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.

Animals for sale

 I am no longer breeding my alpacas and would like to sell a few of them. This is Maryland, an intact male born four years ago. $1,000 without papers. He was just shorn and had a beautiful fleece. I also have two Huacaya and two Suri females for sale. They will not breed, so think of them as pets.

 Four French angora rabbits were born  last month. They will be available the first week in August. I also have four 1 year old rabbits for sale. I plan to keep several but, since they are all lovely, i will keep the adults and any babies not sold. We plan to get a rabbitry built soon.

 Angora goats and sheep of all ages are also available. This has been my healthiest and loveliest group since our move. Email me at jmarckathy@aol.com to set up a visit and talk pricing.

 Four pea chicks were born this week, I have three males and one female available. that are a year old. They will not be breeding pairs since they share the same parents. Everyone talks about how loud peacocks are. If you are on a farm, you will know that sheep, goats and dogs are much louder!

This chick was born three days ago. There are three more under the hen ready to rest for the night.

If you would like to visit and are not shopping, please be aware that I charge $5 a person for tours. Children under 2 are free.

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.

No Time to be Bored!

 There is always something that needs doing on the farm. The bunnies are four weeks old now. Their eyes are open and they are hopping around. I think they are all males. I will know soon enough.

 Charming has lost his old feathers and is now growing his new ones. I have been spinning his really short feathers into yarn. This one features 5 peacock feathers that have eyes. I clustered them close together, so they will make a nice bouquet. The smaller feather are gray with green iridescent tips. I placed them the usual distance apart on a black kid mohair single. I spun the coordinating yarn, so a longer version of the feathered collar can be made.

 I have lots of bags with Black Sussex rooster feathers. It is interesting how different each batch is. I spun these feathers onto a moorit Merino and spun a matching single.

 Fall is the time for kid goat shearing. This guy had gorgeous locks which are now drying in the barn. He is for sale until Monday, when I will send him to auction. He is very parasite resistant. We only had to treat him one all summer. Would love to keep him, but he is related to 2/3 of the does.

 Close up of his fleece before shearing.

 The angora goats have been divided up for breeding. I put the colored goats in the woods and they are getting plenty to eat since they are not interested in the hay when we bring them in for the night. They know it is time to come in, because they are all waiting at the gate.

This is the buck I bought this summer. He is not as fine as my last one, so I will only use him this year. I am looking for a dark red, so if anyone has one that will be a yearling next year, I am interested. I am also downsizing so, if you are looking for a proven doe with lovely fiber (all colors available,) please let me know soon.

I am off to the Art Harvest at Waterford, Virginia this weekend. I will be inside Red Barn #1. It will be cold, so I am hoping that people will be looking for yarns to keep them busy this winter and wearable art. Hope to see a few friends there.

Finishing Projects, Starting New Ones and a Lovely Surprise

 I forced myself to sit down and finish the pattern for Nadia's Shawl. It is an intermediate pattern that takes advantage of gradient yarns. I have been spinning a few and playing around with ideas. The color way is a single edition. I have others that will work up beautifully but in different color ways. I have finished the Watermelon Shawl pattern but will not publish it till I have a few sets of yarn to go with it. I have a hard time revisiting yarns, so when I publish the kits, if you want one, better not wait. I plan to only make 4 and then sell the model. Nadia's pattern is available on my etsy shop,if you are interested.

 Got some better photos of the peacocks. We got a lovely surprise when she laid an egg. We composted that one because she did not lay again for two weeks. Then she was serious and she started sitting about the 1st of September on four eggs. It would be exciting, if she has chicks. We plan to have a structure and aviary built for the peacocks, so the chicks will be less stressed. All of the birds love the small tomatoes. Marc and I don't like them and they keep showing up every year. I pick several handfuls to give them every day. Otherwise, I would consider those plants a weed and rip them out!

 This is Sleeping Beauty. The peacock is Prince Charming. Beauty and Charming for short. Their feathers are lovely - even the shorter ones. Charming has a few more short tail feathers to lose and then I will spin a yarn. Don't know whether I will sell the yarn or knit it up as a sample. I won't have any more feathers till next year.

 Rug hooking a landscape has been in the back of my mind for a year and a half. Today Marc helped me set up a board and pin the linen to it, so I could trace the farm photo that I chose onto  it. I bought a digital project years ago to do power point presentations. As you can see, I knew exactly what to do when it came time to trace my design.

 I am spinning yarns as I go. I use it as a challenge to do color ways and styles of yarn that I would not usually spin. The yarn for the barn is gorgeous. It is several shades of red. I had spun it as a single and got mad because I think it is too itchy to wear. Today I Navajo plied it and it looks luscious. The sheen and colors be just right. i have hooked one sheep and part of the silo. This is going to be a lot of fun. I can actually name some of the animals and I know whose fiber I am using for some sections.

This is our wooded area. The deer and fox have now abandoned it. They don't want to share. If you look closely at the center of the photo, you can pick out a few of the sheep. There are 47 ewes and one ram running around out there. Most of our pastures are drying up, since we have not had much rain and it is hot. This area is nice and shaded with a stream running through it. Whenever the animals get access, they are super excited.

Show season has started. I head to the GA Fiber Festival on Wednesday and have the PA Knitters' Day out the weekend after. Lots of fun places to go and friends to visit. Hope to see some of you there!

I will be teaching a pin weaving class here on September 16. I have openings for 2, if anyone is interested. Email me at jmarckathy@aol.com for details.

Shop, Rug Hooking, New Landscape and Peacocks

 My shop will stay set up all year round now since I have enough yarn to fill the racks even with yarns pulled for shows. I am starting to have some of my Merino and Kid mohair blended to create lace and fingering weight yarns, so I can design patterns and have yarns to go with them. Some of my patterns require specific yarns which will become limited editions. Seems like everyone wants the exact same yarn and color that I make my models out of. Unfortunately, it has become tedious and they are no longer unique, if I am always spinning the same yarns. So make yourselves notes to buy it, if you want it.

 We are currently waiting  on a bid for our red bank barn to be remodeled and climate controlled. I would like to move all of my fiber stuff to one place and be able to work in the barn.We have ideas for the interior being redone, but the holes in the walls have to go first!

 I went to the MAFA show in July and came home determined to try something new. I have been fascinated for a while by rug hooking and my friend, Loris Blanchard of the Wool Farm, got me started on a sample piece last year. I am now experimenting using my art yarn on monk's cloth.

 This is one of the skeins that I spun in attempts to recreate the colors for my first rug hooking project. This actually represents what our grass looks like now. I love it, but have posted it for sale on my Etsy shop, since the landscape that I have chosen is from early spring.

 I am going to use this photo for my landscape design. I will be editing out the tree shadow and simplifying the smaller details.

Last, but not least, Marc and I added peafowl to our menagerie. My uncle passed away a few weeks ago and I have decided to live my life to the fullest. Peacocks were on my bucket list. Marc always denied my request saying that they are "dirty and loud." Well, the dogs and Skyler are much louder. It is fascinating to watch their stately strut. They are currently in the aviary till we are sure that they will stick around. The male spreads his feathers when he sees me coming out with treats. He has been losing a few feathers - some big and some small. Soon I will have enough to spin a feathered yarn with the small ones. I am amazed at how many types of feathers they have beside the impressive tail feathers with the eyes.

This is a good time to visit the farm. Just a reminder - call first since I occasionally have to run off somewhere, and be sure to not wear your best shoes, since we occasionally rotate the sheep and goats on the front yard.