Our Passion for Fashion!

Life on a Diversified Family Farm

Despite the unprecedented cool weather and abundant rain, spring has sprung at WoodsEdge! Flowers, crias (baby alpaca and llamas) and yak calves are each welcomed with delight. The herds run and romp through the lush green pastures. Our grass fed beef are content and although our honey production is somewhat hampered by the rain, our hives are healthy and the bees enjoying the increased bee friendly plantings we have done.

  

Our alpaca and llama fleece harvest was done in late March and early April this year so we could get the fleece into manufacturing channels sooner, with some exquisite hand-spinning fleeces pulled aside for our upcoming annual Summer Stitch, Spin ‘n Sip on June 23. The yak soft down is still being harvested, but visitors to our Farm Store will be totally enthralled with the yak fiber, rovings and yarns we already have processed and ready to sell.

 

We welcome your visit to our Farm Store filled with the bounty our 90 acre diversified family farm produces. Please visit soon! We are open from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

Fashion Forward - Spring 2013

New York is abuzz as Fashion Week rolls into town! These runway shows symbolize the beginning of the spring! 

 

The Spring 2013 colors and styles are already well defined and are just now beginning to hit retail stores across the country. We thought perhaps a report on the fashion colors for Spring 2013 would help you – whether you are buying new clothes for yourself, products for a farm store or dyeing yarns and spring accessory items like we are.

It’s a good year to use those natural alpaca colors – particularly the beiges and light fawns, as well as silvers. You know, of course, that you can “create” your own silver by adding 10% black fibers to 90% white fibers. It is a perfect way to use what the alpaca industry has called “contaminated” grey or black fibers. Here at WoodsEdge we have been “creating” grey yarns since the late 70’s in sheep’s wool, as there were few light silver grey fleeces!

I particularly like to add my own signature to the beige or light fawn products by over dyeing with a pale pink Linen or soft Nectarine. I feel these over-dyed colors are more feminine, more saleable, and look better on more skin tones.

Handspun handknit shawl made from medium silver grey alpaca overdyed with a hint of blue.
Vintage WoodsEdge circa 1990's.

It is also definitely the season to over dye light silver grey. We are excited to have four new grey alpaca yarns to add to our repertoire this spring and look forward to over dyeing the pale silver grey as well as the variegated silver grey and soft brown tweed as soon as this arctic air mass dissipates. This is the perfect natural color to over dye to achieve the dusky blues, Grayed Jades and muted lavenders such as African Violet. In fact, many of the blues shown this season could be over dyed on pale silver. With blues being one of the easiest colors to wear by many different skin tones, it is sure to be the color you will want to stock up on if you are in retail.

The new bright colors on the scene are Emerald and Tender Shoots (aka chartreuse), which look fabulous with Monaco Blue or Dusk Blue. Poppy Red paired with white, navy or black continues to be a quintessential All American favorite.

News to Yak About

Brent, our head yak master here at WoodsEdge, just returned from the International Yak Show and Conference, held annually at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado. He had a great time, made lots of friends and bought the Reserve Champion bull along with a few other cows. Photos should be forthcoming on our new Tibetan Yak Foundation Female and Signature Sire pages, on our web site. It is not live yet, but keep checking - it will be soon!

Stock Yards at the 2013 National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO

Coincidentally, on Brent’s first day back at the farm, a new yak heifer calf born! It was a typical winter thaw January day in New Jersey with temperatures climbing out of the deep freeze to start snowing, then sleeting and gradually warming up enough to rain. After growing up in Iowa, New Jersey weather never ceases to amaze me after 40 years of living here!  

Fortunately, this mama yak was no ordinary cow. She is one of the infamous elite McRobert/Puckett yaks, who we affectionately call Boss Mama. She has earned her title respectfully as a stellar wooly Imperial who is a no nonsense mama and herd protector. A little funky New Jersey weather was not about to get in her way of birthing another outstanding wooly Imperial yak! Ollie, our resident yak whisperer, and caretaker of yak has done a marvelous job with taming this wild and wooly group from Nebraska! Hence it was no surprise to Ollie that Boss Mama chose the dry bedding in the barn to have her new calf. I am sure Jerry McRoberts (God rest his soul) never imagined one of his cantankerous cows choosing a barn to birth in, but then that is why we have always said the animals who are lucky enough to be chosen as WoodsEdge bloodstock come to the WoodsEdge Spa and Resort.

Boss Mama with her 2 day old calf.

We are happy to report that Boss Mama and her lively heifer calf that is up and running, are both doing fine! This calf takes its place as one of the elite few who earned the name as McRoberts’ BEST, out of his two best bulls that he sold to Tad Puckett along with this elite group of cows right before he died. Having known Jerry and his brother Wayne, and their wives Barb and Cathy (who was one of our first alpaca garment models) since the mid 1980’s, I am sure Jerry would be pleased his elite yak who were the love of his life (other than his wife and daughter Brooke) are in a breeding program that is determined to take Tibetan Yak to the next level.

Thanks Jerry! With every calf out of your breeding program, your name and reputation as the foremost breeder of Tibetan Yak in North America remains talked about! Brent and I are so grateful we have these genetic treasures in our herd.

Yakfully yours,

Linda Berry Walker & Brent Walker

Breeding Award Winning Fibers since 1976             

Life on the Farm in Autumn

 Ahhhhh….fall is finally here and now our busy season begins!

Our last blog was about what the Fashionista’s would do this year at the Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival. Despite the sticky weather on Saturday, the Festival was a huge success! Amy & Illumina won the Shepherd’s Lead class wearing an ensemble inspired by the fall colors. If you love the scarf that Amy is wearing, come visit the Farm Store as we hand dyed a few in the same color palate.  



All of the farmers markets are in full swing, until they sing their sweet swan song at the end of October or the weekend before Thanksgiving, depending on the market. We are at full tilt at the markets, as the weather has turned chilly and everyone is looking for our alpaca socks and blankets! Stop by a farmers market near you and see our selection of alpaca and llama wears.

As we have still not yet had a killing frost, my great gardener friend Leisa and I have been strategizing what we can save and what we have to put to bed until next spring. Amazingly we still have a fair amount of color in the gardens and Leisa’s addition this year of grasses has been spectacular. My favorite is graciella with her graceful plumes – sounds like a great name for an alpaca cria too! In our efforts to save as much as we could, Leisa decided to take Madame Gardenia home to her eastern sunlight breakfast nook. This year Madame performed better than any other gardenia that I have ever raised with prolific blooms all summer. Too our dismay, we learned gardenia’s are poisonous to cats and dogs, thus not a good choice for anyone with indoor pets. If anyone reading this has a greenhouse, or home without pets and a great eastern sunny exposure, let us know right away. We would love to give Madame Gardenia a new home.

Crias and little yak calves are being born. What a thrill!

We invite you to the farm to share the wonders of the fall season!

What will the Fashionistas do this year?

Around our farm, Amy is known as one of the two legged fashionistas, but there are quite a few four legged fashionistas as well.  Meet WoodsEdge Bright Ilumina, one of our best dressed suri llamas!

Last year Amy and WoodsEdge Causin’ A Commotion placed second in the largest adult Shepherd's Lead class to date. This year Amy and WoodsEdge Bright Illumina will be back to strut their stuff! With the help of fellow fiber aficionado, Ginger Clark, and WoodsEdge’s in-house fiber aficionados, this year's garments will surely impress the judges! Come cheer on these fashionisitas this Sunday around 1pm at the Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival. The Shepherd's Lead is a crowd pleasing class you won't want to miss. 

Click here to learn more about the Shepherd's Lead class.

Yakkity Yak - All About Yak Fiber

Our three Imperial Tibetan Yak cows pictured here, although true black to look at; actually produce a warm milk chocolate brown fleece. The yak fiber is short stapled, and ultra-fine like cashmere, but often compared to quiviut. They shed this precious downy fiber annually, with the shed complete usually by fall.

It spins into a fine soft yarn; making a lovely lace weight yarn. Depending on your preference you can spin yak on a light weight top whorl spindle or a supported spindle, or a high ratio spinning wheel.

Yak blends very nicely with other fibers. If you are going to blend by hand, use a similar staple length fiber like cotton, cashmere or camel down. Commercially combed tops are also a great way to try yak for the first time, and spin quite easily. My personal favorite is a 50/50 blend with Merino or Cormo, which changes the color to a lovely pearlescent grey with a rich patina. Perhaps the most surprising quality of yak fiber is the soft luster.

This coming weekend at the Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival, held at the Hunterdon County Fairgrounds on Rt 179 in Ringoes (directions -http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/depts/rutgers/2011-4HFair/directionsandmap.pdf) you will get an opportunity to purchase both the Imperial Yak down and white Royal Yak down, as well as the pewter colored yak/merino top. We are in Barn 3 – just look for the 10 ft Yak banner! Perhaps best of all, you will see Ginger spinning lace weight yak yarn on her top whorl spindle, and hear yak stories from Linda. For you knitters, we will have the first few skeins of yak/alpaca yarns for sale.

Come see us at the Festival and yakkity yak with us!

Just Hanging Out for the Holiday?

Whew, can you believe summer is almost over. Marked by a gorgeous full moon tonight, we were out rounding up alpacas. Always fun on a full moon!
 

But if you are just hanging out this weekend like our friendly farm kitten has taken to do – mouse hunting seems to have been cancelled for the weekend according to him.

We invite you to stop in Saturday or Sunday from 10 till 4. We have a bumper crop of crias in the store paddock who love to show off their racing skills. The yak that have been busily photographed all week, which means cookies galore, have enjoyed the attention, so hopefully if it is not too hot, you can see them grazing in the bird sanctuary. Perhaps you can spot Mop Top – our curly headed 4 month old calf. His mama, Boss Mama, has finally let him venture out from under her long black yak skirt.

The farm store is open on Saturday and Sunday, but not Monday. Even avid farmers need a day off! Hope to see you over the weekend. If not, thanks for your continued support!

Long Live the Country Fair!

Around our house the Fair is an annual tradition!

For me, there are a lot of child hood memories that revolve around the old fashioned country fairs. It was an event that my whole family looked forward to with great anticipation, as American as apple pie, and always marked the end of summer. Whether you lived in town and were taking your best pie or quilt to the Fair competitions or a kid bursting with enthusiasm to take their animals, washed and groomed to show off as their best, the Fair has always had something for everyone!

At WoodsEdge, we are proud to have participated in the Hunterdon County Fair since we moved here 30 years ago. The Fair has changed a lot over those years, and we are indeed fortunate to have such a beautiful new fairgrounds! Through the support of a team of dedicated farmers, and 4-H leaders the Fair is as it should be – a slice of rural American pie.

Brent Walker in 1994 taking a suri alpaca through an obstacle course.

We invite you to support the Hunterdon County 4-H Fair and keep it thriving for generations to come.

Stop by and see us August 22-26, 10am-10pm.  We are near Barn #2 - the Sheep Barn. Or look for one of the WoodsEdge vans!

For directions visit http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/4hagfair.htm 

Linda

Farmers Market Season is in Full Bloom!

For those of you who have not yet tried the Farmer Market experience, now is certainly the time to take a taste! We do 12 to 13 Farmers Markets each week (click here for the ones we attend), and know how much people love buying direct from the farmer.

You get the freshest of fresh, and can learn a lot about what you are buying first-hand from the farmers who produce the products. Most markets have a real old-fashioned, town-square community feeling to them, with farmers recognizing customers and customers knowing customers. It is a cool experience that is growing by leaps and bounds each season!

Since this is peak peach season here in New Jersey, everyone is busy with peach festivals at the markets and even though we do not raise peaches, we were asked to participate. So Amy, our resident Culinary Institute student, came up with the following peach sauce for our yak steaks.
 

 Enjoy! And thanks for helping keep the Garden State green and full of farmers!

The Last Dance – A Time Honored Tradition for Dyers

I took my first serious dye workshop in 1972 (that certainly ages me doesn’t it). I had been dyeing on my own, but was plagued by colors I didn’t know how to create, and I could find no one in Iowa who had any more knowledge than I did. Thus, I was very excited to learn about a week long course at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The instructor was Mary Frances Davidson, a petite ball of fire who was probably near 50 when I took the course. There were very little books published on Vegetal Yarn Dyeing at that time, but her little paperback book helped me to find her. I arrived on the Arrowmont campus as a poor college student with my treasure trove of cherished little hanks of yarn – all dutifully wound into small skeins using my hand and elbow as a niddy noddy (a skein winding device I did not yet own).

Mary Frances Davidson - Vegetal Dyeing Pioneer
 Photo Credit - www.lib.utk.edu/arrowmont/history_arts_founding2.htm

When I arrived, I very seriously told her I was there to learn how to create colors I did not yet know how to do, implying of course, that I was not a novice dyer.  When she queried what those colors might be I rattled off a short list, which I no longer remember, except for one. I wanted to learn to dye the iridescent green color on the back of a mallard duck’s neck. “Well!” she said, “You certainly don’t want much, do you”, as she picked through my stash of yarns I had carefully collected for this momentous week. Her skilled fingers quickly plucked the jewel of the stash – a beautiful glistening skein of brushed mohair.  “I’ll see what I can do”, she muttered as she walked off smiling.

As the week went by, I did learn to create many new colors, but kept an eagle eye out for my skein of mohair in all the dye pots. I lay awake at night wondering how she would do it, especially with the dyes that were there. On the last day, my hopes that she had dyed my skein were sinking, as I had never caught a glimpse of it in the dye pots or on the drying racks. As we were packing up our week’s worth of work in small skeins with copious notes, Mary Frances came over and said “Here, don’t forget this one!” I could hardly believe my eyes as she handed me the most beautiful skein of yarn in a dark green, just like the color on a mallard duck, the luster of the mohair adding the iridescent quality. “How did you do this? I want the recipe!” She smiled as she was walking away, and said, “You think about it for awhile, all the dyes were here in class.” Like the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz, she clicked her heels, and left the room, as I stood dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at the now empty dye pots and wondering how in the world she got that color. As the clicking of her heels receded down the hallway, I thought well that was a “last dance” I will remember.



Weeks worth of dyeing at the Arrowmont School. Cira 1972
 Photo Credit - www.lib.utk.edu/arrowmont/history_arts_founding2.htm

For years, the color remained as illusive as ever. Finally, when I was a full blown, professional dyer doing large orders for demanding fashion designers and had raised my craft to an art which allowed me to jury into the most prestigious craft shows in the tri-state area, I mastered the art of creating that wonderful color, but more importantly realized what she had done for me.  She left me a goal to work towards so I would keep dyeing, in search of new colors and new techniques.

I have shared that story with apprentices and at the many dye workshops I have taught through the years. Some of those students have looked at me horrified, and asked if I was going to do the same to them, as if I was with-holding information they had paid for. So I learned to be a little more subtle, and as I cleaned up left over bits of dyes accumulated during the dyeing session, I would make up a dye bath I have always called “ The Last Dance” or “ Until We Meet Again”. There is no recipe – just a reflection of the days of laboring over simmering pots and heated ovens, and the desire to constantly take the art and craft of dyeing to a new level.

Here are the photos of “The Last Dance” and “Until We Meet Again” from a week long dyeing session with my Floridian friend Ginger.

May you all have friends to dye with and may you never tire of searching for new and exciting colors and dye techniques!

Linda

Weekend Special on Socks!

Our harvest is complete and the WoodsEdge elves have begun to prepare for the holidays! You can help the elves by buying now instead of waiting until December and in return the elves offer some special discounts, so you can stock up and save! 

Stop by our Farm Store or see us at a Farmers’ Market near you for our weekend special! Head Sock Elf, WoodsEdge Oh My Oh My has a great offer on socks - buy 3 pairs of any socks get $1 off each pair.

Summer Stitch, Spin & Sip Success!

Our Annual Summer Stitch, Spin and Sip last Sunday was a great success! We had a large turnout of people, ranging from those wanting to learn to spin to accomplished knitters. We were all so busy having a spin -in, everyone forgot to get a photo of the group, but we did promise to show you the dyeing Ginger and I had been doing.

If you missed the Summer Stitch, Spin and Sip, be sure to put on your calendar the dates for the Fall Foliage Stitch, Spin and Sip - Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 pm October 14.

Tune in later this week as I thought you might also enjoy the story about what has inspired me to keep dyeing all these years.

Linda

Fun With Fiber

My dear friend Ginger, who is also a fiber enthusiast, is here for the week and we are having fun dyeing alpaca scarves for the fall! Our annual Summer Stitch, Spin and Sip gathering is coming up this Sunday, July 22. What I wanted to showcase was how much fun the dyeing process is.

So here's what the alpaca scarves looked like pre-dyeing.

Please note the floral pattern is old sheets cut up which we used for tie dyeing, and apparent in these photos. We will show you the final results at the Stitch, Spin and Sip.

And a big shout out to Jane - we miss you here dyeing with us. We are taking it to new levels!

Hope to see you all on Sunday for the Stitch, Spin and Sip!

Linda

American Haute Couture

Heirloom fabrics can tell the story of our lives .... Repurposing fabrics is something new to even my generation, let alone those younger, but not new to older generations who did so out of necessity. Thought all age groups might find this blog interesting! A time honored tradition has now become haute couture!

Linda

Our 2012 Fall Fashion Preview Email headliner read as follows:

"NY Fashion verdict is in from Harper's Bazaar! Your grandmother's closet will be at the top of your shopping list this fall with a retro mix of florals and lace, knit tweeds and shawls, fur accents and elegant embroidery, all making the sartorial cut."

No sooner than we had put this in print, a designer customer of over 30 years walked into our store. Actually it was the second time in two weeks, after not seeing her for at least 15 years. Life does get in the way, doesn't it?

Picture a slightly shorter Sara Jessica Parker - same high energy New York style, same passion for what she does. But this visit was different. She carried with her a sweater she had made from some of my vegetal dyed Romney yarns done 25 to 30 years ago. The variegated indigo dyed yarns reminded me of the blue denim ikat and tie dyed scarves I do today. The intricately knit pattern showcased a wonderful range of soft muted colors - really an exceptional sweater, but one she had outgrown years ago, lovingly and carefully stored away. The Romney yarn now felt harsh to me after discovering the softness of alpaca, suri llama and yak, but the intricacy of the knit and the wonderful play on colors was fabulous.

Today, she was bringing that sweater into the store to match it with alpaca hides - the new garment would be a knit fabric and fur vest - the knit fabric re purposed from the size 2 sweater which no longer fit her, although I am betting a gusset to expand it to size 6 would have done just fine. She planned to take the knit fabric and combine with pieces of alpaca fur into an outdoor, uptown vest. I marveled at how "on point" she was with the fashion gurus who set the trends.But then knowing her, why was I even remotely surprised?

The store was bustling with people, and as I often have to when being very busy, I tried to record a mental image of the sweater to mull over later. (My good friend Jen and son will tell you I am NOT a photographer!), but I am very color retentive, so mentally recording color is easy for me. As I write this blog, I am absolutely gaga over what possibilities exist when you tear into your cedar trunks and closets, and merge fabrics from the past with styles of the present.

So to all those of you who take the challenge - send us your photos of how you combined fabrics from the past with those of the present. The story is no longer about your family heirlooms, but about combining old with new. In New York, it's called American Haute Couture.

Yak Round-Up

The first day of our Fall Fashion Preview went very well, with garments leaving our Country Boutique to go on vacations around the globe. So exciting for us!
 

Perhaps, the highlight of the day was for the last group of customers who got to sit on the Event Barn porch and watch as we had a yak rodeo. One of the bulls got loose! Of course he was fairly easily persuaded to go to the female yak barn where there are numerous cute young heifers, but much to his dismay he found he was going to be kept separate from them. The audience enjoyed the yak round up -- after all where in the east do you go to see a yak round up!

After checking on the bull tonight, I just have one thing to ask ... does anyone know how to call yak casa housekeeping? I think he has done some serious rearranging to the bunks in the female yak barn!

 Livin’ life on a fiber farm!

Linda

A Visit to the Millinery Department

Welcome to our newest edition to our website…Our Blog!!

Here, you’ll read about news, happenings and history of WoodsEdge.  Happy reading…..

To all my friends who make hats and to all the many customers who buy our hats….this blog is for you!

Linda

I didn't grow up in the fashion mecca of the world, but even Ottumwa, Iowa had a fine women's clothing store. That must have been where my love for hats began, as I have vivid memories of visiting the Millinery Department with my grandmother. We'd ride the elevator to the third (and top) floor where the uniformed elevator attendant would solemnly announce "Millinery Department." Even as a child, one knew the Millinery Department was sacrosanct. The department was filled with tables displaying the latest fashionable hats; each perfectly perched on its own hat stand. Large oval mirrors sat on individual tables where each guest was guided to a seat.

Ms. Pauline Glover ran the department and always personally attended to each visitor, carefully placing a selection of hats on her seated customer's heads as if they were jeweled crowns, adjusting them to the perfect angle, anchoring them with a hat pin and gently advising which hat looked best with their coat or suit. Oval hand held mirrors were offered to view the hat from all angles. The chosen hat was carefully ensconced in its own hat box for proper storage and to carry home. It was a magical experience for a little girl, and one which made me feel more like a real-life princess than any other.

At the WoodsEdge Boutique and Farm Store, we strive to create an experience for our customers of feeling special. I'm not sure we're up to Ms. Glover's exacting Millinery Department standards, but I know my grandmother is smiling as she always told me on the elevator ride "there is nothing like a new hat to make you feel special."

The hats shown here are original and avilable in are Farm Store!

To learn more about what other pearls of wisdom I learned from my grandmother and how I applied them to keeping my passion alive for fiber, please read the article Nan's Shawl.