Lambing in Plain Sight

Yesterday morning I saw these two. That is Marilla, born 2/25/16 (and named in a Spinzilla contest) and her dam, Marilyn. I didn't know it at the time but shortly after taking this photo I realized Marilla was in labor.

She was moved to her private maternity quarters...

...and produced a good-size BFL-x lamb. I bred her for crossbred lambs because she is very freckled and I don't want to perpetuate that in the flock. Marilla has a beautiful fleece however.

At about that same time in the morning I noticed Sonata standing back with the tell-tale sunken sides between the ribs and the hips. Before I went to the house I put her in the barn.

Spinners were here for the day and we kept trooping out to the barn to watch for lambs.

Sonata lambed with the first one with no spectators but there were plenty for the second one.

My flock is used to people being around and Sonata didn't care about the observers.

The second lamb born.

Spinners' Day Out

What an inspiring day this was! We had a full house here for Spinners' Day Out. It was cold and windy outside and somehow we all fit in the shop. Then people started pulling things out of their bags! What talent! That inspired this blog post.

Janis knit this baby hat and booties for my soon-to-be-born grandson. This is yarn she spun during our Spinzilla week. She said that this pattern was one passed down from her grandmother and the booties actually stay on babies' feet.

Dona wove this scarf on the rigid heddle loom. It is full of wild yarn including a designer leash that I made a long time ago (note clip on the side) and a beaded necklace.

Alison has been going wild on her loom, exploring weave structure and color. She has woven all these scarves in the last week or two...

...in addition to this v-shawl that she wove in a class here. (By the way, photos were a bit challenging today as there was a strong north wind. Can you tell from the movement of this shawl?)

Gail wove and dyed this beautiful shibori scarf.

Lisa showed us her mushroom dyed yarn...

...and modeled Mary's knit cowl, as well as her own Fleece Flight shawl knitted with Jacob yarn for our ongoing KAL in Ravelry.

Mary's daughter, Maggie wove this Jacob scarf on the rigid heddle loom as her first-ever weaving project. Look at those edges!

Dona brought her quilt that had pictures of all the goats that she used to have.

This is the back of the quilt--very cute fabric!

I just finished three black walnut-dyed shawls.

Later in the day a few of us decided it was time for the annual "dress the animals in Santa hats" but that will be for another blog post.

This is a preview.