It is warming up!

 I am now working down in the barn creating my favorite type of batts. They are somewhat rustic because I am grabbing all sorts of fibers. There is some vm in them, so they will be priced lower than my usual. I am seriously tempted to wet felt this one. Above is how it looked while the carder was actually running. Below is how it looked when I stopped the carder.

 This is the same batt taken off the carder and folded so you can see both sides. The left is the top color that you can see on the carder. The right side is what went onto the carder first. I rarely do batts that are all one color. This is the Patrick Green Elsa carder. I love to create batts on it, because it holds a lot of fiber. I do get tired of some colors as I card which is why there are always two sides. Felted it is always a surprise and spun it has a Monet/impressionistic look.

 I am currently spinning the pinkish color of the locks above. I just spun a gradient skein of yarn using it and some natural colored moorit Merino. I have just started a freeform yarn in those colors. So tempted to knit or weave it. I have been adding some new surprises in the yarns. Those who are going to Stitches South this coming weekend will get first looks.

 This picture has already been on my Facebook, page as have the last two photos. You can follow or like me - either as Kathy Withers or uniquedesignsbykathy to keep up daily with events on the farm. Follow both, if you really want to know. I am not always sure where my photos will end up. I love the shot of the kids playing in the water trough. It was empty since that water had frozen the night before. I had to haul buckets out to them.

 This is our bottle baby. He will be four weeks old tomorrow and has gone from 2 to 8 pounds. I have named him Toggle, since he has a switch - he is either running around and dancing or immediately asleep when I put him in his box. I have been taking him down to the play area during the warm part of the day, so he can see other goats. He is definitely too small and maybe stupid? to leave in the barnyard full time.

A view of the farm from one of the pastures. So glad that the animals are finally out of barns most of the time and doing more than eat my earnings!

Still shearing when Marc is available. So glad to have someone coming the weekend of the MD Sheep and Wool Festival who will do the Merinos and as many of the Shetlands as he has time for. I will be in the Dog Run area where I was last year. Come hang out and do stop to say hello.

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!

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!

Fiber

I noticed that I don't have any photos of what I do with my fiber. I spend most of my time spinning and occasionally knitting. The best sellers in my shop are yarns and the batts like the ones in the basket at left. These batts don't seem to show up as clearly as they do in other programs, so the blog must save space by putting lower resolution pictures on. These are shades of greens that I sell for felting - wet and needle. I have a Patrick Green electric carder, which I really love. It allows me to play around with colors and is professional enough to allow me to produce in bulk. I have to admit that not one of the batts in the basket is the same as any of the others. I use them to make landscape scenes like the one below. I teach wet felting on the last Saturday of the month for free with the purchase of fiber to make a project. My favorite felting is of landscapes of the Tucson area. There is something about the color of the sky here that cannot be found anywhere else.

The small piece above is in the initial stage of development. I needlefelted a basic layout of a sunset from a photo that I took earlier in the month. Seeing it in a photo helps me see where I need to add detail and colors. I plan to make a much larger landscape - 27x28 inches, using the same design. I have been wet felting my landscapes, but started to wonder what would happen, if I needlefelted them first and then wet felted. I have started needlefelting a large one and will leave this one as is, so I can make a comparison. I think needlefelting can become tedious, so I doubt that I will do many this way. Wet felting provides a quicker finished product and I like the surprises that I get in wet felting. I want a little more shape control, so I will try to needlefelt at least one.