Black Sheep Gathering – Day 4

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Robin

I just realized that I never finished the Black Sheep Gathering series, and I have other things to write about. So here it is, although it is less about the event and more about the trip home.

Crochet project with book spread out on grass.

This is a sample of the crochet project I was working on when we were sitting near the tents and visiting. There is more of a story to this, but that will be a later post. I was visiting with friends when I heard the activity in the barn.

There is a junior show on Sunday morning. These kids were mostly there helping their families show sheep on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday they had their own show. I was pleased that the judge spent some time before the show talking with all the kids about general show principles and tactics. Then the kids were all invited into the ring to select colorful halters that had been made for them. After that there were three classes for showmanship. I don’t know the age requirements for each class but the first was the senior class (under 18).

Sheep show with three young teens holding sheep and a judge talking to them.

The second class was for intermediate kids.

The third was juniors. I think my granddaughter is probably at the upper end of the Juniors. As I watched these classes I thought that it would be fun to have Kirby there next year to participate in all the events she could. That will take some thinking though–there is a long drive on either side of the actual event and it’s not like you can go home at the end of the day. It would change my experience for sure. Also, I don’t know if our trailer is big enough to accommodate all the sheep that would make up our two sheep flocks. However, I’m still thinking about it.

The show management released those who had a long way to drive a bit early. By the time we were packed and loaded it was close to 3. We made good time. Once in California I pointed out the vista point where I have always stopped on my way home from Oregon.

Woman photographing Mt. Shasta topped with clouds.

The mountain top was covered in clouds.

Mt. Shasta sign with mountain in the background topped with clouds.

Livestock trailer parked at Mt. Shasta viewpoint.

My cute trailer posing in front of the mountain!

We turned around and found the view to the west just as stunning.

Selfie time. I really appreciate that Vicki offered to drive and Doris came with us too.

Sheep on the road.

The sky continued to amaze us.

Rainbow with Mt. Shasta in the background.

After Yreka we left the freeway to drive west.

We were picking up a ram for Vicki. He was at a ranch about an hour to the west in the Scott Valley. It was a beautiful drive but I stopped taking photos as it got dark.

We drove in our driveway after 3 a.m. and it was after 4 when I finally got to bed. A long day to finish a great weekend.

Here is what I came home with. Two dishes to go with the mug I bought last year. The potholder loom and loops is what I chose from Eugene Textiles, the business that provided the prize for Spinners’ Lead. This will be my granddaughter’s birthday present this month. I’ll also try their heddle clips. Of course I needed a new BSG t-shirt and the pouch they made for this year. The yarn is a mixed art yarn from Art Fiber Frenzy. I can always use a new basket.

Looking forward to next year!

Black Sheep Gathering – Day 3

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Robin

View Day 1 and Day 2 of this adventure. The only thing I had to think about on Saturday was showing sheep in the afternoon and Spinners’ Lead in the evening. I’ll share scenes from the farm booths and around the vendor hall.

Karen of Liongate Farm always has an array of unique needlefelted pieces at her booth.

Felted white stag with fairy rider with champion ribbon in front and the Black Sheep Cup award

She was awarded the Black Sheep Cup for this piece. The detail is amazing.

Knitted and felted Wolf head with award.

Here is another Black Sheep prize awarded to a different fiber artist.

Black Lamb Cup award showing light gray knitted sweater with motif around neckline.

I was glad to see the Black Lamb Cup awarded to a youth entry. We need to encourage the next generations to be excited about sheep and fiber.

White tennis shoes with black and white line drawings of sheep and blue laces.

The perfect shoes to wear to a sheep gathering.

This is an impressive display that was just outside the vendor hall. I hope that everyone took a look.

There are dozens of different sea creatures in a variety of fiber arts represented here.

A closer view.

Two Jacob ewes in a pen with straw on the fleece. One is "lilac", the other black and white.

Back at the barn, a little clean up was necessary. Jazzie had been wearing a blanket but I took it off because I’d rather see the sheep than a blanket. Jazzie is a black and white sheep and Lenore, behind her, is a lilac.

We were the only Jacob breeders who entered the show this year so we had to show in an All Other Breeds division. This is for sheep registered in their own breed associations, but without enough sheep or breeders to show in separate divisions.

Ram lamb, Meridian Bridger, won Champion ram of this division.

We also had best Young Flock (one ram lamb, two ewe lambs). This isn’t the typical photo you’d take of your winning sheep group, but I mainly wanted to have one of Farm Club members who were there and helped out. This is Brenda, Lisa, Beth, and me. Doris was taking the photo. Other Farm Club members were there too. Ryan had his own Heritage Fiber booth in the vendor hall, Stephany was helping with the Mendocino Wool Mill booth, and Lyn was visiting. Did I miss someone? I kept running into people I knew all day.

The collection of ribbons and a trophy.

I think Lisa took this photo. I was told that this should be my new profile photo on all my social media pages. What do you think?

The Angora goats showed on Saturday also.

The day ended with Spinners Lead. I had told Ryan that he should definitely wear his handspun handknit sweater using fleece that he got at his first shearing day from Jacob ewe, Columbine.

He led Jazzie, whose fleece matched the spots really well.

There were 15 entries (no photos unfortunately), and the two of us won the top placings in the show. Ryan was first for non-sheep-owner and I won for the sheep owners. Great fun! I’m so glad that we did this.

Black Sheep Gathering 2017- #2

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Robin

I had too many photos for one post (as usual) so here is another of the weekend spent at Black Sheep Gathering. In the last post I mentioned Peyton, the new BFL ram. He just wrote a post on Rusty’s blog that you might want to check out.

In case you wondered what it was like to stay at BSG in a tent…here’s a photo of my camping spot. This wouldn’t have been fun if there was rain, but this time BSG was dry.

The whole reason for going on a Road Trip with Sheep is to show them (and maybe to sell a few). We showed on Saturday morning. The crew that showed up to help include Deborah and Brenda, Farm Club members, and Doris, who knitted that beautiful shawl in the last post, and Vicki, who has sheep and Border Collies back home. None had shown sheep before so we had a quick sheep showing lesson before the show started and then brought the sheep to the holding pen. There weren’t enough Jacobs this year (one other breeder) and we were showing against some Shetlands in the NCWGA Primitive Breeds Division.

There were no yearling rams entered so first up was the Ram Lamb class.

The 4-horn lamb on the left here was awarded Reserve Champion Ram.

Next was the Yearling Ewe class.

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It was followed by the Ewe Lamb class.

The judge liked Jennie (front) best.

The yearling ewe, Vixen (on the left), and Jennie (right) went into the Champion class…

…and Jennie got Reserve Champion Ewe.

As I say all the time, I couldn’t do this without the help of my friends…including the people who took photos and sent them to me. Thanks! Everyone had a fun experience and they all went home with blue ribbons.

I don’t know how many fleeces were entered in the Wool Show but these tables were full and there was a long line of buyers waiting outside.

I checked back an hour or so later and there weren’t a lot of fleeces left.

Saturday night there is always a potluck followed by the Spinners Lead competition. You can find handspun items in the most unusual places. (made by Marilyn from CA). It was so unusually hot for Eugene that attendance was lower at both these events. But we found familiar faces.

Doris and I took the yearling ewes to the Spinners Lead, wearing our shawls. We had both won first place in the classes in the Fiber Arts Show. Mine was in the woven division and Doris’ was in the knitted division where she also was awarded Best Use of Natural Colored Wool.

Other California friends were there. Marilyn wore the shawl that she had woven the previous day in the Sheep-to-Shawl contest. Her Hangtown Guild won that competition and she borrowed a sheep to enter this show.

Beth knit this beautiful shawl and also borrowed a sheep.

This was Doris’ first time at BSG, first time entering this event, and first finished handspun project!!

I took Cindy in the show and she wore a scarf woven of the leftovers from the shawl I wore. All the entries in this show are handspun or felted.

This is the smallest sheep I’ve ever seen at this show and she was quite a crowd pleaser.

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The next day I was sitting in the barn and spinning and glad that I didn’t have to take a sheep into the Black Sheep Cup (Supreme Champion) competition in the heat of the afternoon when I realized “uh oh, I do have to take sheep into the ring for the Young Flock competition”. Thanks to Doug and Karen who quickly helped me get the sheep to their appropriate spot in the ring, although I wasn’t exactly dressed for showing in my tank top, shorts, and Birkenstocks.

I loaded up and got on the road about 4:30. View heading south.

Black Sheep Gathering 2017

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Robin

Black Sheep Gathering is my favorite West Coast Fiber Event. I just wish that it wasn’t so far away. It’s about an 8 hour drive if you just stop for gas and nothing more.

This year it was important to leave early enough to avoid the heat in the Sacramento Valley. That meant I loaded sheep at 4 a.m. and was on the road by 4:45. I was passing the Sutter Buttes before the sun was up.

First good view of Mt. Shasta, this year with plenty of snow.

Most of this post is just random shots in the barns and vendor hall.

Our across-the-aisle neighbor, Teeswater. I can’t imagine dealing with that fleece.

Other neighbors, Navajo-churro yearling rams, ready to be shown.

Angora goat show.

Wool Show judging. That is my ewe, Cindy’s, fleece. This is the first time in years I have entered a wool show. I had planned to keep this one, but I’m still spinning the other that I saved this year. This fleece sold within an hour of the sale opening.

Meet and Greet with Peyton, the BFL ram who was coming home with me. (See Rusty’s Blog later for a post by Peyton.)

This is Moo Shoe Pork, a crowd favorite in last year’s Fiber Arts show, created by Nancy (Peyton’s owner) and in the Liongate Farm booth, near Peyton.

There were several spinning circles in the middle of the air conditioned vendor hall. These were very popular as the weekend wore on. People in Oregon get start to complain when the weather gets into the high 80s. And it did get hot, pushing the high 90s, but thankfully cooled off at night for us campers.

Dyed mohair locks.

M&M dispenser. I know, not fiber related, but maybe for keeping up strength while in a spinning competition?

Our Farm Club friend, Gynna, demonstrating at the Clemes & Clemes booth. I carry this fabulous drum carder and other C&C products at the shop.

Here is what she was doing. I haven’t tried dizzing off the drum carder before but certainly will now.

I liked this display of fiber. The purpose was to show how the picker being sold in the booth prepared the fiber.

I met up with Tina, Farm Club Emeritus, who now lives in Portland.

She found a rug-hooking mini-workshop in the vendor hall.

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Two of us entered the Fiber Arts Show. This is Doris’ beautiful knitted shawl. She used Lori’s fleece and blended colors to create this gradient. Her masterful work was recognized with the award for Best Use of Natural Colored Wool!

We had chosen Friday as the day that several of us could go out to dinner. Nine of us met in the sheep barn and it took awhile to figure out where to eat.

Decision made, but then we needed to figure out who was going where after (motel, back to the fairgrounds, etc), which cars had room for extra people, and synchronize map apps.

Seen on a car window and magnified about a million times from an iphone photo taken from a lane away.)

After a good dinner we got a passerby to take a photo of all of us in front of the Eugene public art.

Love the concept and the You Are Here part.

Miscellaneous Views at BSG

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Robin

The last three blog posts have been about Black Sheep Gathering but, wait! There is more!

Camping-tent

My tent.I have had this tent for 35 years and wasn’t sure that the rainfly was waterproof. I don’t think I’d want to be in a major storm, but it was adequate for the light rain the first night of camping.

I spent some time on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning watching the wool show. Martin judging

Martin Dally is entertaining as well as knowledgable. He explained what he was doing throughout the show and even let the audience come up to see and feel the fleeces after he finished with a class.

Merino fleece

Colored Merino fleece.

Merino fleece-2

White Merino fleece.

Corriedale fleece

Corriedale fleece that won the overall best white fleece.

Then to the vendor hall where I took shots of color, texture, and other things that caught my eye.

Art yarn

Hooked rug

Mohair locks

Horn helmet

Reindeer pelt

These are reindeer hides.

There is also a Fiber Arts contest.

Moo-shoe pork

This one is called Moo-Shoe Pork. Look closely at the feet.

Back in the barn, this felted banner was made by Jackie, Farm Club member and friend who’s business is Sheep to Shop.

Mt-2

I got a late start home on Sunday (the next post) but made my ritual stop at the Mt. Shasta overlook just before dark. I love that mountain…and I love California.

Spinners’ Lead at BSG

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Robin

The Spinner’s Lead is one of the events I enjoy most at Black Sheep Gathering. It is a competition in which entrants show off their handspun or felted items and bring the animal that was the fiber source (or borrow a representative one from one of the animal exhibitors). There are two categories–one for Owner and one for Non-Owner.

Alison and I both entered Jacob yarn vests. Alison’s vest is incredible. She started this project three or four years ago, spinning Jacob wool into 4-ply yarn. She knit the vest using twined knitting to create a fabric that is windproof but stretchy–a natural alternative to Polartech. At one point Alison had knit the vest almost to the top but was not happy with it and ripped it all the way back to the cast-on row! It features i-cord band, sewn in zipper, and pockets.

I started working on my vest about four weeks before BSG, inspired when I figured out that the fleece of the sheep I was entering, was still in the barn and was a beautiful one. After spinning the yarn the fabric took two days to warp and weave and another to turn into a vest. On Tuesday of the BSG week I wove scarves using white and the leftover black yarn. Weaving is so much faster than knitting!

Honey was my selected sheep for the Spinners’ Lead because it was her fleece I used. I chose Marv for Alison because he seemed the best most compliant of the other sheep. She spent a little time practicing with him before the event.

I handed my i-phone off to a friend who took most of these photos, and it’s not easy to get good photos standing at the outside of the show ring. (Thanks, Deb.)

Alpaca shawl. Red hair, red shawl, red alpaca. (Honey did not like the alpaca when it showed up in the line near her.)

BFL sheep with her young owner. This one was the winner of the Owner category.

This was the most unusual entry this year–felted sheep masks. The wearers are leading sheep, but they needed to be guided as well.

Sweater knitted from natural colored fleece.

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Waiting to hear the results. Alison won the non-owner category! It was well-deserved.

More Sheep View at BSG

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Robin

Sheep aren’t the only fiber animals at Black Sheep Gathering. Angora show

The Angora goat show was on Saturday. But it’s mostly about sheep.

Romney

It’s not always easy to get a good photo of sheep when they are in small pens.

Shetland ram 2

This is a Shetland ram.

BFL-2

Blue-faced Leicester.

This sheep posed nicely.

Here is a Jacob look-alike, at least from the spots. No Jacob has ears that big.

The Young Flock competition is on Saturday at the end of all the other shows and there is a special prize for the best Young Flock of the whole show. A young flock is made up of two ewe lambs and one ram lamb from a single breeder.

I had the Jacob young flock in the competition.

Sheep seen in the vendor hall.

Navajo-churro wool

Look at these beautiful curls on a Navajo-churro lamb fleece.

Teeswater wool

Speaking of curls, this spectacular 12″ fleece is on this…

Teeswater

…Teeswater sheep.

Black Sheep Gathering 2016

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Robin

Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon is an event I always look forward to. I don’t go as a vendor so it’s not work. It’s more like a road trip with sheep. Usually friends and Farm Club members (who are friends too) carpool but this year we were all on different schedules and instead we met up once we were in Oregon.

Loaded and ready to go. I took ten sheep, five of which were going to a new home. Fortunately only two were yearlings and the rest were lambs or I wouldn’t have had room. That was Thursday. It was a long day because I just couldn’t seem to stay awake for the drive. I left the house at 6:30 a.m. but stopped at several rest stops to take short naps and finally pulled into the fairgrounds about 4:30.

Black Sheep Gathering opened Friday morning with too many choices. What is a fiber fanatic to do? Watch the wool show? Watch the sheep show? Go to class? Shop?

Several friends participated in the Sheep-to-Shawl competition on Friday in which teams have five hours to prep fiber, spin yarn, and weave a shawl.

They spent many hours prior to the event dyeing and spinning the warp yarn, warping the loom, and sampling…

…to determine how they would use this beautiful fiber to spin the weft yarn.

Weaver, Gynna, wove a beautiful shawl (but I didn’t get a photo when it was finished).

Walking back to the barn to get ready for the Jacob sheep show I saw… Shetland ram

…this Shetland ram displaying his ribbon.

Time to take the sheep to the show ring.

Even though we had spent time working with the sheep they were not always cooperative. That is ram lambs, Marv and Meyer.

A friend who lives in Davis helped me show. That’s the judge inspecting Meyer’s fleece.

Checking Marv’s fleece.

This is Lauren, one of the yearling ewes. I hadn’t planned to sell her but she stayed in Oregon as a trade for another yearling. (That will be another story.)

Meridian Marv (Meridian Rotor x Meridian Marilyn) won Champion Jacob Ram… 15031 Honey-BSG

…and yearling, Meridian Honey (Meridian Alex x Meridian Hot Lips), was Champion Jacob Ewe.

It’s fun to win ribbons and trophies, but there were only two of us exhibiting sheep and I was the lucky one this year. In other years they have won the ribbons. The other breeder has beautiful sheep too and I brought three of them home with me.

This is one of them and she will be introduced formally in another post.

Black Sheep Gathering 2

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Robin

BSG is at least a two-post event. Here is the first. On Saturday I took a class. I sell the Clemes & Clemes blending board but had never watched the expert work with it. Gwen Powell is the person who worked with Henry and Roy Clemes to design and refine their blending board and she taught an all-day class. This was a full class. Everyone brought their wheels in order to spin samples during any down time. Here is one set of rolags made from two boards-full. This is another in which Wensleydale locks are blended into another wool and can be spun with the locks hanging out but well secured.Here are all the rolags I created. A lot of fun spinning coming up! Later that afternoon two friends practiced leading the ram lambs in preparation for the Spinner’s Lead contest that evening. This is Cindy and Beth with Nash and Marvin after the competition. They are wearing their handspun, handknit Jacob garments. Here was a huge crowd pleaser. This is Terri Mendenhall with her spotted ram. Take a look at his mane and tail! He carried Merino samples for all in his saddle bags.Thanks to Dona for the two photos above.

On Sunday I had free time.

I talked to Terri about sheep coats and came home with a few. I’ll experiment with sizes and get a few more. The purpose of these coats is to keep the fleeces clean from vegetable matter and dirt. To coat sheep all year you need at least three sizes so that you can change the coat as the wool grows. I don’t know if I’ll coat all year or mostly the last half of the year when the grasses get taller and have more impact on the fleeces.

I browsed the Fiber Arts competition.

This is a gorgeous felt in 3-D made by my friend Shannon of Kenleigh Acres. She takes orders for her felt pups but has about a year waiting list.

Here is another felt piece I admired.

This one too. Of course it’s not just about felting and there were plenty of knitted pieces as well. I just didn’t get any photos.

The Fiber Arts competition is in the vendor hall. It’s not hard to find Dona and Mary where there is shopping. That’s Kathleen too, talking to Sally Fox in her booth. Other Farm Club members who were at BSG this year were Peggy, Gynna (working at the Clemes & Clemes booth, but took time to help me show), Tina (FC emeritus, now living in Portland), Stephanie (on a post job-quitting tour of the northwest), and Chris (who isn’t FC but a friend anyway and my roommate for the week).

This is me with Nash outside the barn. Thanks, Shannon, for the photo.The sheep are released at 4 p.m. on Sunday and my goal is to get on the road as quickly as possible and get out of the mountains before dark. I left the fairgrounds at 4:17. At one of my stops I took a look in the back and thought that maybe I should have bought a coat for Nash. Not looking good. 1599 Bea Here is bide a wee Bea, who just happened to get in the truck with the other sheep when I left. Mavin stayed behind to take her place at the bide a wee farm.It’s always good to come around the last mountain in Oregon and see Mt. Shasta. However, the lack of snow on this 14,000+ foot mountain is very discouraging. But that’s a thought for another time. It was nice to be with my friends and other sheep enthusiasts and forget the rest of the world’s problems for a few days.

Black Sheep Gathering

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Robin

Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon is an annual event but I usually get there every other year. When I go I take sheep. Estelle ready for her first road trip.

When we get there everyone is ready to get out of the truck. Farm Club members and other friends also drove to BSG. They were always ready to help with the sheep.After the truck ride the sheep need some touching up. They don’t get a full bath but we scrub the feet and legs.

The Jacob sheep show was Friday morning. It was a relatively small show this year with three farms represented.Nevertheless, I was pleased to win Champion Jacob ram with my ram lamb, Meridian Nash and… …Reserve Champion Jacob ewe with my yearling ewe, Meridian Jean.

Black Sheep Gathering is a great place to see a variety of breeds of sheep.My friends tried to talk me into bringing one of these BFL lambs home.

I don’t think that this yearling ram would have even fit in my truck.

There are great shopping opportunities in the vendor hall and in the barn. Dona shared her fabulous photos of wares for sale at BSG and the Eugene Farmers’ Market in the Meridian Jacobs Ravelry group here. I saw these in the vendor area: By the way, I’m planning my second annual estate sale for sometime in August!Seen in the parking lot.

Seen near the Farm Club chairs and spinning wheels. Dona and Mary said that they put on their 8th grade sleep-over hats for this shopping trip.

Farm Club at BSG For us Black Sheep Gathering isn’t just about the sheep and the shopping and the food. It’s also about spending time with friends.

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