Shear Perfection

Shearing is now done until October 27, when all of the angora goats and some ram lambs will be shorn.

Thanksgiving is getting her hair cut by Nathan Good of Shear Perfection. He did a superb job. No stress for the animals or for me (most important!) While shearing Maryland, the cria born May 5th, he mention that "he" had a lovely fleece. Based on how he squatted to pee and no obvious testicles, I thought I had a girl. I do not breed with the intentions of papering my alpacas, so I will keep him, if I don't find a buyer. His fleece is as lovely as Thanksgiving's so with plenty of pasture, I am not under pressure.

Nathan was also willing to grind down teeth, so Jennifer went to the dentist without leaving home!

Marc held Winter, Maryland's mom, so she would know where her baby was. I think of the alpacas as large animals, but they are not once shorn and especially being held by Marc!

I am still doing lots of freeform - between spinning, washing fleeces and gardening. I am also checking out the various knitting and spinning groups in the area. So far, the spinning group associated with the Baltimore Weaver's guild has my vote. I plan to check out the Columbia Sip and Knit group that meets next Tuesday at the King's mall.

I have signed up to be a vendor at Spin Quest on August 25th. You can find more information by going to Spin Artiste's website and Ravelry pages.

Handspun Freeform Yarns

My sister says that dragonflies are in. This one of two skeins based on this colorway. This one has the dragonflies. Lots of texture, beads and other novelties.

This skein is the same as the one above, shown from the opposite side, so you can see the color variation.

I am heading to Sacramento next Tuesday, so I have to do lots of spinning. I sold enough yarn at the wool festival to be happy and inspired to create more!

Tucson Wool Festival Workshop and the Lap Rug

Karen Herhold will be teaching a nun felting workshop at the wool festival on October 17, 2009. Learn how to felt on silk in a quick workshop that will teach you the basics of felting. Cost is $25 and includes all supplies to make a hair bow,belt or skinny scarf. Questions? email jmarckathy@aol.com or call 520-572-3758.

This batch of roving started with the colors, I found buttons that matched, and then discovered that the way I was spinning the yarn lent itself to a landscape scarf. I plan to knit this one myself.
The buttons are a cowboy motif.
The greens reflect the colors of the mountains in spring and the sage brush. I had a lot of leftover roving and was planning to do a second skein using some wild animal buttons.
The carder called and I created roving that is reminiscent of an African Safari. I have to give Shannon Orr credit for the name. I was going for wild animals at the zoo.
Shannon is an angel in disguise. She showed up in response to my cry for help on weaving the lap rug for the wool festival raffle. Virginia did about 18 inches, I did another 18 and Shannon did the rest. It is now off the loom and I will weaving in the ends - no fringe this time! It is about 60 inches long, so we will be adding freeform pieces around each of the sides. Since it is in all natural colors, I knew the yarns would all work. I am always amazed at how well such a loosely organized project can turn out. About 12 of the Freeform Spinners of Tucson have had their hands in it - either spinning or learning to warp, tie on, thread or weave. It is going to be another work of art.

To see last year's freeform shawl, check out the Tucson Wool Festival page of my website: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.com.
We wanted this to be an item that would appeal to both sexes. The Freeform Spinners are open for suggestions for a project for next year. We will start it at the wool festival next year, so it will be ready to raffle off next year. We are looking to do something different every year, so we can learn new techniques. Last year it was dyeing and spinning Shetland wool to create yarn strong enough for a warp. This year we played around with Rambouillet and Merino. All wool is not the same, as the spinners will tell you. Anyone interested in participating is welcome to jump in at any time. Some of the yarns used were drop spindled and the first yarns ever spun for some. In freeform, anything goes! We meet the first and third Saturdays of the month here at the ranch.