With the recent trip to Vermont, I acquired loads of new fiber. The last trip I took, I bought up handmade yarn everywhere I went. This time, it was fiber! The best shop I found, surprisingly, was not in Vermont at all. It was Rainbow Yarns and Fibres in Germantown, Tennessee. They had a full line of spinning fibers and even had some spiffy bags of bits and pieces to spin into some art yarn from Pagewood Farm. First thing I did when I got home was spin this very unique art yarn.

It has sparkles and curls and thick and thin places and it is wonderful.

I got a couple of balls of super cool hand painted fibers from A Piece of Vermont:

I will show off what these beauties look like spun up later this week.

Two more finished yarns to show off…the green was a blended roving I purchased at Vermont Beads and Fiber, the red was from my favorite fiber farm right around the corner from my mom’s, Chasworth Pottery and Farm.

These two may end up plied together for a nice Christmas Handspun.

Speaking of Chasworth Farm, I have bags full of yummy Vermont Grown Fiber. Much more yarn will be coming your way from this awesome farm. ♥

This is the birthplace of The Twisted Purl. Nestled off the main road in Stowe, Vermont, lies a yarn shop where my vision of The Twisted Purl began.

This is Stowe Fabric & Yarn. The shop is located in this house with a lovely porch. Once inside the shop you will have the option of going right to the yarn or left to the fabric.

Do you notice the hanks of hand painted yarn hanging from the hooks? This is Cherry Tree Hill Boucle and amazingly enough, they still had a few skeins of the same colorway that enticed me on my fiber painting journey.

Back in 2006, after attending my favorite restaurant, The Shed, and having sampled some of their brewed beer, served in a “Ski” :

At this time, I was already fully immersed in my yarn addiction…I noticed a yarn shop. So, what better way to end a trip to Stowe then to go drool over some fiber. Once inside the shop my eyes landed on this wall of yarn:

I was instantly in awe and admiration of the company who made this yarn. Then I found out it was handmade. Hand Painted….what did that mean? I wondered. I went straight back to my moms and started my research. Being the yarn-a-holic I was, no yarn was enough and no color combination satisfied my urge to have it all. So, naturally, painting yarn had to be my next step. I bought a ton of natural wool fiber off of ebay. Through trail and many errors, I learned the difference between good wools and the itchy old school wools. I also learned 50 yards, although sounding like a lot, was really not much at all. I bought dye and then let it all sit in the top of my closet for a month before I built up the courage to dye my own yarn.

Once I mixed the dye and dabbed my first brush on the wool, my love affair began. The rest is history. History that must be credited to a lovely little yarn shop called Stowe Fabric & Yarn and an awe inspiring handmade yarn company called Cherry Tree Hill. ♥

Found this one in a hotel parking lot in Nashville, TN. Anyone have any idea what it is? The center of it looks like little flowers inside a big flower. Too cool! I would love to plant these in my front flowerbed. Thanks for your help. ♥

I am in Vermont! Yay! The trip was fun and I have many things to share. My wonderful fiber source here has been stashing aside white wool for me. I am coming home with six bags full! Actually six pounds of fiber. That is a lot! Think of six pounds of cotton balls. Loads of beautiful fiber will be coming from it.

On the down side, the wireless internet at my mom’s is down. It is such a bummer! I am totally unable to upload any pics to show off all the fun we are having. Also, my internet time is very limited. Next post will hopefully be full of great pics. Today we are heading to the Yarn Shop in Stowe that started my journey into painted yarns and fibers. ♥