Off to Indianapolis for the Knitters Guild of America Show

 

 Above is the batch of fiber that I am giving away through Spinartiste's blog. She is doing a feature on me fairly soon, so keep an eye out for it. People who read the article and make comments are entered in the drawing. They are all natural colored super soft fiber from my animals. Includes kid mohair, Merino, Shetland and alpaca.

 Our front yard is now fenced in and we are periodically letting the sheep and goats take turns cropping it down. Currently the males are getting the honors. Above is a photo of the ewes out. They have been well behaved when visitors have driven through the gates and they show no interest in  cars or trucks.

 

My garden is growing wild and hopefully will survive my being gone to Indianapolis for a show. It does not appear to be a huge show, since it has only 48 vendors, but it is nice to have somewhere to go in the summer that is different. My husband will be watching the animals while I am gone.

 

Unfortunately, a lot of the kids have developed Coccidia and a small few have edema. Having kept all of my notes from last year and watching them like a hawk, I split the kids from moms immediately (instant weaning since they are all old enough), and started treating. I have only one that seems serious, but he should be fine, since he is now eating and drinking normally. I have placed all the ones that I worry about in a stall, so they will be on a dry lot till I get back. It will also make it easier for Marc to find them. Last treatment is tonight for most of them. My microscope and centrifuge have really made a difference in the survival rate.

 

Will keep you posted on the Show!

Dyeing, Making hay,felting and last lambs of the year.

Just picked up a bunch of my fiber from the Sweitzer's Countryside Mill. I had her turn some of the mohair into yarn. I have been dyeing the skeins different colors. I got back seven pounds of the white and have been having a good time color combining. They are not going to be striping, since I am using my dyeing. The top two are skeins that I spun this week.

The farmer is cutting our hay now. He fluffed it today so it would dry. He plans to bale it tomorrow. We will be borrowing his elevator to get it into the hay loft. 

We have fenced off the front yard now and have put a sign on the front gate reminding visitors to close the gates behind them. I will only move the animals when I am not expecting deliveries. The doe above was shorter than the grass. I figure the extra pasture is about 7 days of feed, if all of the animals are on it. That is equivalent to 32 bales of hay. Of course, they can't be on it all of the time.

I have been teaching felting. So far, this is my favorite bowl. 

Blackie had her lambs last Sunday evening. The one with the white spot is an ewe, the other a ram. They are out of her, a Shetland, and a Moorit Merino ram, who was supposedly to young to breed. Lovely surprise. Baby season is over till September, when the Merinos will have their lambs.

Shearing, locks, lambs and a garden

 The alpacas and 3 of the Merinos were shorn this past Wednesday. The alpaca fleeces were fine, but the ones that really excited me were the Merino fleeces. All of them were very fine, but the finest and loveliest color of all was the Moorit one top left. It was variegated from deep chocolate to taupe. I have already washed that fleece and I am working my way through the rest other two.

 I am having a lot of trouble finding a shearer who is willing to do angora goats. Nathan Good sheared the alpacas and Merinos, but he has already told me that he was not willing to do the angoras. If anyone knows someone on the east coast, I would  love to know. I have called quite a few listed on the American Shearers Association page. Most are not returning calls. Some have bad numbers.

 Columbian obviously got pregnant by a Merino ram, since her lambs look just like him. These photos were taken a week ago when they were a day old. I let them out in the front yard today. They are almost as big as she is. One ram and one ewe with sweet faces.

 I am still waiting for Blackie to deliver. On the day that Columbian delivered, she thought she had babies and went looking for them every time the lambs bleated. She even went so far as to nuzzle Left a few times. It was funny to watch. Of course, she is getting bigger and bigger and is definitely overdue based on when I pulled the rams. Marc said she will have them some day. Maybe...

I am spinning, felting and washing fleeces. The one big advantage to Maryland is that I can now have a garden. With all the rain that we get, it is looking pretty good. We are eating lettuce and three kinds of radishes from the garden. I have a spicy kind that has ruined the traditional ones forever. My turnips and rutabagas are getting close. I will be harvesting sweet peas this evening. The chickens are loving the radish tops, lettuce and whatever else I pull from the garden. I really love the varying shades of green. They are my inspiration for a few yarns.

New Chicks

This Black Sussex hen sat on her eggs under our oil tank. Marc got home yesterday evening and found her in my garden with her chicks. Never had chicks hatch in Tucson. The weather got hot too quickly for them and the eggs cooked.

I have two other chickens sitting in the chicken coop, so I hope to get more chicks. I think Marc is relieved, because I told him I was going to order a different breed, if these hens did not give me chicks. I love watching the chicks run around. This is the first chance I will have to see how the hens do as mothers. At one point all of the chicks were under her. You would never have known that they were there.

Wildlife on the Farm

I have added a Sunday nuno felting class on June 9, from 10:30 to 1 p.m. I have a wet felting class this weekend with room for a few more. We will be making a bowl that can be turned into a yarn bowl.

 On a dreary day last week, I took a walk about the farm. I discovered this turtle on the path that I walk from the house to the animal barn. The face looks somewhat like a face, if you enlarge it. Fast moving turtle. I came back after half hour and it was nowhere to be found.

 I finally made it to the pond with my camera. This goose has been sitting about 2 weeks ow, so I hope to see goslings in about a week. Her nest is about a foot above the pond water level and surrounded by weeds.

 The beaver is now long gone, but his lodge remains. It is very easy to spot now that everything else has turned green.

Technically, Shetland sheep would not be called wildlife, but they do tend to be distrustful. Spots had triplets and, sure enough, she has not been able to feed them all. This was the little guy that kept getting left out, so I am now bottle feeding him. He has learned to come up to me for the bottle, but he keeps me at arm's length . He does not like being picked up and he runs as soon as he feels full.

I started a new design at the Hampton, Virginia show. It is freeform, so it will not have a pattern.The back is almost done, so I will post a photo next time.

I have pulled the Pantone colors for fall and winter. Currently I am working in shades of natural black and brown to create freeform knit and crochet kits.

I discovered that one of the Shetland/Border Leicester crosses is pregnant. I am currently spinning her fleece. It is one of the blackest to date. And, Columbian is still hanging in there, getting bigger every day. They are the only two left to deliver.

In other news, we lost Pearl last week. She became a pet back when I first started raising animals. I was sorry to see her go. She gave me some awesome lambs over the years. I am castrating her last two lambs and keeping them. They are 1/2 Merino, 1/4 Shetland and 1/4 Border Leicester. They feel like Merino and are a lovely white. Not as sticky as the Merinos, so they will be a lovely addition to my flock.

Contest Winner, Last Kid and off to Hampton, Virginia

 The name my mannequin contest has been won by Ruinwen. She suggested Rhiannon and it stuck in my head. Goddess of Inspiration - we all need one! Ruinwen - you will need to let me know how you want your $25 gift certificate. I don't have your email.

I have just about finished this scarf which I started the 10th of June last year. I have one piece to attach and a few ends to weave in. Will do that during the Bodacious Bazzaar Show in Hampton this weekend. If you live in the area, come and say "hi."

 The last kid of the year was born yesterday. He is a white buck and still looks slightly dirty. Healthy and happy on mom. I am excited because all of my angora goat kids were born alive - none have died! Amazing to get a 100% survival rate. I have lost 4 lambs at or near birth and have one sheep, Columbian still to deliver. Any minute. She is probably waiting for me to drive off tomorrow.

I have designed and written the pattern for a dog coat. I starte dout with the idea of a goat coat, but there is probably not an interest in knitting an expensive garment for a barn animal! I still have to put the photo with the pattern. Will finish and list it for sale next week.

Tall Green Grass and Carroll County Times

 When I got back this evening from the Sugarloaf show in Timonium, Marc and I put up the fence around the front yard. Who wants to mow, when the goats are so happy chomping down? The picture above is looking in one direction. The head of the goat in front was so busy grabbing grass that her head was in motion in the photo.

This is the view in the other direction from the same position. I took a video since the kids were so funny running around. It was the first time that most of them left the playground.

In other happenings, I was interviewed yesterday for the Carroll County News. They had a really good article in the paper today and the photo of me was actually attractive. I was holding the stuffed dog with my latest design - a dog coat. I designed it to also fit a goat, but doubt I will do more than let one model it, since onsies are so much cheaper. You can find the article by going to www.carrollcountytimes.com and doing a search on Kathy Withers.Tried to put a link to the article itself, but I could not get it to copy. Sorry!