Mischief Managed

We managed to get one large job finished this week.  It took a few sessions but we finally got the ewe flock coated.  It's a big job that takes more time than you'd think it would.  We've gotten quite good at estimating which size coat will fit a ewe but when it's actually on them, before you lift hind legs to slip into the straps..... sometimes you see it's going to be too long or too short and you pull it off and reach for the next size.  Lots of bending over.  It's really nice to see them all jacketed and know their fleeces are safe from the dreaded VM.

They will pick up some chaff from the floor on the area we call "the butt poof" and some on the back of the neck.  Our feeders are really good but there's no way to protect that area other than put a show hood over their heads and that's unnecessarily extreme.  Only the locks on the back of their necks suffer some - what's under their throat is often clean and lovely.

Now that everyone is safe from contamination we started feeding out in the 'picnic area' again - that's the hay feeder Andy constructed in the old feed bunk.  Some of the young, athletic ewes jump up from the backside and eat out of the manger.

This eases any congestion in the barn proper and no one is crowded - unless they want to be.

Some of the geriatric girls and the rams are still without coats.  The ewes I had to order a few more of certain sizes for.  The rams are still enjoying going outside for a morning apple party followed by grazing so I don't want to coat them until they are solely "barned up" and on hay.

Another item ticked off the list is the Oxford rug punching kit I learned on when I went to the school earlier this month. I finished it and am think it's a decent first effort.

I'm pleased with how it came out. Despite how simple it looks the pattern teaches you borders, shapes, curves, filling in areas, the stitch gauge you should try to attain in various areas, how to make dots..... and how to stray off the instructions.  I didn't care for the navy and white marbled yarn they included for the sheep so I substituted some of my gray handspun which was languishing without purpose in a bin.  I also wasn't jazzed with the random squiggles all over the sheep so I reduced it to just a few along the back.  If anyone is inclined to try an Oxford kit you will get the foundation fabric with pattern drawn on (they have hundreds), yarn in very generous quantities, and a boxed punch tool with a stitch gauge and small (20+ pages) instruction book.  The bigger book on the left I purchased on Ebay and it's really super.  You can easily get by with the small pamphlet that comes with the punch needle but the bigger book is so pretty and full of pictures and information that you should get a copy if you can.

The next project that needs attention is a guild spin-and-knit along.  For this one, those members who want to participate brought in 4 ounces of ready to spin wool - roving or batts were OK as long as the fiber was clean and carded in some manner.  The fiber was sorted by the project organizers and put into piles and then randomly creatively reassembled into 4 ounce lots of mixed colors.  All included one neutral (mine's white) and the rest is colored.

Alrighty, then.  We are to spin yarn by combining these rovings in any way we choose and then knit something using That Nice Stitch.  Hmmm.  Put opposites against each other so they all pop?  Try to blend those in the same color family?  If my goal is to keep the colors unadulterated I should chain ply.... which I don't usually like the feel of.....but if I spin and ply the yarn back on itself I will totally randomize the colors which might not be too bad although I don't usually like striped yarns.  I do like all the colors.... by themselves.   This will take some thought.  The project is due in May so I can't dither too long.

Holly says,

"When the sun comes out in late November you should stop, drop and enjoy it.  You can think about stuff later."

What a smart dog!

Dye Day

Carolyn and I had another two dye days this week.  She is keeping very busy with her rug hooking business and since she was fortunate to get into the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival this year - due to another vendor having to cancel - she needs lot of inventory.

We work off my skirting table and go recipe by recipe to get the colors she needs.  Note that we have at least enough discipline to keep the bag of donuts off the work surface and moderately away from our work.

 

 

We had the dye oven, the microwave and the hot plates all going, although not at once.  We found out the circuit they are on really doesn't like that.

 

 



We had a lot of fun and dyed 15 yards of material in about 6 hours each time. 

 

 

Then she takes the fabric home to rinse again, dry, tear to size (fat quarters), label and put into her inventory list.

 

There are going to be some happy hookers when they get to her booth!

 

 



Last Weekend......

....my cousin Carolyn and I went to a small craft show "over the border" in PA.  We had not heard of it before, but having gotten a personal invite to attend (they really wanted spinning and hooking demos and gave us a plum booth spot) we decided to go.  Besides, it was a fundraiser for the local library system so how could anyone say 'no'?

Turns out Prattsburgh is a thriving metropolis compared to Genesee, PA.  We were housed on the open main floor of an old hotel.  We saw a thermostat on the wall, but it must be a sacred item as no one touched it all day :-(  Ah, well, dressed in wool and drinking hot coffee all day we were able to stave off frostbite.

Lamb, yarn, sheepskins (and Julie!)

Quilt batting and lots of roving

Rug hooking fabric, kits and samples

Carolyn brought some nice hooked items she has done including this one of her son's dog.

Tezel, hooked from her portrait

Having tallied up the hours and dollars spent making the rug, Carolyn opted to send her son a photo of the rug.  He can visit it anytime he wants.

We didn't get out much as the craft organizers graciously had runners to get lunch for us, but Julie did see this flock of exotic birds.

Rusticus shovelia, subspecies pennsylvanium





Gotta add that to my Life List!

The people there were really nice, but it wasn't a fiber crowd.  Roc Day in Ithaca, hosted by the Black Sheep Handspinners Guild,  in January will be a different story!