Hand Dye Marr Haven Heathers

You may have heard that we are out of our Natural worsted weight yarn. Unfortunately it is true. We may not have the Natural again in worsted weight due to washing and spinning problems. However it is available in sport weight as well as all our other yarns in worsted or sport.

I have often dyed with the other two naturals, Light Grey and Medium Grey, also Light Heather; recently I dyed with one of our darker colors - Lilac Heather, to see how it would dye. You can see the results on the pages of our website and page 2.

The Light Grey and Medium Grey are still available on one pound cones as well as skeins. The Light Heather has a high percentage of lambswool in it so is exceptionally soft.


The skeins above were dyed by Kristi Pyatt of Tree Frog Knits . They were all dyed together to see how the same dye would show on the different colors. Shown on the left is our Medium Grey, Light Heather (middle skein) and Light Grey. You can see more of photos on her Flickr page.

I hope the photos shown of our greys and heathers dyed, will assure those of you who love to dye our yarn that you can still enjoy it. The greys and heather are mostly (75 to 90 %) white natural with a small percent of natural black or dye blended in.

Midwest Thunderstorms & Tornados

This a picture of the South Haven lighthouse during the 6-19/20 storms shared on the WWMTV website. I love to watch the lightning shows but this past weekend had more than I want to experience again.

The storms began Thursday evening and the electricity went out over a wide area of SW Michigan. Friday we had a couple of huge limbs down that had to be drug away with the skid steer and of course lots of smaller branches, leaves and just plain sticks. The electricity did come on for a couple of hours but went out again that evening, along with the phone. More large limbs and branches were down Sat am plus a 40 ft Mulberry tree that didn't fall over till later during the night.

We found out Sunday how really blessed we are because a tornado was confirmed 1/4 mile north of us. Several lost barns, buildings and homes. Our phone was back in service Monday about 10 am and the electricity was back on Monday at 6pm. We didn't have any flooding but it rained so hard, both days that the city of Holland had several sections of main city streets with wash outs- that means the ground under the road is washed away and the road collapses.

Sat. a Grand Rapids radio station held the annual free country music show at the Iona Fairgrounds called the B-93 Birthday Bash. The fairgrounds is located along the river, shown in the upper right side of the photo. A dam upstream had to be opened and the event attendees did not have enough time to get out. As of today about a thousand cars are still stranded there, many were fully submerged. photo by Terry and Susan Long of Ionia shared on WWMT site.

Locker Hooked Rug

Isn't this a beautiful rug! MaryAnn made it by locker hooking. The black is Merino Top and it just shines. It shows how easily you can make a design stand out and speak. I have a close-up on the Your Pictures page of our website so you can see the stitches drawn by the locker hook.

Natural Worsted Weight is sold out.

If you read any list that said Marr Haven is out of yarn ...... we aren't out of yarn. We are out of Natural in worsted weight and do have a good supply in sport weight.

So many wonderful hand dyers have been using our Natural that I knew last montht a shortage was a possibility, just had no idea it would happen all at once. Anyway, because of the possible shortage, I began doing some hand dyeing with our other yarns. For years I have dyed the natural colored Light Grey, Medium Grey and Light Heather to give unique colorways but I wanted to see what would happen with our darker dyed colors.

This is Happy Blue on the left and Forest Green below. Both came out just as soft and lofty as any of the natural colored yarns. I used Jacquard Acid Dye, the same amount I would have used on the Natural and had total dye takeup, none left in the dye pot.
You can see more of the dyed yarns and links to close up photos on this page and page 2. If you dye for your self or others, I think you will be pleased with these options.

Knit it to fit best, Hepburn pattern.

I love this pattern for several reasons, the turtleneck, raglan sleeves and subtle cable design.

Pam is a slender - approximately 33" bust - who loves oversize sweaters and raglan sleeves so this was a great design for her. She used smaller needles than suggested, size 3.

She said, "I wanted to make sure the turtleneck wouldn't stand out too far from my neck, thus making it look even longer and thinner than it is.... Also, I ran short of yarn - probably due to the #3 needles. So, on the neck treatment, after picking up and knitting for about 1/2" I used a blending color for the inside (non-showing portion) of the turtleneck. I ribbed that part with p2,k4 rib for 3", facing the right side of the sweater, so the neck hugs my own more closely. I then joined the Light Heather yarn again and did stockinette for another 1/2" for the turning ridge, then switched to #5 needles for the cable pattern. I did do almost an extra 1/2" in the neck cable to be sure it would extend down far enough when turned so it would not ride up and let any of the 'wrong' yarn show."

Great ingenuity and I appreciate Pam letting me share this with you. She made a great adjustment for a size problem and possible yarn shortage. Two things that we all have had to think about at some time so I hope this is helpful to someone else - as well as me.

Happy Memorial Day

Thank you to all that have served and are serving our country.

It is so easy to forget the real reason for our holidays but this one is especially dear to me this year since I lost my only uncle two weeks ago. Clarence Poole served in the Navy during WWII and was so proud of his service and his country that he saved his uniform, it was displayed with all the wonderful pictures his children arranged at the funeral home. We were all surprised that he still had it. I wish I had a photo to post, he was one handsome man with a heart of gold and a laugh that would cheer anyone.

Guess this isn't a very good month for us; as I type my husband is on the way to the funeral of his aunt. She was in her 90's and lived a full and glorious life. All 4 of her children were with her this past week as the town they come from in Iowa make a really big deal about celebrating Memorial Day. The high school classes meet for their reunions that weekend so it is not unusual that folks from all over come back for a visit.

When you are on a small farm it is difficult for both to be gone at the same time so this is my turn to stay home and do chores and keep up with the yarn business. We are truly blessed to have such a peaceful home, beautiful scenery and make a living at it.

We are both race fans so after church services, I will do double duty keeping track of the Indy 500 and the Charlotte 600. Have some yarn dyed that needs rinsing and drying so that will keep me moving around. I will post pictures of the yarn in a few days.

Happy May Day

The first of May means events close to my heart are happening... Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is first in line with competition on Saturday from Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. I usually pick an underdog or the horse with a great heartwarming story and this year it is General Quarters. Even if I was at the track, I would only risk a $2 bet so I wouldn't be losing much although I cheer from home as though I had alot of money on the line.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is so full of great stories that I couldn't pick one. I really miss not having a booth there anymore but after 13 years, I have many great memories to keep me company the first weekend in May. My celebration of the festival was to dye more yarn. The fashion reports say that this fall's basic color will be brown sp I did 3 colorways of semi solid browns. This is Milk Chocolate.