Brown Sheep Company has long been known for producing great yarn, but did you know. . .

Last week, we found the most wonderful pattern for a beautiful Thrummed Outer Vest.  After visiting with the designer,Lisa Ellis, we decided to feature her here and let you get to know her, too.  First, though, look at this gorgeous vest created with Burly Spun!  When designing this vest, Lisa tells us she was looking for a super bulky yarn that would be heavy enough to work as an outer vest but not so bulky that it would could only be worn in the harshest of climates.  She also needed a yarn that gave good yardage to keep this vest price affordable.  This vest uses as little as 1 skein (child's 12 mth size) and as much as much as 4 skeins for the size 2X.  She has since knit up 5 of these vests -- each one more exciting than the first!  Her vest pattern also comes with a You Tube tutorial link on "how to thrum".

The Brown Sheep Company Store has been open since it was added onto the mill in 1983.  It serves a great purpose in our community – it’s the only local yarn shop for about 100 miles!  The mill store stocks “seconds” from the mill; and patterns, books, needles and socks from other vendors.  A second is determined in many ways, such as if the dye is inconsistent through the yarn, if the color doesn’t match the color card, or if there are too many knots tied per skein.  We have chosen to only stock seconds in the store so that we continue our promise to not compete with our retail customers.

The benefit of living locally and being able to shop at the mill store is the price.  Seconds prices are roughly the wholesale price for a “first” skein of yarn.  Another benefit is

The third annual Scotts Bluff Valley Fiber Arts Fair was another huge success.  The excitement created by natural fiber enthusiasts in our region is so contagious!  It was a wonderful recipe