How We Spend Our Weekends

 Most of our weekends when I am home are spent running animals in off the pastures to check them for parasite loads. Above, Marc is luring in the angora goat adults. Seems like every two weeks in no longer often enough. This past Sunday we lost a Merino yearling ewe. It is very discouraging since they seem to fail overnight.

 Based on how expensive and time consuming it is to keep up with the herds, I am in the process of selling a lot of gorgeous animals. The two chocolates here are keepers, since they have become pets. Now is the time to come look, because by the end of October I will be down to the chosen ones. My herd is now at 150 and all of the animals have stupendous fiber. Wish I could keep them all, but I am constantly being reminded that I have too many.

 On a happier note, my barn renovation is awesome. Let me know if you are looking for someone. I can only recommend the guys that did the interior work. I am now designing freeform yarns since I am feeling a burst of creative energy. Fall shows are coming and I am looking to fill my shop with new colors.

We lost all of our pea chicks despite having them in a very secure area. The loss is in perspective since it happened during the storm that hit Ellicott City. Beauty must have a strong maternal instinct because she has at least three eggs under her and she is sitting again.

Upcoming events:

Spin in here at the farm this Sunday from 1-4. Bring your wheel and whatever you are working on. Temperatures are dropping!

Knitters' Day Out in Summerdale, PA Sep 16-17, 2016. Check out their site for more info. Class registration closes Sp 9. I am going as a vendor.

New Website and Listings

I just attended a spinning retreat in Massachusetts at Ashley Martineau's of  How To Spin Yarn. She spins lovely chunky yarns and has loads of tutorials on spinning art yarns. She has helped me update my website with a new logo and format. I can now be found at www.witherswool.com. I will continue to update this blog for a while, but all of my other sites will direct you to my new website.

 Prince Charming was really happy to see  me yesterday. I got lots of gorgeous pictures. Some look so good that they look fake! The three young males are now raising their tail feathers but they do not have the long ones yet, so they are only a pale imitation at this point.

 The does and kids are on a dry lot now to reduce the summer parasite worm load. We let them out yesterday so we could rake their area. They were  really eager and chomped down on the ragweed.

 The adult goats are ready to be shorn, so I will start that this weekend. I am selling most of my blacks and some of my reds and whites. If you are interested, now is the time to contact me: jmarckathy@aol.com.

 I am also willing to  let a few kids go this year.

 I am currently listing roving and mohair locks on my etsy page which now shows up on my website. It is really nice to have everything in one place.

I have been playing around with spinning bulkier yarns because I am weaving curtains and rugs for my new rooms in the barn. This one is a Navajo ply in Merino and kid mohair with a red cotton thread. There is not quite enough yardage for a hat, but I have plenty of yarns that will coordinate.

I have officially been accepted into the Maryland Alpaca Show November 12-13, 2016 at the Howard County Fairgrounds. I will be in my same spot in the Dining Hall. Mark your calendars.

Goat Bridge, Lots of Rain and New Ventures

 Earlier this year we had the rest of our property fenced. It is a woodsy area with two streams and a waterfall. here were ways to get the animals over to our newest pasture, but a bridge would make it much easier. This week we had a bridge built over the stream just below the waterfall. One goat looked at me suspiciously and followed me over. In seconds the rest had made it over. I will have to haul a chair out next time and leave it. There are too many vines and predators in the area, so I do not feel comfortable leaving them out there by themselves until they have cleared it out some. Much cooler under the trees than in the pasture.

 Spinquest is changing their format this year. I will be going both as a vendor and a teacher. As soon as registration opens, I will let you know and provide a link. In case you have not guessed, I will be teaching a mini class on dyeing.

 We have been getting lots of rain this year. We got three inches yesterday. I took a sunset photo just after the rain last week. The barn makes a great focal point. It won't be long before we will be remodeling this barn to make it climate controlled. Then I will be working out of the barn and teaching more classes. So much space!

 Last weekend I taught a freeform spinning class. This is the yarn that I finished. It has been listed on my etsy shop: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy.com.

While in North Carolina the week before I found the depression era green dish. It makes a great way to lay out my novelties before spinning. They sure make me look more organized than I really am!

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.  

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!

Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival

 We have two geese that have decided that we are not going to bother them. They now wander all over the front yard with the chickens and watch me as I work in the garden. They lost their nest to the flood and must be bored.

 Finished knitting my last collar. I was hoping to finish putting together the pattern, but I could not get motivated. Allergies are making me weary.

This is my most recent freeform yarn. It is mostly Merino and some black kid mohair and all from my animals. The fiber is so fine that an 11 US needle will be too large. I sure hope there are artists in Massachusetts!

Around the Farm and Maryland sheep and Wool Festival



 In preparation for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, I wandered the farm looking for the perfect picture to use on my banner. This photo appears to be close, but I found a better one. Come check it out. I will be in the sheep dog area in the northwest section of the fairgrounds.

 The kids are enjoying  being out on the front yard. they are running around climbing on rocks while their moms are grazing.

 This mom had twins. They are really heavy kids. They were among the first born. All are keepers.

 The Shetland sheep were also out. The two little white blobs are twin lambs belonging to the sheep at left. The sheep and goats are in the same fenced area but they hang as separate herds.

And there always has to be one. This doe is one of my oldest and she got pregnant last. She never got pregnant by the black buck, so I put her in with the white buck. She is a drama queen and waited till the second round to let the buck catch her. Kids any day now?

I am busy pricing roving, carding large batts and spinning art yarns. I am down to one freeform yarn, so I need to sit and focus. Good thing that it is raining, so there is not a lot of temptation to run around the farm. Marc was kind enough to do all of the feeding and milking this morning.

I have a new flock number for Maryland. Ran out of the Arizona tags and finally found the right place to order new ones. Another part of my past life is being left behind.

See you at MSDW!

Spinning a Feathered Yarn

 Until I decided to actually sit down and spin my chickens' feathers, I never realized exactly how many different types of feather a single chicken had. I raise Black Sussex chickens because they are cold hardy, produce an above average number of eggs and excellent foragers. I allow them to free range during the day and close them in the coop at night to protect them from predators.

My goal was to produce a soft yarn that had feathers dangling from it. My first attempts involved several different ways of wrapping the feathers into the yarn using a core thread as well as threading the feathers on a thread. The wrapping method caused the feathers to be wrapped unevenly and parallel to the yarn. The threaded feathers kept splitting where the needle had gone through the feather. Neither method worked for me since, besides not hanging the way I wanted, they looked sloppy and I did not feel that they were anchored securely.

I then came across some jewelry crimps with a hole in the top. I could crimp the feather inside the metal and thread each of the feathers onto a core thread and then place the feathers as I spun. I selected some of the softest feathers which were 3-4 inches in length.

I found a roving in my stash that coordinated with the feathers: a blend of alpaca and kid mohair in natural colors.

Spinning the yarn was a challenge, since the feathers were wispy and periodically got hung up in the holes.

When I wound the yarn off into a skein, I got some interesting effects. I made sure that I put enough twist in that the weight of the feathers would not cause the core thread to hang outside the yarn.

 Different lighting cause the feathers and yarn to look much lighter in color.

 Above is the yarn before I set the twist.

 The twist has been set and the yarn is now balanced.

A close up of the feathers attached to the yarn. My next challenge is to knit/weave or crochet it up into wearable art. I have spun a single to give me enough yardage.

Things to consider when spinning feathered yarns:

Commercial feathers available in craft stores are not the same as natural chicken/bird feathers. You have to read the fine print on the packaging to be sure that they are not dyed and that they can be washed. You have to be able to set the twist as well as remove the oils that your handling the fibers leave on your yarn. My test skein was washed and the feathers looked sickly until it dried and they fluffed back to the original state.

Some feathers are going to be too small to be held by the crimp and others will need a much larger crimp to be held in place. I used 6mm crimps for this skein.

Crimps come in several different colors. Be sure to pick one that coordinates with your feathers and yarn or the whole skein will look off. Art can very quickly become craft and crass when colors don't work together.

Let me know what you think! I have already come up with a few other ways to spin feathers, but I will save them for my freeform art yarn class.

New Lambs and Yarns

 Above: Black Eyed Pea with her lambs born this morning. Cloudy and Showers are the names. Bet you can picture our weather!

 Sweet Pea and her lambs are out in the front yard with the rest of the sheep. They have figured out that they need to keep an eye on their mother. They are now sprinting around the field. I have handled them enough that they will let me pick them up. I could not catch them otherwise.

 It is supposed to rain and then snow again. We closed the farm gates so the sheep could get out of the barn for a while. It does not look like there is much to eat, but they seem to be finding something.

On Thursday I head off to the Ocean City, MD, for their first fiber festival. I have loads of new yarns and colors, so come check it out, if you have time. It closes on Sunday at 2 p.m. so don't wait till the  last minute.