11 November 2007

The Yarn Bus

Yesterday I went with the Downtown Knit Collective on their second annual bus trip. We travelled North toward Owen Sound through beautiful, sunny Ontario autumn.


The first stop was Shelridge Farms - described as Sheep Farm and Yarn Mill on the flyer. I was met with disappointment as the family has recently sold all their sheep and we never saw the mill. I was so hoping to observe the workings of yarn production but the emphasis here was on the shopping. Lovely yarn though.

After lunch we headed over to Koigu. This was the more satisfying leg of the trip. There was still shopping (bargains!) for those so inclined but there was also tons of cool stuff to observe. Richard the dye guy showed me around the dying kettles and ovens. Then I watched hanks being made from enormous industrial swifts. Far out.


Best of all? Behind the shop and up the hill? These curly creatures who were endlessly entertaining as well as photogenic. They're the original Koigu flock. They now use merino from Europe for their dying but still keep the flock. Happy sheep!




3 comments:

Miss Scarlett said...

That's wild to be able to see all that work happening. The pic of the yarn on the swifts is great.

Love the happy sheep.

Anonymous said...

It would have been so cool to see yarn production at one place and yarn dyeing and skeining at the other. Still, seeing Koigu in action made for a good trip, I bet. And did you get to knit on the bus?

kokopuff said...

Looks like fun! I can't believe I forgot. It probably is a good thing since shopping for yarn is about the last thing I need to do...and I know I would have fallen prey to, nay embraced, temptation at Koigu!