Dyer’s Rants

A midweek morning veiw

Our pond in the snow

Living with cold and the colorless landscape, causes us to slow down and be with our thoughts. These are the days that we think about the choices we have made, what is working, what is not working; to reassess and prioritize. This is good for us. We need this. But it can be a source of fear and anxiety. We need to pay attention to those feelings-they are a signal that change is necessary. I am at that point. Money is tight for all. and I am no exception. I need to face that having the cashmere goats is not cost effective and in fact they are draining. I love them, I have a relationship with all of them. But I need to make choices that streamline my my life. I am the main person that sees to the animals, the house, the kids and Scarlet Fleece. I am one person, and I need to contribute to the finances of my family. The goats do take some time, eat hay and since moving to a new place-are looking at $1000 in fencing to contain them properly . So—–most will be auctioned this weekend. This is very hard for me. But I cannot do it all. In fact, I started with the goats almost by accident. My goal had always been to raise Shetland Sheep. But I adopted a 4 month old cashmere buck and it grew from there. Perhaps I had gotten off path. Often when this happens-at some point we are shown the way to get back to our purposes. I am at this point. Now-I am not abandoning farm life. I just have to make it work with Scarlet Fleece and it needs to contribute an income and be containable. Now I am a fiber person and I have not abandoned the notion of raising fiber-even for my own purposes. I do have 3 angora bunnies and I am still looking at Shetlands-where my heart is. And I do have fencing that will contain sheep. If I sell some goats-I can purchase 2 sheep. Which is my plan. Reduce my overall hay consumption and still feel the joy of raising fiber animals. I also enjoy raising chickens-they fertilize, till the garden and provide eggs for little expense. I am also starting to raise vegetables for the local Farmer’s Market. We can do this now that the green house is freed up and we already have a tiller for our tractor….so that will be in the future.

And Scarlet Fleece is my job, my passion and my contribution to the knitting world. I look to this year with a new dye studio to produce more yarn and to label and ship more productively. I feel good about that endeavor and I hope it will continue to be well received so that I can continue with this business. I do face fear that the economy will hit me hard. But my reaction it to dye, design and market better. In fact-I welcome that challenge. It is stimulating, exciting, and I know I am not going away. Many ideas are in the works-including adding capablity to the website for individuals to purchase yarn and patterns. And coming soon are the most beautiful drop spindles you have ever seen…stay tuned!

Views of the workshop-now complete!

studio in the snow this week

Work area-downstairs

drying area

And here is a sneak peak at a design for a new pattern! We have more coming-keep checking back!

The Uno Cabled Crew

Cable detail