Thank you Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival!

A giant thank you to the organisers fo the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival for putting on such a fabulous weekend. Everyone was incredibly nice and I had a fantastic time meeting all the knitters, spinners, and weavers. Each wool producer there had beautiful fleeces -- it was incredibly hard to decide what to buy.

I will be posting links from a few of my favourites -- please be sure to check out their webpages and make sure you BUY wool from them. You will not regret it one teensy bit. Not only are their fleeces, roving, top, and yarns lovely, but the people who grow and make them are outstanding human beings.

What I loved best, besides the enormous show of craft talent? 3 blissful days of NO POLITICS. Besides the odd comment here and there, the show was a haven away from the media saturation frenzy inflicted upon the inhabitants of this beautiful land. I wonder if there is such a thing as media pollution? Can we get rid of it like rubbish? IN THE BIN.

More when I wake from my post-fest stupor!
m, back in Easton, MD

Silver Snowflake Wrap

Silver Snowflake Shawl in XIE from Knit 'N Style

It's hit the newstands: The latest Knit 'N Style, the big 11th anniversary issue, contains a brand new SIOz design via SWTC, the Silver Snowflake Shawl. This is a beginner project designed for the holiday season and uses 1 cone of the lovely SWTC Xie bamboo laceweight yarn.
The directions are written for laceweight, single thread, but the yarn can be doubled for quicker knitting.

Stitch info: the photographed stitch detail looks like a cat's paw, but it's not -- it's a lovely snowflake eyelet. The bamboo yarn has an incredible sheen and looks like silvery tinsel in the Gun Metal colourway. Be sure to use bamboo needles -- this stuff is slickery!

The first customer to order the Silver Snowflake Shawl kit gets free postage!

Happy knitting, crocheting, felting, spinning....
melissa, still in the US of A

Gearing up for Autumn Fibre Festival and...

Greetings from Easton, Maryland, USA -- after a fantastic time at the Garden State Sheep Breeders Show (NJ) and a trip back to Maryland, I'm gearing back up for the next wild fibre adventure:

The Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival -- I'll be there with BitsyKnits, sharing the knitting, spinning, crocheting, and all things fibre madness. The weather is supposed to be superb, and due to it's more southern locale, the autumn colour will still be fabulous. If you didn't get a chance to come by at Garden State, we'll be waiting to talk yarn, fibre, and just about anything else, when you stop by!

Mention you've read the SIOz blog and receive a 10% discount on all Stranded In Oz items.

What's up for the fest:

A new shipment of Nepalese lace wool is on the way, along with some fresh and outrageous colours of recycled sari silks. Again, SIOz sari silk is the best around -- more thinly spun and less sheddy than most and great for knitting a crocheting. Don't get me wrong -- I love the chunky/bumpy stuff, but prefer to knit with the thinner variety. And I'll have a re-stock of the unreal, blacker than black, sari silk. I've never seen anything darker. Pure evil and ready for HALLOWEEN!

Yes, that's right -- it's Halloween season in the USA and I've been indulging my love for anything black and orange. Uh-huh. This includes my love for pumpkins. And to celebrate, SWTC has released my latest sock pattern creation! (Soctober's Harvest Tofutsies Sock Club Sock) Thank you to SWTC and the fibre fanatics there for saying YAY to the pumpkin cable sock. I'm really proud of that stitch.

If you want to make some gorgeous pumpkiny goodness socks, please email me at:

strandedinoz AT gmail DOT com and we'll arrange for you to get your new SWTC Tofutsies Sock Club kit.

Thanks as always, to my partner Richard, Kaviare, and Vellan for minding the Port Adelaide Market for me while I wind my way around the US of A!