Winter's Cria

Caitlin went out to feed this morning while I was getting ready to go to the optometrist and discovered that Winter had had her baby. It was an11 months and five days gestation. I had it on my calendar, so I know for sure. She is a darker chocolate than Winter and still unnamed. I still have not settled on a theme for the year. I did get to see her before running off t my appointment.

I went back out this afternoon to check on the cria. Winter had just bit my hair, so I was trying to block her. She latched onto my shirt as I was checking out her baby. Winter is settling down, but she is not fit for public greetings!

I taught a pin weaving class to a select group of the Old Pueblo Knitters. They picked it up quickly. Above is the piece that I started during the class.

My piece turned into a landscape. It will be done, as soon as I weave in the loose ends and attach a saguaro rib for hanging. It was a very addictive piece to work on.

I carded up angora rabbit for an order and then carded a bunch more. Most of it got blended into black kid mohair and then one batch with black and navy blended and two batches with red and black blended. Now I am gearing up for spinning them. I ended up with 70 ounces blended. It is going to take a while.

A Day Off

Above is a picture that Caitlin, my intern took today. This is Barbara, my oldest goat. She was born in 2003 and is still going strong. She has produced lots of lovely babies over the years. She still loves the salt licks! I played with the picture a little.
I went over to a friend's llama ranch to help with a baby llama. She did not make it, but another baby was born while we were there and she seemed to be in good health. Caitlin took the photo of this mama llama, while I was working with the baby. Her eyelashes are gorgeous! None of the rest looked half as cute.

I am getting lots of spinning and carding in, while Caitlin is washing and picking the fiber. She is getting to see how variable fleeces are in terms of quality and dirt. I have taught her to drop spindle and want her to hop on a wheel tomorrow or the next day. She is worth more than her weight in gold!

The Best Time of Year

The winter months are the best time of year for me here at the ranch. Shows are over for a few months and visitors from out of state start coming through to see the animals and check out the yarns. Ideas start to flow and I get feedback on finished goods. This is how I know what patterns to put in writing and what types of yarns to spin.
Someone bought a skein of angora rabbit at the Tempe show. She came to visit on Saturday looking for more yarn and she showed me her hat. Talk about gorgeous. I have only knitted up bits and pieces of angora rabbit, so I was blown away by how soft and lovely her hat is. I have to spin more angora!
This might be the last dog hair that I ever spin. The fber at the top right is what I had to deal with. It was fairly felted and I wore out my rotor cuff and thumb trying to pick it apart for carding. I have to admit that the coiled yarn turned out lovely and, since I focused on the fiber that was softest, she will be able to knit a scarf from it and wear it. It will shed a little, but it is definitely sturdy enough to be used.

Two skeins of yarn that I plan to turn into a freeform lace shawl. A sample shawl is posted further down in this post.

I just finished a blue series of freeform yarns. They are a blend of kid mohair, Shetland lamb, and Rambouillet (Mound's last fleece) with lots of beads, bows, and texture.

A view of the yarns that I spun to complete the series.

This is my latest freeform lace shawl. I am going to draft a pattern explaining how I created it. I don't have a clue as to how many stitches I cast on or how many rows there are, but I can explain how you can create your own. I spun the cranberry colored yarns above to make another, but I am being seduced by a red kid mohair fleece that came off #397, a buck that I might use for breeding next year. His fleece turned out to be nicer than that of many does. I did not know that until he was shorn. It is not like the goats are going to stand still for me to fondle their hair!

This is a close up of the lace. I am naming this shawl - A Spinner's Web.

In other ranch news - Josey does not look like she is going to deliver, while Winter is definitely due around the first week in February. These are alpacas. The goats are due to start delivering around the 24th of February.

I don't remember whether I mentioned that I am juried into the Spring 4th Avenue Street Fair here in Tucson - the first weekend in April.
These are the yarns that will greet you as you enter the shop.

New Colorways

I did a quick search on the color forecast for spring and summer of 2011. The colors above are an extract of one set. Most of the spring and summer colors look to be what we traditionally consider to be fall colors. I spun two freeform yarns, a coil, and a single, so there is enough to make a shawl.

The colors below were spun just prior to the golds. I had some "red" kid mohair already spun up that will go nicely with the green. I spun 3 freeform ones in this series.

I am already on to reds with touches of orange and white. Stitches West is just a month away!

I did get into the Albuquerque Fiber Fiesta and the spring 4th Avenue Street Fair 2011. I won't be doing the San Diego show, unless the Tempe show moves to a different weekend. San Diego was OK, but Tempe was awesome and so much closer to home.

I finished the versatile vest order and decided that it would be the last knitting order that I will fill. From now on, I will be knitting to design patterns. If the model sells, I will still have the pattern. Spinning is a much better use of my time.

Celebrations and Reflections

I turned a year older today and it is also my wedding anniversary. Thought I would share a photo of Marc and me from our wedding. Hard to believe that 28 years have passed. My brothers and sisters were all betting that our marriage would not last long. (One of my sisters revealed this a few years ago.) Marc and I met one month in the Army Signal Corps Advanced Course, got engaged the next month, and then got married the next month. When you are in the army and you can be stationed anywhere - there is not a lot of time to wait - if you want to end up living together for the next three years. I could have spent four years in Tampa, Florida, as a recruiter, while Marc went to Heidelberg, Germany. By getting married over the Christmas break, we were able to be assigned together.

When we got married, I would never have dreamed that I would own a shop. I worked as a clerk in a department store to pay my way through college and hated it. I have a whole new perspective on retail business now and it is a lot more positive, since I am selling something that I believe in. I have been commissioned to make a mural. Above is one side of a batt and below is the other. Both will make lovely skies. I will probably use the lighter one for this commission, but I can never seem to card a whole batt in one color!

A few days ago I went out and discovered Josey acting weird. I am now sure that she is pregnant. It is hard to tell with the larger animals, because their size hides it well. She is no longer standing to be petted by guests. Her due date is the 29th, but I would not be surprised, if she delivers early.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!

New Yarns and Progress

I am spinning a few yarns in between working on my orders. Most are finished, a few will go in the mail today, and the vest is half done. I really like how the supercoiled yarn looks in a closeup.

A supercoil hung on the mannequin as a cowl scarf. I am going to list it on etsy this afternoon.

A more southwestern colored skein that will also go on etsy.

Yarn scarves and shows

Nuno felted shawls got a lot of attention this winter, as well as my version of a supercoiled yarn. I sold several of the shawls, so I will be glad to teach the class in order to replenish my inventory. The yarn in the photo sold.

This was my booth set up for Tempe. All but three of the supercoils sold there, so I spent last week spinning those exclusively.

Last week's yarns. The only one left is the pale blue one at the very center of the photo.

While giving someone a tour of the animals last week, I discovered this nest on the ground. No babies in it, thank goodness. Even birds can be artistic. A very good use of color from my chickens' feathers.

I spun these yarns last Thursday and Friday. The burgundy and the multicolored skein at the front are the only ones left.

My 4th Avenue Street Fair in Tucson booth. I mention the Tucson part, because at the other shows, everyone wanted to know where the 4th Avenue was. It was a lot better than last winter and spring, but it did not come anywhere near the Tempe Festival of the Arts. I was really impressed that I had customers from Tempe that came down to buy yarn scarves. They had come by on Sunday in Tempe and the choices were slim. Thanks to all who did come out. I have covered my feed bill for the summer, so Marc is happy and I have lots of motivation to produce more of everything!

This was a scarf ordered in San Diego. It goes out in the mail today. I have several other orders and I am working on all of them. It is hard to settle on only one project!

New shows: I have been invited to participate in the Pasadena Bead and Gem Show. I will have 500 square feet to fill. It is by invitation only, so I am excited that people in San Diego have been passing the word about my art. The dates are July 28-31, 2011. I have the option of teaching in my space, which is nice. I plan to offer a basic drop spinning class, pin weaving, or my novelty yarn class there. If the classes don't fill, it will be OK. I would like to offer nuno felting, but don't know that they will have the appropriate facilities.

Among other news, I got a new phone (Droid X) last night and have realized that there is going to be a long learning curve. It is more like a computer with phone capabilities. Anyhow, if I am talking to you and something weird happens, blame it on my having to learn new tricks.