Back at the ranch

We returned from Ohio on Monday.  We were the lucky ones.  We didn't hit turbulence or have our flight canceled due to storms.  Upon our return, I heard all the horrible stories of flooding all over the mid-west.  My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes.  I can't imagine the horror of seeing your home float away.  Makes living with fear of forest fire seem like small potatoes by comparison.

The show in Columbus was much easier to see this year...attendance seemed to be way down.  No pushing or cajoling to get into a booth to ask questions, get pricing info, or place orders.  Notably absent:  the wild novelty yarns of the last few years. 

Our big score for the weekend:  two ply yarn from the Imperial Stock Ranch.  My friend Zaynab of Knitting Grounds in Anchorage had just told me about them the week before, so I was delighted to find them at the show.  The story of the Imperial Stock Ranch is  long and very interesting, and should you be interested,
I highly recommend googling on them to read more.  It's an old ranch with a history linking it to the creation of the Columbia sheep breed.  As soon as I was able to squeeze these skeins, I knew they had to join our repertoire.  For those of you not familiar with Columbia wool, it is a fine wool, not as fine as merino, and has a distinctive bounce to it.  Even better?  It's being processed in a small, family owned mill, just across the Canadian border, using antique equipment and NO chemicals...thereby preserving the glory that is Columbia wool.

While Imperial Ranch has these yarns in 20 color ways of their own, we decided to dye our own here in Taos...giving us a creative edge to offer you carefully selected color combinations that will all work together for your favorite projects. 

What else was new?  Well, Ozark Yarns is offering a new hand spun yarn that's 65% mohair/35% wool...it is not as thick as their first yarns, and considerably softer to the touch.  Their booth was filled with wild and wonderful creative garments and it was all we could do to not distract them and haul the lot off.  (Just kidding, guys.)  They have a designer who is doing THE most awesome stuff for them and really, I think their booth and these pieces really stole the show.

And now it's time for oatmeal and a day at the dyepots...

(Columbia sheep photo courtesy of sheep101.com)