Introducing the "Mia" Blanket - fine unbleached linen and local alpaca
Hands to Work Textiles aims to bring you the highest quality handwoven goods, and one of the things we do to achieve this goal is to use the highest quality raw materials we can find. Up until now have all of our materials have come from abroad, but we have been keen to find a locally produced yarn that suited our needs for beauty and durability. Enter Woodcock Farms of Belchertown MA and their flock of llamas and alpacas!
Last year Emily stumbled upon a batch of Woodcock Farms alpaca singles (meaning one strand, not plied) yarn that struck her as just right for weaving. It was made from one particular alpaca, an animal named Mia, with just a touch of merino wool (5%) thrown in to help the spinning process.
This undyed yarn was a glorious chocolate brown and turned out to be just perfect to combine with a fine, unbleached linen for a new line of throw blankets. These blankets are absolutely spectacular, thin but warm, with a wonderful drape and luster. And with only 4 are available, The "Mia" Blanket is a small batch even by HTW standards!
The proprietor of the farm, Hilary Woodcock, is an avid knitter and weaver herself and has many years of experience both with the job of raising fiber animals and also with the process of working with small batch mills to get fleeces processed to her specifications.
We are thrilled to be able to collaborate with Hilary and her flock to produce heirloom quality handwovens incorporating local fiber spun at local mills. We expect these new designs to be available in early 2020, as the fleeces are just being sent off to the mills now. We hope that you are as excited as we are about this new venture! Stay tuned!
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