Christmas Open House, The Grainary, and Kromski....

We've been very busy here at the cottage for the past few months, but with the weather turning colder, we are slowly migrating inside for much needed catching up on things like blog updating!

There's so much to share, but with our annual Christmas Open House coming up on Thanksgiving weekend, I won't have much time in the next few weeks to post here. I will be catching up afterwards though.

The Grainary, as you know, is the mothership of The Spinner's Cottage. Located in the country near Wellington, OH. and started in 1990 as a shop to showcase Carol's stained glass, and moving quickly into integration with other home decorating merchandize, all handmade by either mom or myself. Eventually, we started carrying commercial retail items such as candles, primitive decorations and braided rugs that were made by a lovely operation in Kentucky.

But we prefer tradition and always opt to make our own inventory whenever possible. Several years ago, when I began weaving, we phased out the commercial rugs. Now, you can find my handwoven rugs, placemats, mug rugs, table runners and more displayed in our rustic and cozy setting.

Carol is still making stained glass pieces ranging from Christmas decorations for both the tree and table, to small windows and lamps. You'll find lovely angels, that make wonderful gifts for someone special, little stockings for the tree and much more. She also continues to take custom orders.

Aside from these two staple items, we continue to carry a small amount of primitive decorating items for the table, tinware, Keepers of the Light candles, and recycled bottle items such as cheese/serving plates and spoon holders. These are crafted by Carol as well.

A few years ago, my love of yarn took over my life. I have been crocheting since I was 4, and yes, I continued to crochet from the time I learned and still do today. My love of textiles began at an 8th grade field trip to Greenfield Village, where I witnessed weaving for the first time. From that time on I longed to own a loom and in 1985, the dream came true in the form of a Christmas present. A 4 harness Harrisville Design floor loom!

I now own more looms than I care to admit, and each one has its own purpose. For the most part, my weaving is rag rugs. I work on a vintage Union Loom, which was produced in the 1940's. These looms were originally used as therapy for returning soldiers, as weaving strengthened the coordination and muscle tone in wounded soldiers. I am drawn to the history of the Union loom, a simple two harness contraption that is built to produce rugs. I often wonder whose hands created on this loom before me as I switch shafts, throw a pick and pull back the reed.

But, I am off track here. I began telling you this as a segue into what lead me into spinning! It was the weaving. I had a desire to make blankets out of mohair yarn, but was finding it very difficult to locate a source for exactly what I wanted. In my research, I became intrigued with the processing of fiber itself and one thing lead to another and I began a small cottage processing mill. With that, I learned to spin and now even though I continue to process raw fiber for a select customer base, I primarily process for resale in The Grainary and on my Etsy at www.thespinnerscottage.etsy.com.

I also carry combed top for both spinning and felting and you can find a nice range of fibers to choose from including local alpaca to silk hankies all hand dyed by me.
Aside from that, I also dye a nice little range of yarns. You can find fingering weight to thick and thin yarns and on occasion some of my handspun.

I recently learned to knit and am excited to delve more into this craft this winter.
At this time, The Grainary is split just about in half between our regular items and the fiber.
We are also very excited to announce that we have recently became an official Kromski Dealer. We carry a small selection of spinning wheels and looms at this time and will be expanding in the future. Kromski is my favorite wheel so I was super excited to become part of the Kromski family!

On top of that, this is our 25th anniversary and to celebrate both that and the dealership, we are giving away an 8" Kromski Harp Forte Loom! Purchases made from The Spinner's Cottage, both online or at The Grainary qualify for the drawing which is being run in the Ravelry group The Spinner's Cottage. Simply post your purchase in the drawing thread and you are in. This giveaway started on Nov. 3rd and will run through December 31st.
Good luck!
~Vickie