State Of The Fiber Farm Address

I've had some questions about whether we'll be setting up at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this weekend and sadly, we are not.  Auntie Reg and I had talked about it, but the way this year has gone so far, I'm incredibly relieved we didn't sign up.  There have only been about two weeks all year that I felt like we could have pulled it off...and this one (even though it's only Tuesday) ain't one of them.

Between not having many any 2023 fleeces skirted yet and having done almost no spinning or other fiber work all year and the 7528 hours it took to knit a stupid simple sweater, I'm struggling to even feel like a real fiber farm/fiber artist right now. 

But...the sheep are happy and healthy. I did finally finish that dang sweater and got to wear it quite a bit before it got hot.  I wove a nice shawl during the Iknitarod.  I've taught a couple of new people how to spin.  We had good shearings here and at Tring Farm and I was able to help Annemarie sell a few of her fleeces.  

Our fleeces are safe and sound and will be ready to skirt, wash, process and spin whenever I'm able to get to them.  I've purchased several really fun looking project patterns including a tiny 7" tall fox who needs 29 pages to come to life.  Wait, what?  29 pages?!?  Yeah...I can't get out of my own way.

Wait, one other "win" is that our sweet little group of spinners, knitters, weavers, crocheters, sewers, hookers, felters, punchers, storytellers (and there have been some doozies :-), bakers, and their cats, dogs, sheep, chickens...from all over the country is still crafting right along via Zoom every Tuesday night.  They're getting stuff done :-D.

So, yes, the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival in Lexington is this weekend and the Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial is going on just down the hill as well.  Both will be lots of fun!  I was talking to one of the local Crafters last week (oh, when I sheared her old sheep, so that probably counts too...if we're keeping score...which I need to stop doing) and we decided, in the spirit of the festival, to do an in person/on farm Crafter's meet up this Saturday.  

This super casual on farm event is open to all the farm friends, not just Crafters.  You do not need to be a fiber person.  If you would just enjoy sitting on the porch or bringing a picnic dinner out to the farm, come on! Everyone and their house cat is welcome...but please leave your dog at home ;-)

I'll be here from 3:00 on on Saturday and would be happy to teach spinning or fiber processing or sheep care...*  You can bring your own wool or spindle or wheel or borrow one of mine.  There are plenty of sheep to borrow who would be happy to teach you how to feed them cookies.

I doubt I'll pull off anything fancy in the way of food or beverages, but I'm sure Auntie Reg won't let us go hungry.  Feel free to bring snacks or a picnic with you or call in a pizza for pickup on the way.  You should probably toss in a chair.

   Update on food - we're going to set up an ice cream bar!  Throw on some nuts and a banana and you've got yourself a nutritious dinner.  Bang! :-D

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*I'm also happy to teach fleece skirting, wool washing, barn cleaning, field mowing, flower planting, weed pulling, chicken wrangling, corgi 'wrasslin'... ;-D  

I say all that sort of joking, but if you are interested in buying a fleece, especially if you are new to raw wool, this could actually be a good thing!  I could help you pick one out, we could skirt it (and maybe a few others ;-) together and talk about how to go on from there!

I am also happy to bring out various colors and types of roving, some Lamb Camp Legacy yarn and there are six skeins of Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb yarn left, too, so just ask if there's something you'd like to see.

If you have any questions or need directions, please send me an email.  We are about 35 minutes from Lexington and about 20 minutes from the hotels in Georgetown.