First Lambs of the Year

I went down to the barn at 8:30 tonight to do my usual check and discovered that Sweet Pea had started labor. The first born is the light colored one at the front. I had to help both onto the mom and I am sure that the dark chocolate one is drinking. I fed the light one a tablespoon of colostrum from her mother and she bounced right up. Both are ewes, which I consider to be a blessing.

I have not settled on a theme for the year, so I am taking suggestions. Aren't Merino lambs cute?

Snow Pea, the white ewe from the previous post, is likely to deliver in the middle of the night or tomorrow. She is standing and does not look comfortable.

Snow Again means Animals in Barn Again

 Shetlands, Merinos and the kid angora goats are sharing the barn. We are supposed to get over 7 inches of snow. They are all content. The ram at the very front left hides among the ewes till I show up and then thinks he can ram me. I am wise to him now.

 No matter what type of feeder we buy, the goats find a way to get in it. A little black doe is enjoying being above the ground. If you look click on this picture to look at it more closely, you can see that I have several goats with blue eyes.

 If you follow Pantone's color way, you will know that natural silver and "red" kid mohair are in. This silver doe is super soft. I am currently spinning her first fleece.

 The Merino ewes above and below are due any time now, so they are in their own pen. With all of the rest of the animals in the barn, it would be too easy for them to have lambs that do not bond to them.

 I am still listing on my www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy shop. The yarn above is super bulky and will be listed today. It is next to the skin, so it is appropriate for next to the skin wear like cowls.

Lovely kid mohair/alpaca supercoils are part of a series that I will be listing today.





I did not even step outside to take this picture! If you are snowbound, enjoy your freedom from the rat race!

Enough Snow Already

 I have had more snow than I want in the last two months. The goats have not left the barn, while the alpacas, Shetlands and Merinos are out digging in the snow to uncover grass. This is my view from my studio window.

 I might not like the weather here, but there are lots of great photo opportunities. The pond is partially frozen and is likely to freeze over tomorrow due to the low temperatures.

Since I am avoiding the cold, I have had lots of time to list on Etsy. I have 90 items now. Only the very best batts, rovings, yarns and accessories are being listed.

My next show will be in Ocean City, MD at their fiber festival February 7-9, 2014. Catch me there, if you are closer to the coast.

Happy New Year!

Walking around the farm.

None of these photos have been edited in any way. The blurs you see are the animals in motion.

Above left is Mounds, a Rambouillet Columbia cross, who I bottle fed from day two. She was a gift from a friend in Arizona. She will never have lambs again, but she is worth keeping because where she leads the more skittish sheep will follow. As good as a herd dog!

The goats were not overly interested in walking up to the hay field, but they were hoping for grain.

Did an udder check on the Merinos and two of them are getting pretty close. Next weekend I might have to move them to the front yard, so I can keep an eye on them. For now, they are roaming the pastures and loving it.

We were partway up the hill and the Merinos abandoned us. The buck that is rubbing Marc has a happy little harem. Maybe not so little, since I put all of the yearling and adults in with him recently. I am trying to decide where to put him when I pull him out. Next weekend I will put him with the other bucks and see how things go.

Can you spot Silver, our barn cat? Hint - he is silver/gray.

He is a very sociable cat. He followed us the whole way. Water fascinates him. He walked on the pond a few weeks ago when it was frozen. He does not have enough fear.

Goats were so desperate to get their share of grain that they raced us down the hill. We try to feed from the far side, since you can tell by the blurs how quickly they were moving.

As we fed the Merinos in the upper garage, the two Suris came up. They would like grain but won't walk through the gates without extra encouragement. Works for me, since they tend to take over any area they get into. No grain for them, since they really don't need it.

Those clouds you saw brought us a little snow with a lot of wind. We put all of the animals in areas with shelter and fed them early. The storm moved through quickly and it has already melted. 

 If you need any lovely fibers from my animals, please check out: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.blogspot.com. I have been stocking it with a mix of fibers, patterns and finished goods.

Merry Christmas.

Snow and more snow

The world outside looks like a black and white photo. If you visited today, you would not think we have any animals. They are all in the white barn, garage and shelters scatter around the pastures. The angora goats have yet to step outside since it started. The Merinos obviously do not care as much. They have been pawing at the ground to expose the grass, although there is plenty of hay in the barns.

I am currently spinning some red mohair that I dyed maple sugar. My dyes from Tucson are losing their color due to the humidity here despite the jars having been securely closed. Not a very soft mohair, but plied to a chamois colored mercerized cotton it is definitely wearable. 

This is the last skein that I have added to Etsy. My current intern has been doing a wonderful job of showing me new tricks to use on Etsy. I have taught her to drop spindle and she is now borrowing my Schacht and spinning away. Wish I had had a good teacher when I started out. It took me three months to master the wheel. Impatient people should not try to teach! She is becoming obsessed. There is just something rhythmic about the bobbin flying around and filling up with yarn that soothes the soul. Try it, if you have not!

I will be at the Chantilly Sugarloaf show this weekend. Next Monday I will be setting my shop up for three months. Next show is in North Carolina in April. 

Inspiration and Weavings

 I started tying the warp for this scarf in March. I got fed up with it since it got really tangled and then I had visitors come, so I had to move it to my bedroom. This fall I saw some weavings that really got me going, so I decided to finish this scarf. I ruthlessly cut off the rest of the warp and tied it on. I used the portions I cut off in the weft along with three of my signature yarns - thick and thin, a single and a coiled yarn. I used the yarns randomly, so one side has a lot more of the felted poofs. I love how it turned out.

 On my way to Stitches East, I stopped off at Pam Blasko's for the night. One of her weavings was wildly random. I saw how I could do what she did in wire with beads. I am still hunting for the wire. Above is the yarn that I spun the day I got home.

 A view of one end of the shawl on the loom.

 On a mannequin (ends are not finished, but will be tomorrow.)

 I went to the Maryland Alpaca Fiber and fleece show today. Bought some art yarns for color inspiration, but had to go visit my own babies, so they would not feel neglected. This guy's name is Maryland (slight confusion for six months over his sex) and he is 18 months old. Just the right age to become an "it." I will keep him as a fiber animal. I love his fleece. He is hanging with the Shetland and Merino rams right now and is still being a good boy.

 Marc put his ducks on the grass this afternoon. The chickens are curious.

Interns are wonderful beings. I have two now and their focuses are totally different. One like all the fibery stuff. Since it is too cold to do much in the bank barn, my other intern has been encouraging me to list more yarns on etsy. If you see one that you like, don't wait to buy it. I do a lot of shows and what I list are my favorites and usually the first to sell. The red black and blue is a freeform yarn and one of two that I currently have left. Spun it right before Stitches East. It is a popular color combination. The novelties and beads are very different from the last batch. No two alike is my motto! www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy.com

I will be in booth 79, Building 6 at the Sugarloaf Gaithersburg show this weekend. I might have a few passes left for it and the Chantilly one in December. If you are interested, email me at jmarckathy@aol.com. I will mail till I run out. Be sure to let me know which one you want.

Settled into Farm Life

 Yesterday I took a lovely drive to Halifax, PA, to pick up my roving from Gurdy Run. 32 bags and all lovelier than it left the farm! A few of the bags had already made it upstairs before this photo. I have been taking fiber that was washed and dyed in Tucson. The washing months here are too short for me to keep up. I am also spending a fair amount of time shearing, so I needed a way to spin faster. Most of the fiber is a blend of really nice (in some cases kid/lamb) fiber. I am selling starting at $7.50 an ounce. Discounts are available for quantities over a pound. The more you buy - the more I discount. I will be bringing some to Stitches East, but the bulk will go in my attic for me to spin.

 Marc went with me to the mill the first time and was fascinated with the ducks running all over the place. I brought him home four Muscovy ducklings in a beer box. It was a gift for him and better than beer. He laughed. They are currently in my wash room. They do not have real feathers yet. We plan to let them free range when they are old enough. Might have to clip their wings the first year to make sure that they stay.

 If you ever visited the shop in Tucson, you might have met Charcoal, the resident studio cat. She spent the first year here in Maryland under my clothes in the closet, only coming out to eat or take care of other necessary business. In early spring, she ventured out and has been living in the mud room, when she is not roaming my red bank barn catching mice. She now follows me around, but does not venture into the sheep and goat areas. We have three kittens wandering those areas.

 The Shetland sheep are on our original pasture. We are going to move them to the hayfield which is being fenced in right now. Having someone cut hay is expensive and we are at the mercy of the farmer. We are last on his cutting list, so the hay was never cut at the optimal time. For pasture rotation and less parasite issues, the expense of fencing will pay for itself.

I am always surprised that this pine tree is surviving, since its roots are in the pond. The cattails in the foreground were not as numerous this year. The beaver cleaned out a lot of the pond while building his lodge and trying to keep his dam going. I am hoping that he will come back this year.

I head out next Wednesday for Stitches East. My shop is open tomorrow, but will probably remain closed till after the Gaithersburg show which is the weekend before Thanksgiving. Happy knitting, spinning, felting, weaving and crocheting!