The Best Time of Year

The winter months are the best time of year for me here at the ranch. Shows are over for a few months and visitors from out of state start coming through to see the animals and check out the yarns. Ideas start to flow and I get feedback on finished goods. This is how I know what patterns to put in writing and what types of yarns to spin.
Someone bought a skein of angora rabbit at the Tempe show. She came to visit on Saturday looking for more yarn and she showed me her hat. Talk about gorgeous. I have only knitted up bits and pieces of angora rabbit, so I was blown away by how soft and lovely her hat is. I have to spin more angora!
This might be the last dog hair that I ever spin. The fber at the top right is what I had to deal with. It was fairly felted and I wore out my rotor cuff and thumb trying to pick it apart for carding. I have to admit that the coiled yarn turned out lovely and, since I focused on the fiber that was softest, she will be able to knit a scarf from it and wear it. It will shed a little, but it is definitely sturdy enough to be used.

Two skeins of yarn that I plan to turn into a freeform lace shawl. A sample shawl is posted further down in this post.

I just finished a blue series of freeform yarns. They are a blend of kid mohair, Shetland lamb, and Rambouillet (Mound's last fleece) with lots of beads, bows, and texture.

A view of the yarns that I spun to complete the series.

This is my latest freeform lace shawl. I am going to draft a pattern explaining how I created it. I don't have a clue as to how many stitches I cast on or how many rows there are, but I can explain how you can create your own. I spun the cranberry colored yarns above to make another, but I am being seduced by a red kid mohair fleece that came off #397, a buck that I might use for breeding next year. His fleece turned out to be nicer than that of many does. I did not know that until he was shorn. It is not like the goats are going to stand still for me to fondle their hair!

This is a close up of the lace. I am naming this shawl - A Spinner's Web.

In other ranch news - Josey does not look like she is going to deliver, while Winter is definitely due around the first week in February. These are alpacas. The goats are due to start delivering around the 24th of February.

I don't remember whether I mentioned that I am juried into the Spring 4th Avenue Street Fair here in Tucson - the first weekend in April.
These are the yarns that will greet you as you enter the shop.