trees are furry!  Do a search on Beaufort images – wow.  Elegant mansions, Spanish moss dripping from the trees, boats anchored nearby . . . and now a yarn store in the midst of all this.  Heaven on earth!

Should you be so lucky as to be in Beauford, SC soon, stop in to see Judy Algar at Coastal Knitting.  You’ll find her at 812 Port Republic.  Good luck, Judy!

Goodbye, Woody

That’s Woody, a wild and crazy dog.  Woody lost a hip when he was just a year old in a miscalculated leap over a fence.  The lack of a hip never slowed him down.  A week or so after his surgery, he and Spirit (seen from the back, above) ran off and subsequently got lost for two days.  (It was obedience school night – they ran away every week before obedience training!)  When we found them, Woody had worn off the pads on his foot from dragging his leg for so long.  We brought him home and he slept non-stop for a week.  At the end of the week I heard a crash in the kitchen and ran out to find Woody had lept onto the kitchen table, knocking the bowl of fruit on the floor.  After that, you had to look hard to realize he had a hint of a limp.

Woody loved everyone – and loved nothing more than being loved, save car rides.  If you began to pet him, a paw would see to it that you continued to pet him.  He didn’t need much real exercise, as his entire body would wiggle with delight over almost anything and everything.

That’s me and Woody a few years ago.  Day before yesterday, Knitterguy stopped in for a visit and snapped a new photo of me and Woody.  (Knitterguy, if you are reading this, would you please send me a copy of that picture?)

That night Woody had the first of what we think were a series of strokes.  In a day, a vibrant creature I was sure would outlive me was gone.  This morning we said our goodbyes.

We love you, Woody.

Hats off

to our new/old neighbor, Eva.  Her work will be detailed more in the coming months.  Her talent knows no bounds.  For starters, she has made a bevy of beautiful hat pins – one of which is featured on our October project.  I will be photographing the rest of the pins tomorrow, but here is one of these lovelies:

And it doesn’t end there.  Eva is a most accomplished painter/designer, and is applying her talents in a collaboration with Tom.  Those efforts are not yet ready to present to you, but they will be soon – certainly in time for the holidays.

Our new backyard

is quite green and pretty.

My objection?  The areas that are short and well kept are done so by a lawnmower instead of sheep.  And the areas that are overgrown – well, the sheep would have a grand time up there on that hill!

In working on the pictures for this month’s ColorWays project, I came across pictures I took of the sheep and of Bonnie the day before they left.  I didn’t download them at the time, most likely because I was too upset to remember to do so when I got back to the house.  Bonnie, never one for a camera, knew what was in the works.  She not only posed for me,

she hammed it up too:

I miss her so much.  Each time I have to go back to the old house and see an empty pasture, I fall apart.  I am so used to counting heads whenever I drive to or from that house.  To see nothing where there was once so much – - – a friend who once had sheep told me he never got over it when they left.  I doubt I will.

On a lighter note, this month’s project is finally done, though the carding is late.  The move prevented me from getting the carding done earlier in the month, and the heat has prevented me from carding this past week.  Batts don’t like loads of heat and humidity.  Neither does the woman who has to make them!  I must ask for a little patience this month – again – from our club members.  The fiber/yarn/project pictures are up on the ColorWays page – enjoy.

All gone.

As of today, all the animals are gone. While my heart is on the ground, I feel truly fortunate that all the animals found themselves wonderful new homes. We ask that you support these fine folks if you can:

Maxine, Abigail, and Suzie are no doubt thrilled to be amongst fellow corriedales at Loranne Block’s Snow Star Farm in Antrim, NH (Loranne vends at NYSW and MDSW, among other shows – check out Loranne’s yarns, all naturally hand dyed with no pre-made dyes)

Nancy Kish has graciously given Sophia, Max, and Edwin – the angora bunnies – a new lease on life at Agape Hill Farm in Hardwick, Vermont. Agape Hill Farm is an experiential farm, offering llama walks, activities, even birthday parties. The website is http://www.agapefillfarm.com, from which you can follow the activities of the farm on the blog.

Bonnie, Marcy, Deanna, Zelda, George, Carol, Veronica, Duncan, and Donny have been given fresh new fields to forage courtesy of Ron Fox. Ron raises Angus cattle and has Fox Landscaping Construction in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. Though I directed him to pull onto too soft ground this morning which resulted in his truck getting quite stuck, Ron kept his humor throughout the process of getting his truck and trailer unstuck. Not even Bonnie spitting straight at him could take the smile off his face. Bonnie and the sheep are in excellent hands. If you are near Tyngsboro and have landscaping needs, (or want beef, I presume) we encourage you to look up Fox Landscaping Construction in Tyngsboro, MA.

I have no photos of the animals moving out.  I just couldn’t.  I took pictures with my heart, not my camera.

On to the next phase of our lives, whatever that may be.

He loves me.

After working too many long days in a row, Tom decided he needed to take a break.  And what did he do with those precious few minutes he allotted to himself?  He went back into the shop, did a little wood turning magic and presented me with this:

He felt he hadn’t made me a really pretty hook in a long time.  This beauty is crafted of cochen rosewood and amboyna burl, and banded and tipped in ebony.  And, naturally, the hook is carved to perfection.  He loves me.

Sheep update – We believe everyone has found a home, even the rabbits.  Thank you to all who assisted us.  The Twitter crowd was pretty amazing, continually retweeting the post so that more would see it, and the Ravelry folks did a lovely job posting in various groups as well.  Thank you all so much.  That was so very kind.  Although it is heartbreaking to have to give them up, worrying about finding them homes has been an enormous weight on us that, thanks to all of you, has been lifted.

The time has come

to find our beloved sheep and llama (and three angora rabbits) a good home.

Bonnie, our guard llama, is approximately 15 years old and has been with these sheep her entire life.

The sheep are:

George.  Cheviot/Black Welsh Mountain cross.  Wether.  Age – old.

Marcy.  Cheviot (great coat!)  Age – old.

Zelda.  Cheviot/Black Welsh Mountain cross.   Age – old.

Deanna.  Cheviot/Black Welsh Mountain cross.  Age – old.

Abigail, Suzie, & Maxine – three very large and healthy Corriedales.  Beautful fleece.  Age – 6+

Carol – elegant silver Lincoln.  Age – 10

Duncan and Donny – Moorit Shetland wethers with beautiful fleece.  Age – approx 5 or 6

Veronica – white Navajo Churro – incredible fleece – Age – 6.

The angoras are all silver – Sophia, Max, and Edwin.  Max and Edwin are Sophia’s sons.

These are all friendly, sweet, independent sheep.  They require very little.  They give far more than they receive.  As long as they have grass, hay, and a bit of grain (yes, they are somewhat spoiled), they are content.

If you can give this flock a home, please get in touch with us via the shop – 802-869-1880.

A few pictures:

Duncan (L) and Donny (R)

Maxine, giving me attitude.

Veronica, right after shearing a couple of years ago, with Maxine looking on.

Bonnie, on the day she met Tom.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

They are on their way – a bevy of needles and learn to spin kits are headed south to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. We were thrilled to be asked to supply the festival with hand crafted, made in the USA craft tools.  For the festival, Tom produced a straight needle that is engraved to commemorate the occasion:

And turned his heart out to produce enough spindles for hundreds of learn to spin kits:

Hopefully a new generation of knitters and spinners will be uncovered in the next two weeks as they discover the tools of our fiber heritage at the Folklife Festival!

Loom to Luna

(Note:  The loom is now under contract.)

Yesterday I listed our Cranbrook loom for sale.   She has a 72″ weaving width, 10 treadles, 8 harnesses, and a never used shaft switcher  – all made from rock maple by Norwood in Fremont, Michigan.  She’s in great shape, sans scratches on the steel beams.  New, the loom itself sells for $7400.  And the shaft switcher is no longer available.   The Fremont woodworkers designed the shaft switcher.  When Schacht purchased the rights to the Cranbrook, the shaft switcher disappeared.

The loom:

The shaft switcher (couldn’t get far enough away to get the whole piece in the photo):

The curve in the rails is an illusion from the photograph.

We are asking $5000 for both.  They must be picked up in southern Vermont – the loom is too large to ship.  Contact us at the studio if interested – 802-869-1880.  As the picture shows, the loom is up and complete.

After a long evening, I was about to turn in when I found a visitor at our door.  I took several pictures – best as I could through the window so as not to disturb him.  I went to bed and found myself playing that game where you alter one letter in a word at a time in order to arrive at a new word:

Loom . Room . Roam . Road . Toad . Toed . Toes . Tons . Tone . Tune . Tuna . . . Luna!