I have lots of ideas rolling around in my head about this little shop called Little Dixie Fiber Co. Right now it's a way to support my growing flock of sheep. With a little planning and a lot of prayer and work, I'm hoping to grow and expand so that one day I can do this full time. After all, I'm going to need something to do once I retire from my other career, right? :)

I also must admit, this little shop has given me something to focus on since my mom's death 9 months ago. It's a distraction...therapy really. Creativity, in any art form...is something that fuels my spirit. As long as this is in God's plan for me, then that's what I will keep doing!
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It seemed only fitting to click a photo of this gorgeous Millspun Yarn with the very sheep it came from grazing in the background! All of our Millspun yarn from our Shetliot and Cheviot sheep finally arrived last week! I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. That also means there is more roving available for making dryer balls!

Just look at those gorgeous jewel tone colors! Perfect for fall!

A completely new offering are these bundles of Mini Skeins! Some bundles are 100% superwash merino sock yarn, and other have sparkle with 75% superwash merino, 20% nylon, and 5% Stellina fiber. All the bundles are hand painted or kettle dyed exclusively by Little Dixie Fiber Co.

Ive been busy dyeing all the yarn that we had come in. We have 100% superwash merino in an Aran weight that is super soft, 2-ply sport weight and single ply lopi style yarn from our own white sheep here at Little Dixie Fiber Co.

I will also have hanks of this luscious, natural colored, thick and thin bulky yarn available in a varied selection of lengths. This yarn is exclusively handspun here at Little Dixie Fiber Co.

Keep an eye out for this project! I kettle dyed some of the thick and thin bulky handspun yarn and decided to knit up a super snuggly cowl! I call the colorway beach glass. It's absolutely gorgeous and will be listed in my shop as soon as I finish it up! If you would like to make your own, I have plenty of the Undyed thick and thin handspun available as well as the jumbo double pointed knitting needles. It's a super fast project!

We are now offering 1 oz roving in a few colors. We will be adding more colors soon. 100% wool roving is great for many things, especially all sorts of felting projects. Want some colorful diy wool dryer balls? Or perhaps you want to get into making felted soaps? These hand dyed roving bundles will help add a little color to any project!

More wool dryer balls have been added in the shop. This time as 4 packs. We have also added 100% pure essential oils from Green Health which can be added on to any dryer ball order. We have many choices: Lavender, Sweet Orange, Rosemary, Wintergreen, Peppermint, Lemon, Patchouli, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus and Cedarwood.

We are now offering Easter Red Cedar sachets to help ward off those pesky moths from our precious yarn stash or stored clothing! The wood shavings were planed down from a log that had fallen on our farm. Smells amazing! Coming soon will be lavender sachets made from 100% pure organic lavender, grown and harvested in the USA! I have a feeling the small space here at Little Dixie is going to become extremely fragrant!

Check back often as we will be offering more Shawl pins as well as other color ways of yarn, including skeins from our very own Miniature Cheviots! I would also love to hear any suggestions or comments from you!

Blessings,
LeAnn

Remember those mini skeins that I finished dyeing last week? Well here is the project I promised to share with you. The contraption in the pic below is called a rigid heddle loom. And at this stage I was in the middle of warping the loom. The length of the yarn strands is roughly how long the scarf will be. I prefer my scarves extra long so I used an old crafting table to extend beyond the folding table.
To start, I tie off the first strand, feed it through the heddle (which is the board with the slots standing upright on the loom). Then I walk down to the peg and loop the strand around, and walk back to the loom where I feed another strand and repeat the process. I do this until I get my scarf the width that I desire. This loom is 28" wide, so that is my maximum unless I use a second heddle kit, but that's a tutorial for a different time.

once I am at my desired width, I take the end that is wrapped around the loop and I cut the ends so they are seperatee. I then tie the ends into one big knot and proceed to the loom and begin winding it up. Because that part was difficult to take photos of, here's a shot of what the yarn looks like after I have wound it onto the loom.

once I have it wound up, I begin to seperate one of the strands and feed it through the little eye holes. I do this for the width of the scarf.

I then take a small group of the yarn and tie the ends into a knot and secure it the the loom as seen below. I do this the entire length, trying to maintain consistency and tension.

Then I can begin weaving. I pass something called a shuttle boat through the yarn strands. It has yarn also wound onto it. The heddle, where the yarn is stranded through, moves up and down according to each pass. It's hard to photograph without both hands available.

I love the way the colors came out when we kettle dyed the yarn! It's always exciting to see how it will knit or weave up because the color will change.

Here is one of the mini skeins that got chosen for this project.

Here is the other color I chose to use. And you can see the boat shuttle as well.

Here is the scarf fresh off the loom.

And here it is completely finished. I like to twist the fringe so it stays nice.

I really love the way this turned out! The colors are lovely! The hardest part is deciding if I want to keep it for myself or sell it! Keep an eye out at my shop for this scarf and more like it in the upcoming months!