Sheep Shearing

With granddaughter Jasmine as co-pilot I drove out to Shady Side Farm for the sheep shearing this morning.  It was interesting, educational and a good lesson for Jasmine on where that beautifully fluffy fiber comes from.   
(you can biggie-size all photos by clicking on them)

There were several new lambs...

 look closely - below and left of this ewe's chin is her lamb that was born this morning...

    sorry for the crappy photo quality but I didn't want to use a flash

and lots of sheering...

Crafty demonstrations were going on in the farm store, a sock knitting machine, needle felting and spinning along with yarn and roving that could be purchased.  Jasmine learned how to do needle felting and made a little mushroom to take home.  Of course I had to get a souvenir...

It was a fun time.  I'll be on the look-out for another sheering so we can learn about other breeds of sheep.  Jasmine's a great companion on field trips, curious and eager to learn new things.  We had lunch at Panera and she got her favorite, Strawberry Smoothie.  All too quickly the time passed and it was time for her to go home.

I can't wait for festival season to start.

FAF 2/24/11

I was so intent on getting this Counting Sheep Farm braid spun last night that I totally forgot to post for Fiber Arts Friday.  Geesh.

Be sure to hop on over to Wisdom Begins In Wonder and visit the other very creative folks that participate in this fun weekly fiber round up.

Have a great weekend!

I've adopted a Navajo Churro...

and you could too.  Check out their interesting story here on the Navajo Churro Sheep Association website.

If you think you might be interested in helping these stunning animals florish on a farm in Washington state give a look and consider it.  You can adopt a Navajo Churro, Angora Goat, Icelandic Sheep, Angora Rabbit,  Jacob Sheep or Black Welsh Mountain Sheep at the Wild Wool Farm Etsy store.  You'll get the reward of knowing you're helping a rare breed animal and a little package of raw fleece, processed fiber or yarn as a reminder of the nice thing you did.

Each listing in the shop tells what you get for your investment.  Check out Arlene's shop, maybe you'll fall for these animals like I did.

Arlene's having a contest this week with a skein of her art yarn as the prize, you can check that out on Ravelry.

Now I can't wait to get my sheep's picture and raw fleece...

It's melting...

The temperature has risen enough to melt off most of the snow and I can see from the back door that there's some work to be done out there in the dog yard.  ugh.


I've had some productive fiber time this week, mostly in the form of knitting.  I'm making pretty good progress on the Big Ass Sweater and I actually think I can let myself get excited about finishing it yet this winter.

I try to get little bits of time in on it...before work, at lunch, in the evening.  I told myself I couldn't start another knitting project until I get these sleeves done so I'm pretty focused...except that I keep making time for spinning.

 2oz. Alpaca from Via Verde Farm...130 yds of super nice yarn.

Are you a monogamous knitter?  Do you have several projects going all at the same time?  What was the most recent finished object to come off your needles?  I need some ideas for that pretty Sunset alpaca I just finished.

I got a new spindle in the mail this week...you may have noticed it at the top and here is a shot of the BLT side...

 1.7 oz drop spindle made by Laurel at Spinatude.  Isn't it cute?!  It even came with a side of fries.

Check out the other cool spindles she has in her Etsy shop (linky above).  It was difficult to decide which one I wanted.  I may have to go back occasionally to see what other pretty things she comes up with.

Tomorrow I'll be heading over to Chelsea (about 2 hours from home) for the Spinner's Flock Sale.  There will be fleeces, Michigan made yarns and lots of other fibery stuff to see and have.  My spinning friend, Paula, will be my co-pilot for the day.  The weather is supposed to be decent so I'm looking forward to the road trip.  I'll probably have some things to show you when I get back.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today.  Be sure to check out the other bloggers that participate in Fiber Arts Friday.  You never know what you'll find when you go exploring there.

and For all you pug lovers, here's a link to a blog I read every day...Puglet is awesome.

A very full bobbin

This evening I finished spinning the first 4 oz of the Ladies In Waiting merino from Counting Sheep Farm.  Here is the very full bobbin...

Can't wait to get the other braid spun and see what it plies into.  I first thought socks but now I believe it is too pretty to be on my feet and should be a lace scarf.

FAF 02 11 11

Hey!  Welcome, thank you for coming.  I hope I can entertain or motivate you while you're here.  I'd like to thank everyone for their kind comments and concern for LittleDog.  He is back to his sassy self these days, bullying Sam and spending inordinate amounts of time sleeping, preferably for him, while weighing down my lap.

Much to LittleDog's dismay I've been busy spinning this week.  Much of it done away from home.  I'll bet that Viv never travelled so much in her life.  She's certainly living up to her model name - Ashford Traveller.

 Counting Sheep Farm, Romney/Soysilk & BFL/Soysilk approx. 4 oz - 84 yds

Sunday I spent a few hours hanging with the Grand River Spinners at Biggby on the E Beltline.  We've gotten into the habit of taking over the second floor for most of the afternoon a couple of Sundays a month.  The group is steadily growing and becoming more fun each week.  I finished spinning the very pretty alpaca batt that I got from Andrea at WonderWhy Alpaca's.  It is such a pretty blue, makes me think of faded jeans, like we used to wear back in the 70s, when faded jeans were actually faded from wear and washing instead of chemical treatment.  The color wore to a soft pale blue, not the icky yellowish color you see on jeans today.

2 oz Via Verde Farm, Sunset alpaca

4 oz Wonder Why Alpaca Farm, Suri Alpaca/Merino blend, Lavendar/White

Wednesday night I met a few friends (Hey Rita, Heather, Susan, Sarah, SallyJo, Kelly, Gloria, Devon and a couple of ladies I didn't know and can't remember their names, sorry) at Yarn Hollow studio for some spinning, knitting and fiber petting.  I may have made a little purchase or 4...

Two braids of Merino/Bamboo/Tussah Silk blend 4 oz ea. and a couple of 8oz Spin Madness bags.  Heather's been spinning from one of Rita's Spin Madness and it is beautifully fun.

I should be able to make it to the Fiber Fiesta now without the need to buy any more fiber...uh, nevermind that I'm going to the Spinners Flock sale on the 19th...I'm just going to look...yeah, that's it!  Just lookin.

I've also managed to add a few rows to the sleeves of the Big Ass Sweater...

I've been working on it before work and during lunch.  I'm hoping to have it finished in the next couple of weeks.  I just need some large blocks of time to work on it and that's hard to find with all the spinning that's going on here.

Have a great week.  Have some fibery fun.  Go check out what the other participants in Fiber Arts Friday have been doing too.

Nothing cuter than a pug tail

Fiber Arts Friday 02 04 11

Welcome back!  It's been a pretty crazy week but somehow I managed to get some fibery things accomplished.  I had a wonderful time spinning with the Grand River Spinners on Sunday at Biggby

Jared's Hat is finished

On my half snow day (see previous post) some yarn was plied

Many rows have been added to The Big Ass Sweater

and LittleDog got a vaccination that didn't agree with him.  He spent a lot of time like this

I'm happy to say LittleDog is feeling much better and more like himself today but I was a little nervous for awhile.

If you enjoy reading about fiber accomplishments be sure to visit my friends that participate in Fiber Arts Friday over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.  I appreciate your kind comments.  Have a great weekend!

Chez B Sno-pacolypse Feb 2, 2011

What a crazy day here at Chez B!  We woke up to a mess...

The Saint got the driveway clean enough to take me to work in his 4 wheel drive truck.  LittleDog does NOT like the snowblower, he spent most of the time hiding near the dining room table with his tail down.

 I was actually only 10 minutes late this morning.  I worked a little better than half the day then he picked me up to bring me back home; after we had a nice lunch at our favorite Asian restaurant downtown.

It was pretty deserted downtown today.  Only those folks that absolutely had to be there were moving about.  I certainly wouldn't have left the house this morning if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

The next few hours he spent cleaning out the rest of the driveway, waiting for the city plow to go through then dug out the end of the driveway, again.
The gigantic city plow got stuck and had to back up twice in order to get past our house.  While this band of snow-shovelers stood at the end of the driveway and watched...I know they had to be chuckling to themselves out there. 

That's The Saint in the orange hat and the rest are neighbors from up the street.

I know they were laughing again when the neighbor's plow guy got stuck and The Saint had to get his Dodge truck and pull out the Chevrolet snow plow, LOL.

So the sun is sinking in the western sky and the dogs are making their after dinner backyard run.

 It didn't take long for them to head back to the house.

It's been an exciting day for everybody.  Hope you all stayed safe and warm today.  And had a little fun too.
I'll be here, waiting for it all to melt...