Archive for July, 2011

13 July, 2011 | No comments

Smithsonian Community Coral Reef to live on in Davenport, Iowa

Those sea creatures many of you crocheted for the Smithsonian Community Reef exhibit, part of the museum’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit, are no longer on display here in Washington, but we were delighted to hear that they will soon be back in public view! Jennifer Lindsay, the Smithsonian’s coordinator for the community reef, informed us that the exhibit is headed from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) to Davenport, Iowa, where it will be lovingly reinstalled for a five-year display at the Putnam Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate.

Jennifer says, “The Putnam Museum plans to resurrect as close a replica as possible of the Smithsonian Community Reef just outside their Ocean Experience exhibit hall, where it will be used to teach thousands of school-aged visitors about the importance of ocean conservation. We are all incredibly excited that this spectacular piece, initially made possible by our partners—Quiksilver Foundation, the Embassy of Australia, and the Coral Reef Alliance and, of course, by the generosity, dedication, creativity and enthusiasm of all of you—will live on to delight and educate new audiences. I do not think any of us could have dreamed when we started this of a more wonderful outcome for all of our crocheted corals, and I am indebted to the energetic and tireless staff in the Office of Exhibits at NMNH, the Putnam Museum, and the Institute for Figuring for making an ongoing display of our community’s creation a reality!”

Check out www.putnam.org and www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/communityreef.html for details of the Putnam Museum’s installation and exhibition dates. Jennifer says the Smithsonian will also be capturing some of your stories of making the Smithsonian Community Reef on the NMNH website. If you would like to submit your story or photo, you can contact Jennifer at sicommunityreef@yahoo.com.

7 July, 2011 | No comments

We couldn’t wait to tell you about Juniper Moon

We usually wait until it’s nearer the season to start talking about our new fall yarns, but we couldn’t resist telling you about a major new line we’re bringing to A Tangled Skein this year. It’s called Juniper Moon, and it should delight every fiber locavore because it’s from Juniper Moon Farms in Palmyra, Va., just outside Charlottesville.

We will be the only DC Metro–area stockists of the complete, farm-fresh Juniper Moon line, which includes:
•    Willa, a 60 percent merino, 40 percent superfine kid mohair blend in a bulky weight, with an ice cream cone twist. Susan Gibbs, proprietor of Juniper Moon Farms, says, “I wanted to make this yarn because so many knitters think they don’t like mohair. Superfine kid mohair doesn’t have any of the itch associated with lesser-quality mohair, it’s gloriously soft and has a lovely sheen.”
•    Findley, a 50 percent merino, 50 percent silk lace yarn that, at nearly 800 yards, comes in a ball rather than a hank so it doesn’t have to be wound. “The yarn is super smoothy, with a beautiful sheen,” Susan says. “It’s soft, doesn’t split and it feels amazing when it’s knitted up.”
•    Chadwick, a 60 percent merino, 40 percent baby alpaca single-ply worsted-weight yarn that comes in a 202-yard, center-pull ball. “This yarn is so special, so soft and so lofty that you may never want to knit with anything else,” Susan says.

Each line of yarns comes in 12 luscious colors and each features patterns by designer Tanis Gray. You can see all the colors by visiting Juniper Moon’s website at www.fiberfarm.com/new-yarn-line.