Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Life after shearing

This is my buddy, Beth, whom I mention frequently, and the little ram lamb (don't know if that is the right term in sheep language, I'm still learning). Smitty hasn't officially named them yet, but the grand girls were here for Mom's Day and I think Meredith wants to call them Frank and Meri.
Cary's husband Bill is a retired vet and they graciously came over last week to dock the tails and remove the boy parts. I couldn't look...... Actually, the little darlings hardly whimpered.
Life since shearing last week has been incredibly busy. I'm trying to go through all the fleeces to evaluate them and decide what they will become. They are very clean so I'm removing hardly any VM (vegetable matter).
For some reason I have had lots of sales in the last couple days - fleece and roving. I'm surprised because lots of folks seem to back off from knitting and crocheting when the weather warms up. I guess the spinners just keep on spinning - I know, I do.
Last Saturday above mentioned Cary and I did a dye workshop. Great fun to teach others from our experiences. I dyed some alpaca roving as a demonstration, and spun it up at home. It's below ▼ I spun a single, then plied it with Wooly Nylon.

I used Jacquard dyes, (Periwinkle Blue, Burnt Orange, and Fuschia) and Indy's blend of alpaca, merino, and mohair in roving form.

Tara, my blondechicken friend, asked what I will be doing with my fiber. Well, Tara, as I'm going through the bags, it comes to me and I jot it down. Right now I have chosen some to be blended with some purchased Merino and some to be blended with our BabyDoll sheep at Zeilingers' mill in Frankenmuth. A couple I'm sending to Suzanne's because she will do small batches and I want to keep them separate. I'm saving a few just like they are. I already have 10 pounds up at Stonehedge being made into yarn. One black I'm just saving until this winter when I can take the time to pluck all the white guard hairs out. Have I mentioned that I HATE guard hair ?!?

Michelle akkasha, I can't leave a message on your blog?????

6 comments:

Kim said...

all that fiber, ahhh!

I really like your handspun, it looks like it will knit up beautifully!

Cary ~ My Wool Mitten at Serenity Farms said...

Everyone should know that those lambs are just adorable, too ;) And that little "Frank" is now a wether (castrated ram)...but you know, I still have a tendency to slip up and call them geldings - LOL!

That yarn turned out just gorgeous Maple! I had a great time dyEing on Saturday, too ;) Missed you Monday night though...

Hugs, Cary

Anonymous said...

Your handspun wool looks gorgeous! I love all the colors you mixed into it.

So, I have a question. Is alpaca easy to spin? You have mentioned before that you spin the fibers loosely in order to keep the softness. Does this trick make it more of a challenge than sheep's wool?

Meri Greenleaf said...

Awww, what a cute little guy! And I totally approve of naming something cute "Meri". ;)

And that's really pretty yarn!

Crazy Lady with purple fingers said...

My goodness, your little baby sheep has really grown, he looked so tiny in the first born pictures. Love the colors in your spun yarn!

Michele / akkasha said...

*blink* You can't leave a message on my blog?! What is happening? I allow comments openly. So I am definitely confuse!

I find I have trouble with some blogs because of having to put in the letters. And they aren't always what they look like. Often I will have to enter them a couple times til I get them right.

If it still won't work, mail me on Ravelry and I can try and sort it out! I love getting your comments.

Map