In this wondrous world.
A myriad of stunning plant species.
Give their subtle hues to my hand-dyed yarns.
~The Gentle Soul.
In my article Find and Review a Homesteader's Shop. Homegrown and Handmade Dried Flower Arrangements by Idyllwild, I introduced you to the Homesteaders Co-op, here at Steemit as well as one of the Vendors at the Co-op, Idyllwild and her homegrown and handcrafted dried flower arrangements.
The Homesteaders Coop Store.
The Homesteaders Co-op is a community marketplace where homesteaders around the world offer their handmade and sustainable goods in exchange for USD, STEEM and SBD. Homesteaders Co-op.
In this way, the Homesteaders Co-op Store is bridging the gap between conventional money and an alternative economy where both the producer and the consumer of goods, hold economic sway. Homesteaders Co-op.
The Homesteaders Co-op website now has:
- 22 vendors from all over the world: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal and the United States. Handmade Heart Art.
- Offering just under 140 different products that include honey, plants and seeds, eBooks on raising chickens and worm farming, beer bottle candles, floral art sculptures and wood decor, dreamcatchers and wreaths, organic herbs, tinctures and oils, vegan soaps, creams and salves, hand-dyed cotton and wool yarns, clothing, sea glass and silver jewelry, wallets and accessories, handmade paper sheets and tags, journals and diaries, colouring books and stickers. Handmade Heart Art.
Product Review after Shopping at the Homesteaders Co-op.
And now I'd like to present a Product Review of another product on the Homesteaders Co-op for the Contest: Product Review after Shopping at the Homesteaders Co-op.
The Vendor: The Gentle Soul.
The Gentle Soul's online store at the Homesteaders Co-op is so beautifully designed. The header image instantly shows you the variety of plants and the mordants that are used to give their natural colouring to different textiles: Wool yarns and other fabrics.
The Product Page: A skein of Hand-dyed Wool Yarn.
Each skein is 137 yards in length and ideal for number 10 and 11 knitting needles or 6mm to 8mm. The Gentle Soul: Overview.
The Product: A skein of Hand-dyed Wool Yarn.
The soft green tones of The Gentle Soul's wool were created by dyeing the wool yarn with black hollyhock flowers which were harvested from a farm in Washington. The Gentle Soul: Overview.
The uniqueness of natural dyes.
Natural colors derived from organic dyes are one of a kind and can have slight variations in each skein. The Gentle Soul: Overview.
From just one plant, many shades can be possible. Hollyhock produces various shades of greens as well as blues. These three variations of hollyhock dye were achieved by using different 'fixatives' after the yarn had been dyed such as vinegar (acidic) and soda ash (alkaline). The Gentle Soul: Overview.
My purchasing experience.
Details of purchased a skein of Hand-dyed Wool Yarn produced by The Gentle Soul.
- January 13, 2019: I created a Homesteaders Co-op Account and placed my order for one skein of soft green Hand Dyed Wool Yarn dyed with Hollyhock.
- January 13, 2019: I immediately received a Welcome email giving me all the details of how to access my account area in order to view my order.
- January 13, 2019: I received a Notification email that my order had been received and was on-hold until my payment had been confirmed. I was thanked for my order and given the details of what I had ordered: Hand Dyed Wool Yarn - Hollyhock and the details of the Vendor: The Gentle Soul with the order number and date of the order (January 13, 2019.)
- January 15, 2019: I received a Notification email that my payment had been confirmed and that my order was now being processed.
- January 19, 2019: I received a Notification email that a note had been added to my order: Providing the Shipping provider: USPS International First Class, the Shipping number and the Shipped date. (January 15, 2019.)
- January 19, 2019: I received a Notification email that my Homesteaders Co-op order had been marked complete on the Homesteaders Co-op side.
The Package.
When I first saw the package, I wondered what it was. Before opening it, I looked to see who the sender was and suddenly realized it was from Ann, The Gentle Soul. I was so excited. My Hand Dyed Wool Yarn had arrived in just under two weeks. Such an AMAZINGLY fast service.
The Hand Dyed Wool Yarn.
I quickly opened the package to find that my Hand Dyed Wool Yarn had travelled all the way across the Pacific Ocean from Oregon in the United States to Sydney in Australia, completely unscathed.
I delighted in the colour of the wool yarn. It was a really close match to the photographs displayed on The Gentle Soul's store on the Homesteaders Co-op. A soft and muted green: But even more magical than the photographs because unlike commercially dyed wool yarns with their consistent colour batches, this wool had different nuances of soft muted green. The wool was also beautifully bound with natural jute and completed with an elegant signature card.
Unraveling the Hand Dyed Wool Yarn.
Unlike other wools that can sometimes be course or slightly prickly, this wool felt so soft and the almost meditative action of unwinding it to form a ball of wool was most enjoyable.
Unravelling.
I didn't have a chair with a back to hold the skein in place while I rolled the wool into a ball. And it wasn't long before the wool inevitably became quite tangled.
I was reminded of a book I had read shortly after coming to Sydney: Reshad Feild's The Last Barrier.
Somewhere in his travels, he encounters a young woman who is completely and utterly mesmerized by untangling a skein of wool. I can hardly remember anything else in the book ~ Yet that one image really stands out. Strange how images come back to you like that.
Although it was enjoyable weaving in and out of the yarn, eventually, unlike the young woman in Reshad's story, I cut off the small ball that had already formed ~ And started knitting.
I haven't knitted anything for a very long time and so before plunging into making The Hat, I made this small sample of 21 stitches using 7 mm needles. Like riding a bicycle, once you've mastered the wobbles of your childhood, it all comes back quite naturally.
Wool and Feathers.
I loved the shape and the lines the wool was forming. The creative photographer wanted to play now and placed some wild duck feathers onto the wool.
And keep playing.
If there hadn't been a deadline for this Contest, I would have braved what must have been one of the hottest days we've had so far this summer and found some flowers to add to this arrangement.
And playing.
Completely bewitched by the way the wool was unwinding now so gracefully.
Until finally the wool has been wound up into a very solid ball
Knitting.
There are a number of reasons why I decided to buy a skein of The Gentle Soul's Hand Dyed Wool Yarn. One of them being that I have a weakness for pale muted greens.
Another reason was that because I love to spend time out-of-doors in winter, I need some really warm accessories so I won't get too cold this winter. And after looking at hand-knitted natural wool hats at our local Organic Farmers' Market last winter ~ And the price tags on them ~ I'd already decided that I needed to buy some wool and knit my own hat and leg warmers.
The Gentle Soul sources sustainable fibers as much as possible and only uses the best quality materials in her products. Her Hand-dyed Wool Yarns are super soft and 100% wool.
The natural softness of wool fiber combined with a heavier weight makes this yarn a wonderful fiber for knitting wool garments and accessories. The Gentle Soul: Overview.This is my little sample close up now. Have to admit I'm feeling rather proud of it right now. However now that I've shown it to you, I'll undo it and start knitting The Hat.
Hanging paper baskets/containers.
And while I've been unravelling wool, I've been visited by a few other ideas for what to do with this wool.
One of the products I've been making in preparation for stocking my own store on the Homesteaders Co-op is a range of small baskets/containers made of Japanese Rice papers embedded with natural elements.
I'd already make this small container which could be used to hold feathers or pencils or a dried flower arrangement. But it still needed 'something.'
The colour of the wool yarn was a perfect match for the pale green lichens embedded into the Rice Paper. And the holder can now double as a hanging basket.
Same basket. Different angle.
A nice surprise for anyone who can tell me what recycled object was used to make the frame/structure of this basket.
Going back to the reasons why I wanted to purchase a skein of The Gentle Soul's Hand Dyed Wool Yarn. The main reason was to verify that it was possible to receive a package from an individual in the United States to Australia.
My experience has affirmed that it IS possible to receive mailed products, intact, through international post, in a relatively short time frame. And as a 'would-be' Vendor the prospect of me sending small objects through international post, isn't nearly as intimidating now as it had been.
Homesteaders Co-op Fundition.
The Homesteaders Co-op was given birth to through the dedication, talent and energy of Idyllwild and @sagescrub
Vendors and others in the Steemit community can now support the development of this worthwhile and much-needed community project through Fundition. Details can be found at Communities, Onboarding and Gift Economy: Fundition Proposal for Homesteaders Co-op.
This article has been presented for the Contest:
Product Review Product Review after Shopping at the Homesteaders Co-op.
Conducted by @sagescrub
Photography: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
As well as @idyllwild and @sagescrub
Posted from Earth ♥︎ Sand ♥︎ Water ♥︎ Ice with SteemPress : http://www.allyinspirit.info/2019/02/12/contest-product-review-skein-of-hand-dyed-wool-purchased-from-the-gentle-soul-at-the-homesteaders-co-op/