Pleats, grazers, and sleepers

I am playing around with new techniques for recreating a garment just to see, if I can. Pleats are a prominent feature in the garment. I came up with a method that works very well. In the process, I learned that bigger pleats are required in knitting, if you want them to stand out. It also would probably look better with stockinette rather than the random ribs that I chose. I have settled on the final look of the scarf, so now all that is left is the actual doing and writing out the instructions as I go! That is really the hardest part for me.

I moved a few of the older does into my old garden so they can chow down on the Texas broom for me. Absinthe is keeping them company. These are among the does that will be culled. Know anyone that needs a few goats to clear out shrubby weeds?

I named the puppies Shep (Marc's choice) and Herd. I know. I have been told repeatedly, that Herd is not a good name for a girl puppy. After a week of trying to come up with a name that would make someone else happy, but not me; I decided to stick with Herd. Her name fits. She nips at the heels of anyone walking with me who does not keep up. She recognizes that as her name, so why mess up a good thing? Shep is fat dumb and happy. Here he is asleep protecting his part of the feeder. I don't know, if you can tell, but his bowl is not in the hole!

Global Warming and New Fleeces

Well, you know that it is staying warmer than usual, when the animals are not getting bred. Does are going into heat, whacking the fences, and beating heads, because the bucks are not going into rut. I will be forced to start keeping yearling bucks, because they do go into rut earlier. I would rather not, since I prefer to keep animals that I can handle, but it seems like the does are breeding later every year. I will be surprised, if I have kids on the ground by the spring wool festival on March 27 2010.

I am busy washing fleeces. The one featured below is off a Shetland ram. he appeared all black until shearing. Carded up, his fleece will be a very soft gray.
The kid mohair fleece below is Ruby's and full of trash. She is one of the Witch's kids and has one of the softest black fleeces from the most recent crop. The trash gives me the opportunity to spin it and I am now designing a wrap that I will knit and call Ruby's Wrap. I will keep you posted on my progress.

It is kind of funny how we seem to gravitate every year to the same colors at the same time of the year. I end up spinning black and purple each year in the fall. As I was planning my wrap, I was thinking of purple and charcoal. As I spun up the first batch, I realized that it was the same combination that I used for a vest three years ago. Ruby's is the gray roving on top. I am knitting a scarf with the samples and experimenting with patterns and design elements that I will use in my wrap. I plan to publish the scarf pattern.

You win some, you lose some

My loss:

When I went out to feed last night, I discovered that my yearling does had killed my kid buck, that I bought in Oregon this summer. He had not gone into rut, so that might have been what triggered the accident. He had been butted and landed upside down in the feeder with a broken neck. He had been in the pen with them for a few months and they had not been messing with him, so it was a complete surprise. Now I am going to need to keep one of my white kid bucks, just in case the yearling white buck does not do the job. Depressing.

My win:

This past weekend I was offered some Aussie/Golden Retriever crosses. I took one look at them and decided I would adopt them. They are 8 weeks old and have personalities already. The sable and white is a male and super friendly. He will already follow. I plan to train him to herd the sheep and keep me company while Marc is gone. The chocolate colored one is female and a lot slower to respond. She was likely the runt of the litter. I am keeping them in a pen, when I am wandering about, so they will have a place to associate as their own. They are not barkers (thank goodness) and have already been out to see the llamas and alpacas. Brillo snorted and then lost interest. When the llamas first got a whiff of them, they trumpeted. I imagine they will tolerate each other some day.

They are going to be lovely companions. I was raising collies when I met Marc. He is going to love the sable and white one. Now I need names and I am not going to stick with the Arizona theme.

Winter, New Yarns, and Herd Dynamics

This is a new style of yarn that I am experimenting with. It has mohair locks attached at 12-15 inch intervals. I made a small next scarf out of my first experiment. The numbers of stitches cast on really affects the layout of the locks. Might have to knit this skein up also!

No, it has not turned wintery here, but I did adopt Winter, the alpaca shown above. She is a lovely Chestnut colored Huacaya. She is possibly pregnant and due in December. The cria's sire will be moving here shortly. He is bay black. Winter is friendlier towards women than men - judging by her reaction to offerings of grain.

It is interesting how adding one new element really changes the dynamics among the animals. The llamas and alpacas had been hanging together until Winter arrived. Now the llamas have moved off and created their own little group.

Ram for sale and The Tucson Wool Festival Shawl

This is a gorgeous, soft fibered, 2 year old black Rambouillet ram. He is currently for sale at $300. He has given me 3 lovely ram lambs this year.

Ellie has claimed her shawl and I did not have to add anything to make it fit!

My daughter, Kristie, the harpist, has started a blog www.kristieasmith.blogspot.com. It is going to deal mostly with her preparations for the USA International Harp competition. She will be posting a photo soon. Most of what she writes will be musical. Those of you, who have heard her play before might be interested in reading it.

I have been invited to exhibit at Tohono Chul for their Holiday Lights Nights. I will keep you posted as I prepare. The dates are November 27-28 and December 4-5 from 5:30-8:30. I am going to scope out the area on Monday, because they would like me to bring a few animals. Ruby and a rabbit will probably work out well.

Nuno felting

In order to keep up with felted finished goods, I will be nuno felting with a friend this Thursday about noon. There is room for 4 more. If you are interested, I have to know, since tables are limited. The cost is $50 for the smaller scarf and $70 for the shawl.

I will be posting classes with short notice periodically due to requests to take the class. I always feel like the camaraderie of a larger group is more fun.

I am doing traditional wet felting this Saturday from 10-1. You can choose to do a landscape background or a felted bag. Instruction is free. You just have to pay for the fibers you use.

Tucson Wool Festival

Below is what the military would call an after action report! This is a small portion of what you missed, if you were not able to make the festival. So you can have something to look forward to, there will be a Spring Festival on March 13, 2010, when the shearer returns - the vendors currently listed on the Tucson Wool Festival page will all be returning. We have also set the date for next year's Tucson Wool Festival 2010 as October 23, 2010.
Same hours for both of them: 9-3.

The winner of the Raffle Freeform Shawl is Ellie. She has been notified and will claim it sometime this week. I told her that she will have to be photographed and she has agreed.

The drawing winners are:
Judith Fragomeni - the yarn
Patricia Wheelis - the cell phone bag
Sally Spira - the roving
Kathy Jensen - the batts

If the winners have won something they can't use, or don't want to learn how to use, they can trade it with someone who can. I will send emails, but one person did not include hers. They have until Friday to let me know that they are claiming their prize. Congratulations and thanks for participating!
I like to begin the first animal tour every year with feeding the animals. It saves me time in the morning and I am feeding at their regular hour between 9 and 10 A.M. I like to talk about what I feed the animals and why. We are in front of the fence over which I toss the food for the Shetlands. I figured the Shetlands would come close enough to be seen, if I fed them.

I always have a very attentive audience. They are very kind and laugh at the appropriate times! One of my visitors was very gracious and acted as my personal photographer for the first tour. If she sends me her name, I will give her credit.

The llamas are locked into the main pen for the day, because cars are parking in their hangout. They are looking for a grain handout and very curious about all of the people.

Here we are admiring the lovely "red" goats, who are awaiting their haircuts.

We all looked a lot more professional this year. Practice does make perfect. The vendors and demonstrators are buying canopies to protect themselves from the sun. Good thing, since it was a record 99 degrees yesterday.

Several people, who have attended every year, said that this was our best show ever in terms of turnout and quality. Marc says he agrees. He was the guy riding the bike and directing parking. He is my husband, in case you did not know and spends a lot of time labouring to make sure that all goes smoothly. It is important that people don't block the road and other cars. We don't want people getting frustrated, because they can't get out or through. Marc is going to be working with the shearer next year, so we are looking for two energetic people to take over the parking. If you know anyone with traffic management skills who would be available in March, could you let me know?

We are always looking for friendly new vendors to add to the festival. One of the new ones this year was Leann with organic fibers. She was a lovely new addition and came from New Mexico to share her wares. All of the vendors contact information is on the website: www.uniquedeisgnsbykathy.com.

For me, the whole festival revolves around the animals in some way. Between the tours and the shearing, I did not get a chance to check out the fleeces till this afternoon after the shearer finished. Two of my friends came to share in the excitement of fondling the new fibers. 87 new fleeces to play with and the only one that I consider to be rug yarn is Absinthe's (the friendly shaggy goat that will remind you of a dog.) Barbara, my oldest goat at 6 1/2 years old, had her 13th fleece shorn and it is gorgeous. Holly put her hand in and was saying what a gorgeous fleece it was when she realized whose it was.

I have pulled three fleeces to make myself and Marc something: the blackest black kid fleece, the pewter colored fleece, and the Rambouillet ram fleece off a ram that got taken off the dinner list as soon as I saw what was under his outer fleece. Desert Rose is now for sale, but not as dinner.

This ram appeared to have a black head with a white fleece. Imagine my surprise when I saw his fleece pictured below. I had gone back to the shop when he got sheared today. Talk about an awesome fleece. Soft and gorgeous coloring. When washed, it will be a very soft gray. I plan to blend some with the pewter mohair for myself a vest and blend some with the black mohair fleece for a vest for Marc. I have been promising him a vest for 6 years. Maybe it is about time that I make good on my promise. I am itching to start spinning it, but it has to be washed. I can't do the "in the grease" thing with my allergies. Also, I know what he has been sitting in all year!

All of the yellow/tan washed right out into a soft gray. Judy had to sneak a piece and wash it immediately. I did not recognize the coloring, so I had to run out to the sheep to see whose it was. Anyhow, I am thrilled and the ram now has a name "Thrilled."

My friend Caroline has sent me pictures, so I will post some tomorrow of the yarn judging and other scenes that I missed, while I was out with the animals.

Thank you to all who came out to the Wool Festival yesterday. It was a lot of fun and great to meet with so many other fiber addicts! A special thanks to those who ran my shop and demonstrated. I could not do all of this on my own. I have to admit, that without the fleeces today, it would have been a flat feeling day!