I try to finish a new pattern for each show. This dusty gradient shawl was designed in time for the Maple Sugar Festival in Virginia last month. It is available on my etsy shop as a pattern with lots of gradient yarns to choose from. The finished shawl is available on my Artweaving page.

My next show will be the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival the first weekend of May. I will be in the last row of tents just before the sheep dog trial area. Come visit and fondle the  new yarns!

 The outside barn renovation is almost complete. The barn roof still needs a few patches and then the walls will be repainted red. We already have someone lined up to start working on the inside.

  

 I am starting to schedule classes here at the farm. May 14, 2016 will be my Art Yarn Spinning Class and May 17 will be my Freeform Art Weaving Class. Email jmarckathy@aol.com for additional information. I am offering private sessions on all of my classes for the same price as the workshops. I can teach most of what I have for sale. In a few cases, like the classes above, you will need your own equipment.

 Baby season is almost over. I have three more does left to deliver and about 8 sheep. With the warmer weather, they are scampering all over the front yard area. I am going to be selling most of my colored angora goats and a few of the white. Let me know whether you are interested. I am looking for spinners rather than a lot of breeders, but don't hesitate to contact me/

 If you are looking for gorgeous sheep with very fine fiber, Merinos are the sheep to have. They are placid and easy to move with a bucket of grain. They have been taught to come for grain and move away from clapping hands. I still have a few Shetlands for sale. They are a lot smaller, but I have to admit flightier. Most will come when called. The Merino Shetland crosses are a lovely combination. They are smaller, more docile than Shetland and have super soft fiber. They tend to be more parasite resistant than the pure Merinos.

Storms just seem to love the channel beside the house and to the left of the barn. When the locust tree came down on Saturday night, we decided to take out any threatening trees near the house. Two photos above you can see how cleared out the area is next to the house. We now have doubled the size of our wood chip and firewood piles, but the reward is how much quieter the wind is. Amazing how noisy those branches were! I had a hard time sleeping. Now I can barely hear the wind.

I encourage visits to the farm. Just call or email to be sure that I am here. Don't wear your best shoes, since the goats and sheep pasture rotate and don't be surprised when I charge $5 for adults and $3 for 4 year olds and up, if you are not coming to shop.

Check out my website: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.com for additional information. It was just updated.

Finishing Projects, Starting New Ones and a Lovely Surprise

 I forced myself to sit down and finish the pattern for Nadia's Shawl. It is an intermediate pattern that takes advantage of gradient yarns. I have been spinning a few and playing around with ideas. The color way is a single edition. I have others that will work up beautifully but in different color ways. I have finished the Watermelon Shawl pattern but will not publish it till I have a few sets of yarn to go with it. I have a hard time revisiting yarns, so when I publish the kits, if you want one, better not wait. I plan to only make 4 and then sell the model. Nadia's pattern is available on my etsy shop,if you are interested.

 Got some better photos of the peacocks. We got a lovely surprise when she laid an egg. We composted that one because she did not lay again for two weeks. Then she was serious and she started sitting about the 1st of September on four eggs. It would be exciting, if she has chicks. We plan to have a structure and aviary built for the peacocks, so the chicks will be less stressed. All of the birds love the small tomatoes. Marc and I don't like them and they keep showing up every year. I pick several handfuls to give them every day. Otherwise, I would consider those plants a weed and rip them out!

 This is Sleeping Beauty. The peacock is Prince Charming. Beauty and Charming for short. Their feathers are lovely - even the shorter ones. Charming has a few more short tail feathers to lose and then I will spin a yarn. Don't know whether I will sell the yarn or knit it up as a sample. I won't have any more feathers till next year.

 Rug hooking a landscape has been in the back of my mind for a year and a half. Today Marc helped me set up a board and pin the linen to it, so I could trace the farm photo that I chose onto  it. I bought a digital project years ago to do power point presentations. As you can see, I knew exactly what to do when it came time to trace my design.

 I am spinning yarns as I go. I use it as a challenge to do color ways and styles of yarn that I would not usually spin. The yarn for the barn is gorgeous. It is several shades of red. I had spun it as a single and got mad because I think it is too itchy to wear. Today I Navajo plied it and it looks luscious. The sheen and colors be just right. i have hooked one sheep and part of the silo. This is going to be a lot of fun. I can actually name some of the animals and I know whose fiber I am using for some sections.

This is our wooded area. The deer and fox have now abandoned it. They don't want to share. If you look closely at the center of the photo, you can pick out a few of the sheep. There are 47 ewes and one ram running around out there. Most of our pastures are drying up, since we have not had much rain and it is hot. This area is nice and shaded with a stream running through it. Whenever the animals get access, they are super excited.

Show season has started. I head to the GA Fiber Festival on Wednesday and have the PA Knitters' Day out the weekend after. Lots of fun places to go and friends to visit. Hope to see some of you there!

I will be teaching a pin weaving class here on September 16. I have openings for 2, if anyone is interested. Email me at jmarckathy@aol.com for details.

Around the Farm and New Colorways

 This week the angora goats and Shetland/Merino Crosses are mowing the front yard. Next week they will move to the lower garage pasture. I hope to keep them parasite free by moving them to taller pastures frequently.

 A close up of one of the moms with her kid. It was a pain to have all of the animals in the barn  over the winter for delivery, but it paid off. All of the kids and lambs are much healthier this year. They have well formed horns, lovely fleeces and are much larger than they have been since we moved to Maryland.

 We had a fox in the newest pasture, so I hung out with the goats while they browsed. The alpacas decided to join us. You can see how tall the grass and other plants are. Five of the goats were so happy, that they refused to return when everyone else did. The above photo is of one of the streams running through our property. We have a nice soothing waterfall just above where I took this photo.

 I am listing lots of roving on Etsy. This is a different color than the previously listed fuchsia orange mohair. You have to read the specifics to know the fiber content. This one is a blend of kid mohair and Merino.

 This is a batch of wool and mohair that I just took to the mill. I carded and spun some up and really liked the combination. The Merino Shetland cross was white, gray and had white tips. I dyed it along with a white kid mohair. Can't do without my mohair. The sheen takes yarn to a new level.

 I am experimenting with a tutorial on spinning gradient yarns and how to use them. I will be publishing a pattern called Watermelon Shawl as soon as I finishing proofing it.

I still have a few Shetlands for sale. They are purebred, but I will not be selling them with papers. They are intended to be a spinning flock. They are all of the more modern style with very soft fleeces and lots of crimp. I also have two East Fresian dairy sheep for sale. Not enough time to make cheese. Email me at jmarckathy@aol.com  

I will be teaching my Spinning Freeform Yarns class on June 20. This will be the only time I offer it this summer. I teach how to spin a novelty yarn with loads of texture in it without tying knots in one skein of yarn. They are my best selling yarns. Anyone, who can spin a decent (not perfect) single, will enjoy this class.