About Robin

Owner of Meridian Jacobs, farm and fiber shop. I raise Jacob sheep, teach fiber arts classes, weave handwovens for sale, and manage the store.

Busy Busy

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Robin

Here are some of the things that have filled this week: These are 8-9 pound triplets. The third was already up and nursing. I pulled these. This is the lamb list so far. Purple for ewes, blue for rams. I have a lot of new things for the shop, but haven’t had time to play with them or get them on the website. Electric carder, blending boards, and batt rollers (and other spinning gadgets) by Clemes and Clemes. I also have new DVD’s, books, felting kits, and gadgets.

I had a big weaving deadline that coincided with the first week of lambing (which also coincided with my tax appointment). This is just a preview of an item that will be in an upcoming issue of Handwoven magazine. And a new dog added to the workload. You can read Rusty’s blog to learn more about Maggie. There are still more ewes to lamb. I’m on my way to the barn now for the last check tonight.

Lambs everywhere

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Robin

Eight lambs today brought us to 22 lambs in five days since lambing began. It was hectic today. I had a Lambtown Fiber Committee meeting scheduled here from 1 to 3. One ewe (Delilah) lambed with twins and I put another ewe (Belinda) in a lambing pen just before the meeting started. One of the participants in the meeting brought her kids and the kids needed something to do. They were charged with the task of telling us if Belinda started having a lamb. About half way through the meeting the kids told us that a different ewe had just had a lamb. That was Terraza and I brought her into the barn. By the time the meeting was over there were 5 more lambs (2 for Terraza, 2 for Belinda, and 1 more for Delilah, giving her triplets). The morning began with finding Summer’s lambs. Unfortunately one was dead. (This is not a very good photo but it is of the live lamb.)The third of Delilah’s triplets. Look at those horns.This is Belinda. It’s no wonder that lambs and ewes get mixed up when lambing in a confined area. Belinda was desperate to have a lamb, any lamb.Delilah and her triplets.Terraza and twins. 1-DSC_5697weigh Dona came for the meeting and she took some photos. I like to weigh the lambs so I have an answer when people ask me “how much do they weigh when they are born?”Here are the official Lamb Watchers of the day. This is one of Eliza’s lambs, born a couple of days ago. Hot Lips and one of her lambs.The Lambing Board.

Lambs are Here!

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Robin

Lambs were due on Thursday, 148 days after the first breeding date. I’ve started watching for early arrivals. Last night I went out at about 12:30 a.m. (after finishing bookkeeping for the night) and found two ewes with four lambs. I brought them into the lambing pen area and tried to sort out moms and babies. I finally assigned two lambs to each ewe and they all seemed happy. In the light of day I realize that the sets of twins are split up. But that’s OK as long as each lamb has a happy mom. This is a beautifully marked ram lamb. Meridian Celeste x Kenleigh’s Matrix. The two parents are both lilac (the color of this lamb) and they should have lilac offspring. This is his adopted twin, but he is black so I think belongs to the other mom. (Meridian Zoey x Meridian Fogerty) Here is a lilac ewe lamb (although in the photo she looks black) so this is the twin to the first one. Meridian Loretta lambed with twins in the middle of the day. I put Loretta in a pen and came back an hour later. No muss, no fuss. Twins clean and nursing. This is a ewe lamb. Meridian Loretta x Kenleigh’s Matrix. Here is that first lamb again. I usually just number the lambs and let buyers give them names. This lamb is tempting me to name all my lambs. I don’t have his name yet, but I’ll think of one. Lambing season has started.

A Weaving Weekend

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Robin

The Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild hosts an Open House in February. This year’s theme was Weavers Gone Wild. Here are a few photos. One of the people in last summer’s Color Wheel class created this display from the fiber that she blended in class.

Triaxial weaving. Navajo weaving. Weaving with wire. Spinning om a cardboard “wheel”. Paper weaving–a great “make it and take it” project. I demonstrated weaving all weekend. I wove 2 chenille scarves using the warp I wound at Thursday’s Art as Inspiration class.After I finished the chenille I put a Shetland wool warp on the loom and wove 4 scarves for a commission.The last warp was all Jacob. I wove one and will finish the other at home. Seven scarves in a weekend isn’t bad.This is a close-up of the last one just because I still have my new macro lens on the camera.

Art as Inspiration for Weaving

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Robin

At the request of a nearby weaving guild I developed a class about using favorite artwork and photos as inspiration for weaving designs. This was based on the show that I had at the Artery a few years ago and that was the subject of a Handwoven article. This is the publicity photo we used for the show. Our model is wearing my Red Canna (Georgia O’Keefe) chenille shawl and Julia’s felt hat.

Participants in the class brought favorite photos or artwork to use as a basis for designing weaving projects and used……colored pencils and…rayon chenille for their designs. Here are some of the plans: Won’t it be fun to see these projects when they are finished?

A Shopping Weekend

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Robin

TNNA is The National Needlearts Association. The annual winter trade show was in Long Beach and I spent the weekend there with my friend, Irene, from Cotton Clouds and thousands of other yarn store owners, designers, and fiber lovers. This kind of a show has a different feel than the typical shows where I go as a vendor. Part of that is certainly because I’m on the fun (buying) side of the table instead of the work (selling) side. But it is also because this is where the manufacturers and producers go to sell their fiber, yarns, patterns and accessories to yarn stores and other retailers.

Irene and I always look forward to this weekend because, although we collaborate on the phone and by e-mail all year its nice to be face-to-face (and share a room at the hotel). There are a classes offered and I had fun making this needle felted bird. It’s good to find out how other people teach topics that you already offer.This is a crocheted coral reef in the lobby.There are autograph sessions for authors with new books. Mom wrote this book, but it features Ava (aka Annie), who knitted the scarf, and also signed every book.

Isn’t she adorable? Reminds me of Katie.

For the most part photography is not allowed on the show floor, but usually vendors don’t mind if you are going to buy their things. Here is a glimpse of some of what UPS will be delivering soon.

Are you as excited as I am? Make sure you sign up for my e-newsletter so you will know when these new items (and more) arrive!

A Few of the Week’s Accomplishments in the Shop

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Robin

Baby blankets still on the loom. Baby blankets off the loom and finished. I put on a 21 yard warp and wove 14 blankets. I hemmed some this time instead of leaving short fringe. I’ll be interested in seeing what buyers like best. The rest are shown on this page.

I taught several classes this week. This is WWW (Weekly Weaving Workshop), sometimes known as Wednesday Weavers Workshop, or Warped Women Weaving, or….It could go on. It is a drop-in class and we usually discuss any questions that people bring up about anything weaving and yarn related. (Some people come for a therapy session with friends.) Last week I said that I’d teach how to read weaving drafts. Those are the “recipes” for weaving patterns. This week we’ll look at drafts for “color and weave” effects.On Friday I taught a rigid heddle weaving class. This is Tanda with her beautiful new scarf woven of Jaggerspun Zephyr yarn on her rigid heddle loom.

On Saturday and Sunday I taught a spinning class. I can’t believe I didn’t take photos. That was followed by an interview about Fibershed for a well-known (in the fiber world) magazine. You’ll hear more about that when it’s published.

When I’m working in the shop or at the computer all day, instead of in the barn, I try to make sure I go for a walk or a bike ride with Rusty. That’s good for both of us. I’d probably get more exercise if I didn’t take my camera because I always get distracted by the view… …whether it’s close-up or……in the distance.

Phyllis Returns Home

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Robin

Phyllis is a lilac ewe who was born in 2005. She was sold as a lamb to someone who eventually got rid of her flock. Phyllis came home the first time in 2010 as the owner was on the way to the auction with her sheep. It was a surprise when she lambed in January, 2011 with two black lambs. It seems that she was bred during that last trailer ride.

Look at the size of those lambs at about 5 months old. This is what made me think about getting a ram to raise crossbred lambs for market. That’s how Faulkner’s story here began. In 2011 Phyllis went to a nearby farm as a companion to Diamond, an elderly sheep (a Pensioner in Jackie’s story about this event). Due to the owner’s ill health the sheep needed to go, so Jackie and I picked them up yesterday. Diamond is living at Jackie’s and Phyllis came back here. Phyllis and Diamond in the back of Jackie’s van. Diamond at Jackie’s place.She’s in the front of the group here and that’s Marley going to greet her. Here we are back at my place. Phyllis has a very nice fleece. She is right in the middle there–the one with more fleece.

Welcome home, Phyllis.

Sheep in the Sun

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Robin

During the winter the sheep are mostly in the barn and corral area. The pasture doesn’t drain well and I don’t want it to be a trampled mess. I’m also waiting for there to be more growth there. It’s been dry enough the last few weeks that I opened the gate to the small paddocks near the barn. The sheep were thrilled to get out to that grass.

This is Summer (the sheep, not the season). This is Spring (also, not the season). Here is Eliza. They are all looking a little heavy, but that is because they are due to lamb in about a month. Stephanie, the old goat, is so stiff in the cold weather we’ve been having. I walked her out here to enjoy the grass. Most of the sheep kept their heads down eating. But Kyra just wanted to play. Happy sheep! I still have the new lens on the camera. It is a 40 mm lens and I wasn’t that close to the action. I’m surprised that I was able to crop the photos to this degree and still have them relatively sharp.

Weekly Photo Challenge-Round

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Robin

Remember the cloud photos? The next photo challenge is Round. This was my first choice that I found when I hunted through my photos. Then I went to the barn with my camera and the new lens.

There are a lot of versions of Round.

Meridian Jacobs' Blog

Life on the farm and at the loom.

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