KILDARE YARNS

A Yarn Store in Boise, Idaho USA.. Inspired by St. Brigid of Kildare

  • I just Scored Three Fleeces of Local Romney Wool!

    I just Scored Three Fleeces of Local Romney Wool!

    3 fleeces

    So I have a good friend who has a neighbor who has three Romney sheep. They are getting shared today. I need to find a way to get out there and back up the wool, and then I will have to clean it and process it and dye it. 

    I’m talking to Catalyst about teaching workshops in Wool preparation, like the one I took at the Trailing of the Sheep Festival a couple years ago. I also was promised some local Llama wool sometime this summer. The person who owns the llama says he usually throws away a drum full when he has the shearing done. What a waste!

    A guy shearing a sheep

    Not only are these sources local, but they are from creatures who I know are treated ethically, because the 3 sheep and the Llama are pets who I am sure are spoiled. Gizmo was like that.

  • Planning Next Kit

    Planning Next Kit

    I’ve ordered the yarn for the prototype for my next knitting kit, and it’s going to be a baby blanket!
    This choice was inspired by me finding a super-soft milk-cotton & rayon yarn that I really want to try out. It comes in 88 colors, so I was some time making up my mind, but I finally settled for the colors in the picture above. I’m not sure what the pattern will be, but I think I’m going to make it simpler than the last one, more beginner-friendly and faster to knit. Babies are time-sensitive after all; we wouldn’t want them to be graduating from college by the time their blanket is finished.
    I will update you as things come together. At some point I will offer pre-orders as I did with the last kit, at a significant discount from what you would pay if you waited.

  • Lace Shawl Knitting Kits are Ready to Mail

    Lace Shawl Knitting Kits are Ready to Mail

    My first knitting kits – CHECK IT OUT!!!

    I finally finished putting these kits together and they are now ready to mail out. What took the most time was creating the prototype for the pictures. I was pleasantly surprised when I finished to discover that the curved ends of the crescent dangle in curlicues on the sides when worn!
    These will also be available at Catalyst in Boise, along with my handspun yarn and dyed wool.

  • Brilliant Blue Yarn is on the Way

    Brilliant Blue Yarn is on the Way

    I’ve started spinning that huge stash of brilliant blue yarn that I spoke of in a previous post and I’m excited to see how it turns out.
    I finished 2 hanks of multi-color yarn last week and these are at Catalyst.

  • My Future Yarn Store

    My Future Yarn Store

    I envision buying a tiny house and setting it up on some cheap land – maybe a corner of a parking lot. I can store excess inventory in our garage or a rented storage unit. No the picture above is not it–but it could be!

  • Shawl Design

    Shawl Design

    So here’s the main feature of the shawl knitting kits I’m building. I’m about 2/3 finished with the prototype. The recurring motif is a Brigid’s Cross rendered in yarn using lace and cabling. I hope to have these ready to sell before the end of March. The next kit will probably be of socks.

  • First Knitting Kit – a Triangular Shawl honoring St. Brigid

    First Knitting Kit – a Triangular Shawl honoring St. Brigid

    I’m busy working on the prototype for my first knitting kit, so there’s no photo of it yet, but I decided to work on the packaging and I’m rather pleased with what I came up with.
    The kit will be for a triangular knit lace shawl, and the primary design feature will be repeats of a Brigid’s Cross pattern that I worked out.

    In case you’re wondering, Brigid is fairly important to me. She’s my patron deity whose influence I strive to manifest in the world. Brigid is my chosen middle name. Moreover, Kildare Yarns is named for Kildare Abbey in Ireland, where monks and nuns were said to have held equal status, and where an illuminated manuscript might have once existed which rivalled the famous Book of Kells.
    An Irish legend tells of how Brigid was “accidentally” made a bishop. I believe it’s likely that she legitimately was a bishop. You see, the Church in Ireland at the time was not as obedient to the Church in Rome as the latter would have liked. There were many letters from Rome to Ireland reminding them to stop ordaining women as priests. Considering the great influence Brigid had, it’s not hard to imagine her earning the status of bishop the normal way, by first becoming a priestess.

  • Blue Wool

    Blue Wool

    I have a pile of brilliant blue Gizmo wool that I dyed. I can’t sell it with the rest of my wool because it has more vegetable matter in it than I’m happy with. I washed it one more time and have been trying to pick more of the twigs and leaves and such out, but it’s still not quite sellable.

    I think I am going to comb it and hopefully get most of the vegetation out. Then I’ll spin it into yarn and sell it that way.

  • My Wool will be Available at the Catalyst Store Dec. 1st!

    Yesterday I spoke with Brittny at Catalyst, and we worked out a contract where I will be having products in the store for at least the next 6 months, starting on December 1st. I am so stoked! I will be volunteering and running the store on Tuesday afternoons.Initially, I will be selling my rolags that I made a couple years ago. Today I spent several hours rolling them into little spirals and wrapping them with ribbon. I have some labels coming from Temu with my logo on them that will be attached to each of these. I am also going to put my dyed wool into little bags – a half ounce each – and sell those that way.Everything with Catalyst seems to be moving quickly and without, and I consider that a good omen.

  • Conversations with the Folks at Catalyst

    I just spoke to Candy, the owner of Catalyst, today. She was very receptive about all my ideas for teaching classes and hosting a Fiber Arts group there. Now I just need to solidify my plans. My first class will probably be basic knitting, and it will start in 2 months at the earliest, so mid January?

    I also spoke to Brittany who runs the store at the front. I plan to put my dyed wool there for sale, and put knitting kits together when I’ve raised enough money to buy the materials.

    So much to think about, but I’m feeling really hopeful. It seems like things might be moving in the right direction.