Same Sheep, Different Color

Some leftover Petunia '09 on the top. Petunia '10 on the bottom. Interestingly camouflaged with the wool house porch ;-). It's not really graying, just a much lighter brown. Hmmm. Of course, between the color and as soft as it is, I couldn't wait to spin a little.



I have all my wheels set up with WooLee Winders. Instead of having multiple hooks that I have to remember to manually move the yarn along to evenly wind the bobbin, the WooLee Winder is gear driven and does it for me. Once I tried it, I was hooked. Or unhooked. They're a bit spendy, but worth every penny.

I love to change colors and watch it start winding on. That's some white Punkin underneath the cinnamon oatmeal Petunia. You can see how even it winds and, at least for me, I think that makes my spinning more consistant. Almost cheating maybe, but cheating in the same way a nice fleece helps spin nice yarn. Petunia practically spins herself.



I tried several thicknesses and this is what I liked the best. I think I may use a couple ounces of her fleece to spin some yarn for the skein contest at the new fiber festival. Except I just wrote that I was concerned I was cheating and said Petunia practically spins herself... ;-)

You will also note my wrinkled finger tips. Hazards of the job. I have nine of our fleeces washed already and Buddy and Woolliam are up for today. Have to psych myself up for those dirty boys! Some highlights so far are Henrietta, Beanie Baby, Rebecca Boone, Keebler and, obviously, Petunia. I'll post some pictures later.



Another highlight - if you look closely, you'll see Crazy Esther actually eating some grass up along the fence. I don't know if Keebs is babysitting or if it's just a coincidence he's there...like because the grass is longer ;-). You'll also notice that Hank has stolen yet another feed scoop from me. He stole a coffee cup the other day. Kids.

With no front teeth, Esther has not been able to graze much this spring. This has really worried me and we've been hand feeding her extra and if you can get her separated out, she can eat hay. However, she much prefers staying with her buds, so that isn't what she really wants. Hopefully if we leave some tall places... She's not crazy about Hank, but other than that she's a happy little old lady.

Petunia, on the other hand, is a happy young lady. She got on a tear this morning and bounced around like a lamb. The same athleticism that makes her hard to handle for shearing gives her the hops to leap at least three feet in the air. Repeatedly. She's one of my favorite sheep.

Boing boing boing.