Show And Tell

The prompt for today's Kentucky Wool Week photo challenge is Show and Tell, so I'm going to use this as an opportunity to show something I did over the summer and tell how I did it.  If I keep this up, I might eventually get the blog caught back up :-).

Instagram followers might remember taking a video tour of some fleeces getting ready to be shipped off to Stonehedge Fiber Mill and then seeing the following pictures a few weeks later.  The project in the works is a new Lamb Camp yarn that for now I'm calling The Bottle Lamb Edition.  It will be a blend of every single bottle lamb I've ever raised.

I should say the video tour showed at least a tiny bit of wool left from every lamb...except Punkin.  I really, really wanted to include Punkin, the lamb who started it all.  While I didn't have any wool left, I did have some leftover yarn from way back when I paid someone to spin for me before I learned that I liked doing things like that.  I wondered if it would be possible to un-spin some yarn.

In 25 words or less...yarn is really nothing more than fiber held together by twist.  You spin two singles and then you spin those two singles together to get a two ply yarn.  Without getting really complicated, that's all you really need to know to follow what I decided to try.

The first step was to un-twist the two plies.  I tried to do this as a whole skein, but it got way too messy and was headed for disaster, so I started cutting off a yard or so at a time.

I then tied it to the hook on a drop spindle and started twirling it to untwist the plies.

Then I pulled the two plies away from each other.

So far, so good.

Next I tied one of the singles to the drop spindle and twirled it to take out the spinning twist. 

After the twist was removed, I pulled the now unspun yarn apart into 4" pieces and lashed them all onto my hand cards and then brushed the pieces to make sure everything was loose and flowing.  The yarn had been sitting for 18 years so it was a bit compressed and felted.  This was a Huge Job.

Crossing that last and most special name off the board?  Worth every hour.

Wovember - Day 11 - History

Prompts like this one...I just don't really know what to say.  Where would I be if this hadn't happened?

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Wovember - Day 11 - History . 🐑 At the end of October, 1992, I rescued a lamb who'd just been born at the stockyards. Knowing what I know now...that lamb should never have lived. The stress, the sanitation, did he even get colostrum...? To add insult to injury, someone who knew absolutely nothing about sheep and especially lambs picked him up at the *end* of the day (!). Luckily I found a vet who'd raised sheep himself and he did his best to help him get started and assured me "He'd be just fine". Months later, he'd look at Punkin and say "Well, I never thought I'd see you make it this far." . 🐑 I didn't know anything about sheep or wool or spinning or knitting or weaving or...I just wanted to save a baby lamb...who probably ended up saving me...and the rest is history. . 🐑 #wovember #wovember2019 #bottlelamb #destiny

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Nov 11, 2019 at 10:26am PST

Something Special At The End

We...well 20, Pip, Auntie Reg, Miss B and I...had a great weekend at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival.  Tavia, Tabitha and Kaala...won't be going out in public ever again.  They hated it.  A lot.  And Tabitha made sure everyone heard about how much they hated it.  A lot.  

This was the 10th year for this festival. Seems kind of crazy when I think about it.  That just flew by!  Here is a quick tour of the booth for anyone who wasn't able to go and would like to take a peek.  You can even hear Tabitha...because I know everyone would like to hear what she had to say...all weekend long :-o.

We were stopped by a road block on our way out of the park last night.  As the person walked up to my truck to explain why the road was going to be closed for a few minutes, she laughed and said "Oh, I don't need to tell you what's going on."  The Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial was over and they were moving 500 sheep into a secure field for the night.  I got out of the truck and walked up to watch.  

Before there was a fiber festival I used to set up my Punkin's Patch booth down at the stockdog trial.  It was my favorite weekend of the year.  I'd be set up close enough to the trial field that I could watch the sheep and dogs all day long.  I'd bring my spinning wheel and my dear old collie Sam.  I made some really good friends down there over the years and it was like the best vacation ever.

I'd stay until the very end of each day because once the last handler finished they'd run all the sheep out into the open field to graze for the night.  That was my favorite.  I love big flocks of sheep and I wonder now if my love of big flocks came from watching all those sheep filter out across that big field each night.  

I didn't have a good camera back then.  Heck, I didn't even know I liked taking pictures in those days.  Maybe that was a good thing.  I might be able to still see things in my mind and heart that I probably couldn't have really captured on film.  Now, 16 years later, I pulled out my iPhone and recorded some video as they trotted up the road.

I included a bit of that footage at the end of this compilation.  I did that mostly because it is a treasured memory from my weekend.  A little gift from the universe to a crazy sheep lady who, while she enjoys being a part of the fiber festival, sure wishes there was a way to be two places at once.  

I also included it because there's something of Punkin's Patch significance at the very end.  The man walking past in the red and white striped shirt is Paul Tucker, now one of those good dog trial friends.  But I met Paul long before I knew anything about border collies or sheep or that I even liked sheep.  27 years ago he gave me a little bottle lamb...that I named Punkin.

Throwback Thursday

Since I've officially made through the first half of the November/Wovember Instagram Challenge, I decided maybe I'd try for a Throwback Thursday. Seems like I could have pulled off a Wordless Wednesday or Walk With Me Wednesday yesterday post too, but, well, you know...  Guess what this is!

I've been looking off and on for this since we moved here...in 2003.  I knew I'd never throw these things away on purpose, but I was starting to lose hope.  Anyone who's seen our basement however can attest that there is no telling what an incredible amount of junk treasures are down there.

I packed these baby things away back in early 1993.  I packed them away just as keepsakes to treasure...never dreaming I'd ever raise another bottle lamb again.   This was Punkin's bottle and coat, made from an old jacket of mine.  

:-)

I Really DID Live Through The Wool Festival

So it looks like I broke the internet.  I finally put together a blog post yesterday and right as I was close to publishing it a major Verizon tower went down and the entire area was without intertubes until early this morning.  Oops... :-o

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Friday?!?  I really not sure where the week went. Heck, I'm not even sure where the summer went! The Kentucky Wool Festival went really well.  We could not have had better weather, the crowd was the second largest in 34 years (somewhere around 50,000 over the three days :-o), saw lots of old friends, made some new ones, sales were good, nothing got pinched and I think everyone had a great time :-).

As always, I had tons of good help.  Miss B and Miss L helped get the booth components ready ahead of time.  Auntie Reg and Stella worked in the "sweat shop" getting everything packaged and labeled. Saint Tim did his usual herculean job getting all my printing ready and the four legged family, for the most part, stayed out of trouble.

Tim covered farm duties, a Unit driving neighbor came over to doctor on T-Bone's leg (horrible dew poison this year :-o), Miss B and Always Amazing Aaron answered questions throughout the day and helped get new spinners started with their drop spindles and Auntie Reg did a great job basically tripping people coming into the tent and sending them in to buy stuff ;-).  

I am Not. Good. at "selling myself".  Oh, if you come in the booth and ask me a question, I talk until your eyes glaze over.  Having to go up to you and say "Hey, look at all this cool stuff I (and our sheep) made to try and support my bad sheep habit!"... I don't know why I can't do that.  And it's important.  This is what pays for the hay, straw, grain, shearing, vet bills...  Luckily I have a great team.  I appreciate everyone way more than they can even imagine!

*      *       *       *       *

I figured too many days had passed to do a booth tour, but I've had several requests from friends who couldn't be there, so here goes.  I missed a few things taking pictures.  I had so many bags of roving that we pretty much had to tie the booth together to keep it from exploding, but you'd never know by these pictures.  The funny thing is two of us were taking pictures and we both missed that and a couple other things.  

I loved having the raw wool out front.  It was pretty, attention getting, folks were looking for wool at the "wool festival" (it's primarily a huge craft fair with tons of great food and live music) and didn't smell up the booth.  I personally love the smell of raw wool, but as the temps climbed on Friday, it would have been a bit much for non sheep people perhaps ;-).

The usual card display.  What am I going to do with a 13th card next year?  

Volumes 1 and 2 of the Mug Shot Mugs.  

I actually made some felted sheep!

And wool wreaths, which Miss B did a fabulous job embellishing with all sorts of flowers she gathered their garden and fields again this year :-).

I made quite a few medium size wreaths, too, and even figured out an ornament size wreath...that neither B or I took a single picture of...and there were 24 of them in the booth!  How on earth we missed them and all the roving...

Punkin's Patch swag.  I think this design is really cute, but non blog readers didn't "get" it.  That's okay.  I'd rather they were "ours" alone anyway.  If you don't know who Punkin or Miss Ewenice or B. Willard is...

You know what I just realized?  There are no pictures of the Equinox Farm and Lamb Camp calendars!  Now I'm wondering if I'm missing files on my camera card.  This just makes no sense...

Edited to add:  And while I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the internet to come back yesterday I realized that there were also 24 Maisie Orneries and 24 Ornerie kits that neither Miss B or I took any pictures of.  That's a lot of stuff in a small area to miss getting in a picture somehow!

Anyway, back to the tour...

I had a super cute vintage Ashford Traveller for sale, but it was too crowded to set it out where someone could really try it.  It belongs to a friend's mother who is down-sizing and she has a regular and jumbo flyer, extra bobbins, a copy of Paula Simmons Spinning and Weaving With Wool and it is tuned up and ready to go back to work in case anyone is interested.  

We sold 20 spindle kits!  As I ordered another 100 wooden wheels last month to make them, I realized that I've made over 200 spindles over the last 10 years.  That's kind of crazy in a sort of exciting way.  If even 10% of those folks stayed with it (like Miss B did :-) that's 20 new spinners! Definitely not a dying craft.

These are the prettiest wool balls I've ever made.  I almost hated to sell them, but what on earth would I do with 150 wool balls?!?  Inside joke - that's my most common question "What do you do with a wool ball?"  I just consider them neat decorations, but most were buying them for dryer balls. Anyway, they were made from the tiny throw away fleeces from Levi's cousins who got shorn this fall.  Perfect! 

Once again, my favorite part of the booth was the digital picture frame.  One thing I forgot to do was update the photo file, so we re-watched the same 2000 (!) pictures I used last year.  No matter.  I was happy to see the oldies.  If you don't already have a digital frame, go get one.  Just priceless to be able to watch and watch and watch.

Punkin's Patch.  All from one little lamb.  You know, sometimes the whole thing just seems unreal.  As the sun set and the night lights came on and the really good bands started playing while the dinner crowd grew and I was finally able to stand still and catch my breath and look around, I couldn't help but wonder a bit.  How did all this happen?

If you'd have asked me 25 (or so ;-) years ago what I'd be doing with my life, raising sheep and being a fiber artist teaching people how to spin yarn would never have crossed my mind.  Never.  I don't really know what I'd have said, but I can promise you it would not have been that.  What a privilege.  

I appreciate everything way more than anyone can even imagine!

Woolfest Wrap Up

This is going to be picture heavy because I liked my booth set up this year and want to be able to repeat it. And while I liked my set up last year and thought I'd repeat it again this year...I couldn't remember how we did it. So, let's take a (map-able) tour.  I'll try to point out some fun and/or historical highlights to keep it sort of interesting ;-).

I use this quarter round shelf as a work space and it probably goes without saying that I "straightened it up" before I took the picture ;-).  

If you look to the right, you'll see a picture of Punkin from years ago.  My friend Julie took it and it's one of my prize possessions.  I hadn't brought for a few years, but felt sentimental this year and packed it along.  

I really just can't believe I went from one pet sheep that I didn't have any interest in taking pictures of (but loved seeing pictures other people took of him) and gave his wool away each year to a whole flock of sheep, a small hand spinning business and a big girl camera of my own.  Isn't life funny. Punkin would be amazed.

On the left.

Back wall.  

If the amount of merchandise looks a little light, that's because I wasn't smart enough to actually use my big girl camera on Friday, so had to re-take all my pictures on Saturday.  Sales were good all three days :-D.

I had four wreaths made and could have sold many more.  Get. Organized. Earlier.  Next. Year. There was something about the dark brown one that I decided I just couldn't part with, so I put a pretty high price on it in hopes it wouldn't sell...and two different people tried to buy it.  Luckily we were having terrible luck getting the credit card readers to work.  Whew!

Moving on to the right side.

I hang up some of my finished items made from out wool in hopes they inspire spinners new and old less new.  There are tags on each one giving the sheep's name and explaining that they are not for sale...  Saturday was so cold that I wore B. Willard's barn sweater.  I left his tag on to identify him and couldn't figure out why folks kept calling me Bea :-).

I usually use this table for weighing wool and keeping my drop spindling supplies handy.  I thought it worked well for calendars and Lamb Camp cards, but the scale in the back of the booth wasn't super handy (Note to myself for next set up).

Saint Tim had both calendars ready for Saturday thank goodness and I am so sorry for the folks that came by Friday to pick them up.  I got them put together and "sent to the printer" late and he really had to jump through some hoops to get them done for me. 

You will only get that kind of service from your local printers (and so many other small businesses that are quickly getting pushed aside by volume corporations :-/). While getting "250 business cards for $10" sounds like a good deal, if you need any special services (design assistance, rushes, corrections...) that they won't provide...well, I'll get off my soap box.

The Lamb Camp cards and calendars are really cute I think :-).  I especially like the cover of the calendar and can't believe I didn't pick that as one of the original 10 card designs.  I am going to look into doing some prints this fall.  I think my photography is getting good enough that that's not an unreasonable idea.

Speaking of photography, here's a funny story from the weekend.  So I always run this neat digital picture frame on a continuous loop of pictures of our farm, sheep, dogs, cats, horses...so visitors who don't read the blog can get an idea of our farm and see how the sheep are raised and know how much we love them...

I always use the same thumb drive/storage device to store the pictures.  It lives in the box with the frame.  I took it out, plugged it in my computer to add some newer pictures (which I did manually so I'd know exactly what was being added), plugged it back in the frame and Friday morning turned it on.  

The pictures started like normal...and then a couple scrolled on that I was pretty sure weren't supposed to be on there.  I watched for awhile and realized that it must have pulled all the pictures off my blog (or something).  I didn't think that much about it though until Small Farm Girl came in and saw herself on the screen!  She'd been at one of our Hug a Sheep Day open houses :-D.  

My first thought was to take it home that night and try to fix it, but as the day went on with all sorts of crazy, random pictures from all over the place flashing up there, it turned into a fun game waiting to see what might show up next.  The realization that Graham Lamb's contact information kept popping up might answer a few questions ;-).  Luckily no little kids were in the booth when the pictures of 20 drinking a beer came around :-o.  

Oh look, a flood washing out my lavender garden.  Yep, that makes it look idyllic here!

Tim doing his Shawshank Redemption shot when he got to the Flambeau River a few years ago.

Excellent, let's give Brooks Brothers some free advertising.  Seriously though, those were some amazingly cute lambies!

It was and endless source of fun and people started hanging around to watch just to see what might come up next.  And you really never knew WHAT that might be :-D.

"I think I earned a beer yesterday when those ladies were pinching me on the butt through the back of the chair!"

All in all it was a great weekend!  Sales were great, the weather was perfect Saturday and Sunday (and not horrible on Friday) and some of the nicest and neatest people came by and visited all three days.  Definitely one of my favorite festivals so far.  Thank you!!!

Warm Along

I had hoped to put together a true Yarn Along post for today, but work keeps getting in the way, cutting into my reading and knitting time :-/.  I did finish the Punkin hat though, just in time for the cold snap.  I tried to get a true Felfie (farm selfie - just heard about that the other day :-) last night, but I looked like a crazed idiot in all the pictures and the hat was overexposed so all you could see was a white blob.  

Petunia patiently stood with me for try after try* and she kept sniffing her cowl like she knew either a. it was her wool or b. that's why we were doing the pictures.  She's a natural photo pro and I think loves to mug for the camera.  Chocula kept trying to grab my hair and Daniel is leaning on my back, nearly pushing me to the ground a few times - why I look like I'm falling down.  I am not a natural photo pro. 

"Boys."

Allie's just chewing her cud here, but doesn't she look she's she's cheezing it up, getting her picture taken at the big winter party :-D.  Sadly, this is one of those times when I should have been watching my aperture setting (why she's not completely in focus).  Still cute though.  And Ford, in the front, is another sheep who loves to have his picture taken.

Buddy is listening to ice sliding off the barn roof behind him.  He's just so darn cute when he does that.  When he does anything.  He needs his own video :-).

PPPP (Popcorn Pee Pee Pants) going for a more composed look and listen.  That's a good description of the difference between those two sheep.  Buddy wears his heart on his sleeve and you never have to wonder what he's thinking or feeling.  PPPP - the only time you know exactly what she's thinking is at cookie time ;-).

Rebecca Boone is actually eyeing Hank between bites.  Those next pictures might be tomorrow's post.  Poor Hank.  I don't think she's really "playing"...and I think he might be figuring that out as well ;-).

Graham.  And I wonder who keeps ripping off all of Elizabeth's plastic...

Hank tries so hard to take good care of his sheep.  Rebecca Boone should stop picking on him!

* City Boy is the true master of selfies - from way before selfie was even a word!  He'd have had the perfect picture in no more than two tries!

Yarn Along - In Preparation For The New Year

The weather this afternoon was lovely.  Not a word you typically see attached to January 1st, but it was.  I sat outside and knit several rows on a new hat.  Which I'm going to need starting tomorrow.

What the heck kinda forecast is that?!?

They say how you spend the first day of the new year is a forecast of the upcoming year.  I did play with Hickory some, did NOT do any house cleaning or grocery shopping (good or bad, depending on if you are me or Saint Tim ;-), visited with Stella for awhile, read a little, knit a little...and got the song YMCA (stupid dancing spiders - don't ask) stuck in my head.  And then I noticed Rebecca Boone not acting quite right.  

She was easy (yep, she's sick) to catch, halter and lead over to the wall tie to take her temperature.  I'd rather have a 2013 toothache than a stupid ear worm and a sick sheepy.  Rebecca Boone should be fine.  We started her on a round of antibiotics and "aspirin" and I'm sure hoping she won't be quite as easy to catch tomorrow...when the weather swings from 48 and sunny down to 9 and snowy.  It's a miracle we're not all sick!

Back to Ginny's Yarn Along.  The pattern is Brooklyn Tweed's Habitat.  The yarn is some leftover Punkin I've been saving for little special projects like this.  Very fun.  Of all my sheep, his wool is/has been my favorite.  All those years I just gave his wool to the shearers...  Who knew.  Heck, I still need to pinch myself sometimes.  Wait, what?  I raise sheep?  Spin yarn??  Knit hats???

Turns out, I guess I'm a Yarn Farmer!  As soon as I saw the title to this week's book it clicked.  Hopefully I'm not stealing a trademarked job title.  While not on a scale anywhere near Springdelle Farm and Foxfire Fiber, I think our little farm and flock definitely qualify, and being able to say I'm "farming yarn" is much more concise than "we just raise our sheep for fiber, no, no market lambs, just for the wool, yes, yes people do still buy wool these days..."

The book is wonderful!  I am thoroughly enjoying it - the stories, the photographs, the patterns, dyeing tips...  Adventures in Yarn Farming - Four Seasons on a New England Fiber Farm by Barbara Perry.  There's a really nice video at the bottom of the book link as well.  Check it out :-).

Basket Weave

This has been a spring (and into summer) of big projects.  Well, they're actually small projects, but they seem big.  Or maybe just seem big at the time ;-).  Bricking the garden areas has been my favorite.

Years ago I boarded my horses and Punkin at a farm near downtown Lexington.  It was known as the last green holdout in the midst of city development and it was a fantastic old rundown farm full of foxes, rabbits, birds, raccoons and even a few deer.  I tried to win the lottery to save it.  It's now long gone. 

These are no ordinary bricks.  Well, I guess to some people they'd be ordinary, but ordinary in the same way handspun yarn is ordinary.  These bricks were made on that farm and  I'd love to know how many years ago.  They were used to build the stud barn which by the time I got there was just a neat old falling down barn tucked deep into a wooded lot.  The wooded lot is now gone as well.

Saint Tim noticed the bulldozers moving in on his way to work one morning and stopped and loaded up the back of his car (and tore something up too if I remember correctly, maybe due to weight?) before they all hit the dumpster.  They've been stacked outside our barn ever since, just waiting for a new job.   I now can't imagine the garden areas without them.

Other that the brutal digging out of the dirt and sod (again a big thanks to Saint Tim), laying the bricks was a fun project.  Once the area has been dug out and leveled, you put down about 3 inches of special gravel, level that and then cover with about a inch of special sand.  You then place your bricks (I used a basic weaving pattern, Basket Weave, to give it a good Wool House feel ;-) and then brush more sand over the top to fill the cracks.

There are gates on each end of the lavender garden.

A small pad in front of the new garden shed.

Larger pad in front of the (new) raised sunflower bed.  Side note, there is a slight slope to this area and I'm having trouble getting the sand between the bricks to stay put during big rains.  If anyone has any suggestions, please jump in.

Between the zinnias and the dye garden.

The lavender continues to be a highlight, now with some freshened up mulch.

These pictures are all from over a week ago.  The Grosso in the foreground is now waist high and in full bloom.  The bees are in heaven.  

And so is Newtown Spring Farm, but a little piece of it lives on here and in our hearts.