Marc and Laura

Marc loves to catch the babies and hold them - as well as listen to them fuss.
Notice that Marc is doing the holding and not Laura. She borrowed clothes to wear.
Laura did pick up and hold Palo Seco. He has now been compared to a kitty and a puppy. Cascabel's mother is now feeding him grudgingly. She will have to stay in the pen for a while, till I am sure that he will be getting enough. He is small compared to the others.

Koolaid Dyeing and a current project

This is the skein of yarn that we dyed during the Koolaid class. It does not look all that impressive hanging to dry, but the skein below is the final project, and a lot more lovely than I had expected.
Below is a small bag that I felted for a workshop that I held today. I needed to know how much fiber was needed to make a bag that size. I finished it by braiding the coiled yarn to make a strap. It turned out well. It also needed only 2 ounces of fiber, which was my goal. The ladies did not want to spend a lot to try out something new. The bag is now hanging in the shop. I have three others that I plan to finish before the 4th Avenue next weekend. It is the right size for a camera, ipod or cellphone.

Faces

The same day that I took sleeping baby pictures, I focused on a few faces. This is Classy before her haircut.
Poor Jalapeno is miserable. She is still waiting for her babies. She is out of triplets, so might be carrying triplets herself.
Cinnamon is still waiting also. I am hoping that she will have red kids, since I have not gotten any this year. She is my last chance.
This is Kit. Being a mom is hard work!
Espresso is a keeper. His offspring are mostly male, but his fiber and that of his offspring is superior to Tarragon's so I am keeping him.

Sleeping babies

Babies sprawl out anywhere.
Precious and Willow.
This is one of Barbara's. Lovely ringlets already!
Columbian with two of her triplets. Mighty Mouse's duo.

And another

I went back out to make sure that the Shetland had passed her afterbirth and was concerned, because she had not. I grabbed a bucket and sat down to watch her. Definitely Cumin. She was fussing nonstop, so I figured there had to be another baby. I got up and massaged her belly. She was pretty skittish, so I decided to see what she would do on her own. It was 2 hours after the first lamb, so I debated reaching in to pull it myself. I did not think about it too hard, since I was home alone and she was not down. Then I know I have to intervene. Fortunately, she started pawing at the ground and got serious. Out popped a fairly large ram. Up and eating in no time flat!

If I had not been out there, I would not even have known that she delivered till later in the day. They were all out of the shed and hiding among the rest of the herd.

It is funny how the same two animals bred to each other can give such different color variations each year. Cumin had a black and a brown lamb last year. Both are those colors this year, but they have a huge white stripe running along their backs. Makes it easy to spot whose lamb belongs to whom. Of course, within two months, they will all look totally different, so it pays to routinely take photos of the babies.

Shetlands

You can't beat the Shetlands for having their babies and doing it all on their own. I knew this Shetland was going to deliver tonight because she was hanging in the shed. I went out and her baby was already up and drinking. I left them alone with food and water. Why mess with a good thing. It is a ewe and she looks like she is going to be black/brown with spots. I am pretty sure that it was Cumin, but will be sure in the morning with better light. I know that it is one of Spot's offspring, because she was hanging out with her.

The Jacob ewe should be next. I will get photos in the morning.

I spent the day felting two small bags and dyeing fiber. I lost 1.5 pounds in the wash with both of the Border Leicester/Shetland fleeces. The white one is really superior, but the black one has some lovely color variation. I plan to spin up some and turn some into felting batts.

No new babies, but..

Mint has still not delivered, but I know how I will be able to tell, if sheep are close. Desert, the Rambouillet lamb is sneaking up on future moms and checking out their udders. The Jacobs ewe finally has udders and the milk must smell, because Desert was trying to sneak a drink. He has also been harassing a Shetland ewe, so I know who to watch. It has been quiet around here, which has allowed me to get through some Netflix and get in some spinning. I decided to try out a new fiber blend to see how well it would felt. To be honest, I loved the colors and I needed to see how much fiber people would have to buy to make a small ipod/cellphone bag. The bag turned out really well, so I spun up some of the red to make a flower to embellish it and then spun up and coiled another batch to use as the strap. Hopefully, I will be motivated enough tomorrow to get it finished.

I managed to wash Pearl's fleece. She is the large Border Leicester/Shetland that was sheared on Saturday. It was 6 pounds raw and it will be interesting to see how much is left after washing. It is gorgeous and a lovely shade of white. It will be gone really soon. The white dyes beautifully. I might spin it up white and then Koolaid space dye it.

Right now I am spinning up the top portion of a batch of kid mohair that was dyed in the remainder of a lot of cranberry. It has a purplish tint to it. Tomorrow I will do the kid mohair that almost looks like cranberry. I am trying to have a variety of colors available for the 4th Avenue Street Fair.