Barnyard Yarn
Rosita Westhouse
We offer small batch hand-dyed yarns in several different weights, as well as BFL wool yarns sourced from our backyard Blue Faced Leicester flock. We have a dazzling collection of beautiful yarns, ranging from spring hues of gentle gorgeous colors, vibrant summer shades to earthy natural tones of fall and winter. No matter your project, you are sure to find the right yarn for your knitting, crochet or weaving project!
Barn Yarn Animals are cute and quirky cat toys made of hand knit wool. They come in lots of fun animal shapes from sea creatures to barnyard animals to cartoon characters, and are stuffed with premium catnip.
We raise certified organic Border Leicester Romney sheep in the Champlain Islands of Vermont on our first-generation family farm, along with cows, chickens, and lots of beautiful produce! Our sheep graze on our lush pastures in the summer, and spend winters in the barnyard with our children, which is why they have such soft fleeces! Our yarn is spun right here in Vermont at Green Mountain Spinnery. We naturally dye over our darker wool to create the rich, jewel-tone colors you see.
Cute knitted barnyard animals filled with premium catnip. These are made of 100% in the Northern Highlands of South America by descendants of the Inca Indians. Assorted animals and colors, no two are the same! Average size is 3.5 inches long.
Barn Box is a unique yarn and pattern subscription that delivers natural heritage breed or specialty blend yarns to knitters who love surprises and getting your needles on something a little different. Each bi-monthly shipment comes with a custom spun or dyed squishy skein and your choice of a designer-selected pattern to showcase it perfectly. Learn more about how Barn Box works here!
Barn Box includes Bare Naked Wools signature lines, as well as brand new custom-spun offerings. All of our yarns are small batch, artisan offerings and never mass produced. There will be plenty of all-natural, undyed skeins, so you can truly enjoy the difference "knitting naked" makes...but just to keep things interesting, the occasional pop of gorgeous color will be coming your way too.
All yarns are carefully curated for uniqueness and quality by a lifelong knitter, well-known designer, and Knitspot founder, Anne Hanson. Anne will also be using her design expertise to personally select the knit patterns that are part of your subscription...
Oh, the possibilities! Each shipment will include a free knitspot pattern- just choose any of your favorite and cast on! Your knit choices will come from the existing 500+ patterns in the Knitspot Design Portfolio, as well as new releases if or when they're available. Every pattern is professionally tech edited with crystal-clear written and charted instructions. You will also receive a Barn Box Pattern suggestion for the yarn, however you are free to choose any pattern you'd like.
LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Since all Barn Box yarns come from small farms and mills, sign-ups are truly limited to allow for planning each surprise. We frequently are sold out, but check back or sign up for our email list to know when spots are open. Barn Box will automatically renew for your convenience, but there is no long-term commitment. If you ever need to cancel, we simply request 30-days notice.
The Barn Box pattern collection will be emailed to members around the 17th of the shipment month. Orders placed after 1st of the current shipment month will begin shipping the next shipment month
- Skeins: are typically 3.5-4 ounces. Yardage varies. Super-premium yarns may be sent as smaller skeins. Every shipment will provide enough yardage for knitters to complete at least one of the featured projects. There is just one shade of yarn available; substitutions are not possible.
In fact, I have recently discovered yarn farming was an occupation of my fourth-great-grandmother. Around the year 1820, her husband was killed, leaving her alone with seven small children. She kept a flock of sheep for fiber animals and took in weaving to support herself until the children were old enough to help her work a full-scale farming operation. So you might say fiber farming goes right down to my roots.
The first step of yarn farming is determining what breeds you are interested in, and then establishing relationships with quality breeders in your area. I chose the Shetland sheep breed due to its hardiness, the fineness of its fiber, and the variety of natural colors available. I found a reputable breeder in my area to make arrangements for a farm visit. Every breeder reaches a point where he or she needs to choose which animals to keep for their breeding program and which animals to cull. They are perfectly healthy animals, but may have body conformation issues that the breeder finds undesirable. For instance, they may be slightly cow-hocked, or their ears might hang too low. These are minor issues most of us never notice, but a big deal in the show ring.
After shearing, the wool is skirted, a process very similar to watching a monkey groom its mate. Once all the vegetation and dung are removed, the wool is ready for processing. There are fiber mills where you can send your fleeces and they do all the work for you, even going so far as to spin the yarn. It does, however, add to your expenses, and there is generally a four-to-six-month waiting list. The other option is to process the fiber yourself. To do so, you first must wash the fleece to remove the dirt and lanolin. There are many methods, but I find the easiest way to do this is in the washing machine:
There are a variety of tools available to process the washed fleece, and each one has its merits. Like humans, some animals keep themselves cleaner than others. For the filthy or double-coated animals, double-row fiber combs work best. They are the most tedious to use, but can separate the fiber and remove all the vegetable matter. For nice, clean, single-coated fleeces, hand cards can be used to make rolags, or a drum carder can be used for making roving or batts.
I may not make the Fortune 500 by farming this way, but it is a simple and honest life that suits me. Every day I am reminded where I came from and to be grateful for the luxuries living in this century provides.
Christine Byrne owns and operates Front Porch Indiana Fiber Farm and markets her fiber through social media platforms and through her Front Porch Indiana blog. She raises Shetland sheep, huacaya alpacas and llamas.
Lion Brand Yarn Company is a fifth generation, family-owned business. Lion Brand yarns are sold online, at craft chains, discount chains and independent shops across the United States. We are passionate about helping people enjoy the pleasures of working with yarn.
Barnyard (also known as Barnyard: The Original Party Animals) is a 2006 animated comedy film produced by Nickelodeon Movies and O Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is produced, written, and directed by Steve Oedekerk, and stars the voices of Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Andie MacDowell, Tino Insana, John DiMaggio, and David Koechner. It tells the story of Otis, a carefree cow (actually a male bullock with udders) who learns the value of responsibility when he becomes the leader of his farm home's community after his adoptive father's death from a coyote attack.
Barnyard began development in 2002 and was released in the United States on August 4, 2006. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $116.5 million worldwide against a $51 million production budget. It was continued into a television series called Back at the Barnyard, which aired on Nickelodeon and later Nicktoons for two seasons.
Otis is a carefree cow who lives on a farm where the animals are anthropomorphic when humans are not watching them. Instead of following rules and accepting responsibility, Otis prefers to have fun with his friends Pip the mouse, Pig the pig, Peck the rooster, and Freddy the ferret, to the disapproval of his adoptive father Ben, the farm's leader. One evening, Otis convinces Ben to cover his night watch so he can attend a massive party in the barn and impress Daisy, a pregnant cow who recently arrived at the farm with her best friend Bessy as newcomers. Before Otis leaves, Ben tells him he saw the stars dance the night he found him as a calf. As the animals party, Dag the coyote and his pack attempt to raid the chicken coop. Ben fends them off alone, but is fatally wounded and collapses. The lead hen Etta rushes back to the barn to notify Otis; he finds Ben in critical condition and he dies in his arms, making Otis feel guilty and heartbroken for not being there for him.
Ashamed, Otis decides to abandon the farm, but relents after learning that Dag's pack has taken several hens including Etta and her young daughter Maddy during the day behind his back. Encouraged by Miles, Otis sets out to confront Dag alone at his junkyard den. Dag's pack overpowers Otis, but his friends arrive to fight alongside him. Together, they rescue the hens along with Maddy and drive off the coyote pack, while Otis warns Dag to never threaten the farm again. The animals hijack motorcycles and hurry back to the farm, where Daisy gives birth to a calf named in Ben's memory. Otis vows to protect the farm as his father did before watching the stars form images of him, Daisy, and young Ben dancing together.
Additional voices were provided by Keith Anthony, Julianne Buescher, William Calvert, Chad Einbinder, Leigh French, Eddie Frierson, Nika Futterman, Nicholas Guest, Archie Hahn, Katie Leigh, Christie Mellor, Jacqueline Pinol, Phil Proctor, Justin Shenkarow, Lynne Marie Stewart, Audrey Wasilewski, Claudette Wells, and Seth Rogen (uncredited).
Paramount Pictures released Barnyard in the United States theaters on August 4, 2006.[1] It grossed approximately between $116.5 million and $118.6 million at the worldwide box office, against a budget of $51 million.[4][1]
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