Friday, June 15, 2012

New weave and other ramblings.....

DSCN3794 (800x600) by Felting Sunshine

I recently purchased a smaller tri-loom to work on some projects (it is much easier to use up the smaller skeins of hand spun). I am currently working on a weave that I am making from a Romney fleece that I purchased at SAFF last October. I spun up a bunch letting curls and tufts of crimp escape the twist so that it is a fluffy and highly textured yarn. I plyed it with some fuzzy mohair to add to the texture. I will weave two of these and sew them together to create a slouch bag. I am hoping to enlist the help of my mom in creating a material lining with some pockets.



In between the rain and bottle feeding the baby goats, I have been washing fleeces. When we purchased this home, they left a brand new top loading washer, I have seen so many people wash fleeces using these but have never been able to since my own washer is a front loading machine. My wonderful husband hooked it up for me and I have been able to wash wool every single day. I might just start making a dent in those 20+ fleeces I have......

On the animal front, all of the critters are doing great. Chessie, our doeling angora, is loosing her kemp fibers and the mohair that is coming in is dreamy soft! I cannot wait for her first shearing!!!! I am on the hunt for another girl with white fiber. The farm I got her from just recently had a buck born, but my husband and I have agreed we don't want an intact male. If he was white, I would snatch him up in a heart beat and make a wether out of him. I will be patient...... :)

Friday, June 8, 2012

Monday, June 4, 2012

The animals are moved!

Saturday was the day to bring Challenger and Capt. Jack home. Challenger has been agisted since late December at a local place and Capt. Jack is an Alpaca that I purchased and brought to the farm on Saturday.  So now I have two boys here, one is a rose grey and the other is a medium grey. 

The boys are only 6 months apart in age, ans so far are getting along well.  Only a few air spits the first day and none since that I have seen.  They each have their feeding stations and are calmly eating, which was my biggest worry.  They are loving the sun, the grass, and Challenger of course has been loving the hose.  Capt. Jack is not too sure of the hose, and when I squirt it at his legs, he sort of high steps like a horse, but he makes sure you spray all of his legs by turning, so it must not be too bad!

The funniest thing that has happened so far deals with the "poo pile."  Since we have all grass, it is quite a pain to rake all of the beans while the rake gets tangled in the grass.  So earlier Sunday morning we brought dirt into the pasture and made a "dirt poo pile".  Challenger was so gracious as to poo along the perimeter, but hey, it's a start.....Later that day I looked over toward their pasture while I was in the lower part of the property cutting grass.  I saw that Capt.Jack was sunning himself.  Awww, I thought with a smile, he's settling in.......on closer inspection, I realized he settled in alright, right on top of the "poo pile!"  I will say today, he made himself a new sandy area and has decided the "poo pile" may not be the best place to rest.....thank goodness- and yes, he got a nice spray down after that!

On the goat front, we brought Chessie home.  She is a chocolate brown 100% Angora gal who is a little over 1 month old.  I cannot wait to get my hands on her soft ringlets for spinning!!  All 3 of the goats are having fun and keeping me laughing at their antics.  We will finish their yard next weekend, but they will only spend days out there until they get a bit bigger and we have finished building a goat house that they can be locked into at night.  We have coyotes (although we have yet to see them on our property) so I want to make sure they are safe.


Needless to say, I have been busy, but have loved every single second of it!

Kelly