These are not all spinning projects but they are pieces made by the talented ladies who took this class.
Paula needle felted this cat…
…and this sheep.
She and her mom felted these bunnies. These kits and many more are available here.
This is some Jacob yarn. I think this is Yolanda’s.
Jean spun this blue yarn.
Debbie stayed a little after class to choose Jacob buttons for her in-progress cape. Isn’t this a beautiful project?
Today was the third and last class in a Learn to Spin series. I got distracted before I got photos of everyone’s yarn, but here are a few to share.
This is Debbie’s first yarn (Jacob, of course) and she is knitting a scarf. Isn’t that gorgeous?
This photo uploaded OK, but now nothing else will upload. This post Will Be Continued….
I know where I will be. I just transferred the breeding notes from my clipboard to my 2012 calendar (while learning to use the calendar in my Mac) and look what I discovered. I knew that a lot of sheep were bred all at once, but it’s more striking when I see it in this format.
That’s 23 ewes due in a 5 day span. I usually aim for March 1 lambs, but I got antsy and thought I’d start breeding a week earlier. After all, my friends will all be lambing and I’ll want to have a few of my own before the rush starts in March. I thought wrong. There are about 30 more in addition to those first 23. I guess I’ll be warmed up by the time they lamb.
I’ve been finishing up registration applications for this year’s lambs. It’s interesting to look at baby photos of sheep.
This is 11038, now known as Rosie. Notice how her pink nose develops pigment as she gets older.
Rosie was developing very nice horns and I had my eye on her from the start as one I wanted to keep. She got in the ram pen when she was a few months old and, in trying to get back with the ewes, she broke off both horns. They are still stubby, but stout.
Here is another. This is ram lamb 11094, the last ram of 2011, and sired by Sweetgrass Clint.
He is named Clapton and will be the sire of several lambs in 2012.
Clapton doesn’t look quite so nice after shearing…
…but his fleece is sure pretty.
Last weekend we held our second annual Holiday Market. As we were getting things set up we thought that something was missing.
This is the fabulous metal artwork that Shaunie Briggs made for me. What more could it need?
Jackie was the hands behind the creation of all those scarves. Thanks, Jackie! Very festive.
We’re wondering now we’ll need to provide hats in the summer and rain slickers when it’s stormy.
I spent the morning at The Artery. I December we spread into the gallery so that all the artists have more space for their displays.
This is my space.
This is one of three handspun wool scarves that I just finished.
The latest v-shawl.
A v-shawl I wove with handspun yarn. I wore this one at Black Sheep Gathering in the Spinners Lead.
As I was walking to my car I picked up these leaves. The colors reminded me of the last batch of scarves that I wove. However, they don’t look very brilliant in this photo. (I am happy with my new i-phone, but the photos are lacking something in the color–I feel like I’m looking through fog. Anyone else have that issue? I think I need to go back to the store and talk to someone.)
I got home just in time for WWW. We talked about weaving, but we also spent some time working on a felting project. I want to put together some kits for needlefelting Christmas ornaments and the WWW’s did my product testing.
Here are some results. We’ll be making these at our Holiday Market this weekend.
As soon as we were finished in the shop I helped my brother shoot a video for his business, Ranch Management Consultants. I thought I was going to be holding the camera, but I had to be the performer while he filmed. There are probably no Emmies in my future.
I taught a v-shawl class last week.
The second day of the class was Sunday. On that day the weavers were ready to weave the “v” part of the shawl. These shawls are woven in 2 layers up to the “v” where the fronts join to create the back.
Here is what the shawls looked like when they came off the looms. (The fringes will be trimmed later.)
I think they are happy because they survived this class!
I’ve been doing my own work in the shop as well.
Red chenille scarves.
More chenille scarves.
These are samples of needlefelted ornaments that we will make this weekend at our Holiday Market Open House. These will also be available as kits.
I haven’t had time to sort many fleeces yet. In fact, other than those I’ve sold I have only skirted the ram and wether fleeces. But I’m very happy with those that I’ve seen.
This is the fleece of a wether, Jerry. He is mostly black, not a good Jacob trait, but he will get to live his life being Faulkner’s companion. Faulkner is the BFL ram and I am not going to subject him to living with a group of rams with huge horns.
Faulkner and Jerry
This is what Faulkner’s fleece looked like “on the hoof”. This photo was taken shortly after I got him so it had grown a lot since then.
This is a lock after shearing.
Less than a minute in hot soapy water.
Silky, white locks!
Shearing Day was yesterday. We had a great time and I owe a huge thanks to Farm Club and a few other friends who helped.
Some of the ewes waiting their turn.
Lola
Our shearer, John. Hailey is scooping up fleeces.
Tina, Kathy & Hailey bag the fleece.
Shelby & Alison as sheep wranglers.
It’s lunch-time. Rusty has his eye on someone’s sandwich.
This is one of John’s wool shearing shoes. It is made of thick felt.
My friend, Colleen, brought her sheep for shearing. This is her ram, Razor.
Look at this face under the skirting table. James was happy to scoop up wool that fell through the slats. He spent most of his time playing in the new sand we got for the parking area.
Here is some of the crew. Others were holding down the fort in the shop.
Faulkner, the BFL, after shearing.
Amaryllis watches, while Dazzle calls for her friends.
Terraza in the pasture.
Mary is glad to find the flock.
This is what is it all about. Beautiful fleeces. So far all the fleeces I have looked at are strong, clean, and gorgeous.
I gave a presentation called World of Wool to the Portland Weavers Guild on Thursday. There are two meetings and the morning group meets at Ruthie’s Weaving Studio. 
This is a fabulous place. Look at the number of looms here! At Ruthie’s weavers can pay a monthly fee and use the looms and all the other equipment at any time the studio is open.
This loom has 16 or 20 shafts.
This loom is set up with a long warp for overshot coverlets. There is a waiting list for the weavers who want to weave a coverlet using the warp that is already threaded and ready to go.
This is a rug loom designed by Peter Collingwood.
Being able to see this in person I finally can finally understand how shaft-switching works.
Here is a small Jacquard loom.
Look at the size of this warping reel.
Inspirational textiles abound, including this sampler using Moorman technique.
Ruthie’s Weaving Studio
I stayed with a friend (who used to be part of the Sacramento Weavers Guild) not too far over the border in Washington. You catch a glimpse of Mt. St. Helens on the way to her house. I hope to be back to Portland for more weaving related activities and some sight-seeing.
The November show at the Artery will be the work of all of us fiber artists. I had plenty of warning about the show (many months) but, because I tend to work from deadline to deadline here is what I’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks.
This is a stunning purple chenille v-shawl that includes a sparkly yarn.
Close-up of the shawl.
Chenille scarves to be displayed with the shawl. You can’t tell from the photos but there are sparkles here too.
Rayon & cotton shawl.
Advancing twill blanket in organic Merino wool.
Merino wool scarves that were woven using a “name draft” that I created for Katie’s wedding.
The end of the warp that wasn’t long enough for a full scarf.
I was just talking to my friend who said that this wasn’t a bad accomplishment considering that I had deadlines for Handwoven magazine, my daughter’s wedding and a concert in my barn all in the last month.
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