Confetti Batts

Sorry its been so long since I have posted.  Things have been slowing down at work with the promise of shut down weeks coming up in Aug and Oct.  So I have been trying to process some of my own fiber instead of sending it to the mill.  Here are some of my first batts "Confetti Batts".  They are from my Finn Shetland cross ewe and I blending in recycled silk scraps.  Here are some pics hope you enjoy them!

It was hard to capture all the silk in the batts and I am not sure I got in these pics but I uploaded several so hopefully you could see them.  I think they look better in person.  I have a black BL/BFL lamb fleece I am going to card up a couple batts of in this manner to see how I like them as well.  I still need to get that one picked and washed.  God Bless and keep those bunnies cool!

New Wheel

Last weekend was the Hoosier Hills Fiber fest in Franklin IN.  We had a wonderful time and it was great being able to see old friends like Iris, Sharon and Debbie who I dont see much anymore since I haven't been showing any.  I went up in the mind of bringing 2 things home.  A Kromski Sonata and a Cormo Ewe but of course Sharon had to have a Chinchilla French Angora buck.  Which would go perfect with my Choc Chin doe so he came home with me as well. 

So I didn't really need the wheel as I already have a nice Ashford but I was setting up in a booth 2 weeks before with my friend Diana Young who is a Kromski dealer and made the mistake of asking to use her wheel.  I had never uses a true double treadle.  She had bought some roving from me so when I asked to test drive the wheel I ended up spinning almost the hole ball of my roving for her!  Can't get any better than that you buy the roving the seller spinners it for you and then buys the wheel.  She came out very well in that deal.  Here is a pic of my new wheel.  Right now I have some dyed Angora on it that I have had for a long time but has not sold at any of the fiber fests so I am spinning it up in hopes of better luck. 

Of course since I was getting the new wheel I went ahead and got the jumbo flyer and bobbin for plying even though I dont need that either.  So lesson to learn from this post if you ever find yourself in a booth with a wheel deal NEVER say " Can I try out your wheel" sudden destruction will follow! I pray God Blesses all of you and everyone's critter and fiber adventures are going as planned.

Lambs

Life has been crazy here on the farm lately but I finally took the time to get some pics of my lambs so far this year.  We are up to five and only 1 ewe in the bunch.  I have at least 3 more ewes to go possibly 4.

Shetland Ram lamb looks to be a double coated.

Moorit Ram and Black Ewe both Shetlands these 2 are twins.  Something is telling me to keep the ewe lamb but I am not sure yet. If she was moorit I would no doubt.

This is the newest Shetland Ram lamb.

Without a doubt this is my favorite lamb so far and how I wish it was a ewe!  He is Shetland Cormo Finn cross and his fleece looks wonderful so far.  Of course he is still very little but I think it will turn out to be very nice.  If I didn't have a BFL ram coming this fall I would keep him even though he is not a ewe.  I really hope I can find this guy a home in a spinners flock.  God Bless hope your all having a good week so far!

So what does she do with all of it?

That is the question I have been asking forever so this time I asked for some back.

I have been selling most of my Angora to one lady for a couple years now.  I just sold a large part of my stash to pay for some car repairs I needed, last year when I bought my first Shetland sheep I payed for them with what I made from selling my Angora as well.  I know my friend who raises Germans sells most of hers to the same lady I do.  So this time I asked her for some yarn and this is what I got.  4 skeins of Angora Merino and Alpaca blend yarn its is fingering to sports weight and single ply yarn.  I think I have just the pattern for this to!  God Bless 

We have cows!

Matilda gave birth tonight and what an eventful evening it was!  Thank you Jesus I have the best vet in the world she ROCKS!  When I got home from work she had just started labor about 5 she went out to the pasture and you could only see one foot instead of 2 so dad had me call the vet.  I was so nervous the hole time while everyone else just seems to be going along with their evening like we were not have a crisis.  OK I freak but Dad has been through this before so knew what to expect.  By the time the vet got here we had Matilda moved back to the barn and in a stall.  She quickly went to work repositioning the calf and finding the other leg which was not easy for her to do.  It looked kinda painful for cow and vet at times.   She then put chains on the calves feet and tried pulling him but he was too big and had no luck so she broke out the calf jack which was really cool.  While the vet and Dad was doing all this I was trying to hold Matilda still and now my arms are killing me!  When the calf started to come Matilda laid down and I was able to help pull the calf and rub him down really good.  Sounds like a short process in this post but really it was NOT!  Here are a couple pics of the new baby I am calling Forest.

You can see my vet in the first pics poor lady was a mess when she got done!  I will be doing out a couple times tonight to check on the calf and make sure all is well.  God Bless!

Not a happy camper......

I had sent some SUPER NICE alpaca to a mill to get spun back in January, I finally go the yarn back in the mail today.  I did not mind waiting to get the yarn but I am not happy at all with what I got back.  This is from a different mill than I typically use and now I am really wondering why I ever wanted to try a different mill.  Here is the yarn I got back.

I had asked to get my yarn back in 250 yard skeins.  As you can see I got several skeins of different sizes.  One is almost 400 yards while another is 80 none are 250 yards.  It is over spun taking away form the softness it should have.  It was super nice FINE alpaca fleece but being over spun you can not tell that now.  I was hoping to sell the yarn but looks like I am going to be hanging onto it now and knitting it up myself.  Its not harsh or rough by any means just not as soft as it should have been.  I have a couple patterns for shawls and wraps I want to do so I guess this with the yarn I use.  Lesson learned I have been using a good mill dont try out any others!  Good luck to you on all your fiber adventures!  God Bless.

How much is too much?

I was out clipping a couple rabbits tonight and when I came in to add the wool to my stash I thought I have way more than I thought!  So I got it all out and took a picture of it to share.

Well here it is.  I have not sold any of my angora for about a year and have not spun much of it either.  I have been hording all of it to blend with my sheep fleeces other than a couple spinner bunnies.  I still have more rabbits to clip but the total so far is 12 POUNDS of angora!  Colors include Black, White, Fawn/Tort, Opal, Sable, and Choc Chin, and Chestnut Agouti.  I have some how lost a Chestnut coat somewhere along the way as well maybe I put it in with the black?  I am not sure of anything at this point.  I guess I need to get on the ball washing wool to blend with all this.  God Bless!