Golden Graham

Or, in the immortal words of Carl Spackler, a little something for the effort.







Graham Lamb is a sheep of many talents - most involve (mis)use of power tools, ladders, lock picking and general mayhem. He also grows pretty wool. That I never get to keep for myself. He's quite popular...if you don't have to live with him ;-).



His (mostly Bluefaced Leicester) fleece is almost long enough to be considered a "long wool", but not long as in Buddy, Woolliam, Rebecca Boone, Keebler long. They are all due to be re-shorn sometime next month.



If we sheared finer fleeced Graham with them, I'm not sure he'd grow out enough to get ready for winter. His fleece this past spring though was getting to be border line too long. Alice had a devil (common theme with Graham) of a time picking it out.







So, I decided to shear him early, myself, so he'd have extra time to grow out. And since it was only about 3 1/2 inches long, I really couldn't sell it. Right? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.



This was actually several days ago, but Graham's the only one counting. And don't get all excited thinking this is what he looks like. That was the next to the skin side of his fleece.







This is more accurate. The almost black parts. He's a bit of very much a dirt ball. Isn't it amazing how dirty they are on the outside and how clean they are underneath?



Most of Graham is curly, but he has different crimpy locks around his neck, possibly due to his numerous Homer Simpson stranglings.



Just kidding.



Sort of ;-).







It washes up nice.







And fluffs out soft as a angel's, um, butt.







I ran a sample through the coarse cloth Louet drum carder.







And added some gold glitz.



And then a little more because if there was ever a sheep who could pull off "ghetto", it would be Graham. I used the finer cloth Strauch carder for blending and it was exciting pulling it off the drum.







Again with the glitz not showing up in pictures. Really, there's gold in that there batt.



And I'll enjoy getting a chance to spin it myself.



So I got that goin' for me. Which is nice.*

*Carl Spackler: So I jump ship in Hong Kong and I make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas.

Angie D'Annunzio: A looper?

Carl Spackler: A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

It's A Bird! It's A Bee! It's A...

Moth?







While apparently not terribly uncommon, I've not seen one before. My first thought was a tiny hummingbird. It flew like a hummingbird and other than the lack of current and incessant yelling and fighting amongst the youngsters right now, it sounded like a hummingbird buzzing around.







Then I thought maybe a bee.







Surely that's some sort of bee.







Nope. It's a Hummingbird Clearwing moth.







I've left the file sizes a little larger so, if you are interested, you can double click on each picture for a closer view. Look at the super long proboscis - sometimes it's rolled up and some pictures are fully extended sucking up nectar. Looks like it collects pollen too.



Another interesting thing is how he or she braces both front legs against the flower while eating. That's a defense against something that might try to grab it. You can see that in picture #4.



I'd originally thought the teeny tiny spider web I found out in the hay shed (hopefully still there so I can grab some pictures for Sunday Stills this week) was going to be my cool find of the day.



Usurped.

How To Ruin A Perfectly Good Cat

In 26 days or less.















I'm not ruined. I was just resting my eyes for a minute. I'm keeping a close watch on the house and I'm ready for action as soon as you walk out that door.



Betsy spends most of her time up at the barn or sitting on the railing of the wool house. She shows up at the not (haha) wool house every morning though and waits for me to grab a cup of coffee and walk to the barn.



She never walks to the barn. She races to the barn. Oh, she might bounce to a stop with her tail puffed out a time or two on the way up - just to make sure I'm still following her - and then she's off again. Very silly.



And we love her to pieces.

The Stairway To Heaven...Part Two

We are fortunate (?) to have a guest blogger today.

As many of you who are active readers of this blog know, recently one of our cats suffered a terrible loss. Eli, through no fault of his own (well okay maybe weight had something to do with it) had his stairway to heaven severely compromised by a broken branch.

While it appears to this writer that with a modicum of effort on Eli's part, an alternate route could have been mapped out, many of you (59…really?) decided it was my responsibility to amend this injustice. While I am no fan of online polls (do you realize most prisons allow internet access?) I finally decided I would put my incredible handyman skills to work on this project in response to the public outcry.

After a period of thoughtful introspection I formulated a plan for the project. And to the novice handymen and women out there, by thoughtful introspection I mean many long arduous days of fishing spread out over several weeks.



As with any project of this scope and magnitude, procuring the finest materials and tools is paramount. So I went out to the barn and basically grabbed whatever was in plain sight. For those of you following along, instead of a barn you may want to check in your shed, garage or even in your “shop”. I do know that the fabled “shop” does exist as I have seen pictures of them in magazines (editor's note - apparently all available "shop" space has been occupied by, um, my stuff ;-).



So with duct tape, ladder and a short piece of 1x2 (shortened by the time honored method that every plumbers son uses – a swift karate leg chop – watch for flying splinters!!) I approached the daunting task with confidence. Confidence that I may add, which was conspicuously absent from the gathered bystanders.



The refitting of the broken pieces was performed by, well, basically refitting the broken pieces onto the unbroken pieces. Now for the tricky part: application of the duct tape. Sure many of you think you know how to apply duct tape, but do you really? The first consideration is do you want to use the entire width of the product, or do you want to tear it into tiny bits? This project called for the whole enchilada.

Secondly when using duct tape outdoors it is important to take into consideration if there is any wind that you may have to deal with? Many a project started hastily in subpar conditions has gone terribly awry due to wind induced duct tape self adhesion. It’s really kind of like duct tape on duct tape violence. Not pretty. Nobody wins.

Lastly and most importantly is the decision about directionality – clockwise or counterclockwise wrapping. I generally prefer the counterclockwise wrap for most projects (that’s just who I am…) but this one called for what I like to refer to as the “combo wrap”. Pretty much just wrapping it several different directions and then adding a few “smoothing layers” over the top to hide any imperfections.

And there you have it. Voila (or as I used to pronounce it until I knew better “vee-ola”) - the completed project. In a little under 55 seconds we had a winner.



Of course as with any technical project such as this there are always those pesky “extra” parts that are left over.

Whenever finishing a big project like this it’s always gratifying to to stand back and say “Yep, that'll hold. I’m going fishing”.

Remember kids, if you can’t fix it with duct tape or a hammer, then you have an electrical problem.

Kind AND Sparkly

I liked different things about all of the sampler yarns, but the one I liked everything about was Buddy's sparkly golden yarn. Sparkly yarn that looks just like any other skein of Buddy yarn...or does it? Stay with me.



I love how the Cotswold curls reappear when you wash the freshly spun yarn.

Cotswolds were at one time known as the sheep with the golden fleece. This was not a reference to the color of their wool, but the economic value garnered from the part they played in the lucrative Medieval wool trade. In fact, elaborate wool churches were built from the enormous profits.

Enormous profits?

Huh?



Excuse the creamy yellow tint. I've worked and worked with the white balance (what makes white look white in a photograph) in the wool house (not to be confused with a Wool Church built from Enormous Profits) and this is as close as I can get to real life. See the hint of sparkle?

It won't knock you out, but it will catch your eye and make you take a second look. Outside in bright sunlight it's very subtle; inside at night with the lights on? Pop! I'm glad I hadn't started spinning the lace weight for my Buddy shawl. It's definitely going to have some gold glitz...and I can't wait!



Left to right - Marcel and the bunny fuzz, Marcel and some alpaca and a tiny bit of gold, Jacob and kid mohair, Marcel and alpaca, soft white wool with bunny fuzz.



I wasn't super jazzed by any of the bunny yarn until I washed it and fluffed it up. I was most interested in the bunny blends because I've fallen in love with Dianne's Phoebe (go look at her sitting under a chair in her studio - Too. Cute.) and I can feel my resolve dissolving.

The alpaca blends were fine, but I'll have to own up to being a bit prejudiced against them from the start. Not only did I find the beautiful fiber fussy to wash (give me grease over dirt any day), but for some reason I am scared of llamas and alpacas. I don't know why. I've never had a bad experience of any sort.

I have horses, so it can't be the size that bothers me. I think it might be their long skinny necks with their (albeit cute) faces/eyes that look down on me with, well, the same look Graham Lamb gives me. I know when I'm outsmarted...and they know I know. I think I'm a wool girl ;-).



So the second yarn I couldn't wait to sample was the Jacob/kid mohair blend. I love picking out a knitting pattern and working up a small sample. This yarn was soft and slippery and the hand wound ball was rolling all over the couch as I cast on. Luckily I have a beautiful yarn bowl from Flat Creek Wool and Pottery. Worked like a charm. A really pretty charm.



Yep, I like it. And I learned (by accident/mistake) a couple new techniques. First, there is a purl "column" between the small cables and the large. I forgot and knit it straight across. Nice. I was pretty sure I could drop all those stitches down and pick them up as purls...so I did. Good practice, especially the way I knit.

Next I sent one of the small cables the wrong direction. I did this way back on the Trinity Vest and didn't know I could fix it. I thought I'd have to rip back 6 or so rows of knitting (which I wouldn't hesitate to do now thanks to Stella :-) and couldn't make myself do it. I decided to try to rip the 4 stitches down on this sample, reverse the cable and pull them all back up. Ta da!



Soft fuzzy yarn. I wonder if it will overwhelm the patterning as it continues to halo?



Another look at the two samples. I realize for true lace knitting you'd rather have a clean (not fuzzy) worsted spun yarn, but that's what's nice about spinning and knitting for yourself. You can make it just the way you like...and apparently fuzzy is me. Just look at my own Cotswoldy hair.

Yikes!

Don't Tell Me She's Lost Again

No, no! I finished the Tour de Fleece. Crossed the correct finish line and everything! Not a blue car to be seen anywhere. Pass the same car twice in trying to find something in a small town and you never live it down... ;-)



I spun lots of different projects for the Tour, but they were all...wool. Nothing but wool. Several people on the My Favorite Sheep team spun all sorts of cool stuff and I decided maybe I'd like to give it a try.



I've had a bag of white bunny fuzz forever. I blended some in with some soft white wool.



I blended even more in with some brown Marcel.



I've had some pretty red alpaca sitting around and blended some of that with Marcel. I also took some of that blend and added a little gold glitz.



The glitz doesn't show up too well here, but trust me. It's beautiful mixed in with some Buddy and when you run Cotswold through the drum carder, it feels like a sink full of bubbles. You just want to keep smooshing on it :-).



Last, but not least - white, shiny, super soft kid mohair blended with some gray Jacob.

And the winner is....?

Night Lights

We let Elizabeth (old) and Mia (silly and borderline skinny) out to eat some grain in the evenings. I love being in the barn at night even when I'm really tired, like tonight.



Elizabeth is a serious eater. She means business. Mia eats for a little while and then "Look, there's a chicken!" and gets distracted and walks away. The only animal (or person) on the farm who'll walk away from a plate of food.

That's Keebs outside the gate in the top shot looking pitiful and painfully thin himself. Or at least trying to ;-).