This listing is for one skein of yarn, and this yarn is dyed to order. Please use the drop-down menu to pick the base that you would like it to be dyed on. An up to date list of our yarn bases is available at: https://bluebarnfiber.com/pages/our-yarn-bases . This list includes the fiber content, weight, and yardage of each option available.
This colorway is similar to Our of the Woods, with a bit more moody, dramatic colors. The name of this yarn is inspired by a poem called What's Real by the incredible Andrea Gibson, pasted below:
WHAT’S REAL?
"I garden in the soil of a song.
Walk barefoot through rows
of sheet music, picking strawberries
from the low notes, peaches
from the high notes. I feed myself
a chorus, and for the first time
in many months, I am full.
But that’s not real, my mind demands,
trusting the seedless machine.
My mind repeats the newscaster’s
teleprompted panic. Repeats
the doctor’s doomsday speech.
There’s no time to not be real, it begs.
I point to my left lung–a satchel full
of tumors. Point to a pantry full of pills
that haven’t helped, a bed I have
hardly left for weeks.
Is this what you mean by real? I ask.
Yes! my mind screams, frantic
in its mission to make matter
all that matters.
But how
is that more real, I say,
than the first time I was breathless
from holding a stethoscope to my pain
and hearing the heartbeat of the whole world?
My mind argues like a seasoned lawyer,
all objection and rebuttals.
But I, an artist, stretch my heart out
into canvas, hand one brush
to joy and another brush to grief,
grinning as I watch them paint
the exact same rolling meadow
the same hue of emerald green.
That isn’t real, my mind insists
as I take off running through
the pasture, stopping only to do
a cartwheel beside a lonely windmill
who has always wanted a friend.
I fly up the solemn staircase
of a billionaire’s lifeless mansion
to replace the diamonds with raindrops
I found huddled on a leaf of a Birch
tree beside my home when
I was nine and a half years old.
It’s not real that you still have those!
my mind protests, as if everything
that ever was isn’t forever here.
As if I’m not still a giggling child
hiding in the place I know my mom will
look first, because I want to be found.
During my CT scan last week
I couldn’t find myself inside of myself
because my mind was louder than I was.
But then I gave up all control, unfurled
like the petals of a pen blooming
poems on the sterile walls,
for the next worried patient to water.
But that’s not real, my mind contends.
Real is provable. Googleable.
Then google this, I say, —
The chemo that kept me alive,
the chemo cold men in white coats
take credit for, is sourced from the bark
of the Pacific Yew tree and was first
discovered for its healing properties
by Two-Spirit Indigenous people
in the Pacific Northwest, who were guided
by the voices of moss and the mist.
Is that real? my mind asks.
I don’t see the point in answering
because my mind can’t hear the language
spoken by the moss, has never
picked the sweetest fruit from the saddest note
of a song and planted every seed
to feed the joy of those to come.
What’s the worst thing that ever happened
to you? my mind asked me long ago.
I said, Not believing in what I couldn’t yet see.
What’s the best thing that ever happened
to you? my mind asked me long ago.
I said, Learning that you are not me."
By default, our yarn will come to you in a skein and you will need to wind it into a ball or cake before using it. We offer our ball winding service here: https://bluebarnfiber.etsy.com/listing/643478077 which you can purchase separately if you don't want to wind it yourself. This process takes time, so it is not a service that we can offer for free. Please be sure to purchase the ball winding at the same time as your yarn order (otherwise I can’t guarantee that we will do it because I won’t see it on the packing slip when I go to ship it).
Important: please buy everything you need for your project all at once so I can do my best to ensure the yarn matches well. We have several colorways that will not be identical even if dyed at the same time, so we recommend alternating skeins if matching is a concern. I cannot stress enough how important this is.
Shipping: PLEASE READ THIS!
I strive to dye and ship orders as quicly as humanly possible. Most orders that are average in size will ship within about 1-2 weeks. However, I am the full time, 24/7 caregiver of our disabled daughter and she has good and bad days. I give myself up to FOUR weeks for new orders in case she has a series of bad days in which I cannot work, or we have a ton of orders come in all at once, as I am only human and can only do so much work per day. It is rare that it will take that long for me to ship orders, but please reach out if you are concerned with the wait time or if you are in a hurry and I can do my best to prioritize your order to the best of my ability.
Current yarn BASES available on Etsy may change periodically, so the full list is always on our website. If you already have an older or retired base and want me to dye more of it, please message me as I tend to keep extras on hand and might be able to still offer it even if it's not on the drop-down menu.
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Care: Superwash wool is special because it is treated in such a way that it will not felt the way normal wool does, so your stitches will remain crisp and your finished work won’t shrink.
As with all hand dyed items, we recommend hand washing your yarn/finished item in cool water and laying it flat to dry. We rinse this yarn until the water runs crystal clear, but small amounts of excess dye may rarely come off with the first couple of washings. If this happens, rest assured that it is only excess dye and should not affect the coloring of your yarn in any way. If a large amount of bleeding ever occurs with any of our items, please contact us so we can make it right. We always recommend hand washing handmade items to preserve the longevity of your beautiful work.
We recommend using cool water and a neutral soap, such as baby shampoo, Soak, Unicorn, or Eucalan when blocking your finished item if you are knitting or crocheting it.
Extra note: I photograph our products with the utmost care taken to ensure that the color in the photos accurately represents what you will get. Please keep in mind that different monitors can display colors differently and there may also be slight variations from batch to batch. This yarn is dyed by hand and not by a machine. This means that small variations are normal, such as a speckle or spot here or there. These little nuances are a part of what makes hand dyed yarn beautiful. I try to only ever send yarn that matches the photo well enough to be obviously the same colorway, and I will never intentionally send yarn that looks significantly different from the listing photos.
Thank you for visiting our shop and supporting our small business. Our daughter's care requires me to be home with her at all times, and we couldn't do it without the support of customers like you. Every order directly goes towards helping us to give her a better life. Read more about Mirabelle on our Instagram highlights at https://www.instagram.com/bluebarnfiber/ . You can also follow us on instagram for all new colorways as they come out!
This listing is for one skein of yarn. This yarn is custom dyed to order so you can choose your base. Important: the time it takes to dye and send your order will change depending on the time of the year and how busy we are. Current ship-by time frames will always be up-to-date and posted here: https://bluebarnfiber.com/pages/shipping-times . It’s easier to have this on a page of its own since the times change depending on how busy we are.
Please see our yarn bases page here: https://bluebarnfiber.com/pages/our-yarn-basesfor a list and description of all of the base options available. (You may need to allow pop ups as this link will open in a new window. You can also click the Yarn Bases page at the top of our main menu to get to the same page).
By default, our yarn will come to you in a skein and you will need to wind it into a ball or cake before using it. We offer ball winding service separately if you do not wish to do this yourself (available here: https://bluebarnfiber.com/products/yarn-ball-winding-service-per-skein-purchase-this-if-you-cant-wind-skeins-into-balls-yourself?variant=33139200753763 ).
We highly recommend buying everything you need for your project all at once so I can do my best to ensure the yarn matches well. Yarn purchased at different times may not match perfectly. We also have a few colorways that will not be identical even if dyed at the same time, so we recommend alternating skeins if matching is a concern. This is typical for almost all indie dyed yarn, not just ours.
Please follow us on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/bluebarnfiber/ for new colorways and ready to ship sets as they are released!
Care:
Superwash wool is special because it is treated in such a way that it will not felt the way normal wool does, so your stitches will remain crisp.
As with all hand dyed items, we recommend hand washing your yarn/finished item in cool water and laying it flat to dry. We rinse this yarn until the water runs crystal clear, but small amounts of excess dye may rarely come off with the first couple of washings. If this happens, rest assured that it is only excess dye and should not affect the coloring of your yarn in any way. If a large amount of bleeding ever occurs with any of our items, please contact us so we can make it right. We always recommend hand washing handmade items to preserve the longevity of your beautiful work.
We recommend using cool water and a neutral soap, such as baby shampoo, when blocking your finished item if you are knitting or crocheting it.
Extra note: I photograph our products with the utmost care taken to ensure that the color in the photos accurately represents what you will get. Please keep in mind that different monitors can display colors differently and there will also be slight variations from batch to batch.
Personal note: We are parents of a disabled daughter who was born with a rare condition called Dup15q. She faces severe challenges on a daily basis, and by shopping with us you help support my ability to stay home with her 24/7 the way I need to. Your business is very much appreciated.
