Podcast appearances and mentions of Sally Fox

In a period when agriculture moved toward chemicals, genetic engineering, and monoculture, Sally Fox decided to explore what could happen if she collaborated with nature instead of fighting it. With an academic background in entomology, she studied ways to minimize the amount of pesticides needed to grow crops, and the more she saw the effects of those chemicals, the more she wanted to steer clear. Looking to avoid synthetic dyes, she was intrigued when she came across a few seeds of naturally colored brown cotton, which is naturally pest-resistant. According to conventional wisdom, brown cotton couldn't be bred to have a staple long enough for textile mills to process it commercially. Only easily dyed, longer stapled white cotton was suitable for large-scale use, the thinking went. But Sally decided to try anyway, breeding a few plants on the side as she continued working in agricultural research. Over time, she saw interesting results, including a range of green and brown hues; more washfast and lightfast color; longer staples; memory; even improved flame resistance. As a spinner and weaver, Sally had a unique advantage as she developed her cotton lines: the help of skilled spinners who tried her samples and put them through a variety of tests. It was the handspinners who introduced the idea of boiling the cotton yarn, which weakened some colors and strengthened others that she brought forward. The support of handspinners and weavers helped sustain Sally through challenging decades when conventional agriculture threatened her work and her livelihood. Her cotton proved naysayers wrong: organic and naturally colored cotton could be spun at industrial scale and provide similar or better results to conventional cotton. Today, Sally's textile work is recognized not only for creating beautiful fiber and minimizing avoiding chemical pesticides and dyes but also fixing carbon in the soil. On her farm, she raises naturally colored finewool sheep and heirloom wheat in rotation with cotton. Like the fibers she has cultivated, her farm expands our ideas of what's possible in organic agriculture. Links Vreseis website (https://www.vreseis.com/) Fiber, fabric, and yarn in the Vreseis shop (https://www.vreseis.com/shop) Vreseis's Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vreseis) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You'll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you'll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Yarn Barn of Kansas You're ready to start a new project but don't have the right yarn. Or you have the yarn but not the right tool. Yarn Barn of Kansas can help! They stock a wide range of materials and equipment for knitting, weaving, spinning, and crochet. They ship all over the country, usually within a day or two of receiving the order. Plan your project this week, start working on it next week! See yarnbarn-ks.com (https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/) to get started. Brown Sheep Company Brown Sheep Company is a four-generation family business bringing you high quality wool and natural fiber yarns. We spin and dye U.S.-grown wool into hundreds of vibrant colors at our mill in western Nebraska. Our mill has something to offer for every craft, from our well-known knitting and crochet yarns to wool roving for spinning and felting. We offer U.S-made needlepoint yarn as well as yarn on cones for weaving. Learn more about our company and products at BrownSheep.com (https://brownsheep.com/).

In episode 283, Kestrel welcomes Kristin Morrison, the founder and designer behind All Species, to the show. A textile arts and design studio, All Species investigates the potential to create regenerative garments and textiles. The below story was written by this week's guest — it's vision-inducing and reminds us of all the value that can come from further connecting ourselves to the natural world. It's a beautiful way to envision what could happen if we work toward literally wearing the land around us. “Can we imagine together the rumble of 200 hooves- the vibration spiraling up from your feet to your heart as you witness wooly Rambouillet sheep running in the distance. Your work boots kick up dust as you run alongside to get a closer view. Sipping in the scent of wool, grasses, soil, you can sense the vitality of this wild ecosystem. Hooves till the soil…wild grasses are mowed by hungry animals and the carbon gases are sequestered safely back into the earth in the process. Today is a special day, sheep shearing day. You are here to witness the fine wool be cut from the animals, leaving them with small bare bodies. Shearing is a necessity and tradition that keeps the sheep healthy and also provides a source of income for the farmer. Giant pillows of dusty, grassy, potent wool will be sent to local mills to be made into cloth. Sensing the good intention of this in your belly, brings a feeling of wholeness to your being, like you are part of something bigger than yourself. The wools is then spun and woven into exquisite cloth in artisanal mills. In your minds eye, you imagine the supple yet stiff fabric and how it will be draped into form passing through hands of more creators…how it might shift from cream to charcoal as it is colored with native plants-and eventually come together as calf length coat styled with other fibers from the land. This embodied garment, carries the vibration of all the hands who have imbued love into its cloth and echos the rumble of those 200 sheep.” Quotes & links from the conversation: Sally Fox, one of Kristin's fabric suppliers — listen to Sally on episode 267 of Conscious Chatter > CA Cloth Foundry, one of Kristin's fabric suppliers — listen to founder Lydia on episode 135 of Conscious Chatter > “When we are wearing the land, we embody the frequency of it — it's subtle quiet and yet, powerfully transformative. And in this, we are invited into the wisdom and the knowing, to what the lands needs to regenerate.” -Kristin (32:09) All Species website > Follow Kristin / All Species on Instagram >

In episode 281, Kestrel welcomes Sarah Danu, the founder of Danu Organic, to the show. Danu Organic is focused on making clothing that is healthy for our bodies, the earth and everybody involved in the growing and making process of our garments. When it comes to food, we are constantly bombarded with messaging around healthy choices, and we have been taught to weigh which ingredients or products are the HEALTHIER option. However, when it comes to our clothes, do you ever hear folks question whether or not a garment is HEALTHY? This week's guest, Sarah, makes what she calls – HEALTHY CLOTHES.  While it's often overlooked, when we put on clothing, its components can enter our body, which can impact our overall health. For Sarah, a personal health crisis years ago opened her eyes to this very real discovery. When an organic underwear set turned her skin red – she knew there was more to uncover beyond just the fiber choice – to truly understand what our clothing contains. While we're starting to hear warnings from experts about how toxins are being discovered in fast fashion garments, the research on the direct impact of wearing toxic clothing is minimal. But if we look to anecdotal examples, there are multiple pieces of evidence that showcase the impacts of toxic clothing. I have heard numerous stories from folks who had some sort of health crisis, that they then discover was impacted by their clothing. So what does healthy clothes really mean? Quotes & links from the conversation: Vreseis, Danu Organic uses some of Sally Fox's naturally colored cotton — listen to our show with Sally here > Danu Organic's new jeans Follow Danu Organic on Pinterest > Follow Sarah on Instagram > Follow Danu Organic on Instagram >

We talk holiday cooking, weaving curtains for The Club Car, and an update on the sweater Marsha is knitting for her son.   Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Craftsy classes are on the Hoopla library app. Sally Fox and Vreseis: Walking tours: History of Extra Long Staple Cotton Walking tours of the section of the cotton breeding nursery which contain some of the most famous Extra Long Staple (ELS) cottons from the 19th Century through the end of the 20th Century. Sea Island, Ashmouni, Giza 45 to Pima S7. Plan for about an hour of walking and talking, wearing comfortable shoes. These tours are meant to support and celebrate the 40 years that I have been breeding cottons for organic farming and modern ecological textile processing. In Yolo County just west of Woodland. Brooks, CA. Marsha's Projects:  Socks for Mark: Using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium fingering weight called Luke in colorway Mermaids of the Black Lake with heels and toes in Dream in Color Yarn fingering called Mini Smooshy in the colorway As A Bird. I am about to start the toe of the second sock. Ben's sweater: I have finished the last Fibonacci sequence strip of the body but have not done the ribbing because I need Ben to try on the sweater to check the length. Started the first sleeve. Kelly's Projects: Another purple hat finished, started an orange hat Curtain project–handwoven curtains are finished! Mark's Cottolin 22/2 as warp, 1 ply linen weft. Swedish lace weft float spots.   Piano Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31   Weaver's Palette January 30 - February 3 Marsha is taking an introductory weaving class.

In episode 267, Kestrel welcomes farmer and scientist, Sally Fox, to the show. Known for her work in developing strong genetics in organic, naturally-colored cotton, Sally also has experience in raising heritage Merino sheep and a variety of crops, including Sonora wheat. “I viewed the misuse of ag chemicals and the overuse of dyes — I see them as the same thing. I don't see why we're using dyes on products, on the colors we can grow ourselves. I want to see materials that are expensive and precious and costly in terms of energy and water use, to be used where you have to use them — not just on a whim.” -Sally One of the most environmentally and socially detrimental stages in the textile supply chain is the DYEING PROCESS – where we add colors to our textiles. As highlighted in Rita Kant's article Textile dyeing industry an environmental hazard, “The World Bank estimates that 17 to 20 percent of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and finishing treatment given to fabric. Some 72 toxic chemicals have been identified in water solely from textile dyeing, 30 of which cannot be removed.” Yes, there are natural dyes which can be an amazing option. And yes, there are lower-impact dyes, which can often be a so-called better option. But what if we could grow fibers that were bred for many distinct attributes, including COLOR?  Well, we can. It's something that Sally Fox has been working on for the last 40 years – from breeding to growing to harvesting to spinning to yarn design, to many other layers in between, she's a legend in the cotton industry. Her work planted a lot of the seeds that have grown into today's organic industry in the U.S.  And through her closeness to so many pieces of the cotton supply chain, she has incredible insight on many of the complexities of growing organic that are often overlooked. Quotes & links from the conversation: “The USDA had been giving them to to all the breeders because they were sources of innate insect and pest and disease resistance. They were very very vigorous, but they had this fiber that wasn't usable. So, I asked him ‘why don't we just improve the fiber and make it usable?' And he said ‘there's no market for naturally colored cottons'. And I said, ‘well why don't we make a market?' And this guy was in his 70s and I was in my 20s and he started laughing and he said, ‘here you can have the seeds and you can even have part of the greenhouse so start it up.' -Sally (11:11) “Breeding is about focusing on where you want to go and then growing as many plants as you can afford that allow for the plants to express themself with the greatest diversities, so you can pick the ones that are going the direction that you want.” -Sally (28:03) Dr. Jane Dever, cotton breeder “No that many people who breed cotton have a deep understanding of the use of the fiber. Most breeders are breeding for yield because farmers buy seeds by how much the yield is. They need to make enough money to stay in business and yield is the thing they look for.” -Sally (49:35) “If there's ever been a product that entered the world because of the support of people who were devoted to their craft, it is this.” (51:19) Vreseis, Sally's Website Follow FoxFibre® on Facebook > Follow Sally on Instagram >

In episode 266, Kestrel welcomes Leah D'Ambrosio, the founder of Wol Hide, to the show. Focused on easy wear for living in, Wol Hide's styles are made from natural fibers and organic textures. “I like to look at sort of the bigger picture of what I'm creating. So, I think a lot about the supply chain and the people that I work with, and where our materials come from — who's making them, who's knitting them, and all the pieces along the way. But then, also, in terms of design and making products, I try to think a lot about things that people are gonna want to wear for a long time, things that are gonna feel good to put on, things that you're gonna want to reach for again and again in your closet.” -Leah Have you ever heard the minimums conundrum from smaller brands, or even mid-sized brands, working in the sustainability space? It's a conversation that comes up on repeat in my circles – I hear about the challenges with minimums for mills, for fabric sourcing, for cut and sew production, for accessing new materials, and the list goes on. These co-called minimums are a direct reflection of the way in which the fashion system has been built on VOLUME, and SCALE and an obsession with growth on all accounts.  This leads me to the idea of sharing ownership – I feel like regularly people are saying: I wish someone would coordinate a way for smaller brands to bond together to meet these minimums, to help each other be able to access what they're looking for, through a collective approach. But it's challenging because fashion is notorious for being SECRETIVE, and brands and designers are notorious for not wanting to share their resources, their suppliers, pieces of their supply chain, etc, etc. When it comes to pushing the needle in the sustainability space, why not share?  Leah has a smaller label (Wol Hide), and is working diligently to build thoughtful supply chains. She shares some of her insights when it comes to navigating these minimum challenges, and ways she thinks we need to continue to come together to work more cooperatively across the industry.  Quotes & links from the conversation: Sally Fox (who Wol Hide works with for their Colorgrown cotton) NY Textile Lab (this is who Won Hide works with for the regional Climate Beneficial yarn) Fibershed on Climate Beneficial Agriculture > Follow Wol Hide on Instagram >

Todays' guest is Sally Fox. Sally is a writer, coach, consultant, and artist. She has taught leadership development and coached professionals thirty-years, only to refocus her business on storytelling and helping others craft a more soulful, creative path for themselves after midlife.Sally holds a Ph.D. from the Fielding Graduate University as well as an MBA from the Yale School of Management. Beyond her academic training, Sally has continued her love for learning through training in improvisational theatre, clowning, and sound healing.She chronicles her journey in her upcoming book tentatively called Peonies, Poetry and Paint, Meeting the Muse after Midlife. In it Sally reshapes the conversation around aging to focus on spirituality and creativity as keys to thriving as we age.She became interested in David Spangler's work in the early 1980s and became a member of the Lorian community several years ago. Sally currently serves on the Board of The Lorian Association, a spiritual education community.

This podcast is sponsored by Drs Amy Fox Griffel and Martin I Griffel in memory of her mother, Sally Fox, Sima Bat Moshe v Michla on the occasion of her yahrtzeit. Parashat Vaera 5782: The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart Description:… Read the rest The post Parashat Vaera 5782: The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Vaera 5782: The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart at Elmad Online Learning.

The Summer Spin ends in less than a month so we discuss knitting with handspun. Plus, we have great prizes for the Spin In provided by the Three Green Sisters and we have our Patreon Pattern Giveaway. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Three Green Sisters prizes: Grand prize is an 18 by 18 pillow using fabric designed by Cheri Magnusson. They are very interested in supporting this new fabric designer who is the shepherd of an Icelandic flock in Maine.  In addition to the pillow, they are generously providing their Patty style bag as a prize. One will be used for the Summer Spin-In and one will be drawn from a thread we'll post in the Ravelry group.  They are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their 3 Green Sisters Etsy shop. We talk about Cheri Magnuson who has created fabric that will be in one of the prizes. She is a shepherd who had become a fabric designer. Coldstream_Ice Spoonflower fabric shop. Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition. The pattern is also available at his website. I finished the colorwork yoke and the neckband and washed and blocked the sweater before finishing the bottom and sleeve ribbing. Now I'm worried it is too small. I need to get my brother over as soon as possible to try on the sweater so I know what my next step will be. I discussed a technique for knitting with three colors in one row that my friend told me about. Unfortunately, I cannot find a YouTube video demonstration but I will describe it. You knit the row with the dominant color and one background color, slipping the stitches that are the second background color. When you finish the row, you knit the row again but this time you knit the second background color stitches you slipped, and slip all the dominant color and first background colors. Hope that makes sense. I also picked up a skein winder or spinning weasel from our listener Nanci (Nan4Nan). It was lovely to meet Nanci and so generous of her to pass along the skein winder. It does not have a brand name on it so if listeners know, please pass on that information. I've been watching YouTube videos to learn how to use it. Kelly's Projects I have been knitting dishcloths at night and weaving during the day. I had a previously wound warp for the Huck Color and Weave project from the Jane Stafford guild. I decided to put it on the loom.  Huck is a weave structure with floats. You can have horizontal floats along with plain weave on the front, you can have vertical floats along with the plain weave, or you can have both vertical and horizontal floats that make a kind of lace. Color and weave refers to alternating colors in both the warp and the weft. Depending on the sequence of light and dark threads (LDLD… or LDDL-LDDL… or DLDDL-DLDDL…) the colors will interact with each other to form interesting patterns. A gamp is a sampler that allows you to systematically pair every weft choice with every warp choice.  It was my first time warping back to front on the floor loom. I used the instructions from season one of the guild. It was easy to wind on by myself! Robert doesn't really enjoy helping me wind on. Once it was on the loom I got obsessed and wove it off in about 4 days. I did 4 different gamps and then I just played. The gamps became napkins (they were a good size for that) and the rest of the sampling became dishtowels.  The fabric really changes when it is washed and curved sections become visible.  I'm not ready to do another one of these lace projects, but I got inspired to put a stash busting baby blanket on the loom.  Spinning Topic--Handspun sweaters Kelly: Laceweight camel and silk featherweight sweater, Funky grandpa sweater, Orcas Run sweater, Dark and Stormy, Dark Green Forest sweater. Four are natural colored (one of them with overdyed stripes). The current one is overdyed. The yarns  are:  Two ply--one ply camel and one ply silk for a laceweight yarn. Spun first, then decided what to do with it. Featherweight sweater. Medium fine wool (breed unknown) (Charlotte) two ply fingering weight. Spun first, then decided what to do with it. Funky Grandpa sweater. CVM bulky two ply--spun on purpose for the sweater. Orcas Run sweater Targhee lamb three ply (worsted to aran)--spun for a sweater, chose sweater based on gauge. Dark and Stormy sweater. CVM three ply in a sport weight--started spinning first, then decided to make a sweater and selected based on gauge. Dark Green Forest Sweater. Also used Charlotte carded with a little bit of brightly dyed silk noil to make a vest for Robert. Yarn is a heavy, dense 2-ply that is probably aran weight or larger (early spinning). The vest is quite large (gauge swatch? no!) and you can see stripes of the various natural colors of Charlotte in it from uneven carding.  Marsha: I have made two sweaters with my handspun. Both were combo spin methods. Beeline by Heidi Kirrmeier. For this sweater I dyed the roving in really bright colors.  Simple Summer Tweed Top Down V-Neck by Heidi Kirrmeier. All the roving I bought at shows and did not dye any. Lots of fiber types...wools, silk, alpaca. Really fun to spin all the different fibers, With both sweaters I did not alternate skeins on the body, but I did alternate for the sleeves. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection!  Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th Less than a month to go! Prizes from Three Green Sisters Full Transcript of show: Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. I thought we would be ready to go early. And then I got going doing the dishes and looked at the clock and went oh my gosh. It's time to record. Marsha 0:57 I know. Well a little late start for me too. I was a little late today. So but here I am I have a cup of coffee. Kelly 1:03 All right. Marsha 1:04 I have to just before we get into-- well, we always have our first you know 20 minutes of non fiber related conversation. Here's my non fiber related conversation. I had some friends over last night for dinner. And one of the women that came does not like dogs. And she especially does not like poodles. Kelly 1:26 Like actively doesn't like dogs? Not just isn't a dog person? Marsha 1:30 She's not a dog person. And she's she's afraid of them. And kind of leery of them, I think not flat out afraid. But she just doesn't like them and would prefer not to be around them. And she especially does not like poodles. And she especially doesn't like black poodles. What do I have? Kelly 1:46 Yes. Okay. Marsha 1:47 And the. And the reason she doesn't and I can understand this, the reason why she doesn't like them is that she some family member has poodles and they jump on her. So I understand that. And so I know this about her and so whenever... So anyway, I won't make this a long story. So when they arrived, I had Enzo on leash, even though he doesn't jump on people. He does want to go over and say hi. And some people don't like that. And so, and that's fair. So I just, when they came to the door, I had him on his leash, and kept him on a short leash. And then we went out in the backyard to sit and have a drink and, and then I said-- Well, I left them out there. There's some other people there too. But I I said I had to go in because the timer went off and the food was ready. I had to go get it out and put it on the table. And I said, you guys just sit there. I'll just do this on my own. That's fine. And I told Enzo, he's down on the patio and I'm up on the deck and I use the hand signal down and stay. And they gasp because he does it and I'm like I'm 15 feet away. And and I go in the house and I get the casserole out and I toss the salad, I slice the bread and I open the wine and come back out and he's still sitting there. 15 minutes later. Kelly 2:07 What a good boy. Yes. Marsha 2:14 What a good boy. And that's why we train our dogs, right? Like, I Kelly 2:58 yeah, so they can live with us. Marsha 3:08 Yeah. And then they can be around people who are not comfortable around dogs too. You know, that's, I said to you that as why I wanted all the training that I was going to do with Enzo. The whole purpose is I wanted him to be a good representative of, you know, a good ambassador for dogs and his breed. Because it does seem like with poodles that some people really like poodles, and some people don't like poodles, they've had bad experiences with them. I don't know why. I mean, I don't you know, he's, I think he's fine. But it's all about training. Really, you know, it's just, it's not the dog. It's the dog owner. But anyway, they were very impressed. I was even I was impressed. I know, I wasn't saying I was, I kind of figured Kelly 4:00 You were proud of him. Marsha 4:02 I was proud of him. Yeah, I wasn't surprised. I was proud of him. And he and and they were like kind of surprised, too, you know, and so I yeah, so anyway, Training pays off. Yeah. Kelly 4:14 Yeah, it does. My niece has a new rescue Pitbull. And she's been working really hard with her. And she, you know, like any dog that you don't have from puppy hood. And some that you do have from puppyhood? Marsha 4:28 Yeah, really! Kelly 4:29 You know, she has some things that she needs to-- some challenges that she needs to work on. And, and so she's been, you know, texting me and stuff and, and she texted me the other day about a good event. You know, how something that worked kind of like what you were talking about, not not anything as big. Because she's still you know, in the baby step stage. I think she's had her two and a half or three months about the same amount of time we've had Beary, a little less. But she texted me to say, Oh, this worked and it was so great and it's so nice to have a dog that does things that fit into my life. And, you know, so anyway, I thought that was really cool to hear. It's nice when they are able to, they're able to be a part of your life because they know how to act. Marsha 5:14 Yeah. And the thing is, like I mean, I knew he would stay there. So I wasn't-- that wasn't what I was concerned about. But I, I, I don't normally have to do that, like on a Saturday when, you know, my brother comes over and Kim and Gary and they usually because they they're used to dogs, they're used to Enzo. They're not afraid of him or, and I can't say she's afraid of him, that's too strong. She just doesn't want to be around dogs. She just doesn't like him. And so when you have somebody like that you want-- you're extra careful about how your dog behaves. Kelly 5:48 Right. Marsha 5:48 So that's why I was I normally on a Saturday night I don't have to make him on a down stay right when I go in the house because I just go in the house because there's other people you know, watching him and usually he just goes and lays down anyway on his own. But no, I was I was really proud of him, his behavior. And then when we came in the house and had dinner, you know, he just went lay down in the entrance hall and like and how can you not like a dog that's just a flat dog? Kelly 6:16 Right. Marsha 6:17 looking beautiful. Or just spread eagle on the in the middle of the living room floor, you know, ignoring you. So a good a good ambassador. Kelly 6:27 Yeah. Marsha 6:27 So should we talk projects or? Kelly 6:32 Yeah, let's go ahead. Actually, before we talk projects, let's talk a little bit about the prizes. Marsha 6:37 Oh, yeah. Kelly 6:37 For the spin-in. So we have been talking about them, just sort of generally. But I want to talk a little bit more specifically about the three green sisters prizes that they've offered us very generously. So there's a grand prize that is an 18 by 18 inch pillow. And it's made from fabric that's designed by a woman named Cheri Magnussen, and she's a shepherd of Coldstream Icelandic sheep in Maine. And she was an engineer and she's retired and has been, you know, living her dream, she says of, of being a shepherd with these Icelandic sheep. So I'll read a little bit from her bio in a minute, but. So three green sisters has met her and is interested in supporting her work that she's now doing. Because she's had to stop. She's had to stop, you know, stop doing doing the shepherding work. She has a few older sheep that she's keeping, but but she's not able to keep breeding sheep and working with sheep. So anyway, so let me tell you a little bit about Cheri Magnussen, again Coldstream Icelandic sheep in Maine. Her farm she says Kelly 7:55 "My farm has been a journey filled with unspeakable joy and grief so raw, I felt as if my heart was being torn apart. The year my first lambs were born, my son took his own life. I'm still grieving within. There are still times when sorrow washes over me like the waves of a cold dark winter sea. As I awaited this year's lambs, my heart was full of expectation. Joy filled my heart as the lambs grew within my ewes ever expanding bellies. Now lambs are playing and bouncing about and hope has welled up in me again, and life has promised." Kelly 8:25 So she started her journey with sheep with that combination of, of sadness and hope. And now, she's actually been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and so she's had to stop working the sheep but she's begun doing fabric design and she says, "My fabric design began just a few months ago, I watched a design show where people made their own fabric. It's like a light turned on in me, I can do that! I see designs in everything, the woodland streams, flowers, skies and of course, my sheep. So using the forest, a mossy log, some gnarly roots wrapped around rocks that I can work with, and I have some of the proceeds that I received from my designs are donated to suicide prevention and shelters, both human and animal." Kelly 9:11 So she's now doing this fabric design. And the three green sisters have met her and are are using some of her fabrics for their bags. And then they also have this pillow that they've offered with the with the sheep fabric. So that's one of the prizes. And let me just tell you, I put a link to Spoonflower in the show notes Marsha, and I... In particular, the Coldstream Icelandic shop, but what a rabbit hole! Oh my gosh. I had heard about Spoonflower before, but Marsha 9:51 as you're talking, I'm looking at it. So this is dangerous. Okay. Kelly 9:55 Yeah, we'll have to have a conversation about Spoonflower when we're done with this. So Getting back to our prizes. So we have the pillow. And then addition, in addition to the pillow, three green sisters are also generously providing their Patty style bag as prize. And we're going to have one of them for the summer spin in. And then one of them, I thought it would be nice for the people who are not participating in the summer spin to also have an opportunity to go check out their Etsy shop and have a possibility of winning. So I'll put a thread up in the Ravelry group where I'll have you go and look at her shop and answer some question, some prompt. So I'll put a thread there that I will have just a regular giveaway thread. And then we'll have one of these bags as a prize for the summer spin-in. And then in addition to that, they're also offering us a coupon code for 15% off and this goes all the way to the end of the year. The coupon code is EWES2 and it's all caps. That's the coupon code. And so you can use that for 15% off and they have free shipping in the US on most items. They also make loom totes and spinning wheel carriers. I know you talked about the bag you bought Marsha, I think maybe you you accidentally bought a spinning wheel carrier! It's so large. [laughing] Marsha 11:18 I think I did [laughing] Kelly 11:19 yeah. And then they also have spindle bags and bags for your heddles. Those of you who have rigid heddle looms. And so they have lots of variety on there. Three green sisters Etsy shop. So coupon code, EWES2 for 15% off in that shop. So thank you to the three green sisters for supporting our spin in again this summer. We only have a-- we have less than a month to go. Marsha 11:53 I know! Well, I have to talk about that. Kelly 11:55 The summer has gone by so fast. Marsha 11:58 I know. Where I am in the process. But anyway, we'll talk about that when we get to projects. Yeah. Kelly 12:04 By the way, have you ever seen Spoonflower before? Marsha 12:08 No, I have not. And I'm, as I say I'm looking at it now. And it's Kelly 12:13 so you can design a fabric and then once you design-- the premise of it, you can design a fabric and then once you design the fabric, you can also make it available for other people to purchase. But you can find fabric with anything on it. Honest to God, anything. Marsha 12:32 So I can find something with poodles. Kelly 12:34 Oh, it's quite I'm sure you could find a million things with poodles. So this morning I put in-- I was trying to find her shop, just without going to look up the link. And so I just put in Icelandic for example. And there's fabric with four breeds of Icelandic dogs on it. Like that's, that's very niche. Marsha 12:55 Yeah, Kelly 12:56 There's millions of fabrics with puffins. There's fabrics with the the country of Iceland. There's... What are they called? runes, the the characters you know, that like letters? Marsha 13:12 Oh. Right! Kelly 13:12 I think they're called--are they called runes? I don't know that sounds right, Marsha 13:17 yeah. Kelly 13:18 Anyway, they're, they're the language characters like the alphabet. They have, I mean, put in something and you can find-- I'm pretty sure you can find a fabric that has something to do with that thing. You know, my my most recent obsession of fountain pens and ink, I'm sure you could find fabrics with that. Just anything you're interested in. Somebody has a fabric, and if you can't find it, you could design your own! Marsha 13:46 Design my own. So I'm looking at-- Oh, and here's-- Okay, we are getting off topic now and are down a rabbit hole! But I just put in poodle. The style that that Cheri is using is, it's like that mirrored image kind of thing. So it looks like you know, when you look through like a kaleidoscope? Kelly 14:11 Yes, Marsha 14:11 that's kind of what it looks like? And she-- some of her fabric, she has sheep in there. And then you can sort of make them out and so but just now I was looking at poodles. And there is a poodle. Like that thing where you're looking through the kaleidoscope so you see the poodle upside down and backwards. So there's all kinds of poodle fabric, so yeah, yeah. Anyway, very, very fun. Kelly 14:38 It makes me want to sew something. Marsha 14:41 Yeah. Oh my god. So cute. Yeah. Oh, here's one with the black poodle. And lattes, a black poodle and lattes. Kelly 14:49 There you go. Marsha Marsha 14:51 What's the connection there. Kelly 14:56 That would make a cute knitting bag. You could sew yourself a knitting bag with poodles. Marsha 15:00 Yes. Here's a very stylized one. Oh, interesting. Kelly 15:07 Okay, so this is enough. This is an audio podcast. We can't be showing you pictures of all these different fabrics. But...But take a look. If you have not ever gone down the rabbit hole of Spoonflower proceed at your own risk. Marsha 15:24 Well, and I looked at Cheri's fabrics, and she has really interesting fabric. They're beautiful colors. And they're very sort of geometric that like I, like I say, it's like you're looking through a kaleidoscope. That's how, yeah, very, very interesting. Kelly 15:40 Yeah, some of them, you have to really look at them more closely to see that they're actually sheep, that the fabric is created from, from sheep. So very interesting and a cool, a cool project that she has now to do. Designing fabric. Instead of her shepherding duties. And she says "My focus now is writing books and designing fabrics. This is not difficult for me and brings me so much joy. I foresee many years of design and writing ahead of me." So yeah, take a look at her shop in particular. It's Coldstream Ice Spoonflower fabric shop. We'll have it in the show notes. But also just dig around in Spoonflower for a while. You'll be inspired, I'm sure. Even if you don't sew you'll be inspired. All right. So what are you knitting on Marsha? Marsha 16:36 Well, right now I'm sitting here knitting on-- in fact I just was rustling the paper. It's called Simple shawl. It's I've been working on it for, Kelly 16:47 I don't know, three years? Marsha 16:49 Three years! Anyway, so I'm just just knitting on that. And so there's not much more to report on that. I'm just, I've talked about that in the past. So I won't discuss that. But I'm doing that. I'm now far enough along I'm doing the border, there's some-- the whole shawl is garter stitch, and then you do a border. I've done one row of eyelets, and I'm just knitting a row, and then I'm going to start another row of eyelets. Okay, and then you do a, I do a little bit and then you do a Picot bind off. But that's what I'm working on. Marsha 17:23 But let me just say about spinning. I have been spinning a little bit every night. But it suddenly dawned on me. Oh my goodness. It's gonna end! This contest is going to end. Oh my God! The summer spin-in is ending on September 6, I have to get my myself moving on this project. So I've got two bobbins are complete. And I've done a quarter of the third bobbin of the brown and I'm spinning them to do the three ply. So I'm going to get moving on that. Because I have to. Because I have a deadline now. Kelly 18:00 Yeah. Marsha 18:01 The other project I just want to talk about is I've been working on the color work sweater the Atlas by Jared Flood I'm making for my brother. I finished all the color work. And Kelly, remember last time we talked I was having to figure out how to trap the floats. With continental stitch, I had to look that up. Kelly 18:22 Right. Marsha 18:22 The next thing I-- issue I had is that there are several-- I think the whole pattern repeat the whole pattern of color work is 42 rows. Of that about 10 you actually have three colors in the row. Marsha 18:36 Yeah. Marsha 18:37 Oh, and so I wasn't sure. We had a whole conversation in the last episode about color dominance. And but what do you do if you have you know, you have your dominant color. And then you have two other colors that-- we were calling them the submissives. They're actually called the background colors, I should say. That's what they're really called. But if you have two background colors, how do you manage that? Because I can understand the concept of you know, you have your dominant in your left hand and your background color in your right hand. But if you have two background colors, how do you handle it? And so the first row I had, I just would, you know, of those two background colors I would just drop one and pick up the other one and drop one and pick up the other one. Well, what happens is then, it keeps twisting your balls of yarn, your the yarn coming off the ball keeps twisting and twisting. So you then have to spend all this time undoing it, untwisting it. And so we, Kim and I, had a trip planned down to the Portland area. And in the car I was talking to her about it. Telling her this because I was working on my sock because I can't work because I have to... I thought there must be a technique. I'm gonna have to go on YouTube and figure out technique and she said, there is a technique! And I don't know what it's called. And I in before the show we post, I'll see if I can find a tutorial about this. But basically, what you do is you have your dominant color in your left hand, and you pick one of the background colors. And you do the pattern with just those two colors. When you get to a stitch that is supposed to be the third color or it'd be the the background color that you're not knitting with. You just slip that stitch. And so you work all the way around just using the dominant and the first background color, slipping the stitches that are the second background color. Then when you get to the end of the row, you finish that you then go and you knit with only the second background color, the one that you did not knit with the first pass through, and you knit those slipped stitches, and you slip the other stitches that you knit. Does that make sense? Kelly 21:01 Yes. So you're, so you're knitting two of the three colors. You're knitting with... you leave those other stitches just slipped. And then you go back and you knit them separately. So, your one row... to do one round, you have to go around twice. Right? Marsha 21:17 So the row, you have to knit the row twice. Kelly 21:18 That's cool Marsha 21:20 It's very cool. And then there's not this issue with the yarn twisting and having to do all this yarn management. The other thing, and I think this is more important, is with the way I was doing it, where you were drop a, color pick up a color, is I believe it throws off your tension. And so-- because you're not getting any kind of rhythm. And I think that I... and I can tell a difference in that row that I did one row, quote unquote, wrong way, Kelly 21:49 Interesting Marsha 21:50 because there really is no wrong way, but differently, differently. And so if you do it, this technique that she suggested, your tension is better. I think there's less chance of pulling the yarn too tight. That's all. I'll see if I can find a YouTube tutorial about this. Because I think it's brilliant. Kelly 22:13 That is cool. Yeah, yeah. That's very cool. Marsha 22:19 So now that I say all of this, about tension, so as I finished the color work, I finished the neckline, and then I washed and blocked it. And I think this is where I'm going to say is because I don't do color work. I've not done very much. And this is like a given you know, it doesn't give the way... Kelly 22:42 Yeah, Marsha 22:43 if you're just using one color, right, right. And so I, my brother needs to come and try the sweater on before I go any further. Because so now basically the body and the sleeves are almost done, I just have to have him try it on and figure how long to make the sleeves. Because now I remember I did a provisional cast on the bottom of the sweater and the sleeves. So now I have to just pick up those stitches and knit down the correct length for him. And so he does to come in try it. He needs to come and try the sweater on. Kelly 23:15 And you have the sleeves. I mean, the body is almost all done. You just have to put like, if it needs any additional length plus the ribbing, right? And the sleeves, the same thing, right? They're already... Marsha 23:26 Right Kelly 23:26 approximately sleeve length. And you just need to see if you need to add in anything and put on the ribbing.? Marsha 23:32 Right. But I'm a little concerned that it's going to be small, because that that that color work has really no give. Not like the bottom, you know, like Kelly 23:42 Yeah, Marsha 23:43 Do you know what I'm saying? so it feels... and also you know, it's it's heavier too. Like that any time you do a sweater like that it's going to be Kelly 23:51 kind of like three layers of yarn. Marsha 23:53 Yeah. So I don't know, I'm a little concerned. But I also I have to remember he likes things more slim fitting. Yeah, he's also male, so he doesn't have breasts. So even though I try it on and I'm like, ugh! I tried it on, I'm like, I don't know. When he tries it on, it's gonna be completely different because he has a completely different body than I do. Marsha 24:14 Right. Marsha 24:15 So and I do have gauge so... And it's... let's see. He's 38 and this is 41 inches. So he wanted about three inches of ease, his other sweater has three inches of ease. So it should be fine. Right? Kelly 24:32 Right, It just feels different. Marsha 24:34 It feels Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 24:37 Well, I will be interested to see how, how it fits on him and how he likes it. What would be your alternative? If it's too tight? Would you go back and do a larger needle size or you really couldn't add stitches, right? Because it's... Maybe I shouldn't even bring it up. Sorry, I shouldn't even bring this up! [laughing] Marsha 25:00 Well, I, I'm laughing because I thought about this. It's like, What do I do? If it doesn't fit? What do I do? One thing is I can just finish it and give it to somebody that it fits and make him another sweater. The other option is just to rip the whole thing out and make the larger size. Kelly 25:21 But the bottom part would fit. Marsha 25:24 In theory... Kelly 25:25 okay. Marsha 25:26 Allegedly, I don't know. You know. Or I just rip out the color work and do the color work again. Kelly 25:36 Yeah, like the first time you do something? Marsha 25:38 Yeah. Like it's, it's like, you know, you burn the first pancake? Kelly 25:41 Yeah. And you're more tense. And yeah, you're gauge might be different. Yeah. Marsha 25:48 So you know, maybe it's something that I do I if it doesn't fit... I'm just thinking what my... Is it maybe I rip it out and I go up a needle size or because the body was knit on sevens and the yoke the color work was on eight. Kelly 26:08 Yeah, Marsha 26:09 I don't know. listeners can weigh in, I guess the first thing is find out if it fits? Kelly 26:14 Yeah. I mean, we're, I really shouldn't have even said anything because I'm borrowing trouble. There are enough things wrong in the world without me manufacturing something that hasn't even happened. Marsha 26:30 I have just that... This just popped into my head Kelly. This is now off topic, but about listeners weighing in. The one thing we do need to address and I forgot that we need to address this in this episode. In the last episode I started the conversation at some point I said to you, about how you had not left your property. And Pat one of our listeners and good friend of ours commented in the thread. "Didn't you go visit Marsha?" Kelly 26:58 Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 27:03 So it must not have been It must not have been a very memorable trip. [laughing] Kelly 27:06 I know. It was very fast. Fast. Yeah. totally forgotten. Yeah. Marsha 27:11 That's why we forgot. Yeah. And I'm the one that said.... I think I'm the one that said you had not left your property. Kelly 27:16 Yeah. And to be fair to myself when I was thinking about leaving the property, and when I talked about going to visit, going to you know, visit a colleague's house. I haven't driven.Llike the trip to Seattle, I didn't drive. I just sat as a passenger. I honestly have not driven probably more than five miles at a time. You know, myself behind the wheel of the car. Yeah, I've, you know, I've gone places with Robert, not very many. But I have gone places with Robert, but actually putting myself behind the wheel of the car on the freeway. You know, for a significant length of time? More than five or 10 minutes to get to the store? It was weird. It was a weird feeling to be in the car for that long driving myself. Marsha 28:03 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 28:04 So to be fair to myself, that was what I was thinking of but yes, it is true. I do leave the property. Marsha 28:12 So, but I had to laugh when Pat said that. Because our listeners, our listeners hold us accountable. Kelly 28:21 We can't get away with anything.[laughing] Marsha 28:25 And also, they pay attention. Kelly 28:27 Yes, they do. Marsha 28:31 So funny anyway, so that's it for me for projects. I don't have much more going on in that. That's it. Kelly 28:39 Well, I didn't have much going on. But this morning, because I felt a little bit guilty and because I really didn't have anything to knit while we were recording. I did actually get the yarn wound up. And I'm started on the sleeve of my my sweater the Dark Green Forest pattern that I'm doing. Marsha 29:04 Oh right. So we have to talk about this. Well, yes, Kelly 29:07 I'm gonna I've gone about... 2-4-6-8 rows. I've got almost eight rows, and I don't I don't see a bad stripe. Unknown Speaker 29:20 Oh, this is good news. Kelly 29:21 So I think that might be good news. There's a little bit I mean, I see some but I'm alternating skeins. And so we'll see. I think it might work. Marsha 29:33 And um, the other thing we talked about too and we did not talk about this in the podcast in the last episode, but after we finished recording, I said if there is a strong variation, can you just knit the whole sweater and then over dye it? Remember we had that conversation? Kelly 29:50 Yes, yeah. Marsha 29:51 And like just doing a very low percentage solution of like the terracotta or another color or something and and that might even it out. We had that conversation. But Kelly 30:02 yeah, so I think... I mean, I will I'm not going to pass judgment yet. I don't want to jinx myself. But I do feel like it's, it's... I do feel like it seems to be working. Okay. Marsha 30:19 Okay. Kelly 30:19 Again, I haven't gotten... sometimes you can't tell til you... Actually, sometimes you can't tell until you take a picture for Instagram. [laughing] Marsha 30:27 Yes. Yes. Kelly 30:28 And so, so we'll see. But I am working on it right now. And, and so it's back in the rotation. It's got, you know, when you have to wind yarn and join on, pick up the stitches, so that it was just sitting in a bag because of that. But I have, now I've done those things. And so it's back in the rotation. It's in a place where I can grab it at night and knit on it. I had been knitting dish cloths at night when I needed something to knit. So yeah, I'm back working on this sweater. This is again, the Dark Green Forest sweater. And the pattern designer. Oh, here it is. Christina Koerber Reith, strikhauseit is her Ravelry name, I think. So that's going well. But the other thing I did that was really super fun was I did a weaving project. So right after we recorded I last week, I-- not that same day, but maybe the next day--I decided Oh, you know what I really want to do? I have this warp that I've wound already that's ready to go, I should put it on the loom. And my original thought was I should put it on the loom, you're gonna laugh, so that I can have something that I can just take a break from prepping for classes, and go weave for a little bit. Or once classes start, I can take a break from you know, the first week of classes hecticness and go weave for a little bit. I have this on the loom. So I put it on the loom. It's a huck color and weave project from the Jane Stafford guild, season five, which is this year's season. And I had hesitated about it because I really didn't like the look of her sample that she did with the two high contrast yarns, a black and a white. And then she calls it a zinger. And she had this green, this lime color. She called it Pale Limette as the zinger. And I just really, I know I get to choose my own colors, but but that just didn't speak to me in the, in the, in the videos, and so I wasn't really excited about it. And also I think of huck as a solid color, like beige table linens. Huck is a lace, a lace design, a woven lace. So I always think of it as like beige, you know, that's kind of the color I think of doing, an all solid. So anyway, finally, I decided, let's just put this on the loom and do it. Get out of your comfort zone. And I had warped it already, I had chosen not quite as high contrast as hers. But I did use white and gray. It's actually a kind of a steel blue-gray color, and white. And then I used red as the contrast color. So I put it on the loom and got it all--it took not so long to thread it. I warped back to front for the first time, which was really cool. Well, for the first time on the floor loom. I think I might have done it at some point on the table loom. But anyway, it it worked out really well. I didn't have to get Robert to help me. Which, you know, winding on-- Do you remember that part of the process where one of us is holding all the yarn threads and the other one is winding it onto the loom? He does not like helping with that process. So, so it was nice to have a technique that I could use and and successfully wind it on myself. So the way you work front to back is normally I would sit at the front of the loom and I would thread it through the reed. You know that's that the part where you that you beat with, and then I would thread it through the heddles and then once it was threaded through those two things, I would then tie it onto the back end wind and on. So while you're winding it's having to go through the reed and through the heddles. Right? And tangles can happen, which is what Robert doesn't like. It just-- I think it offends his sensibilities of order. He feels like if I was doing it right it would just wind on with no tangles, Marsha 35:04 But another way of looking at it is the reed and the... it's it's putting it in order. Kelly 35:12 Exactly. Right, exactly. Marsha 35:14 He has to look at it a different way. Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 35:19 So this way weaving or warping back to front, what you do is you skip, you skip over the--you don't put it through the reed, you don't put it through the heddles, you stick it on this thing on the top of your loom called a raddle. So you like kind of line them up in a semi organized way, more than semi organized like a three quarters organized way. And then you wind it on to the back beam, where it's just going through this thing that's not enclosed. It's just like, basically, it's a, it's a long stick with nails poking up from it. And you have like four threads, four or five threads in each little slot. And so it's just going through that, so there's a lot less potential for tangling. So anyway, you wind it on, you have this--there's more to it than that. But that's the idea, you wind it all onto the back first. And then once it's all wound onto the back, then you thread going the other direction. So you sit at the-- I sat at the back of my loom and threaded through the heddles and then through the reed. Some people sit at the front of the loom and pull it forward through the heddles and then through the reed. But I can get closer to things if I sit at the back of my loom. So that's what I did, I sat at the back of my loom and and put it forward. So anyway, I had not done that before on the big loom, the the four harness floor loom. It was very successful. And then so then I started weaving and of course, you know what happened then is I just kept weaving till I was done. I became obsessed. I really did. [laughing] Kelly 37:02 So Huck is a structure that has well like your floats in colorwork. You have you know, those yarn, yarns that are floating on the back? Well in huck you have floats, but they're on purpose. And they're part of the design. So you have these floats floating horizontally across the surface of the fabric. You have plain weave, your regular woven fabric, but you also have these floats floating across the surface of the fabric horizontally. Or you can have plain weave, and floats floating vertically across the surface of the fabric. And basically, if you look at the fabric, on`e side has one and one side has the other so it depends on what's your front, right. So if you have horizontal floats on the front of your fabric, on the back of your fabric you're gonna have vertical floats. Marsha 37:52 So I'm I'm looking on Ravelry at the fabric. And look, but the floats are relatively short. They look like they go over maybe like three or four, threads? Yes, like three or four threads? Kelly 38:05 Yeah, it depends on the way that you-- It depends on the way that you thread it, you know the pattern that you're using. But yeah, it goes i think in this one, it went over 3 or five, I think it went over three or five. Marsha 38:21 Yes, because some are shorter that I see. They're three, Yes. Kelly 38:25 Okay, so this was a sampler, so it had a little bit of each. And then there's another fabric that you can make that's called Huck lace, where you have floats, you have both floats at the same time. And so it makes a really lacy open fabric. And so the the project for this was to do something called a gamp. And a gamp is where you can-- Well, let me let me stop and go back a little bit. So the other thing, the thing I really objected to about this project, and I was leery of, was this thing called color and weave. And color and weave is where you alternate colors in some kind of color sequence. So you alternate colors in the warp. But you also alternate colors in the weft while you're weaving. So you might have a sequence of colors where you go light, dark, dark, light, and you just keep going that pattern over and over again. Or light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, alternating, and that's the pattern. So some kind of sequence of lights and darks that you're repeating over and over and over. Again, so they're you know, there's a lot of different sequences that you can use, right? I mean, make them up! You can just combine lights and darks in any kind of way. Well, what what we were doing in this project was something called a gamp, which allows you to systematically pair sequences in the warp--all the different combinations that you have in your project--with the sequences in the weft, all the different combinations. So if your warp is going light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, you can have your weft then also doing light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, but then you can also have your weft doing something else. And so I had, I don't know, like five different sequences. And then I paired them with the same five sequences in all different combinations. Marsha 40:21 Okay, so let me go back. And so that's why-- is that why it sort of looks like it's forming squares? Kelly 40:28 Yeah, it's like, okay, each one of those squares is a different combination of the different sequences. Marsha 40:35 Okay, yeah. Kelly 40:36 And that's called a gamp. And you can do that with the sequences, you can also do it just with colors. So like you have yellow in your warp. And then you can pair it with yellow in your weft, blue in your weft, red in your weft, green in your weft, and you can see all the different combinations, what they do with each other. And so, so there's all kinds of different gamps in weaving where you can test things. So that's what I did, I made, I made three different gamps. And then because they, you know, I was following a pattern. When I got done with the pattern, I had something that was not dish towel size, which is what I like to make. But turns out it was like napkin size. So what I did was I made I made-- I'm going to make them into napkins, these gamps. So yeah, and then I made a couple of dish towels. So I had fun. It's not my favorite look, it's a little busy, I think. Kelly 40:38 um, well, let me say I like it. I. But I like I guess I like busy. Well, I like color too. I understand what you're saying about you like, you don't like high contrast? Kelly 41:48 Yeah, Marsha 41:48 I'm probably-- well, I don't know enough about weaving. So I'm going to say something. Bear in mind. I don't really know what I'm talking about. But I wonder if she has used the high contrast so you can see the difference between the different sequences in the pattern, right? Is that why? Kelly 42:04 Yeah, because the whole idea of this project was not to make something. The idea of the project, well, it was to make something, it was to make gamps. And then you would keep a set of gamps in your studio so that you can then go look at them for inspiration, and say, oh, which one would I like to put into this project? Oh, I really like the way this little square looks. Okay, I'm going to use this. What was this? This was this combination paired with that combination. Okay, now I know what I'm going to put in my project. Kelly 42:34 And I didn't want to do that. I don't want to have a pile of gamps. I wanted to make napkins or something you know, that I can use. And I can still go and look at them. If I keep them, I can still go and look at them. But yeah, but that's the idea is you were making something that you could then use as a sample to see what you'd like to do in your next project. Yeah, so. So that it does make sense that that's why you would do the high contrast, because you can see, you can see better, not only can you see what, what's going to happen, but you can also see better to look at it and say what, wait, what was this combination? Again? You know, if your colors are so close, you might have a harder time figuring out what was I did in this little square? So I mean, you could label everything. She has these beautifully labeled gamps that she shows us on the on the, you know, the videos, they tell you just what it was in the warp and what it was in the weft. And, you know, that yeah, they're teaching tools, right? So she has them all really well laid out. And, and I just want to weave dishtowels! Marsha 43:53 Well, I I sort of, I understand. It's like I, I like to make something that's useful. Mm hmm. The idea of making something. I understand why you make something that's a sample, right, I understand that. But I still would like to be able to use it in some way. You know, yeah, I get that desire. Kelly 44:13 If I were maybe more of a weaver or, or if I did weaving to make things for sale, or like she you know, if I was a weaver for my job, maybe I would make a bunch of gamps and have them there for inspiration when I needed to kind of come up with an idea for a project. I don't know. I'm not there yet, where I want to make things, gamps just to have gamps. But I did-- I mean, I did make a couple. I do have a sample, a sampler from one of the other episodes, that is just hanging in the studio off the side of the shelf. So I guess I'm kind of there, not quite there But I don't think I'll ever wear it as a scarf. Yeah, it's just hanging as a decoration. So Marsha 45:05 Well these are-- it's very pretty, I think. Kelly 45:07 Thank you! Yeah, it was fun and and then when you wash it... Ao the pictures you're seeing are unwashed. I now have pictures of them washed, which changes it because instead of being vertical and horizontal threads, all sort of stiff, and burlap-y in places, they all sort of nestle into each other, and you get these nice curves. So you get some interesting curved designs in your, in your weaving that you wouldn't get you know, you don't see until you wash it. So I'll put up the before and after pictures in my project page, because I that I think is really cool, how it changes. So and then once I got done with that, the other project that I have is that I just wound a warp for baby blanket. My cotton-- the all the cotton yarn was sitting there in the studio as I was weaving, and I kept looking at it and thinking I should do something with this spirit yarn. And so last night I I just wound it. It's not on the loom or anything. It's just a warp chain that's sitting on the... sitting on the... changed in form from being yarn and balls in a bag to being yarn in a warp chain on the shelf. But now, when I'm ready to weave again, I have, you know... That part of the process is done and I can just start by putting it on the loom. Marsha 46:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 46:33 So those are my two. Those are my projects. I was pretty industrious this week. Pretty, I should say, obsessed this week. With the weaving. Marsha 46:41 Yes. Well, they're pretty. Kelly 46:43 Thank you Marsha 46:44 Someday, maybe. Well, I always say this. That when things calm down here, project wise. House project wise? This winter weave along coming up I will. Maybe I'll actually weave something. Kelly 46:58 Yeah, I it's another another rabbit hole. Marsha 47:01 Well, and I don't have as much yarn now because I got rid of so much. Did you see that? This is just a side note. Did you get the picture of my yarn stash. Kelly 47:10 Yes, I did. It looks very well organized. Marsha 47:13 I should put a picture of it in the show notes. I I have everything now in boxes organized by weight. I have like three, you know those bags that like down comforters come in. I have three of those, and two have the yarn from the two trips to Scotland. And the third one has the yarn that I purchased on the trip to Iceland. But I--when I sent you the picture, I think my comment was there's absolutely no reason for me to buy any yarn ever again. But I will! And the other thing I did do Kelly is I because I had all these little boxes. They're sort of like the size of like a shoe box. They hold about six skeins of fingering weight yarn approximately. And then I had like, again, like those plastic bags that sheets come in or whatever I have like the quantities of yarn, like if I have a quantity of for a sweater, and the sweater I know that I'm gonna make I printed out the pattern and I stuck it in that project in that bag with that yarn. So I'll know what I was planning. Kelly 48:28 yeah, Marsha 48:29 And then the other thing too is I have a lot of unfinished projects. Like I have the skull and the rabbit. And I bought yarn to do to knit a poodle. And remember, I started that color work tea cozy, it was sheep. I've not finished it and they're all stuffed in bags, you know that all stuffed in the closet. And so I took those out and I put each one in its own little box and labeled it. So now I see them. And so hopefully I'll get back to working on them. And yeah, and not let them just languish because, you know, out of sight out of mind. Kelly 49:04 Yeah, it's inspiring when you see it. I mean, the floor of my studio has just-- I brought down. I don't know why I did. But I brought down the bags. They're the same comforter, kind of bags. Of cotton yarn that I had upstairs and I brought them down, and I put them in the studio. I don't even remember why I brought them down. Maybe because I was trying to figure out what I was going to do for that color and weave. Maybe at that time I brought them. Anyway, I haven't put them away. They're still sitting there. So the whole time I was weaving they were sitting there, right. So you could just call it a mess because I haven't put stuff away. But because I hadn't put it away and I could see it, the whole time I was weaving I was kind of in the back of my mind mulling over what I could do, and kind of getting inspired. So yeah, for me that that is very definite. The fact I have to have things in sight. So and it's true even in other parts of my life, the desktop on my computer, most people look at it and go, Oh my God. In fact, I, when I first started doing zoom, and I didn't know how to make it so that the students couldn't see my whole desktop. Before I learned, you know, how you can, how you can manage that, I took all the things on my desktop, and I just dumped them all in one folder. To put them away, because I didn't want them put away put away. I just wanted them temporarily put away like you run around your house grabbing things to put in the closet. And then you just shut the closet door when guests are coming. That's what I did with my desktop on my computer, because I normally have a lot of things out. And the reason they're out is so I don't forget to use them, you know, have them out for a purpose. They're not just sitting there on my desktop for no reason. So some things are... And some things that sometimes I go through and I clean out, I get rid of stuff that I don't need anymore. I or I do put it in a particular place. But if I need to, if I want to save something, it's like, oh, I automatically save it to my desktop. And then I figure out what I want to do with it. So. So the out of sight out of mind thing for me is really bad. I like to have everything out where I can see it. I can see why you Marsha 51:23 Yeah, but that does not... I have to say I will take a picture and post it in the show notes of how I've got everything organized. I will say though, it is not the fleeces that I have. Right? That was another place. So there's another that's another whole Kelly 51:42 Well, that's a different stash. Marsha 51:45 Yeah. Yes and you know what I've always anyway always said about my stashes, you can't think of it like is... Everybody seems to be sort of embarrassed or feel guilty about their stashes and like it's it's, you know, a painter wouldn't say that about their paints. That's what we have to remember. It's like artists supplies, our supplies. Yeah, it's our supplies. Yeah. But anyway, okay. Kelly 52:09 So Marsha, we have a spinning topic for this week. And what I wanted to talk about this week was our handspun, the knits that we've done from our handspun and just kind of, is there anything in particular that people might be interested to know about them? So I'm gonna just talk about my sweaters. And then you can talk about the stuff that you've knit with your, with your handspun the very first handspun sweater that I knit, was the featherweight. And I, I had this yarn, it was laceweight, probably laceweight. I used camel, one of the plies was camel and one of the plies was silk. I actually spun that yarn without knowing what I was going to do with it. And then and then once I had it, I thought oh, I I think I can make one of those featherweight sweaters. So that's what I did with that one. And that was interesting to knit with because it was so light. And that sweater is nice, because it's really super light. Yeah, I mean that the featherweight sweater was designed to be. It's a Hanna Fettig pattern, I think. It was designed to be light. But then using laceweight yarn using such thin yarn for it. And then also the fact that it's camel, not wool-- and silk. It's just a super, super lightweight sweater, but really warm. I like that sweater a lot. And then another sweater that I knit, where I did not spin the yarn particularly for a sweater-- in fact, I've spun the yarn for a blanket and then I never made a blanket was the Funky Grandpa sweater that was a second one that I knit out of hanspun. And I used--it's mostly natural color. But some of the some of the yarn was over dyed and that was the idea was I was going to make a striped blanket with the gray yarn and the overdyed. And so that was the that Funky Grandpa sweater with the stripes. It has stripes down the sleeves and stripes on the body. Both of those were two plies. I know you spin--the sweaters you've made have been three plies, right? Marsha 54:22 Yeah, they've all been three plies. I'm not sure why but they all have. Kelly 54:27 Well, three ply yarn is nice. Nice and round. And so yeah, so I can see why why you would do that. I think because I made the yarn before I decided what to do with it. They particularly were two ply. Marsha 54:42 What I what I like about the, well, the featherweight is the camel and silk that is very lightweight because it's laceweight. Right? Because that's what you just said. But the Funky Grandpa I don't know what weight would you say that yarn is. not worsted. It's like DK or sport? Kelly 55:00 It's probably fingering weight to maybe sport in some places. It's very uneven. So there were places in the sweater where I was afraid. Like, oh my gosh, this is so thin. It's going to look holey. Yeah, moth eaten before it's even done! Because it was, you know, it was my... It was a fairly early spinning. It was not. It was not spun in recent years. I knitted it not that long ago, but it was spun....Well, it was done more than 15 years ago, because I spun most of it, I think, I spun maybe all of it at the last house. Marsha 55:42 Okay, yeah. Well, what I was gonna say about it, though, it's very lightweight. It's a very light feeling sweater, you know, and I and I don't know if that's because it's it's the wool or if that's because it's two ply, but my sweaters are more dense, kind of. I don't know if that's my spinning technique. I don't know if that.. Kelly 55:58 I think it's the type of prep. I think it's more the type of yarn and the preparation of the fiber. Because all of well, the the funky grandpa sweater, the one I'm knitting on right now...actually, I think all of my sweaters have been from fleeces. So it's all been carded preparation. None of it's been from top, you know, commercial top, which gives you a much smoother yarn. But also more dense yarn. Marsha 56:33 All I have to talk about, I have handspun I've made some socks for Ben. I've made a couple hats out of handspun. But I say I really only made two sweaters. Both of them were spun with a roving, commercially prepared roving, and one the first one was corriedale top, which is very smooth and and then the second one remember I combined different fibers. I had different wools I had silk and I had alpaca. Kelly 57:03 Oh, yeah. Marsha 57:04 Which also is going to make a denser. I think the alpaca and silk is just gonna make it denser. You know? Kelly 57:10 Yeah. So yeah, so they're different, you know, different styles of yarn will give you a different different sweater, all of my sweaters...Let's see the other sweater. I am just thinking about what else I have. Oh, the bulky, the bulky CVM that I made the Orcas Run sweater. Yeah, that's a that was a carded preparation. And so a light, kind of a light yarn, real puffy. And then I have that targhee lamb, three ply. That's the first one I did with the three ply was that one that I did last summer, for the summer spin in. That the brown, the Dark and Stormy made from the brown targhee lamb, that one I actually spun on purpose for the sweater, and then the Orcas Run. That's that big Cowichan style sweater. I also spun that one on purpose for that sweater. So there have been a couple of of sweaters where I actually spun the yarn, particularly for the sweater but most of mine have been yarn I spun and then later decided to make a sweater out of. And the same thing with this one that I'm working on. Now when I started spinning the CVM, and this one is a is a three ply-- This is the first-- Oh, this is the second three ply. This is about a sport weight, I think this Dark Green Forest that I'm doing now in the terracotta color. I started spinning that yarn without having any idea what I was going to do with it. And so I had several skeins of it and then I thought oh, I guess I can make a sweater. So that's when I started, you know. I think I I finished up the skeins knowing that I was going to make a sweater but when I started most of the spinning I had no idea what I was going to do with the yarn once I was done. Marsha 59:04 Yeah. Well I have to say my two sweaters that I made I knew I was gonna, I wanted I wanted a sweater quantity. But I didn't know what sweater it was and then... I say this is the beauty of Ravelry as you don't need to know. You don't have to spin to the pattern because I just did a swatch and figured out my gauge and then I started looking for sweaters and that gauge and then something that would--a sweater that was mostly just stockinette that did not have a lot of patterning in it. Because the combo spins are the pattern kind of. Right? all the different coloring. I didn't-- they would-- that would-- you know any kind of lace or cables we get lost in that. So yeah, so then... So anyway, but I'll say the two patterns its kind of funny because the two sweaters that I made one--The first one was called Beeline and that's interesting. It's a top down raglan sleeve pullover and I think it's called Beeline because it has-- it does have I say lace detail. It's not really lace it just yarn overs that makes these little holes that run from a sort of like the like on either side of your hip. You know, I take it back. They run from under your arms, and they go in an angle down to the front of the sweater. So has this detail. And I figured it was not--it's not like having lace or cabling, its just a little tiny detail. So it's not super noticeable. I think if it had been a solid color would be more noticeable. But Beeline and then the second one I did was the pattern is Simple Summer Tweed Top Down. And both of them... Kelly 1:00:51 That name! Marsha 1:00:53 I know, that name. Both of them I realized today when I was making the notes are by Heidi Kirmaier. I didn't realize that. But nice patterns. But that's what's so great about Ravelry is that if you have a yarn you do a swatch, do your measurement, and then you can figure out a sweater based on that gauge. Yeah, yeah. So easy to find a pattern. Kelly 1:01:18 Well, yeah, because I was... For the Dark and Stormy and for this one, I had an idea of what pattern I thought I might use. But then once I once I did my gauge swatch, there was no way I could use that pattern. So I did the same thing you did. Make a gauge swatch and then go searching. But in the back of my mind, I had a pattern. Like this is a like fingering, the one I'm knitting now is like a sport weight, you know, maybe fingering to sport weight. And I thought, oh, here's a sport weight sweater that I really like. But I didn't have the right gauge. So I had to go searching for something else. Oh, I should say. We talked a little bit about beginner yarn. And you know, people wanting to make things with their, with their first yarn. And that, you know, you had made a hat that weighed five pounds. Marsha 1:02:13 Yes. Kelly 1:02:14 So I wanted to say I was thinking about this and I thought oh, I should talk about Robert's vest. So I made a vest for Robert. Same yarn as my... same fleece as the Funky Grandpa. So it was a very early fleece and I made yarn out of it. And it was so dense, and also thick, you know. It was a probably an Aran weight yarn, maybe bigger in some places. And I found a vest pattern and of course at that time, you know, this is the probably the late 90s early 2000s I you know, just started knitting and I found a pattern that I wanted to make because I didn't know anything about gauge swatching really. so I didn't gauge swatch. I just thought, Oh yeah, I have this. It looks like the size of regular yarn. Like in my head You know, there was a size of yarn like regular yarn, probably worsted weight was my thought process. But you know, yarn had a regular size. [laughing] And so this looks like regular sized yarn. So I I can make a vest out of this. I got the pattern. I got the needles that they said and I knit him this vest. And it was a... it's a it's a gray yarn, two ply. And when I carded the wool I put little pieces of silk noil that I had dyed there's a bright pink and a bright turquoise and a dark blue in there and so that was there... little specks you know, like little little dots. Pops of color in the yarn. So I made him this vest. It's so heavy and dense. And he likes it. He wears it but it's also so big. Like its huge on him. Because I didn't know anything about gauge I just knit. You know, knit the pattern and look like it was right so anyways, I like it and he looks good when he wears it. But when I feel it you know it's like No wonder he's so hot. He's like, I can't wear this very often because it makes me so hot. And no wonder he's so hot. It's like wearing a bulletproof vest. Marsha 1:04:37 Well as you say imagine how hot it would be if it had sleeves. Kelly 1:04:39 Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So but it's but it looks nice. It looks nice on him. He wears it. He'll wear like a lot of times he'll wear it on Christmas Eve or you know if we go out in the winter time, if we go out to dinner somewhere he wheres that vest and it's gotten it's gotten quite a lot of quite a lot of wear. But yeah, it it definitely was a different yarn than what I'm what I'm spinning now. So anyway, I thought this would be kind of a fun thing to just think about all the different sweaters that that we've made and you know if there was anything about them that maybe would be helpful for people. Thinking about what they're going to going to do with their with their yarn. Marsha 1:05:27 Yeah, I did look up-- for some reason I thought with the the two sweaters that I made because they're combo spins, I thought I had alternated skeins on the body. I did not. I just knit. Which I was surprised. I mean, I was looking at them, turned the sweaters inside out this morning to look at them and and no evidence and I went I looked at my show notes and no, I don't mention it. So I don't think I did alternate skeins on the body. I did alternate skeins on the sleeves though, because there was more striping going on. Because you know you're talking about a much smaller circumference circle for

One of the huge advantages of running your own business is being able to support causes that are close to your heart. Maybe you plant a tree for every invoice paid. Maybe you donate a portion of your profits to your favourite charity. Maybe advocating for social change is more your style. If you're curious about how to make social and environmental change a manageable but meaningful part of your business, this episode is for you. Sally Fox is a freelance copywriter who works with sustainable brands. In this episode, Sally shares how she has built sustainability and social and environmental responsibility into her own business, including:tips for figuring out what 'sustainability' means to youhow to write a sustainability policy for your freelance businesssmall ways to make a tangible impact without getting stressed outthe freelance community's sustainability superpowerresources to help you find some easy ways to get startedSay hi to Sally:Website:  www.sallymfox.comTwitter:  @sallymfoxwritesLinkedIn: Sally Fox CopywriterMentioned on this episode:#EthicalHour Louise Shanahan is a freelance health copywriter and content marketer. She's on a mission to help others build a freelance business that feels easy and works for them – in weekly snack-sized bites.Say hi to Louise:LinkedIn: Louise ShanahanTwitter: @LouiseShanahan_Instagram: @Louise_Shanahan_Website: thecopyprescription.comWanna leave me a voice note? Go to memo.fm/15 and leave a question or comment.

Welcome to the Becoming a Sage podcast, hosted by Dr. Jann. This week’s episode features Dr. Jann’s conversation with Sally Fox.   Sally is a writer, coach and performer who helps people find the stories that give meaning to their lives and a direction for the future. A professional writer, she writes regularly for 3rd Act Magazine and the website ... Read More

In this episode, the wonderful Sally Fox, Headteacher of a Pool Church of England primary school in West Yorkshire talks to me about her big why and why she believes in personalising education not standardising it. and helps me realise that what I want the most for my children and our young people (and myself) is to find meaning and fulfilment in life. I am sure you will find this conversation with Sally as inspiring as I did.

Holiday fun has exhausted Marsha while Kelly has been busy making a butt-shaped divot on her couch. Plus we have a patron giveaway and a surprise Winter Weave Along prize today! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com. Marsha’s Projects I haven’t knit a stitch on the Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein,  but I did wind the fourth skein. I plan to bring it on a New Year’s trip and make some good progress. But I am the boss of my knitting, so I might choose to work on something else instead! I turned the heel and started the gusset of a  pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought at the San Luis Obispo yarn crawl back in 2014.  I also finished a holiday tea cosy in red and green using the pattern Nanny Meiers Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlson published by Fiber Trends. I used spirit yarn from Sears!  Finally, I’m swatching with Little Fish Stitches fingering for a Tee called Walk Along by AnkeStrick. Kelly’s Projects  I’ve been working a lot on the Persian Tile Blanket for my grand niece. I’m following the color choices (sort of) of a project by JenasaurusWake that I saw while watching FO radar. I’m using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors and making color choices to make all the octagons look like they have different sized flowers in them.  With Friends Pullover. I’m using two patterns:  Rachel by Josée Paquin, and Fresh by Josée Paquin. I’ve put the hem on waste yarn and picked up for the first sleeve. I’m going to start with the dark green at the top of the sleeve and then move into the stripe colors. I’ll do the sleeves similarly to the Fresh pattern where the sleeves are mostly one color and then there is a little bit of striping.  I finished 14 dishcloths in the Triple L Tweed stitch from the Purl Soho Slip Stitch Dishtowels pattern. I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It’s usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I totally used up four different 108-yard skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic  Ongoing Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting Enter on Ravelry, through the website comments page, or through email (twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com) by Jan 20th. Or email  us a voice memo and we’ll play your response on the show! The winner will get: Two Sheeps Calendar: A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It’s not just a calendar! From twosheeps:   Working with each dyer, we have obtained a limited supply of each exclusive colorway. The yarn in each month’s photograph is available for purchase on the first day of that month.  We are grateful to each dyer for creating, dyeing, twisting, and labeling these amazing skeins and are thrilled to showcase their talent in our company’s first calendar!  Pack of three Field Notes notebooks in the Snowy Evening design.  From Field Notes:  We’ve limited this 49th Quarterly Edition to 33,333 3-Packs. Each Memo Book cover features a unique snowflake illustration rendered by our friend and co-conspirator, Brendan Dawes. Each snowflake is different, so every book is different, and so for the first time in a Quarterly Edition – we’ve individually numbered each book. To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital?  Marsha and Kelly will put up a thread in the Ravelry group, or you can send a comment from the website, you can send us an audio file (for example using voice memo phone app and emailing it, send us a dm on Instagram or email us twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com. We’ll draw a winner on January 20 and you’ll hear about it during the second January episode on about January 25.  Patron Appreciation Time! Stuck at home we are reliving memories of travels. For the next few months we will be having a once a month patron giveaways to remind everyone of faraway places.  The prize is a hat kit from Marsha’s trip to Iceland. It is from the Uppspuni Mini Mill. The yarn is black with purple contrast color.  If you’d like to go back and listen to the Iceland dispatches they are in Episode 129 and Episode 130.   The winner of the Icelandic yarn is Barbara G., a patron since January of 2019. Winter Weave Along We're brightening up the winter by having a giveaway from the Winter Weave Along chat thread. Nan4now is the winner of a cone of Sally Fox cotton. Contact me ASAP as her 2020 stock is dwindling! Vreseis is the website and she has been documenting her history on her Vreseis Instagram  You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution. Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning.  Remembering our Amy with a Caps for Kids KAL To honor her memory, we are having a Caps for Kids KAL from now until February 15th, to knit or crochet caps in any washable yarn, any pattern, any size, and donate them to a kids charity. Please post a photo of your cap(s) here before donating them.

Another fun episode recorded with live visitors. We have big spinning plans and a finished Tunisian crochet project. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com.  Join the community on Ravelry to participate in the conversation. Marsha’s Projects: I am continuing to knit on Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors.  I finished  a camel, merino and silk braid from Huckleberry Knits for our Summer Spin-A-Long. I also started another spinning project with Huckleberry Knits 40/40/20 Targhee, bamboo and silk and Sauked in Farm 50/50 alpaca/Babydoll Southdown Wool. It will be a 3-ply yarn when I’m finished. Kelly’s Projects  I finished the Paving Mitts by Ellen Silva (twinsetellen). This is a fun, fast, Tunisian crochet pattern for mitts with a thumb gusset. Two thumbs up! I’m back to work on the Mariannes Cardigan by Trine Bertelsen. The faux seam is working to hide the alternation of skeins better than when I didn’t have the faux seam.  I started a pair of socks in handspun (Falkland in a colorway called Tomato and Mink.) I spun the yarn in a long color repeat fashion. Just end to end from one end of the roving to the other. It was chain-plied to preserve the colors and there is a nice color division between the rust and the gray.  The stripes are very large. I re-started and finished spinning a tricolor cotton roving. I spun about 4 oz. and I already had some from previous spinning. Plus I found another skein as I was preparing to record. It’s about 2 oz. I have a total of about 8 oz and 1600 yards that I plan to weave into fabric.  I am planning more cotton spinning since I have such a large (and old!) cotton stash. A good portion of my cotton stash is Sally Fox Foxfibre. Sally Fox is a very interesting woman and you can hear an interview with her on the Weave Podcast Episode 52 or a two-part interview with her on Yarn Stories episode 201 and episode 202. Definitely worth a listen if you are interested in fiber and recent fiber history.  Sally’s current farm is growing test crops of cotton, organic wheat for flour, and merino sheep. Check out her Vreseis website to purchase any of her products, including yarn, roving, and fabric.  Finishing Cotton Yarn I finished my cotton yarn by bringing it to a full boil and then turning it down to simmer for about 30 minutes. I had Borax in the water to make the solution more basic. Baking soda and washing soda are other alternatives.  A basic pH can intensify the color of the natural cotton. The Ask the Bellwether blog has an informative post on finishing cotton handspun. Schacht Spindle company also has an informative post on spinning cotton and includes some information about finishing the yarn by boiling.  Bellepoint Rescue Farm--Wool Available A listener shared that Bellepoint Rescue Farm in Ohio has fleece that they would like to get rid of. The owners are willing to give it away if the receiver will pay for the shipping. They have a Facebook page where you can contact them for more information. Or contact me and I will put you in touch. Free fleece can be a lot of work, but it can also be a great fiber adventure. I made lots of very usable yarn from some free fleece from meat sheep that a farmer once gave me because he wante to get rid of it.  Patron Appreciation!  All patrons active as of the beginning of June get a Ravelry download pattern of their choice up to a $7 value. Contact Kelly through Ravelry, Patreon or email.  Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In started on US Memorial Day (May 25) and will continue until US Labor Day (September 7). Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FO threads. We will have a thread for finished spinning projects and we’ll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun. So non-spinners can be included, too! 

Sally Fox is a freelance copywriter who writes beautiful brand stories, powerful web copy and compelling content for retailers, startups and small businesses. Her work adds significant value by engaging customers, boosting Google ranking, or selling products and services. Sally loves writing on topics as diverse as fashion, sustainability, the arts and travel. And as a location independent writer, she’s always planning her next trip.  Here are the key links from the episode Sally's site (https://www.sallymfox.com) Follow Sally on Twitter (https://twitter.com/sallymfoxwrites)

Sally Fox, head of this podcast, has the tables turned on her by Ellia Harris who interviews Sally about her book-in-progress Meeting the Muse after Midlife. They talk about creativity, moving beyond the myths of aging, and tapping the special Superpowers that can come win the 2nd half of life.

"Disconnect for real “As a full-time remote employee, it is so easy to lose track of time at home. One trick I use to ensure I am not overworking and am taking actual breaks (and unplugging from work during non-working hours) is to completely power down my computer. When the workday is over, I sign off and turn off my laptop and shut it closed. The physical act of doing this helps me to set boundaries and not fall into the temptation of working late in the evening.” Alexandra Bohigian, Marketing and Sales Director for Enola Labs Set screentime limits “As a writer, I actually find the time tracking apps stress me out! Something about the clock ticking gives me absolute mind-blank. Instead, I track the hours I spend on each client or each project with an Excel spreadsheet. Tuning out to the constant notifications on my phone whilst working is one of my biggest challenges. There’s an app called Forest which allows you to set a specific time period during which you don’t want to look at your phone and the plants and trees grow whilst you work. The longer you stay away from your screen the bigger your garden grows. It’s a bit childish but it does remind me to stay on track.” Sally Fox, Copywriter Track both your time and productivity “I use Toggl for tracking client work, and sometimes to track other tasks to see if I could be doing something quicker or spending less time on certain areas of my businesses. I also use the RescueTime browser extension, it shows me how productive I am and what websites/tools I’m spending my time on.” Tara Reid, The Introvert Coach"

You’re listening to Episode 51 of the Close Knit Podcast and this week I spoke to Sarah Danu of Danu Organic. You’ve probably noticed this year that I’ve focused a lot on clothing production and slow fashion in my interviews. I was thinking about this recently and I don’t know exactly why that is - it’s just been a curiosity that I’ve had, and I’ve followed it. It’s led me to so many interesting conversations with people producing clothing - from designers to makers, and I’ve learned so much about the way that people produce clothing locally - and all the steps involved in this!So that all led me to Sarah - who runs Danu Organic, a clothing line made from organic color grown cottons. Sarah tells me about her memories from childhood of sewing buttons onto a scrap of fabric, as she learned to sew, and a beautiful quilt project she and her mom undertook as she prepared for her first year of college.Sarah made a bunch of bold career decisions that led her to WOOFing and an interest in the slow food movement, which ultimately led her to seeking out solutions in slow fashion to treat our bodies, the bodies of workers, and the planet with care and respect - which led her to seeking out Fibershed in the Bay Area, and ultimately connecting to scientist and farmer, Sally Fox.Sarah walks me through her journey with production so far, how she’s had to let go of some of the traditional advice around timelines and launching products, she tells me about her vision for her line - offering clothing for masculine folks and children (!! which is exciting, if you’ve been around in the slow fashion scene for a minute!), and some upcoming natural dyeing on her garments.And Sarah is generously offering a discount code just for Close Knit Podcast listeners! Head to Danuorganic.com and use the code closeknit (all lowercase, one word) at checkout for 20% off!The Close Knit Podcast is supported by the following people (& more!) through Patreon. If you'd like to support the podcast please check out patreon! Aleksandra Alex Alicia Alison C Alison S Amanda Bee Belle Brittany Caitlin Carolina Carolyn Casey Cath Catherine Chantale Chase Elizabeth Ellen Emily B Emily P Emily T Hanna Lisa Heather James Justice Laura Lauren Lawral leah Lindsay Lyle Marta Morgan Natalie Natasha Niki Rachel Sandy Sarah B Sarah H Shelby Shelly shivani - THANK YOU SO MUCH!Find Sarah : Instagram | Website Want more? Subscribe: Itunes or Pocket Casts & now StitcherFollow along on InstagramSupport the podcast through patreonLike what you're hearing? Awesome! I'm glad you've found your way to this podcast. Please feel free to subscribe, leave a review on iTunes (this makes all the difference to reaching more people!) and share with your loved ones. Thanks for tuning in.Until next time!xxani

This week's episode is sponsored by:                 No matter what you need, the barmaids have you covered from head to toe. Face pudding to keep you smiling, Lolo lips keep them kissable, probiotic deodorant for keeping you fresh as a rose, oh for feet’s sake to keep your feet soft and sandal ready, and the Lolo body bar for everything in between. You can find all this - and more! at bar-maids.com Carry your creativity with Erin Lane Bags! Whether you show your fiber fandom with the woolly wonder Sheepleverse, or dive into history with the Curiosities collection, our project bags, totes, and hook and needle organizers are at the ready to keep your hobby happy.   We all have it, we all snicker about it. Fun Fur. Whether it’s eyelash, boucle, or just generally furry, it’s hard to find projects for novelty yarn. With a sweet face, spiraling horns, and delightfully rotund body, Friendsheep by Cate Carter-Evans lets you transform your novelty and textured yarns into sweet, fleecy little friends. Pattern available on Ravelry; more info at infinitetwist.com     Books plus knitting plus happy memories. That’s Little Skein in the Big Wool. We make kits, yarn and project bags that bring your favorite stories to life. Find *your* favorite story at littleskein.com     On the Needles:(0:32) Jasmin has FINISHED her Sprig pullover, all that is left is to put in a personalized label from Clothing Labels by Sterling Gigi: went back to the Polygon blanket.  Knitting coral hexagons.  Working on last ball of coral   The body of Jasmin’s Dissent Cardigan is complete, first sleeve is more than half done. She worked on her Polwarth pullover.   Jasmin has cast on her Tundra Pullover in A Verb for Keeping Warm “Pioneer” She mentions the Sally Fox interview on the Reverberate Podcast and mentions #FarmToFashion Gigi: Patons Kroy socks. New pair cast on in Slate Jacquard, needs heels, picked up stitches for afterthought heels. Cast on one more sock. Jasmin needs to do the tubular bind off for sleeve 1 of her Polwarth , and has got sleeve 2 on the needles. She consulted Dr Gemma about her arbitrary knitting rules. She mentioned her Ixchel cardigan   Gigi: knitted more preemie hats  Jasmin is made some progress on her Viajante. Jasmin has swatched for her V-neck magpie tendency in Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio sock. She loves the Bucket bags from Little Skein   Events: (21:28): - #ChooseYourOwnAdventureKAL is ongoing - Stash Dash :May 24 till August 24. Hosted by the Knitgirllls - May  31 till end of August: Two Ewes Not Along Not knitting, crochet, spinning or weaving -Tour de Fleece: July 6-28,   Mother Knows Best:(23:24) This week we answer a question from the "What do you want to hear about?"  thread about shrinking sweaters   When Knitting Attacks:(28:38) Gigi: preemie hats.  Tried knitting from the top down.  Unattractive.   Jasmin mentioned Aja Barber. She is tired of the plastic stitch markers breaking and is going to replace them with metal bulb shaped stitch markers. We also like clover stitch markers   Review:(33:35) This week we review Go Vertical With Color Loops, by Amelia Archer   Tour de Fleece:(40:00) Join Team Sasquatch if you haven't done so already. Also, be mindful of your body. Ergonomics. Make sure you are Knitting Comfortably   And Sew On:(42:10)  Genevieve is learning to sew. We are using  The Best of Sewing Machine Fun For Kids. Sewing notebook paper, lines are getting straighter, she is more confident, and she set the machine to   a faster speed . She set up by herself.  

Sally Fox is an organic bio-dynamic farmer located in the Capay Valley of Northern California. In addition to her climate beneficial wool Sally Fox has made a huge contribution to the genetics of cultivating and bringing naturally colored cotton to the market. Show Notes: www.gistyarn.com/episode-52

This week's episode is sponsored by:   Baffled by brioche? Done in by double knitting? Boost Your Knitting from Arnall-Culliford Knitwear, is now available to order! Our unique programme includes twelve patterns from twelve stellar designers, accompanied by photo and video tutorials, to teach you new techniques and bring you the joy and excitement of learning something new! You’ll receive monthly digital patterns and tutorials in your inbox, along with a print book (shipping September 2019). You can also join in friendly and supportive monthly knitalongs in our Ravelry group – because learning new skills is even better when you do it with friends! Boost Your Knitting costs £30 (approximately $39) and includes free worldwide shipping. Visit shop.acknitwear.co.uk to start your techniques adventure.                 No matter what you need, the barmaids have you covered from head to toe. Face pudding to keep you smiling, Lolo lips keep them kissable, probiotic deodorant for keeping you fresh as a rose, oh for feet’s sake to keep your feet soft and sandal ready, and the Lolo body bar for everything in between. You can find all this - and more! at bar-maids.com   Every hobby needs organization, every project needs a place.  Erin.Lane bags helps you turn your fiber pasttime into neat and organized endeavor.  Our project bags, totes, and needle and notions organizers are everything you need to keep your fiber arts from fraying.     Ever face the tedious task of having to drop down and correct a mistake in your knitting? The Fix-A-Stitch is here to help! It’s a double-ended tool that uses a patented method to change stitches from knit to purl or purl to knit quick and easy. Check our website for great tutorials and other ways to use it. The tool comes in a package of three for light, medium or bulky weights. A lace weight tool is sold separately. Fix-A-Stitch is available at local yarn shops around the country. More information available at www.fixastitch.com.   Dreaming of Fall sweater weather? Infinite Twist has you covered with Dyer's Choice Sweater Quantities. Each yarn pack includes 1800 yards of hand-dyed 6-ply Merino in a one-of-a-kind color for $98, and shipping is free! Colors are not repeatable, and when they're gone, they're gone. Check out the colors currently available at infinitetwist.com.     Books plus knitting plus happy memories. That’s Little Skein in the Big Wool. We make kits, yarn and project bags that bring your favorite stories to life. Find *your* favorite story at littleskein.com       On the Needles:(0:33) Gigi is knitting the Poza cowl by Ysolda, out of Floating from A Verb For Keeping Warm. Listening to their Reverberate podcast, They mention Sally Fox.   Jasmin has finished the back and started the front of  her Aumangea pullover by ArohaKnits (check the link for a discount code from Frenchie!).   Gigi is knitting Hogwarts house colors from MustStashYarn for Genevieve.   First sock is bound off, started the second one   Gigi This year she  has Non-Euclidian heel socks on the needles, working on three different pairs, Cherry Pop Stripes, "Rainbow Stripes" and "Purple Haze".   You can get all of the colors of Paton's Kroy from Craftsy (currently sold out, check back) Gigi is knitting another Rocky Coast cardigan. She put Stitch markers after every 6 stitch pattern repeat   Events: (12:54) - #ChooseYourOwnAdventureKAL is ongoing. - Stitches West, February 21-24 2019 - Stitches West registration - Tips for attending Stitches West - StashFit Workbook   In Stitches:(17:04) - Jasmin: wool socks, looped loop cowl, Goin Gold Hat, Mondo Cable Cardigan - Gigi : Quynn hat with ear flaps, Knitmore cowl, wool socks, Romi Hill shawlette, 3 color cashmere cowl - Genevieve: Gryffindor scarf and hat, Kapuzin hoodie -Andrew: Cashmere Andrew’s Watch Caps, - Rex: Oliver sweater   Mother Knows Best:(19:36) Fixing mistakes. @burkehousecrafts, Knitter’s Pride. 4 step apology.   Review:(30:07) Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches, by Mary Thomas We mention Sivia Harding's repair class, Hunter Hammersen's decorative repair and Franklin Habit's embroidery on  knitwear class.   When Knitting Attacks:(37:48)   Gigi: has frogged another Rocky Coast cardigan. Modification for the front   And Sew On:(40:49) Gigi is trying to sew or do something sewing related every day. Building routines to make time for sewing. Sewing one seam per night on the Ribbi Cardi.seams are done.  Sewing in ribbon for Genevieve’s Victorian Girl’s coat School: draping muslin.  Next: front and back skirt.  Did the sleeve according to directions.   Sewed the elbow dart wrong, sewed the seam inside out, and the sleeve doesn’t fit right into the armhole. Blocking the muslin was challenging.

In episodes 1-4, we followed the path of creating our yarns Pioneer, Flock, Dawn, and Ridge. These yarns are made from Sally Fox’s wool and are milled at Green Mountain Spinnery. Now we’ve switched gears, and are following the path of how our yarn Gather is created - in episode 5, you can hear Lani Estill talk about growing the wool, in episode 6, Rob teaches us about milling Gather and gives us insight to how he incorporates sustainability into the milling process, and now in episode 7 - we hear from Lora Kinkade, the farmer who grew dye plants for us this past Summer which were used in the Lookbook collection of yarn and patterns. In this episode, first, I speak with Kristine Vejar the owner of AVFKW, and then I share an interview with organic farmer and sheep shearer, Lora Kinkade.

The Learn Along has people doing everything from brioche socks to knitting with a Shetland knitting belt. Marsha talks about learning agility and piano and Kelly is getting close to the end of a semester of learning. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of  our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com.  Join the community on Ravelry and discuss the episode, or contact us with your thoughts at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com Kelly's Projects Kelly finished the Running Water cardigan and has worn it three times.  The fit is great and it is so soft and warm. Since the last episode she started and finished a pair of Jo’s Perfect Slipper Socks. Two strands of fingering weight. From Cozy Up knits. Found out about it from the Cozy Up Knits youtube show. Four Canadian Prairie sisters who knit and design patterns. Kelly has also started a gift knit. She’s making the Unice Unicorn Hood for her grandniece.  The hood is done, she is now putting on the fringe that makes the mane.  She is making it as a horse and not putting on the unicorn horn. Marsha's Projects Marsha has made very little progress on her existing projects. Slack Tide -  Poststitch Rabbit - Claire Garland Cloud Cover - Heidi Kirrmaier She is getting “back on the horse” by knitting a pair of “vanilla” socks with Austerman Step with heels and toes in Knit Picks Stroll. Both are spirit yarns from the NoCKRs detash room. Learn Along Catherine Knuttson, (smallbirdworkshop on Ravelry) has donated patterns. Her website is smallbirdworkshop.com where she has yarn and patterns.  Her patterns are also available on Ravelry.  Marsha and I each were given a code for a pattern, too.  I’m looking hard at Blue Spruce, but haven’t made a decision yet. She has a collection of patterns that are good for variegated yarns.  Check out her pattern page on Ravelry. To see all the wonderful learning that people did during the Learn Along, visit the FO thread in our Ravelry group. Listen to the show to see who won the drawing! Patron Drawing We randomly selected a Daring Adventurer to win the drawing! If you'd like to become a patron, visit patreon.com/twoewes One of our patrons contacted us about the Weavolution online weaving guild and website.  Kelly joined but hasn’t had a chance to poke around on the website yet. They have groups and patterns and classes available for purchase. Book Giveaway ends December 16. Stephany Wilkes has donated a copy of her book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West. Make a comment in the thread on our Two Ewes Ravelry Group to be entered. Stephany has another book event at Books Inc. in Berkeley, California on January 8, 2019 at 7 pm.  In February she will be speaking at the Treadles to Threads guild meeting February 27 in Contra Costa. Marsha got to see Stephany in Seattle at the  Eileen Fisher Renew store for a reading of her book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West and a panel discussion.  Also on the panel was Kathy Hatori of Botanical Colors. Her dyes are used as overdyes for Renew. She has a studio located in Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. She sells natural dyes for designers and artists. Eileen Fisher Renew  takes back clothes with a $5 credit. They repair, overdye, reconstruct and then resell the recycled clothing online and in stores. Marsha also talked about the New York Times article about American Giant trying to make flannel in US.  The Annals of Flannel. And speaking of flannel and fabric. Kelly has sewing acquisitions! She purchased some Huston Textiles climate beneficial cloth (red), and some Vreseis brown cotton flannel.  She already has natural climate beneficial cloth.  A fabric stash is forming. Sally Fox, owner of Vreseis was recently interviewed on Yarn Stories Podcast  by Miriam Felton.   Our email address is twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com   We’d love to hear from you!

SHOWNOTES: In this first episode of Reverberate, we introduce the host and producers of the new AVFKW podcast. We also discuss what the next episodes will feature and a fascinating interview with Sally Fox about her life and work. If you are a new listener to Reverberate, please subscribe and share with your friends! Also don’t forget to rate and review on iTunes. In this episode, we discuss: Why AVFKW is producing a podcast AVFKW Fall 2018 Lookbook Sally Fox and her work as a cotton breeder and sheep farmer Organic and Biodynamic Farming Merino sheep Colored cotton Cotton breeding and genetics Carbon Sequestration Integrative Pest Management Soil health Explore these Resources AVFKW Fall 2018 Lookbook FoxFibre http://www.vreseis.com/ Smithsonian Inventions featuring Sally Fox https://youtu.be/ryryABlFx98 Definition of biodynamic ? Who is Rudolf Steiner? Demeter Certified Biodynamic® The connection of dyes and pesticides Follow Instagram @avfkw Listen Apple podcasts, stitcher, soundcloud, googleplay, spotify Produced by A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland, California www.averbforkeepingwarm.com  

Today’s episode is Part 2 of a conversation with Sally Fox, owner of Vreseis Limited, and the Colorganic Fiber trademark. She is a breeder of naturally colored cotton and a dedicated scientist. We’ll also talk to Joan Ruane about spinning cotton. You can find Part 1 here. Interview Notes: Sally Fox’s Website, Shop and Instagram California’s … Continue reading Episode 202 | Sally Fox – Part 2

Today’s episode is Part 1 of a conversation with Sally Fox, owner of Vreseis Limited, and the Colorganic Fiber trademark. She is a breeder of naturally colored cotton and a dedicated scientist. Show Notes: Sally Fox’s Website, Shop and Instagram California’s Yolo County More on Soil Microbiology Nematodes Naturally colored cotton’s Wikipedia page Mendelian Genetics Ginning … Continue reading Episode 201 | Sally Fox – Part 1

Sally Fox is a writer, coach and performer who helps people find and shape their stories, at work, for their careers, and in life. As a professional writer, she writes regularly for 3rd Act Magazine and the website Sixty and Me and publishes a weekly blog of reflections on leadership, creativity and storytelling. A storyteller and performer herself, Sally recently entertained the audience at Ignite Seattle with her piece: 60 is NOT the new 40: How I Dumped Denial. Find out more at Sally’s website engagingpresence.com. Find out more about the Zestful Aging Podcast at NicoleChristina.com. You can become a patron of the Show at Patreon.com/zestfulaging.

Sweater fit, math for pattern modifications, and a way to help sheep farmers impacted by California wildfires add to the usual project updates in this episode.  Join the Ewes for all this and more! For full show notes with links and pictures, go to twoewesfiberadventures.com Marsha's projects are her combo spin and a linen tee.  The combo spin is almost finished and the yarn is really beautiful. She has selected a simple cardigan pattern and will talk more about that when she is ready to cast on.  The yarn has a significant amount of silk in it and the feel is really luscious. The Summer Fjord linen tee is being bound off during the show.  It is knit from Fibra Natura 100% linen yarn.  Marsha had a mistake that she repaired by dropping about 5-6 stitches back a few inches and then reknitting only those stitches from the row. She has photos of the repair process on her project page in Ravelry.   Kelly has three finished projects, including the Bobble Sheep pillow that she finished awhile ago, but forgot to talk about. A more recently finished pillow is the Clover, Bee, and Revery pattern.  It has a fabric backing sewn on and two wooden bee buttons as a pillow back closure.  This pillow has inspired her to make the Such is the Quality of Bees blanket out of the same yarn and using a doubleknit technique so that the front and back of the blanket both have the bee and rabbit pattern on them.  Kelly also finished another pair of argyle socks.  The yarn is sport weight, but knit up at the same stitch gauge as the socks she made from fingering weight yarn before.  Marsha discusses a listener question about the math required to change a pattern when using a different gauge yarn.  Another listener recommended Ann Budd's book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and The Knitter's Handy Book of Top Down Sweaters.  Marsha also recommended the Craftsy class by Amy Herzog, Sweater Modifications for a Custom Fit.  There are additional Craftsy classes on yarn substitution and sweater fit by Kellie Nuss  and Sally Melville that look interesting.  Marsha is also interested in taking a class called Sizing Knitwear Patterns by Faina Golberstein, who is also a math professor.  Kelly discussed the impact of the California wildfires on sheep farmers and ranchers.  One farm in particular--owned by Sally Fox, creator of Foxfibre colored cotton--was threatened by the County Fire.  Her property escaped damage, but she shared the story of evacuation on Instagram and that made Kelly think about the financial impact even when the property is spared.  Sally's company is Vreseis and it is dedicated to sustainable cotton production. She sells cotton yarn and fiber, merino yarn and fiber, cloth, and wheat flour--all from her farm.  With a purchase from her shop or a click of her donation button you can assist with the additional expenses of the recent fire threat and do your part for World Fleece!  Take some time to look at her website and read the story of her cotton-growing journey.  Subscribe to the podcast on  Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts (for Android users) Stitcher   or any other podcast app you like to use!  We're also on Spotify and Tunein. 

Jeffrey's premise:  "One factor that helps high-achieving creatives and fulfilled entrepreneurs face daily challenges is that they have some sense of purpose that helps remind them why they're doing what they're doing every day."You are what you pay attention to, and if your willpower, focus and time are spent trying to control your body image, for example, that quite simply distracts you from becoming who you want to be. Too many young women lose their voices—and ultimately their purpose and passion—in the pursuit of perfection. And if you are busy with the ‘part-time job’ of an eating disorder, it is impossible to achieve your potential or uncover your unique gift to the world.   Today on the Quest Series Roundtable, Jeffrey is joined by podcaster, blogger and author Katie Dalebout and executive coach, speaker and author Caroline Adams Miller to discuss some of the reasons why we tend to lose our purpose as young adults. Katie and Caroline both share their struggles with body image and eating disorders, explaining how they found their way back to health and discovered joy and meaning in giving back. They speak to the value of journaling when it comes to self-awareness, making meaning of our lives, and healing, and offer their best advice around taking care of yourself in the pursuit of a purposeful life. Key Takeaways [3:05] Katie’s take on her young genius Only child, raised on ‘adult farm’ Propensity for performing Knew wanted life to be big [8:24] Caroline’s childhood Girl who wanted to be loved School as happy place (solace in thinking, reading and writing) Sorrow gave empathy, desire to give back [11:50] Why we lose our purpose as young adults Girls lose their voices Must get angry enough to ‘throw off chains’ Lose purpose, passion [15:25] How Katie deals with the ‘mean girls’ in her mind Use as tool for self-awareness [19:18] The common issues Katie sees among young women Body image/diet culture Risk aversion (i.e.: entrepreneurship) Impact of social media (distraction, comparison) [31:02] Katie’s struggle with eating disorders Anorexia at end of college Received treatment, developed orthorexia Obsessed with control, miss out on life [38:02] Caroline’s fight against bulimia Thought next achievement would eliminate sadness Bulimia as ‘part-time job’ while studying at Harvard Started recovery in 1984 (just after marriage) Found joy in giving back, sharing hope [45:20] The value of journaling Allows for honesty, self-awareness (first step to change) Opportunity to make meaning of lives Positive intervention, part of healing process Ask good questions to get good response Eventually have to ‘feel the feelings’ [57:17] Caroline and Katie’s advice around self-care Purposeful life isn’t always easy Seek out your unique gifts Surround yourself with supportive people Be gentle with yourself Do things that make you feel good Out your shame, fear Connect with Katie & Caroline Katie’s Website Katie’s Podcast Caroline’s Website Caroline’s Blog Resources Let it Out: A Journey Through Journaling by Katie Dalebout Generation Startup Film Getting Grit: The Evidence-Based Approach to Cultivating Passion, Perseverance, and Purpose by Caroline Adams Miller My Name is Caroline by Caroline Adams Miller Caroline on The Good Life Project Activate Leadership: Aspen Truths to Empower Millennial Leaders by Jon Mertz Larissa Rainey Study: ‘The Search for Purpose in Life’ A special thanks to the early supporters of the Tracking Wonder Podcast. Your enthusiasm, feedback, and support helped make this possible. Thank you.  A few very special early supporters: Mel Harth, Lovenia Leapart, Brandy Donovan, Sally Fox, Mindy Ohringer, Katy Yang, Patricia B., John Carr, Millie Jackson, Susan Preston, Gregory Berg, Peg Syverson, Cindy Henson, Nikki Jackson, Lauren Ayer, Lisa Batson Goldberg 

Brainy Thing:    26:15   Behind the Redwood Curtain  42:55 What We’re Learning from Our Knitting: Catherine learned an important lesson about life lines on her Absolutely Essential Shawl by Bunny Muff http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/absolutely-essential.  She also started a sock for a charity project sponsored by the Northcoast Knittery made of from Kramer Yarn.   Margaret finally used some organic cotton, naturally colored yarn she had had in her stash forever.  She doesn’t know if they are FireFox yarns, the organic cotton of different colors started by Sally Fox (the labels have disappeared)  but she likes the idea and the yarn.  http://www.foxfirefiber.com/yarn.html.  She made two jar covers by Sara Delaney #575 Crocheted Lace Jar Covers.  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-lace-jar-covers  Her Ravelry name is. Chickenbetty.   She used a cute little flower and leaves by Carolina Guzman  from the  One and Two Company with an excellent pattern.     Brainy Thing: Studies show that the fiber arts (knitting, crochet, weaving, etc.) can help students, particularly women, become more comfortable with STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math.   Catherine tells us about it in this segment.   Behind the Redwood Curtain Dozens of things from rivers to frogs were named after Alexander von Humboldt but why and who in the U.S. knows who he is?  Margaret reports on him.     Knitted Babes Give away As part of her de-stash efforts, Margaret offers up the book Knitted Babes by Claire Garland book — free to the first person who asks for it on the Ravelry Thread   Winners of the Learn-along.   Listen to the episode for the winners of the 2017 Learn-along.  Prizes are Bamboo So Fine in peach and a cute notions case in a  guitar fabric.     Podcast Links: Facebook:  Also, join our Facebook Group  https://www.facebook.com/Teachingyourbraintoknitpodcast/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel Ravelry Group  http://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit website https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/ for show notes, photos of our knitting and crochet projects, Behind the Redwood Curtain places and things and anything else we decide to post.   Today on Teaching Your Brain to Knit why educators are trying to  channel STEM students into the fiber arts; who was Alexander von Humboldt and why was he forgotten in the U.S.; What did Catherine learn about Life lines and Margaret about organic cotton; how to get a free book— from us -- and who won the 2017 spring  Learn-along.    

As we reach for our heavy sweaters, jackets and thick socks, piling on the layers to brave the brisk air out there, how often do we think about the origins of the materials we use to bundle up? The local organic food movement has made great strides in recent years, but what about a movement for local organic fiber? Many of us know at least a bit about the contributions that agriculture makes to the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere and all the havoc that wreaks, but are we aware of the potential of certain rangeland management practices to pull carbon out of the atmosphere? Are we aware of the potential for climate beneficial clothing? Tune in to explore these questions with textile artist Rebecca Burgess of Fibershed, cotton grower/shepherd Sally Fox of FoxFibre, and Jeff Creque of the Marin Carbon Project and the Carbon Cycle Institute. The post Terra Verde – December 6, 2013 appeared first on KPFA.