My Local Yarn Shop

Setting up for the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl has been a good exercise in Getting Stuff Done, but also a bit of a morale boost.  Things are so different now without setting up at the big fiber festivals.  Those events created a business structure that I apparently really needed.

Lately I sometimes catch myself wondering if maybe it's all over and it's time to retire...but I have a flock of sheep that will stay here until the ends of their lives.  They can keep paying into their pensions...if their shepherdess would just do her part.  

I don't know what the sheep really understand about their lives here.  In my anthropomorphic brain I want to think they know that their wool products and pictures and inspiration keep the hay stack tall and grain bins full.  That that is their job.  I'm betting some of the retirees like Krista and Short Round understand things are different here.

Not doing my part to use that wool and their inspiration to help support them feels almost disrespectful.  Like not standing up for a friend or family member.  

In the 'olden days', when I'd get home from a show each night I'd always report in.  I'd tell them which fleeces sold or who's roving was popular that day and who got asked about or came walking into the booth made into a sweater or shawl.  It was nice to be able to do that last Saturday after our first Fiber Crawl day.  We'd all had fun and done a good job.  No one wore a sweater ;-D

Surely I can pull this back together.  I still have some good ideas...and obviously lots of wool.  Let's wash some wool and pull out the hand cards and combs or roving and spin some pretty yarn and knit hats and mittens and scarves and sweaters from our favorite sheep.  

Let's make felted sheep and wreaths.  Get out the drawing pad and create some new rug patterns and learn how to dye bright colors and make rugs and pillows and wall hangings and tote bags.  And send each other some handwritten note cards.  

This will also be known as quit messing about cleaning the house and mowing grass and working in the gardens and show up more for your more fun job that somehow always gets pushed to the bottom of the list. 

If you'd like to come out to the farm this afternoon/evening, we will be open from 4:00 to 8:00 today*.  Bring your wheel or current project and a box of vanilla wafers for the sheep if you'd like.  We can sit and spin or play with wool or just relax and watch the sheep.  If you'd like to mow grass or clean the house, that's always an option too ;-D.  We'll have wine and cheese starting around 5:00.

It was pretty toasty yesterday and the porch was very pleasant.  It's also covered in case we get rain.  The barn is also a fun dry spot and there's nothing like listening to rain on a barn roof, especially after it's been so dry.  We have plenty of chairs and room to spread out.

We also have plenty of good company on the porch.

Pottery from Flat Creek Wool and Pottery.

Morgandell Reds brought over some beautiful California Red batts.

Beautiful yarn from Tring Farm.

Lamb Camp Legacy yarn, I (heart) Kentucky Wool bags, note cards from here.

Washed wool.

Plenty of roving - in the Wool House and also set up in the barn.

The new Lamb Camp Old Friends yarn.

Look at these fancy wool balls made from Pinto's fleece!  You don't have to have a fancy fleece to pay into your pension.  All wool can have a job and if you are using these balls for dryer balls, I'm pretty sure Pinto will add some extra bounce :-D.

Folk art farm cards

I've pulled out six more skeins of Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb yarn.

Two walls full of fleeces.  

If you are looking for your first start to finish fleece, a specific breed for Shave 'Em to Save 'Em, or a favorite sheep you've followed for years, let me help you pick one out.  You can even meet the sheep who raised the fleece.

Do you have questions about how to wash or process your fleece or what to make?  Just ask.  I love to talk wool :-).  

Honestly, I love to talk sheep and wool and farming and spinning and knitting and weaving and I'm happy to share what I've learned along the way and I love to learn what you have as well.  Come out this evening and grab and glass of wine and some cheese and pull up a chair.  

We are also open for the Crawl this Saturday from 11:00 to 4:00.  Really, we can be open anytime.  Just email me to make an appointment.  Maybe in the future I'll start having an actual open schedule.  Let's get busy!

Going Off In A New Direction

There are a few things I'm known for...and we are going to skip the first couple of them ;-).  If you've been around me any length of time you'll know that I am notorious for my lack of color.  My car is gray.  My truck is gray.  I wear white turtlenecks all winter and most of the time you'll find me wearing a gray t-shirt during the summer.  

Gray IS a color!  There are lots of grays!  You can make all sorts of them by mixing different amounts of black and white Jacob wool together!  It's just maybe not as exciting to you as all the other fun colors most wool crafters embrace.  Whatever ;-).

In the last couple of years I've gotten interested in punch needle crafts.  I enjoyed sampling rug hooking with wool strips several years back, but didn't want to get started having to collect a stash of different colors of wool fabric.  Punch needle is done with yarn.  I can make my own yarn as I need it and I can...ahem...dye it all sorts of colors.

During shearing over at Tring Farm we pull out the nicest fleeces for hand spinners and the rest, because there is no commercial market for anything but fine wools anymore, get used around the farm for mulch, erosion control or...nothing :'-(.

As I set one of my favorite sheep's fleece on the dump trailer last year I started thinking about how else to use that wool.  Miss Piggy is old and her wool is nothing really special...but it's Pigs...so it's special to me.  So are her daughters, The Piggly Wigs.  And Pocket and Double O and Mims and Holly and Posey and Maybelline and then there are all of Annemarie's favorites.

While they might not be sexy young sheep fleeces, they'd make great rug yarn!  And the next Lamb Camp yarn was born.  Lamb Camp...Old Friends.

I decided to ask the mill for a mix of worsted weight and bulky weight yarn.  There are different punch needle sizes for each, with the smaller yarn and needles offering a bit more option for detail work and the larger for a heavier weight rug you would actually walk on (!).

When the yarn came back earlier this year I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very pretty and much softer than I'd expected and it would actually be just as nice knitted as it would be woven or punched, especially the worsted weight.  I should have trusted the old girls :-).

 

Here's where things get really crazy.  Since I'm a bit color challenged, I've been a little hesitant to make any big dyeing plans.  I did dye up a small amount to match the basic colors that someone else developed for last year's winter postage stamp collection.  I needed some color inspiration...or at very least a kick in the backside.

Yes, I bought two boxes of Nothing But Color :-o.  These Color Cubes provide all sorts of information for aspects I'm not even positive what they are yet, but they're inspirational for sure.  I'm looking forward to learning all sorts of new things.

Stay tuned for more colorful posts and more information about my ideas for punch needle designs and yarn kits and even perhaps some colorful knitting!  We'll have the new yarn available for the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl starting this Saturday and I will get it added to the website soon.

Who What Where When And Why

We are joining the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl this year!  The Crawl starts this Friday and runs through next weekend.  Each business sets their own hours and there's an interactive map that shows everyone participating, where they are located and their open hours...so you can plan your routes.  

Punkin's Patch is not opening until Saturday because I'm pretty sure Friday is going to be spent doing some "flight of the bumblebee house cleaning" because I have special guests coming in town for the first weekend :-D.  

Robin Nistock will be here from Nistock Farms, famous for beautiful wool, handcrafted spinning and rug hooking and punch needle tools and being the breeder of some of our most favorite sheep of all time.

She'll be bringing some tools and equipment with her (more about that later) and if you'd like to order something special, get in touch with her so she can bring it with her for you to pick up during the Crawl or I can hold on to it for you.  She'll also be on hand Saturday to teach punch needle and rug hooking and talk sheep and shepherding and it will be great fun!

But wait, there's more!  Andrea Edwards from Morgandell Farm will be setting up over here on both Saturdays.  She's bringing her beautiful California Red batts and some other fun stuff.  She's also happy to talk sheep and shepherding and spinning and horses and is big fun too :-).

As an extra special treat, Tonya Fedders from Flat Creek Wool and Pottery is setting up a fun trunk show here during the Crawl as well.  I just love her beautiful sheep pottery.  I wonder if she'll be bringing any of her gorgeous Icelandic fleeces?  Stay tuned!

Annemarie Holland from Tring Farm brought over some of her flock's lovely farm yarn this past weekend.  I just love farm yarns.  So much character and quality and knowing how the sheep are loved and cared for adds an extra level of special.  

As for Punkin's Patch, I have a bunch of raw wool, some washed wool, a bunch of roving, lots of Lamb Camp Yarn (more about that to come, too!), the usual gift items, needle felting kits, Christmas in July greeting cards and lots of funny sheep to visit.  Cookies not required...but recommended if you'd like to keep your kneecaps.  Just kidding, Maisie...sort of...

I am also going to offer two weaving looms for sale, a bunch of sheep and fiber books and a pretty extensive collection of Interweave magazines (Spin Off and Handwoven).

Farm and Farm Shop Hours: 

Saturday July 27th from 11:00 to 4:00

Tuesday the 30th from 7:00 to 9:00 for In Person Wool House Crafters - bring your wheel or current project

Wednesday the 31st from 4:00 to 8:00

Saturday August 3rd from 11:00 to 4:00

On the Saturdays you are welcome to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy hanging out on the farm with us...or sit off with the sheep and relax on your own.  If you don't feel like packing a lunch, you're going to get a "shepherds lunch" of peanut butter and jelly (you know, living the dream ;-), but the company, people and sheep, will be good :-).

Bring a snack and beverage of choice on Tuesday.  I barely get myself fed that night :-o.

Wednesday - Wine and Cheese :-D  Bring your wheel for that as well!

I think this is going to be a lot of fun.  If you have any questions or need directions, please send me an email.  If there is something specific you'd like to learn, let me know!  I'm happy to teach anything I can - spinning, wool processing, knitting, sheep care...

Did I cover everything?  Who, what, where, when and why...  Why is to support our sheep of course :-). Purchases are never required or expected when you come out to the farm, but a small donation to the hay fund is always appreciated.  

Come see us!

The Whole Murphy Thing

One thing you don't want to do is get between a group of sheep and a fresh grazing area.  Whenever I open a gate, I am very careful to make sure that the gate can swing wide enough, fast enough so no one gets wedged and that I am clear of the gate as well.

Last night I decided to open up Del Boca Vista.  The chain rattled as I unhooked it and the chorus of baas started and everyone came running.  As I moved some sheep around so the gate could open, I quickly stepped back, pulling the gate towards me.

The sheep started swirling around, jostling for position, but no one raced through. This all happened in a matter of seconds, but still long enough for me to notice the strange behavior.  And then Murphy walked up, through the group, out the gate and everyone followed him.

I find this whole Murphy thing* fascinating.  Did he do something to earn their respect?  Are they all snickering behind his back as they send him off to look for lions and tigers and bears?  Has he pulled some sort of Graham Lamb scam to trick them into believing he's the only one who can go out first?

There's a story here I'm sure and I'd love to hear it.

*I linked this to all of Murphy's posts, so you'll need to scroll down a couple to find the stories about him leading everyone out.  If you are new to the blog, you can click on any of the "labels" over on the right side of the page, down a bit, and read all sorts of stories about any of the individual animals or events.  For example, if you don't know who Graham Lamb was, those are usually pretty...um...interesting ;-).

 

The Bottom Of The Pile

I had planned to share a Tour de Fleece post today with some more TdF spinning, but I started skirting my spring fleeces the other day...finally...and ended up pushing through to the end this afternoon and what a huge relief it is to have that job finished.

As I worked through big fleeces, small fleeces, beautiful fleeces, messy fleeces, surprising fleeces, favorite fleeces and finally reached the bottom of the stack...and there was Blossom.  

Oh!

Inhale...exhale...

Dear sweet Baba.  One of my very favorite sheep ever.  I still can't believe she's gone.

I've made and sold over 400 drop spindles over the years.  I would guess that Baba's roving was in at least 350 of them.  Her wool was so easy to spin that she was a perfect choice to help set up new spinners for success.  I'd love to know how many of them are still spinning.

I guess I'll use this last fleece for one last batch of spindles. Or maybe I'll keep it for myself.  I've always wanted to spin and knit a pair of boots socks.  She'd be perfect.

This doesn't look as impressive in the photo as it does in real life :-/.  There are 24 fleeces in there. Maisie's was already skirted and washed.  I took a few pictures as I worked and I'll get organized and post a fleece list in time for the start of the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl that kicks off this coming weekend.  More on that to come.  

Respite

This has been the hottest summer I can ever remember.  Usually I can count on one hand the number of days over 90.  I've lost track of how many we've had this year...so far.  Today was a blessing.  Low 80s, a nice breeze, low humidity (because we are so, so dry unfortunately).

After lunch I grabbed my favorite chair and settled in with some of my best friends.  

Bea was by my side.  Jared and Short Round were napping to my right and Baaxter and Tabitha were napping behind me.  

The Mini Maisie

 I've had several questions about the Mini Maisie stuffed sheep.

1.  What is this?  It's a miniature of you, Maisie!

2. Why is her ear bent over?  Well...your ear is bent over too now and she wanted to look just like you.

3.  Is she going to eat all my Cheerios?

"I didn't eat one single Cheerio!"

"Is there something wrong with my ear?"  

No, not at all.  Our scars tell our stories.  Maisie hurt her ear one day trying to steal food from the rams in Del Boca Vista.  It swelled way up and the vet tried to fix it, but it healed crooked.  You both are still beautiful :-).

* * * * *

Okay, back to the other questions...

This was a very quick, easy and fun project to knit.  The pattern is Pretty Little Sheep by Telfer Designs.  It called for a "fluffy" yarn, but I wanted to use some leftover yarn from the Maisie sweater.  That Iknitarod race is a fun scroll back through if you're interested stuck inside in the AC and bored.

I knew that I could knit the little sheep and then needle felt on her fluffiness...and who wouldn't want to use some extra sharp needles while making a likeness of Maisie out of her very own yarn.  Surprisingly, no injuries!

The only other thing I changed was to add a couple of extra stitches to her legs and then mattress stitched them up to seam.  By doing so, the turned in columns basically stuffed the legs and she stands up really well.

This was an easy pattern that I recommend for anyone to try and it's a great way to use up some leftover yarns.  You can make your own flock of sheep with all their own stories :-).

Great Morning!

I frequently put up a "Good morning!" post on IG.  Sometimes I just say "Good morning!".  Sometimes I end up writing more of a blog post.  Today was one of those days so I decided to add it over here.  For the record...

Great morning!

Look who I spotted out the back door this morning.  It was cool and comfortable and he'd followed Tabitha out to graze and made it all the way to the house.

I stayed hidden on the porch and let them graze for awhile and then finally carried my coffee down to the driveway.

Jared and I stood there like old times, leaning on each, watching the sun rise and I tried to remember to enjoy the moment without being sad about the future.

We were a long way from the barn.  Up hill.  If I could carry him, I would.  Forever.

He kept leaning his weak hip on my leg and reached down and began to pick some grass.  He took a small leaning step and I stayed with him.  He took another small leaning step and I took another small step with him. And another. And another.  And we walked each other home.  And I cried most of the way...but was also grateful for the journey.

#goodoldsheep

For The Record

I know the purple martins are close to leaving.  They leave way earlier than they should you'd think and it's the most depressing day of summer...in a sea of depressing days...because it's summer. 

We've had a lot of martins this year.  Adding the second house last year (?) really gave them some extra room and I'm going to add four gourds to the new house for next year.  I've seen farms with multiple houses and I know why they do it.  I am tempted to add a third house as well.   

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Enjoy some happy chatter :-)

The Woodworking Olympics

Here's the plan.  

Decide to get a rabbit.  

Do a bunch of research on how to house and care for said rabbit.  

Build a temporary house for the rabbit on top of the drying tables in the Wool House because you assume it will take a couple of weeks to get comfortable with each other and it might go quicker if you are on eye level.

Adopt a super sweet bunny from the Lexington Humane Society and realize it won't take much time at all for everyone to settle in, but that's okay, it's fun to have him up high every time you walk in the door.

For exercise and socialization, you install a fence around the lower half of the Wool House porch so the super sweet bunny can go out in the mornings while it's cool and run around while you do a little work and drink coffee.

The sides with the wide railing are fairly cat proof, but the front is completely calling "Hey, kitty kitty" and while Possum won't try to breach it while I'm sitting there, Archie is pretty much "Here, hold my beer."

The bigger issue is what happens if you need to pee.  Figuring it would be easier to screen the porch in than build a bathroom on it we decide to build the screens.  We maybe should have rethought the plumbing idea. 

Mixed in with all the porch work was a water leak in and then under the sink in the washroom which was an olympics all it's own, but no one really wants to think about plumbing problems, even if it's on someone else's blog.

Insert (only a small amount of) blood, (lots and lots of) sweat, (only thoughts of crying, surprisingly) tears and (a few) bruises...

Well, the chickens might have done some crying.  Added benefit of screening in the porch is the lack of chicken traffic up there.  We should have screened it in years ago.

That far end is higher up than you'd guess :-o.

This is a work in progress picture before the door frame was finished, but I love Pinot hopping around enjoying his safety porch :-).  The newly added roll down blinds made a huge difference in temperature on the porch and I have no idea why I never thought to add them before.  Slow learner...

Once the porch was finished we moved onto Pinot's permanent house.  I thought I could do most of this by myself and I probably could have, but it quickly became apparent it would be much easier if I had help.  Poor Saint Tim...

The move from the fun upper level to the almost as fun middle shelf is so Pinot can come out and run around the wash room if he wants. I also was using the middle shelf mostly for storage, but used the top shelf for almost everything including, but not limited to, drying wool.

I did build Pinot's ramp by myself.  Not a hard job, but I'm sharing it because I salvaged a scrap of carpet from the garage to give him traction.  Not just any carpet, but old wool carpet from our house.  It had been living in the garage under mowers and weedeaters and muddy feet and...chicken parties.

I scrubbed it with Dawn and some carpet cleaner and while it's not spotless, it did clean up better than a piece of synthetic carpet would have, especially as many years old as it is.  I loved having that wool carpet in the house years ago and I'm happy to see it still working hard in the Wool House now.

While the tools were still out I finally built a better sun filter for the night blooming cereus.  I have the best luck getting it to bloom by putting it in the bright sun, but it always sunburns so badly that I feel awful for it.  I decided to try a filtering the sun this year and some of the contraptions I'd set up were pretty hillbilly.  This is much better.  I hope it helps.

And thus extinguishes the flame for the Woodworking Olympics...I hope.

So Where Are We

I'm sitting on the Wool House porch drinking coffee and watching Pinot mess about being a happy rabbit.  It's been cool this morning and last and he loves that.  I'll be so glad when summer is over.  This has already felt like a long one and it's just the beginning of July.

I've mentioned the Tour de Fleece, Pinot, the woven rug.  The month end compilations have at least included pictures of the gardens, sunrises, sunsets, sheep, horses, cats.  I made a little knitted Maisie, but while I've wanted to start my walnut dyed sweater, I haven't let myself cast on.

It's a good thing Maisie's so cute ;-).

I get beat down by the "can't do something fun until you get your chores done" mentality.  First, I live on a farm.  The chores are never done.  Not only are the chores never done, but I keep adding to the chores by planting too many flowers, getting a rabbit friend, wanting to teach Frankie something new...  I love my flowers and Pinot and I'm proud of what Frankie and I are getting done this summer.  Some rain would be helpful.

Second, if you want to maintain a fiber business to help support your sheep, maybe actually doing something with the fiber needs to be a "chore" if that's how your kooky brain works.  Just because a chore is fun doesn't mean it's not important.  I'm assuming ten years from now I won't remember the blood, sweat, tears and bruises, but I will enjoy looking back at the blog pictures and stories while wearing warm sweaters made from my best friends fleeces.  

I'm going to be 56 this summer.  If I haven't figured life out by now, maybe it's not going to happen.  Or maybe I'm just now getting old enough to start figuring it out.  Maybe I'm just a slow learner...

So, some things to look forward to:

The next post will be about all the building we've done lately.  Mostly for Pinot and some flowers.  Oh, I also put a board back up in Frankie's stall, so I guess I covered all my "distractions" ;-).  Don't let me forget to share the out house as well.  

I've started skirting my spring fleeces...finally...and promptly ran into a nest of very aggressive bees living in guess who's fleece. 

I covered them back up and was trying to find a place to safely stash them (even mean bees are important pollinators and they were just trying to protect their family), but our resident barn skunk cleaned them out last night.  I should have seen that coming.  Slow learner...

Yep, it was Maisie.  You can't make this stuff up...

The Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl is coming up and I'm going to participate this year.  I'll do a separate post with my open dates and information about what we are going to offer along with some new farm and fiber products.

I finished my first bobbin of Ellie last night and I'm going to carry on spinning her for the Tour de Fleece.  She's a sweet spin and I'm really excited about her yarn.

How's your summer going?

The 2024 Tour De Fleece

The 2024 Tour de Fleece started last Saturday.  I got off to a slow start...but at least I've finally started.  I can't explain why I haven't been doing all sorts of fun fiber work lately.  I love my sheep and I love their wool and I love to do all the fun stuff you can do with wool.  This used to be What I Did.  

I couldn't come up with an exciting Tour plan ahead of time and finally, in a Do. Something. move, grabbed a bag of Ellie.  That was a perfect choice.  She is a perfect reminder of why I do all this work.  She's soft and slightly silky and a wonderful creamy white color and her wool practically spins itself and she's one of my favorite sheep.  Her yarn is going to be beautiful and I'm already thinking about what I'll do with it.

I used to think of Ellie mostly as Early's sister, but now I think of her almost more as Short Round's daughter.  I still don't let myself think about Early very much. When I decided to bring his mom over here when it was time for her to retire, I figured it was the least I could do for him and I thought of her as Early's mom.  Now she's also Ellie's mom and just Short Round herself and has become one of my very favorite sheep too.  

This is why I do all this work.  

Don't forget to enjoy your work.

Maybe don't put in so much garden stuff next year.

Bea and I have been riding our bike a lot this summer.  I took this picture on the evening of the summer solstice.  It was almost 9:00.  I wish I could get the camera to capture the blur of the ditch as we zoom past.  I think that would be a neat picture.  This is nice too, but Bea's shadow in front of the blur of grass would be extra fun :-).  

She does a great job riding in the back basket and I really enjoy riding with her.  She stands with her front feet up on the basket edge and I love feeling her leaning around me to see what's coming up.  I have no interest in riding like the Tour de France, but once again our Ravelry group is enjoying brilliant written commentary about the actual race from one of our long time members. I look forward to that every year.

It's not too late to join in.  You can find us here if you want some team fun and support or just spin on your own.  It's fun!  

It's what we do :-).

Gold Morning!

Stunner of a sunrise shot yesterday.  The haze is all from the stupid high humidity, but I'm trying to forget that and just embrace the beauty.  Hopefully it makes for a fun new puzzle :-).

Enjoy!

June

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There is a big chunk of June that really requires several blog posts to get everyone back up to speed...including myself :-o.