Argyle Fiber Blog

Knitting Classes Offered

2006-05-27T03:56:00Z

Now that we have settled in a bit - we are ready to offer knitting classes - here's the first schedule:

Knitting Classes
June
Sunday June 4th	Basic Socks (1st meeting) 1-3 pm

Saturday June 10th	An Invitation to Knit (Session 1) 10am-Noon
Sunday June 11th	Basic Socks (2nd meeting) 1-3 pm

Saturday June 17th	An Invitation to Knit (Session 1) 10am-Noon
Sunday June 18th	Basic Socks (3rd meeting) 1-3 pm

Saturday June 24th	An Invitation to Knit (Session 1) 10am-Noon

July
Saturday July 15th	An Invitation to Knit (Session 2) 10am-Noon
Saturday July 22nd	An Invitation to Knit (Session 2) 10am-Noon
Saturday July 29th	An Invitation to Knit (Session 2) 10am-Noon

Midwest Alpaca Show This Weekend

2006-04-27T03:08:00Z

Our neighbor Kim Toller of Dougherty Creek Alpacas (www.alpacaplanet.com) in this wonderful neck of the woods of South Western Green County, Wisconsin is the Show Superintendant for this years' The Great Midwest Alpaca Festival April 29-30 at the Alliant Center in Madison. Here's a lovely picture (below) from the website advertising the festival. We at the Argyle Fiber Mill really enjoy processing the incomperable fleece from alpaca. We have in the last few months also processed llamas and a wide variety of sheep types. Carrie (a partner) has provided plenty of Icelandic to process and we haven't yet met the breed that we can't manage - although some are certainly more tricky than others. At our farms, calves are coming and lambs are out and everything is growing like topsy. We know that it is quite a blessing to be busy.

Open

2006-04-05T04:40:00Z

I forgot to mention in our last post the wonderful folks at AMCORE bank across the street who have been so incredibly helpful, nice and supportive of our efforts to launch this new enterprise in Argyle. They even come across the strret to give us our statemtns and check us out - thnaks to Diane, Chistine, David and all the rest.

Our big opening day - featured folks from near and pretty far (Madison anyhow) and a visits from the Knitting Guild and local spinners. We are all going to have a great thing going betwen us all working togehter like this. It might have been just for the cookies - but it was so great to see people in our store - relaxing on the couch, having a cup of coffee and talking fiber, animals, knitting, and life in general.

Here we are - Carrie, Kristi and Elizabeth after our big day in the "knitting zone".

We're open!

2006-03-31T05:10:00Z

We have finally solved the riddles of QuickBooks and Point of Sale and can take retail customers - quite a milestone for us! We've had many visitors touring the mill including our State Senator Dale Schultz and the Argyle Cub Scouts - who were quite eager to try their hand (and feet) at hand spinning yarn.

We would very much like to thank the many local craftspeople for helping us prepare the building for the milling machinery and for creating a wonderful environment for working, shopping and knitting.

Gary Harris (on to new pursuits) restored the beautiful stonework inside the building.

Kiel Electric did a masterful job getting us up to code and rewiring the building throughout including the sweet track lighting that lends a very nice aura to the retail area.

Monroe Heat and Sheet Metal is responsible for all the HVAC in the mill which keeps everything on an even keel which is critical when dealing with fiber and sensitive milling equipment.

Whipple Plumbing sorted out our plumbing to the specialized washer and water recycler and integrated the heat on the demand water heater we use.

Bryon Krahenbuhl Carpentry - well - you may not notice all the wonderful jobs they did around the store - but we know the before and after. Too bad we didn't document that more thoroughly.

Argyle Lumber has been a great friend in this process as well - selling us what we needed, giving us advice and encouragement (and treats) and lending us tools on occasion too!

We'd certainly recommend all of these contractors and businesses.

Getting ready

2006-01-03T04:04:00Z

First Blog entry:

Just so you all know - we acquired this building in April 05 - AFTER we had a contract let on getting the equipment in place. This has been - and will continue to be a labor of love for me - my family and my partners.

The fact is, Wisconsin has the capacity to be the wave of the future for America. We can produce most everything we need to become rather self-sufficient, from food to energy to technical and industrial products to all forms of argicultural goods and value added items like fiber products.

My dream is to bring somew new vitality to the village of Argyle, Wisconsin and to enhance a growing hub of fiber producers, fiber artisans, fiber resellers and knitters wherever they may be.

We will post news and events here so stay tuned and keep rooting for the home team!

Argyle Fiber Blog

Knitting Classes Offered

Knitting Classes

June

July

Midwest Alpaca Show This Weekend

Open

We're open!

Getting ready