A sheep adventure with 2 friends and a dog

I heard via e-mail that there were a couple of sheep in need of rescue. The owners had lost their property and had moved out of state. They needed someone to pick up the sheep. I don't normally take in unwanted sheep, but these were two that had been purchased from me as lambs and had never been around other sheep or goats. So I rounded up my friends (Chris and Colleen) with the enticement (bribe) that there was another fiber event going on in the area and my dog and we drove to Placerville. The first hard part was finding the place. We had very detailed instructions, but I'm glad that there was someone to read them as I was driving. I knew that Rusty couldn't effectively herd these sheep with a cone on his head so I found a rib band from our collection of arm/foot/shoulder injury paraphernalia and put that around his middle so that the drain tube wouldn't get hung up on a bush.  The sheep gathering itself went surprisingly well (you can read about that on Rusty's blog as he described it fairly well, if you can get over his know-it-all attitude). What Rusty didn't say is that, even with his skill and expertise, we never would have got those sheep in without the extra friends and the panels.

Next stop was the Yarnival, a celebration of the opening of the PluckyFluff workshop at a winery in Placerville. It seems like I usually recognize everyone at out local fiber events, but the PluckyFluff following includes a different group of people. There were vendors, live music, and pizza on the winery grounds. I don't usually take my dog to events like this, but I couldn't leave him in the hot car (the sheep were OK in the back with the shade) so he came along.

The yarns are wild and crazy. I'm not sure how you actually use most of them, but they are certainly fun to look at.

This is a collection of handspun yarns from around the world made into the "world's largest skein".

Here is a detail of that yarn.

There were a few sheep and goats around. Isn't this a beautiful colored Wensleydale? Do you notice the color of the dirt? Dirt in the Placerville area is red. That sure makes for a beautiful sheep, but I'm told that under that red color this sheep is really a brilliant white.

A huge Angora rabbit.

The little girl at the end of the bunny' leash was walking it right towards Rusty. I told Rusty to lie down and cautioned the girl to avoid the dog.

An amusing sign.

Ideas for my husband since we have at least 3 places that need handrails.

Learn to Weave class

I had back-to-back classes last weekend. The day after my v-shawl class I taught a Learn to Weave class. Here are the projects on the looms:

Mary chose 4 bright colors of Jaggerspun Lambspun wool and wove a sampler that looks good enough to wear as a scarf.

Susan wove a twill scarf using natural colored wool.

Dona wanted to weave a wall hanging of green fields, spring flowers, and sheep. She was very creative in her choice and placement of weft yarns and weave structure to depict parts of the landscape. She will embellish the piece with a few flower buttons and wooden sheep.

A very successful class and a fun weekend!

Yeah! New Toys!

I met up with my friend, Irene from Cotton Clouds, to take in TNNA. This is the trade show for yarn shops, designers, etc. WOW!

This is my first trip to TNNA so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I didn't plan on buying anything, but I found a few goodies for the shop. Here is a preview of some of them.

Whimsical artwork by Thomas Joseph.

The very cool SideKick, the newest wheel from Schacht Spindle Co. (will be shipped in May).

Ashford's newest loom, the Katie. This is a great 8-harness loom that comes with a carry-bag. Everything in front is removed or lifts up so you can get right up to the heddles to thread it.

The Unpattern--creating your own pattern based on your favorite sweater.

Unicorn Fibre Scour and Fibre Wash. wpnderful products for getting fleeces and garments clean.

These products and more will  be on the website soon and in the shop within the next couple of weeks.

New Yarn

Isn't this a beautiful sight?

This is Jacob yarn and some black Rambouillet from a sheep rancher in Rio Vista.  The light gray Jacob in the lower corner is already sold!

This is white, lilac, dark gray, and black Jacob yarn, labeled and for sale .

Here is the Rambouillet. I  sent this batch to a mill that said that they could work with the fine, short-stapled Rambouillet, and they did a great job. It is very soft and I knit up a small sample on #6 needles. I don't have this yarn on the website yet, but it's available in the shop.

Here is some white yarn from sheep that live up the road from me. I can't wait to start weaving with some of these yarns!