Walnut Farm Designs

10/22/2026

Two new blends! This natural brown heather blend is really nice and soft with the silkiness of alpaca! This white blend is soft with the strength of Kid Mohair! I do love my alpaca sweaters, and especially my handspun alpaca sweater!

10/22/2026

You don't usually see lovely natural gray Wensleydale combed top! It isn't available every year because it takes a few years to collect enough to process from small farms. It is nice and soft. I think this combed top feels softer than the average 33-35 micron count that Wensleydale has. The staple length is only 4-5", which I was surprised at, since Wensleydale is a prized long wool, but that makes it easy to spin and blend with other fibers. I have 2 other natural blends I just listed as well! https://walnutfarmdesigns.etsy.com/listing/4601245903/wensleydale-wool-natural-gray-long-wool

10/22/2026

Candy corn ghost silicon needle stoppers just listed! I have had these and been too busy savoring the end of summer and fall to remember I had them and get them listed! I had the little smiley pumpkins too! Too cute! I do love these nice big, fun needle point stoppers. Easier on my fingers and they don't roll away like the little pointy, cone shaped ones we had! Plus......so cute!

10/21/2026

I don’t even know what to say…..if I should be worrying about myself, or what. I present a sock with 2 Fish Lips Kiss heels. 🫡🧐 I decided to sit outside for a little bit to enjoy the warmth of the sun and I thought I had to finish the 2nd heel of this sock. I just realized that both socks already have heels and I knit a 2nd heel on this one, above the first heel! I’m a little worrying about myself. 😵‍💫 I do not remember knitting 2 heels. I was at the dentist earlier this year and completely forgot having a root canal and needing to get the crown done. This is the 2nd time this year that I’m suddenly wondering about myself! I am chalking this up to having so many things on my mind to do!!! Yeesh! I’m going to go plant my garlic! If you grow garlic, late October to the very beginning of November is the time to plant. I’m just going to do it now because it is easy to forget and it be into November till I remember!

10/21/2026

I just realized I had these in my office, but not online or in the store! I have really cute candy corn ghost needle stoppers too, that I forgot I had and need to get pictures to list them! These are too cute with their knitted hats!

This Stitch Holders item is sold by WalnutFarmDesigns. Ships from Carlisle, PA. Listed on Oct 21, 2026

10/19/2026

Finished my Chicane Lite by Jimenez Joseph over the weekend. I made a few false starts on this sweater and ended up just acid dyeing the fingering/stellina yarn for it because I got scared that 3 skeins weren't enough for an oversized sweater for me, and wanted to make sure I had 4 skeins, in case! 3 skeins were plenty. The pattern is a one size fits all cast on and you just decrease to the size you want. I could have decreased more, and underestimated how much the open lace pattern would grow horizontally in superwash yarn. I need to remember that! I have done other openwork lace tops that expanded horizontally a lot, but I had blamed it on the cotton yarn, which always does that as well. I am pleased with it. I remember some years back being at Knitter's Day Out, held locally, and seeing a woman looking so pretty in a bright yellow, open work top like this, and it has stuck in my mind ever since. I asked her the pattern, and I can't remember if it was this exact pattern or not, but it is a flattering top, I think, and I really like the other Ravelry projects that show it with contrasting ribbing colors. When I decided to order 4 skeins of yarn to dye, I was going to naturally dye the yarn in Shagbark Hickory leaves for a golden yellow, but then I didn't have time and my dye stock turned darker after sitting 2 days and the weather was particularly hot, so I didn't feel like going to get more leaves! So, I just dyed a couple skeins a really interesting golden green to sell in that dye stock and did a quick acid dye bath to save time. I thought a golden yellow would be perfect for fall and bright and cheerful for spring. A light sweater is perfect in both seasons.

10/19/2026

I bought these really sweet polymer clay charms to make stitch markers from Hazel & Honey Creations the other week at the National Apple Harvest Festival. She is local and I really love her tinier pieces because they are perfect for lightweight stitch markers, and so perfectly made. I love flowers and gardening, so I had to get these!

10/18/2026

Finding or spinning the exact right weight and color of yarn can take hours and days!!!!! 😬 I want to knit this Cookie Parade sweater in time to wear it in December!! I don't have time to blend and spin the perfect yak color blend. Yak is on my 'to spin' sweater bucket list.....but I also want to wear this sweater this year! Enough wasting time online trying to find the elusive correct yarn that will arrive quickly! I guess I will go with a chocolate brown alpaca yarn that I have just enough of....from when we had alpacas and a wonderfully attitudinal alpaca named Ginger! She would spit in my hair and my eye! Here is a picture of Ginger! She is actually looking more like the Chestnut brown color in this picture from the sun shining on her that I would like for this sweater. The yarn from her is actually more of a slightly reddish, dark chocolate brown. I guess it will be a gingerbread cookie sweater made with Ginger's fleece! I can skip right to swatching later today! We did indeed get a frost last night. My Japanese Indigo were only spared to continue ripening their seed because I covered them. I'm going to go out and harvest my purple sweet potatoes that were killed off!

10/17/2026

It is getting really cold out there!!! But the greenhouse is holding the heat, and everything has been brought inside or covered. So I’m having a little relaxing knit, because I’m almost there on my Chicane Lite! I took a walk with my daughters today and found a bit of fresh Dyer’s Polypore, so I have a couple mini skeins simmering away in a dye pot on the porch.

10/17/2026

It will probably frost tonight, so I’m harvesting any ripened Japanese Indigo seed, and will cover the plants in hopes that they will make it through and ripen more seed for me yet. I like the ratatat sound of the hard, ripened seeds hitting the dish. That is the sound of good, black filled out seed.