It's All Been Fun...

...but washing the yarn is the best part :-).

I've spent the last month (or so) working on the new Lamb Camp yarn release.  Remember the bottle lamb fleeces I sent to Stonehedge Fiber Mill?  Here's a video link.  

I've got the yarn "finished" (skeined, washed and ready for tagging).  I wrote a short book telling a little about the yarn and all the sheep who made it.  I also created a picture of each sheep as a lamb to go with each story.  There was a huge learning curve there, but I'm happy with the end results.

At that point I realized that the project was much more than just throwing together a pamphlet with some yarn and more of a celebration of all the sheep and each of their special stories, so I designed a small project bag, some Equinox Farm inspired stitch markers, a project tag and a wooden ornament to all go with it.

Whew!  I've got way more time in this project than I should, but I always end up putting more time into each lamb than I anticipate as well, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.  

The first batch. 

The yarn isn't "finished" until it's washed and dried.  The main reason you need to wash it is to get rid of the spinning oil and any residual dirt, but washing it also wakes up each fiber and allows it to relax back into it's original character.  Some fibers bloom into fuzzy yarns, some get really stretchy, some get puffy, some relax with more drape and flow...  This yarn, being a blend of several types of sheep does a little bit of all of that.

One skein before washing, on the right.  One skein after, on the left.  Isn't that fun?

The yarn is really pretty.  I've made a lamb sweater from it and also a matching short poncho for myself.  The lamb sweater was pretty straightforward, but I have some epic stories about the poncho that need to be shared here so I can add more details than what hit Instagram at the time.  Miss B made a gorgeous sweater from the yarn and I would love to share that as well.  My poor neglected blog.

So, yes, there will be some of this yarn for sale and my plan is to post it on Sunday for Mother's Day, mostly for sentimental reasons.  Of course I don't have any pictures taken and it's crazy/normal springtime on the farm and Frankie and I have our first horse show tomorrow... so it may be the afternoon before I can actually pull that off.  

Wouldn't it be nice if I got all that done and posted a horse show update tomorrow evening like the good old blogging days?  I'm going to try.