Small-Batch Cormo Yarn & the Road to Rhinebeck

Have you watched the second episode of The Yarn Chronicles yet? It’s streaming now, and I have so enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes peek at Tammy White’s Wing and A Prayer Farm and some of the New England fiber network she connects with. As I watched the second episode—which starts with shearing and follows the fleeces through sorting in preparation for the mill—my knitting fingers started itching. I wanted to get my hands on that fleece, too! A quick visit to the farm’s web store solved the issue, and a sweet package of Cormo dyed with botanicals was headed my way.

I was so taken with the cover image for the Yarn Chronicles featuring shelves of beautiful naturally dyed skeins in Tammy’s shop that I selected a similar palette. Cormo is a fine wool, so I knew these squishy, worsted-weight skeins would make a great accessory that could be worn next-to-skin. Cowl or hat or mitts? I looked forward to meeting these pretty skeins and seeing what they wanted to be.

The Road to Rhinebeck

My package arrived just before I was ready to leave my farm in Indiana and head to the famed New York Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck, upstate New York. Today, I find myself knitting swatches on a beautiful fall morning in nearby Saugerties. I didn’t think about my Cormo palette of warm walnut brown and madder pinks being a fall colorway, but it fits in so well with my morning walk.

These colors match the New England fall perfectly! Photo by Kate Larson

First, I’m trying a reversible block pattern that creates an interesting pleat pattern that would be great for a long, striped cowl. When exploring a palette, I often start with very small swatches to just get started.

Tomorrow at the festival, I’ll pop into the Wing & A Prayer booth and have a chance to meet Tammy the shepherd in person (and undoubtedly also meet more beautiful skeins). Farm & Fiber Knits designer Gudrun Johnston will be there, too!

I’ve attended so many great festivals around the country, but this is my first Rhinebeck! If you’re knitting along at home this year, you can spend some time with Tammy and the flock in The Yarn Chronicles. And I’ll be back next week to show you what I’ve decided to make with my Cormo skeins.

—Kate

Have you ever wondered how the yarn you love to knit found its way to your needles? Follow along on the path that a skein of wool takes from the farm to your hands—and fall even deeper in love with your knitting.

The new series The Yarn Chronicles traces the path of unique small-batch yarns from the shepherd and sheep who grow the fiber, through the hands of the shearer who gently harvests the wool, to the mill that twists the fiber into yarn, into the hands of knitters and fiber artists. Join us for four inspiring, thought-provoking episodes that follow yarn from flock to fabric.