Brenda and Manda were both surprised to look out the shop windows and see these two beauties sitting in the driveway! These two couples brought down their classic cars from Ontario and were touring the Valley and enjoying the sunshine. They stopped in to say hello to us and hear a bit about how the shop used to be an old car garage. Enjoy the rest of your stay!

Gaspereau Valley Fibres and Sheep Thrills would like to extend a big thank you to all of the people who helped make this years Back to Back Challenge possible. A world wide race to shear a sheep, spin the wool and knit a sweater all in one sitting, the Back to Back is an annual fundraiser for cancer care and research. This year we were able to raise $1018 for Carey Me palliative care and Sheep Thrills completed their sweater in just less than 10 hours. Placing 9th out of 13th teams, Sheep Thrills came in first out of the three Nova Scotia teams that were competing. A big thanks to: Delia Burge who supplied the fleece for this years sweater; Marilyn Rand who took the sweater home and washed it, and properly seamed it and presented us with this beautiful final product; FibrEnsemble from PEI for creating and donating a felted shawl for a raffle prize, as well as some hand spun yarn and for giving felting workshops in the afternoon; Tina Morse for lending her hands and knowledge whenever they were needed; Sarah Nettleton for the shearing expos and for answering all the questions everyone had; our sponsors who helped make our team uniform possible; and lastly (but not least) everyone who purchased a raffle ticket and came out the day of to support the event, none of this would be possible without you. Here’s to next year!

Gaspereau Valley Fibres is now operating under our new sumer hours. They are as follows: Tuesday – Friday 10 – 5, Saturday 10 – 4 and Sunday 11 – 4. We look forward to seeing you in the shop!

Brenda and Manda took a trip to Ohio at the beginning of June to check out the annual TNNA Yarn Market They were able to get a sneak peek at all the new yarns and designs for this fall.  They both took a few classes and were able to meet Norah Gaughan from Berroco and Gail Callahan, author of Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece. They shared a cookie with designer Nicky Epstein, and got to talk with Jess and Casey from Ravelry. With over 800 suppliers, they tried their best to see (and feel) everything. Some of the suppliers that caught their eyes were:Habu Textiles, The Natural Dye Studio, Ysolda Teague, Debra’s Garden, Pear Tree Yarns among many others. They returned home with their orders placed and excitement brewing for the new goods to arrive. Be sure to stop in the shop and ask to see what’s new. Things will be arriving every few weeks and we look forward to introducing some new fibres and yarns into the store. Be on the lookout for our newest addition, Berroco’s Remix, which should be arriving soon. Here is Manda modeling one of the jackets from the pattern booklet. A perfect piece to get started on for fall, and just one of many new things to come.

Here are some other pictures of their trip:

It’s hard to think about wooly wonderful things when it’s 30 degrees outside, but now is the perfect time to spin up some lovely fibre for the colder months ahead. We have just received our order from Anzula which consists of these gorgeous fibre braids made of Baby Alpaca, Baby Camel, Yak and Silk and Camel and Silk. All are hand dyed and waiting to be spun. If you are more interested in something right off the sheep’s back, we also have some local North Country Cheviot fleeces that are $30 a fleece and tax free, as well as some beautiful fleeces from Australia (English Leicester and Merino) in natural colours.

Mark your calendars for the 10th Annual Maritime Spinner’s Retreat! This year it is being held at the Rodd Mill River Resort, PEI on October 22 – 24, 2010. This years theme is Spin Wild – what does Spin Wild mean for you? Wild color?  Wild fibre?  Wild techniques?  Wild textures?  What could you make using your Wild spun fibre? They want to see it! Get ready to join them for a Wild weekend at the 10th Annual Retreat!

Hotel: $95/night with 2-4 people per room with 2 queen size beds
Retreat: $130 per person
Book your room now: 1-800-565-7633 or online at www.roddhotelsandresorts.com and remember to mention that you  are coming for the Spinning Retreat.

For more information, be sure to check out their website here.

We were very excited to have the Photographic Guild of Nova Scotia stop in to the shop for a visit on Saturday. They were on a group trip to the valley and stopped in and took some photos of the shop, barn and animals. It was a pleasure having them around and we look forward to seeing some of their shots from the day. Photographers from left to right: Wayne Garland, Dean Hirtle, Marion Boyer, Rober VanNostrand, Hubert Boudreau, Joyce Chew and Paul Boyer. Come back anytime!