Happy 175th Birthday Michigan

On January 26, 1837, President Jackson signed a bill, officially making Michigan the nation's 26th state. That makes January 26th, 2012, our 175th anniversary.

We are very happy to join the celebration organized by Buy Michigan Now   You can go to this website and find events happening around the state in support of the anniversary.  There is also a link to officially join the event on Facebook and then invite your friends.

One of the things I love living in Michigan is the beautiful winter season.  Yes, it is cold and that is part of why I love it.  I can then more fully enjoy the miracle fiber -Wool.  It is natural that at Marr Haven we are celebrating Michigan's birthday with free wool felt pieces you will make by wet felting our Michigan raised fine grade wool roving.

You can make and take home a cat toy from organic, chemical free wool roving or a coaster for your coffee cup.  Come on out Thursday, January 26th, 2012 to at 11 am to 2 pm to learn more about Michigan wool and wet felting and help us celebrate.

The Twitter updates are posted with #Mich175

Yield to Mother Nature - Good News/Bad News

The good news is...this is January 11 and we have only had one snowfall this year.  New Year's Day we received about 6 inches at the farm.  The rest of the days have been very mild temps, mostly daytime 40's, with sunshine.  This is Michigan, this weather has been most unusual and appreciated.

The bad news, a winter storm is forecast to begin at noon tomorrow.  Since our first nuno felt scarf class was scheduled for 1 pm, I am yielding to Mother Nature and canceling tomorrow's class.  Fortunately we did have a 2nd class scheduled for Wed. January 25th from 1:00 to 3:30 pm also at the Pickle St School Studio. 

Maybe another good news could be for those who weren't able to plan for the first class, will be able to attend the 2nd class.  Sorry for the change but just let me know if you would like to be included on the 25th. 

Dyeing Scarves for Nuno Felt Class

This weekend I will be dyeing the silk gauze for next week's Nuno Felt Scarf Class. I'm thinking mostly pastels for the coming spring wardrobe. If you have a particular color you might like for your scarf background color, let me know and I will try to come up with it.

This is also a reminder to me that I should have noted "Pre-registration needed" at least, helpful. I want to make sure I have enough materials for everyone so if you are thinking about attending, please let me know.

I did add some driving directions from Allegan to the web page. I think you can also take the US 131 exit at Wayland ( 135th St), go west and the road makes a jog south and becomes 134th St.

January Class Schedule

Winter has arrived in southwest Michigan, the wind is blowing with probably 4 inches of snow on the ground. This is the time I like to have something to anticipate.

With that in mind, two nuno felting scarf classes will be held at the PICKLE STREET SCHOOL STUDIO Thursday afternoon Jan.12 and Wed. Jan. 25.

This is an example of a Nuno Felt Scarf.

The Pickle Street School Studio is located at 2980 134th Ave, between Allegan and Hopkins, Michigan. It is a working art studio located in scenic Monterey township offering a variety of art and enrichment classes.

The Nuno Felt Scarf Class will be from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. You will create your own one of a kind Nuno Felt Scarf (aka Laminated Silk Scarf) somewhat like the one shown above. The materials provided include a 10 inch x 60 inch silk gauze material, either hand dyed by me or white. Your unique design will be made with merino wool fibers and silk fiber. Class fee is $50 which includes all materials.

You may contact me though this blog, on Facebook, phone 269-673-8800 or by e-mail at mhyarn@marrhaven.com or contact Joy Richmond at 616-896-9090 to reserve your place. Class size is limited. This will be a fun and creative afternoon to brighten our winter. I am looking forward to it and hope you will as well. The Farmers Almanac forecast both dates with clear skies, are you ready to give yourself a gift?

Merino Wool Batt NEW YEAR SPECIAL

Many of us who love working with fiber will spend the New Year's weekend planning for more projects in 2012. We certainly want to encourage more felting and spinning activity. We created 2 SPECIAL Merino Wool Batt with a very special price, only $16.50 for 8 ounces of fluffy soft fiber. The batts are a blend of natural white merino and dyed merino, the first with dyed green has a minute amount of natural white mohair in it.

The second batt is a blend of natural white merino and dyed black. The blend has been carded so you can separate it in layers or divide in strips to get more of a solid color. Of course, the blending gives many shades of pure white to dark and in between heathers. Our web page shows a larger picture and you can order from there with our secure shopping cart.

We hope you have a very Happy New Year and that we may serve you often in 2012.

Ready for Christmas & Thinking Ahead

With a little more than a week until the birthday of our Lord, plans are in place to celebrate with friends and family - near and far away. I have also been planning for the annual winter hibernation with felting and knitting.

For knitting enthusiasts, hand dyed yarns like this skein just added to our website called Winter Woods, will help create those one of a kind warm woolen heirlooms.

By request a few of our standard worsted skeins and sport cones are now at Sharon's Quilts & More in downtown Allegan. A sampling of the hand dyed worsted skeins are there as well, including this new colorway of Mauve.

The felting plans for the coming months will unfold soon.

Entrelac Design - 4 new knitting patterns

If you are a fan of entrelac designs or are looking for a knitting challenge for one of your winter projects, you will love the patterns designed by Suzanne Pufpaff.

Suzanne has an excellent talent for combining pattern stitches and designs into truly wearable knitted art that will become an heirloom piece for you. She likes to use photos, schematics and charts as well as row by row direction to make sure each pattern is easy to follow; most of her patterns are over 6 pages long. The following photos are her newest, bringing her total up to 12 with entrelac involvement to date.

This is a cute and very feminine tee top.

Must admit the shrug is my favorite of this group.

Although I also like the comfy look of this shawl.

Another tee top design, never can have too many.



All of Suzanne's dozen entrelac patterns are available for sale on our secure shopping cart for $5 each. Shipping fees are not applicable since the pattern is sent to you as a pdf in an email and you print it when you are ready. An added bonus to Suzanne's patterns is you can use any yarn, from hand spun to commercial.