Oregon Spring

This is not about the colorway today;)  It's about the weather.  Even though it gets depressing to have one nice day in seven here is Western Oregon we can't complain about what those kinds of days bring to us--wonderful Morel mushrooms.  Yesterday's post was missed as it was a mushroom hunting day.  We brought back about 5lb of these beauties.  And had a wonderful mushroom pasta for dinner.

Sheep to Sweater Project

We've started on an adventure!  A group of us have purchased fleeces of Columbia wool from Imperial Stock Ranch to take through the entire process of picking, washing, dyeing, prepping, spinning and knitting on to a sweater or shawl.  This photo was taken at the very beginning of the project.  Most have now washed and dyed their fleeces, but not all.  We are not giving ourselves a time line.  We are, however, going to be supporting each other so that we can finish!  Here is a link to the Ravelry thread where you can follow this group of people.  And, we will be following one fleece through a series of video classes to help you should you want to do this on your own.  Next weekend the stage will be set...

The Schacht Side Kick traveling wheel

Did you know we are a Schacht Spindle Company dealer?  We are all spinners here at Pico Accuardi Dyeworks.  We try to sit down once a week and spin together.  And sometime we actually do;)  As spinners when we looked at a company we wanted to represent in the wheel area both of us agreed that Schacht was it.  We love their products, their service and the fact that Barry and Jane have created a wonderful work space for their employees.  They have a mini farm for people to enjoy at work--small chicken coop and raised beds for those that want to participate.  That is right up our ally as we both now have full working farms to attend at our homes.

We are anxiously awaiting delivery of Schacht's newest wheel--the Side Kick.  We have several on order, but only two of those are not sold.  The first available wheel will be arriving within the next two weeks at the studio.  Make an appointment to drop by and give it a spin;) (couldn't help myself)  And don't worry, we can always order more if you miss this round.  Pico Accuardi Dyeworks offers both  lay away and used wheel trade in programs.  And very soon--online spinning classes.  Learn no matter where you are!

Wicked Freaks

Often dyers will have days where the colorway they are creating comes out really different.  If you don't want to recreate this new colorway, but it's still a beautiful skein, what do you do? Well, we call these one off beauties Wicked Freaks!  We take them to shows. Yarn store owners often order a bag or two as well;  especially in sock yarn.  Ask your LYS if they have any.

Putting a face on it

We forget that with this wide world web many of you have not met us in person.  I found this photo on our desktop this morning.  This was taken in the studio during the Portland Yarn Crawl earlier this Spring.   You can see lots of yarn and fiber teasers all around us.  If you are local or coming to Portland drop us an email.  We'd love to show off our studio.

Rouen

This colorway is named for Deb's Rouen ducks.  They are sassy little things running around the yard in group force.  Here you see Rouen on our La Libera sock yarn.  La Libera means freedom in Italian.  We see this superwash merino/nylon blend as freedom from worry.  When you spend the time knitting a pair of socks you certainly don't want to blow out a toe or heel.  The nylon blend will help with that. We have this yarn put up in 2 50gram skeins so it is ready knit that pair of socks.  La Libera is also the name of a fabulous restaurant in Alba, Italy.  Definitely worth a stop when you get to that part of the world;)  Marco creates the traditional dishes of the area, showcasing local producers, in a relaxed atmosphere that appeals to all.

Let's start the week with a post!

In an effort to blog more we have come up with an idea (we are the queens of ideas)--
We are joining the photo a day brigade.  Sometimes a photo can speak for itself, other times it inspires the writer for a paragraph or two.  We start this exercise today.  We'll see where it leads...

Today needed some color.  This colorway will beat these rainy Oregon blues;)  And this wool/mohair blend has been inspiring to both of us.  We have a joint color/pattern project we are working on.  You'll see in a summer photo;)