Happy Thanksgiving!

On behalf of all of us here at Woodland Woolworks, we'd like to wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving!  Safe travels to anyone traveling!! 

Thanksgiving Wine Weekend

There are dozens and dozens of wineries and tasting rooms in the Yamhill/Carlton area, and there are 2 weekends of the year that are especially big for wine tasters.  One of those is the Thanksgiving weekend.  According to the website Willamette Valley Wineries there will be more than 160 wineries and tasting rooms open with special events for the weekend!   I wonder how many people have been to all 160?  That would be quite a goal - NOT all in one weekend, of course! 

Stop on in for some yarn & fiber fondling on Friday & Saturday, we're right on the way!

Small cones of perle cotton

We've had the small cones of 5/2 and 3/2 perle cotton available for years.  The company we get these from also started offering the 10/2 and 20/2 sizes on small cones as well, but I kept hesitating about offering them because we kept being told by the company that their winding machine was old and cranky and hard to repair and one of these days it was going to die and they just weren't going to replace it.  I just knew that as soon as I made the commitment to all those colors (well over 100!) in both those sizes, that machine would croak.  Well, this has been going on for some years now, and so far it's still winding away.  So, we're going to offer the 10/2 and 20/2 on small cones.  If you order it, we'll order it.  I'm not going to push my luck by trying to invest in all that yarn at one time, but will bring it in as we get requests for colors.  Since they come in boxes of 6, if somebody orders 1 cone of a color, inventory will be built over time.

I'm sure their machine is laughing now, and about to keel over.  But maybe not!  Fans of finer weaving will be happy to get smaller amounts of lots of colors instead of being limited to 1 pound (plus!) cones.  A bit much when you want 5 colors for a scarf! 

Pioner Loom by Northwest Looms

We recently got a very interesting loom in as a trade-in.  I'd never seen anything like it, so thought I'd write a little bit about it.  This very innovative loom is built by Northwest Looms in Wyoming.  It has "open heddles" and an open reed.  The threading is from the top of the heddle, just slide your warp in from the top. In the picture below, the reed/beater is resting on the front beam.  The wooden levers on the right side raise the harnesses.  The levers are graduated in length to make it easy to find the harness you want.

The front beam will slide forward so you can put the warping peg segments in, and then warp directly from there.  I think it's a fascinating little loom!  And with 8 harnesses, your patterning possibilities are huge!  This would be a great loom to tote to workshops.

  

Art Harvest Studio Tour

This coming weekend (Oct 1-3) and the following (Oct 8-10) is the Art Harvest Studio Tour. This event is a self-guided trip through Yamhill County to visit 40 different artist's studios in the area. It's a great event, especially with this warm early Fall weather taking place. You get to drive through the scenic hills of fields, wineries, and orchards on a lovely Saturday or Sunday and stop in to see fantastic local art along the way. If you add in a winery stop (or two) and a visit to a wonderful little knitting store called Woodland Woolworks- you've got a perfectly relaxing and entertaining afternoon. ; )

Although most of these artists use paint as their mediums, instead of fiber like ourselves, we feel a connection to the creative spirit and use of hands to create something stunning. This tour is especially interesting because you get to see where the actual creative process takes place, not just the artwork hung in a gallery. It's a kind of behind-the-scenes look at art being made which can be as interesting as the pieces themselves.

You can learn more about buying tickets and find a map of the locations at the Art Harvest website.

Oregon Flock and Fiber Recap

Before the mad rush

Well another year and another OFFF is in the books. It was a lot of fun as usual. A big thanks to all the volunteers that make it happen. We loved seeing and meeting everyone there (lots of hugs!) and were glad for at least one sunny afternoon on Saturday. Sunday, not so much, but we're thankful to all who braved the downpour in the morning to make it out. You just can't keep good fiber fans down! It's always a shame that we're so busy holding down the fort we don't get to do as much exploring as we'd like - there's so much good stuff! We were able to catch a quick glimpse of the duck herding demonstration though, and that was fun to watch. We're already looking forward to next year.

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

The Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival is coming up on the weekend of September 25th through the 26th (with workshops also on the 24th). It takes place at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby, Oregon and is a weekend full of fun for the fiber arts enthusiast.

We really look forward to the OFFF because of all the great events and people we get to meet. There's competitions for livestock, spinning skills, fiber, yarns, fiber creations, and even a cook off (Entry forms). There's also lots of workshops on dyeing, weaving, knitting, beading, and almost anything you can think of when it comes to fiber. There's also live music, crafts for sale, fiber for sale, and activities to keep you busy all weekend long. It really is quite an event! We'll be there on The Porch with a booth, so be sure to stop on by and say hello. We'll have all kinds of fiber-y goodness with us, ready for you to take away and create with.