Newsletter July 2007

The tourist season is now upon us!  In response, the Farm Store is open 7 days a week, Monday to Saturday, 11 - 6 and Sundays Noon - 4 until Labour Day.  We hope fibre artists, County visitors and residents will find this convenient.

For those of you who like reference materials we do have a BOOK SALE on now until July 8.  This offers 15% off all books and 20% off all yarn company books.

Workshops are big on our list for this summer & fall. If you are looking for something to do in the County outside of beaches and wine (both excellent!), consider taking a class.  Beginners knitting for both adults and youth will be scheduled regularly.  Felter wannabes can make a felt vest on July 14 & 15, while our Fabulous Fibre Week from July 23 - 28 allows a new skill to be learned each day.  Those who want to learn felted knits will also get a day or two. Please see our Workshops for details and more offerings for the fall.

As a shop that primarily focuses on natural fibres, we are pleased to announce that we now carry Southwest Trading and Nashua Handknits.  Check out some of our newest yarns such as TOFUtsies (soy blend sock yarn), Karaoke (soy & wool), Oasis (soy), aMaizing (corn), Love (Bamboo & silk), Craft (organic cotton & milk), rock (soy, wool & hemp), Vignette (variegated superwash wool), Ecologie Cotton (naturally dyed) and Brushed Alpaca (can replace mohair in some uses).  We also carry Frabjous recycled sari silk yarns, hemp & nettle (good for carry bags) and Schaefer's Andrea , a hand-dyed fine silk and Anne, a superwash merino, mohair, nylon blend for socks and more.  Our Yarn Price List has full details but many need to be seen in person to be appreciated.

For spinners and felters we now have more of our own rovings and batts: Natural soft grey Romney, white and dark brown Rideau Arcott x, Border Leicester and soon more white Romney.  Working with Willow Garden Shetlands from the County, we now carry their Shetland roving in 5 natural colours in bulk and black and white in 2 oz. bumps.  For the non-animal enthusiasts, we now have Silk Latte (milk fibre), Natural and White Soy top, White and Carbonized Bamboo and for those who enjoy both animals and non-animal fibre, we have soy & wool blended and Exotica (bamboo, silk, cashmere and milk fibre), exceptionally fine.  These can be bought in sample amounts but at least 50 gms. is needed for a finely spun lace scarf.

We continue to carry County lamb cuts and have great BBQ cuts such as butterfly legs, thick loin chops and kabobs. Our popular lambie pies continue to be in demand. If you wish fresh, not frozen, cuts we can do this but we need at least 2 weeks notice depending on lamb demand in the shop.

The Rose Haven Nature Cottage is welcoming guests. For fibre fiends it is a good place for up to 5 friends to get together, especially if you are coming for a workshop or perhaps as a group or guild tour of the shop and local fibre producers.

Finally some of you may have wondered how long I could stay away from farming. The answer is not long. I have purchased a 10 acre parcel on Closson Road (a great winery road) with a barn. Initial efforts will focus on saving the barn, a part of County heritage and then to work with Ducks Unlimited to create a pond system for waterfowl. Part of the land is in soy beans and other ideas will follow slowly in time!