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.

A Week of Contrasts

 Sunday morning the East Friesian had a ram lamb weighing over 9 pounds. I was thinking that she had twins based on size, but nope! Just the one big lamb.

 Last night I did my final check at 8:30 and discovered that Cloudy (mom) had twin babies. Thought for sure the the ewe lamb was dead and the ram just about. They both cried when I picked them up, so I spent two and a half hours drying them with a blow dryer and waring them up. Then I finger fed them colostrum that I saved last year and got them sucking. By 11 the ram was standing. I held both of them on the mom to drink and then left them to settle in. I went back out at 1:15 and both babies were walking around and popped onto mom when she stood. I have had to supplement today. They are very small for Merino babies.The mom was in the barn and front yard area where I have been feeding grain, so I think she had them prematurely. She is a first time mom and was fortunately relaxed enough to let me handle her and her babies. I am naming them Angel and Candle in honor of the Christmas season.

 Our barn renovation is moving along. the front is almost done, the downstairs windows are in and big picture windows are behind the blue tarps.

 I plan to move my shop to the area behind the french doors, so that will be the first thing that people see when they come into the barn. I am going to turn the current shop space into a studio, so I can work in the barn and heat only a small area. We plan to put a catwalk around the upper area for roving storage.

 I am busy weaving on my Majacraft loom. I have decided to turn the piece into a vest. The back is done and I am a fourth of the way down the front.

I managed to get close up photos of the peachicks this morning and I can now tell that I have three cocks and one hen. The mother is the second from the right and the hen is to her right. You can tell by enlarging the photo that their wing feathers are the same. The cocks have speckled feathers like their father.

Yarn Styles

 I have been busy spinning feathered yarns and the singles to go with them in preparation for upcoming shows. I will be packing my shop up tomorrow and heading out to Sanford, NC, for their annual fiber festival. I am indoors this year, so weather will not be an issue.

 I have added a few freeform yarns to my inventory. They will all be new to NC since all of the ones I had before are long gone.

 Some of my favorite yarns are the beaded ones. This yarn is closer to black than the charcoal that you see here.

 One of my most recent lambs' tails.

 I am trying to list more rovings on my etsy shop: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy.com.

I spun two elastic yarns from the roving above. Both are slightly differently colored since the roving is variegated.

                                    
I raise my own fiber and my yarns would not be so unique without the animals. i love blending the different types together to get texture. This ram was huge and is a Merino Shetland cross. I just sheared one of the Shetland Merino crosses and the fleeces are gorgeous. Not quiet as fine as the Merino by itself, but awesome since it does not have to be spun up lace weight, which is what my pure Merinos seem to want to do.

My farm shop will be closed till the first week in June. You can find me at shows or through etsy. All of my most recent yarns are there as well as quite a few rovings and most of my patterns. Enjoy browsing!

Due to weather issues, I am having a lot of Internet issues. I finally managed to get some of my feathered yarns and the singles that go with them listed on my Etsy shop. I will be listing more, since I am busy designing new patterns for the feathers. I just finished a luxurious scarf/shawl in Suri alpaca with feathers. As soon as I have published the pattern, I will give you a preview.

Life on our farm is not just about the sheep and the goats. We discovered the bones and head of the beaver that was here a few years ago, so we now know what happened to him. We found this weasel last weekend dragging and tearing apart a full grown Canada Goose. We know where her nest is, so I will check it periodically. Glad that weasels can swim since the pond water has been rising.

I am always experimenting. All of these fibers were dyed with Golden Poppy. The difference in colors is the result of dyeing over a gray, a red mohair and a white mohair. The yarns will go in the shop. I am already working with the locks.

I am busy shearing the adult angora goats, now that the kids and yearlings are done. We have well heated barns, but I won't shear again until Sunday when it is warmer. 

Baby season is in full swing. All, but one, of the purebred Merinos have delivered. Then I have two weeks before everyone else can deliver. We are running the sheep and goats through the barn every week or so checking udders. Last year we put everyone in the barn. Since we are pros at running the animals through to check eyelids, it is not such a big deal to run them through for udders. The goats with the largest udders will be shorn first.

If you want to see snow pictures, head for my Unique Designs By Kathy Facebook page. As always, you can follow my Kathy Withers Facebook page, if you want to stay on top of farm events!