Hey everyone - we have a new kid on the block - it's Joni Olmstead! Joni will be doing some of our teaching and working in the shop a few days each week. I thought I'd sit and knit with Joni and get the scoop.
E: Joni, how long have you been knitting?
J: Since I was about 12, oh.... you guess.
E: What other fiber pursuits interest you?
J: All of them - next on the list would be spinning, crochet, beading, weaving and dabbling in whatever comes along my way. I always like to try something new, that's for sure!
E: What's your favorite fiber?
J: Merino.
E: Favorite color(s)?
J: The brights - the hot pink, the orange, the yellows.
E: Favorite thing to knit?
J: Lace and socks - I always have a pair of socks going. I'm afraid to count my sock stash!
E: What have you liked about Village Yarn and Tea so far?
J: Ohh.... everything. The calm atmosphere, this is how it would be if I owned my own yarn store. Comfortable to hang out, the yarn and the tea, and the people are great.
E: How many tattoos do you have?
J: Five. If you're really nice to me, I'll let you see my sheep :)
Come in, and get to know Joni - she's a lot of fun!
So, you want to know what this interesting pile of wood and fiber is? Well, this is but a small amount of new VYT staffer Joni's spindle and handspun stash! If there's a spinning gadget in the world, she'll find it and learn to use it. Beneath the Balkan, Lollipop, takhli, handmade bead, Navajo, Akha, Tibetan and Russian lace spindles is an attache charkha. It's a really fun machine invented originally by Gandhi so that the Indian people could always be productive, spinning their own yarn in their moments of downtime. Also living at Joni's house are four spinning wheels (okay, one doesn't work, let's be fair), three more charkhas, many more spindles and a partridge in a pear tree. Oops, wait - that's two fiber-producing cats (yes, she spins kitty!).
In honor of Mother Earth, we are marking down all of our organic fibers AND teas for the week of April 21st through 27th by 15%! We love our organic fibers and think you will too.
What is Evilla? It's another yarn that comes from Estonia. We heard about it when Ruth Sorensen was here in February. There are two types that we are carrying: the 8/2 or shetland weight, and the preyarn, which is an unspun "yarn" that you can either spin finer or knit at a worsted gauge. It's also supposed be great for fulled items - bags, mittens and the like. 
Hey everyone - we have a new kid on the block - it's Joni Olmstead! Joni will be doing some of our teaching and working in the shop a few days each week. I thought I'd sit and knit with Joni and get the scoop.
