Mountain Meadow Wool is offering a little “Community Restoration” project!

May Day is a long standing tradition of celebration and also has varied reasons for the celebration, however it all boils down to celebrating spring, flowers, and everyone coming out of winter “hibernation.” 

As a child my 4-H Club would make May Day baskets and we would take them to the local nursing home and assisted living center and hang them on the doorhandles of the resident’s rooms.  It was a fun way to brighten their day.  One caveat to May Day is that the gift be given anonymously.  You hang the May Day Basket on their door handle and leave!

Mountain Meadow Wool, being located in Buffalo, Wyoming is certainly ready to celebrate spring and soon to be summer!  In our area of the world, it is still cold at night, grass is just starting to grow, baby lambs and calves dot the prairie, and we are looking forward to mountain flowers and green mountain meadows, that is how we come out of hibernation.

Many of you who live in areas of severe lock-down due to COVID are beginning to come out of hibernation now that the virus is getting somewhat under control and more people are getting vaccinated!  Definitely a cause for celebration! 

We encourage you to celebrate this coming out of hibernation by connecting with your neighbors, friends and family, giving them an anonymous gift of colorful, handmade joy! 

Hannah Miller has designed two May Day Baskets, one crochet pattern (link here) and one knit pattern (link here)!  We have been promising crocheters that we would provide more kits for you and here is the start of the fulfilment of our promise! 

Both designs are made by making a flat rectangle and then seaming up the side with a pop of colored yarn to create a cone and finishing with a handle!  These May Day Baskets are a quick project and one crochet kit will make 3 baskets and one knit kit will make four baskets!

The yarn in the kits is a little bit “special,” the dyed yarn is a Lincoln wool grown in Montana.  Lincoln sheep grow long curly wool that has a great sheen.  Their wool is more course than our merino wools, but hardy enough to make a sturdy basket!  The black yarn is from Romney sheep raised near Buffalo!  Romney sheep can be white or black and like Lincoln sheep they have a long staple length wool, which is also a more course wool.  The kit contains a small amount of our Mountain Merino Cody yarn to add contrast and highlight Hannah’s pattern.

What do you put in the May Basket?

The sky is the limit on what you can put in the basket.  You could include the traditional silk flowers or you could add in some goodies, maybe some candy bars or homemade cookies.  Of course, you could go a healthier direction and put in a banana or apple.  An anonymous note of hope and friendship would be a great addition!

A story Behind Every Skein!

You may know that we are proud of that there is a story behind each skein of wool we make.  The story of the May Day Basket kits is one for rebirth (spring), rekindling a kind relationship with our neighbors, showing appreciation for our community of friends and strengthening our bonds with those around us!