Longwoods Alpaca Farm, LLC

09/11/2026

This article is about last year’s inaugural fiber fair. I’ll be demonstrating round rug weaving on a peg loom at this year’s fair on Saturday 9/12. Others will be weaving, knitting, and even spinning on the old-fashioned large wheels. Sheep will be there for petting, too.

Open 10-4 at the historical society on Rt 130 in Bristol.

The inaugural Fiber Mill Fair was held at the site of the historic Pemaquid Mill in Bristol on Saturday, Sept. 13. The fair offered visitors an opportunity to learn about the area’s milling history and observe demonstrations of fiber arts.

09/09/2026

Two more hats off the needles and for sale at the Pemaquid Craft Co-op. The Blue Wave hat has two bands of morse code that say, “As Maine goes so goes the nation.” The red “Pemaquid” hat is the 5th in the series: same style; different color.

08/30/2026

Final batches drying: “Sumac”, “Miss Rumphius” (more blue, less purple than the “Dolly Parton”), “Atlantic Puffin”, “Salt Marsh”, “Muscongus Morning” and “Mussels”.

All together that’s 22 lbs of yarn dyed in 15 batches over 5 days headed for Pemaquid Craft Co-op here in New Harbor and Harbor Artisans in Southwest Harbor.

08/29/2026

Today it’s bulky and fi*****ng yarns drying. “LaVerna” and “Kelp”, along with this gorgeous unnamed purply pink. Can you help me come up with a Maine-related name for it?

08/26/2026

More worsted-weight and fi*****ng yarns drying on the back deck, headed to the Pemaquid Craft Co-op on Friday. Colorways are “LaVerna”, “Sumac”, “Pemaquid Borealis”, and “Rockweed”.

07/29/2026

I'm excited to announce that I have been accepted as a mid-season consignor at Harbor Artisans in Southwest Harbor. My hand-knit items and hand-dyed yarns will be available for sale beginning August 1st. A few of my hand knit infant/toddler garments are headed to the Northeast Harbor shop to test that market. They are both open through mid-October. If all goes well, I'll apply for full membership in 2027.

Harbor Artisans is an Artisan Cooperative, owned and operated by member artisans, located on Mount Desert Island in Maine. We have been on the Island for over 35 years, and now have 2 locations. All of the items in our shops are handmade in Maine by local artisans. When you buy from our cooperative....

06/12/2026

A few “Bristol” hats will be headed to the in a few days. They’ll be washed and dried first, to remove any spinning oil or residual dye.
I map out the letters and designs on graph paper to accommodate the number of stitches needed to cast on for worsted, Aran, or bulky yarns. Each hat is a little different.

06/01/2026

Another “Pemaquid” hat off the needles using the Yellowhead fi*****ng “Sweet Fern” yarn, tripled into worsted weight (see previous post). Washed, blocked, and headed to the Pemaquid Craft Co-op.

05/31/2026

“What IS this?”
This is a gauge swatch & sampler which showcases two ways to use fi*****ng-weight yarns. Why? Because unless I’m knitting a lacey shawl on large needles, I don’t much care for knitting fi*****ng weight yarns on tiny needles. However, if you go to my website, you’ll see I sell lots of different fi*****ng yarns as 3-ply worsted yarns when I knit hats. Whaaaat?

The top part of the swatch is one strand of Yellowhead fi*****ng yarn, knitted on a US 3 needle. The lower portion is the same yarn, but tripled into a worsted weight yarn using a US 7 needle. Rather than take strands from 3 skeins, I use one ball at a time and Navajo (aka chain) ply the yarn. You can google videos (how to turn 1 strand into 3 from the same ball of yarn).

You may also use this technique to create bulky yarns from sport and chunky yarns from DK.

Have fun!

05/27/2026

Two new colorways: Newcastle Sport “Sea Lavender” and Damariscotta Bulky “Making Waves” headed to Pemaquid Craft Co-op and online at www.longwoodsalpacas.com.