Busy Days Indoors Make Me Happy !

 I have quite a large flock of sheep indoors , and they all fit on my dining room table ! The nice thing about this flock is they require no feeding and don't damage my fences. They behave themselves very well. That is why this flock is allowed on my shelves or under the Christmas tree. Yes, I have been happily crafting away indoors on these cold & rainy days, after I care for my very real & live flock of Jacob sheep.

 My sheep produce a lot of wool for me to spin, weave, felt, & craft with. I dyed one fleece a beautiful crimson red. The wool is drying in my sunroom. After this newly red fleece is dry I will card ( comb ) it so I can spin it up or locker-hook it into a rug. I get so excited with the possibilities & creations I can craft with this precious wool.

 I also dyed some yarn I had spun up earlier this year. The dye color is turquoise, and you can see how the dye appears different in these 2 skeins of yarn.

 The top skein was the white wool of my sheep. There was no black fleece in the wool I spun up. The bottom yarn was a skein of gray yarn, that is the black & white wool of my sheep carded together making it gray. I find I prefer the rich hue of gray wool when it is dyed but I am loving this yarn. I had originally decided to list this yarn in my Etsy shop *  but I am now considering keeping it for a future weaving project. I have more yarn & fleece to dye and a lot more little sheep waiting for adornment.

..."make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we command you ; so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." I Thessalonians 4:1

Spot on Dye Day at Reflection Farm

This is Thor, sheep guard dog ( Maremma ) in training. He is only 4-5 months old and he is very friendly. He also wants to be with us as we dye and spin wool. He did spend a lot of time with the ladies but Alice , shepherdess of Reflection Farm, sent him back into the pasture with the sheep he is supposed to bond with and protect. Isn't he cute? Don't you just want to cuddle this big floppy puppy? One of Alice's sheep. Alice jackets all her sheep to protect their wool. Alice's sheep produce beautiful wool that is pretty near free of the debris you will find in the wool of my au' naturel sheep, and her wool is prized by hand-spinners and knitters. The third Monday of every July is 'Dye Day' at Reflection Farm. We ladies bring our dye pots and kettles, propane stoves, a dish to share potluck style and some handwork. As you can see, while kettles simmered most of us spun wool and visited. Alice's other dog, Kellee, sniffs for hidden snacks amidst the spinning wheels.

Look at the wool just pulled out of the dye pots and drying on a sheet in the sun.

More of Alice's sheep, wearing their jackets.

My just - dyed wool fleece drying on a hot metal fence near my sheep, shortly after bringing it home. Look at the fuchsia ,violet, and lavender wool fleece to be spun into yarn, can't wait!

I also dyed some yarn I had already spun up, in the same dye bath as the fleece.

Joey Cat enjoying the comfort of a plush wool bed.

We had a good time under the trees at Alice's. Alice's shop is where ladies ( or men so inclined ) can gather the third Monday evening of every month to spin wool into yarn or work on any handwork of their choice while we visit and share our knowledge ( or lack thereof ) of wool working and sheep raising and whatever else comes to mind. Some ladies bring their knitting or crocheting. Sometimes I work on a rug...some ladies just visit for awhile. A nice evening out.

Dye Day

Old Misty is enjoying my company , and I hers, as I spend the day dying wool.

I have lined up some necessary things on the railing of our back porch where I have set up my little dying operation. ( sounds sinister doesn't it? ) There are jars of white vinegar, two big containers of dye mixed with hot water. One is full of blue dye, the other, crimson . I use Jacquard dyes. My big wooden spoon for stirring dyes and dye pot contents, and for some reason, I just always keep a big pitcher of water on hand...maybe the flames of the stove inspire that?

I set up the propane stove my husband bought me last year for my birthday. Every industrious woman NEEDS one of these stoves! I use it for dyeing wool and canning. It comes in handy for camping too, but really, most necessary for any big pot ( as in canning pots and kettles) needs. I have worn out so many brand new stoves with my canning and dyeing activities. Wish we had known about these stoves a long time ago! You can see I have a chair on which to park myself, and a book on CD to listen to while I simmer the wool in the pot for the required 60 minutes. There are also dogs to pet and birds to watch! I started with a lot of washed and still wet wool. This is black and white wool of one of my sheep.

Beatrix is not too sure about the hissing propane flame, and watches me from off the porch. That is fine by me, I don't need another dog underfoot.

Look at this blue wool! It is still hot, and wet, and after rinsing and drying it will need to be carded, but I love this color!

And look at this red wool! The dye bath was successful too, because the rinse water for both the blue and red wool has washed clean and clear! Whatever I craft out of this wool- be it yarn or locker hooked rugs, the dye will not run or bleed into the other colors or ruin a fabric it is washed with. The dye is set! Hooray!!! If you are interested in how to dye wool, check out this web- site. Gleason's Fine Woolies These summer days are busy. The animals need constant watering, the gardens need watering AND weeding, the strawberries are ripening faster than I can pick and can freshly made jam from them. The lettuces should be ready for picking tomorrow ....oh, and there is always the housework. ...and sleep?

Spot on Winter Weaving

~A while back I posted about dyeing and carding my wool. Here ( above ) is the drum carder I used to card ( comb) together my home grown and home dyed wool with some angora. Below is the result of carding the two together.

~I spun up some of the wool, the rest I plan on felting.~

~Here ( below) is a skein of 2 ply yarn spun from the Jacob / angora wool. Along side the yarn are shuttles of novelty yarns I have picked up here and there, and some of my other homespun yarns. I plan on weaving this yarn into fabric, which I have other plans for. ~Here is the loom where I can look out the window and see my flock of sheep,and listen to music or books on tape while I weave. The loom is on the landing of our stairs. Out of the way, but still convenient and comfortable. This area also allows me to hear the phone, or the animals, or check on any cooking and baking being done while I weave. The dogs and cats also have room to nap on the floor around me as I weave. ~ This is the threader I use to warp, or thread my loom. Threading the loom, in order to weave, is a long process and I do not answer my phone or the door when I am threading my loom. This is not me being rude, but me being unable to do a good job at the loom if I am distracted. Believe me, I know this from experience. ~Here you can see how the very flat and long hook easily goes through the reed to grasp the threads and pull them through to their proper placement in the reed. The reed is what the threader is in. The threads are pulled through this and then threaded into the many 'hettles'. ~Below you can see the hettles. They are long pieces of thin metal with eyes which the yarn is threaded through. For some reason, I find it relaxing to just concentrate on threading, and counting while I thread. You have to count out your threads.....and I get very irritated if the phone keeps ringing while I am threading my loom because I lose count and that causes problems that are frustrating to fix. ~Here the hettles are threaded and there is still more to do before I get the warp on ( loom threaded). So far things have gone smoothly and I am enjoying myself. ~I have combined 2 of my 2 ply handspun yarns with some funky yarns to use as my 'weft'. The weft is what you weave back and forth in your warp to make fabric. I like to be very creative with my weaving and have fun experimenting. My goal here is to make several different fabrics out of the very long warp, and create purses or bags from the fabric.

~This fabric has a lot of the handspun pink combined with some very nubby novelty yarns.~

~I rather enjoy making pretty purses and especially love weaving the wool I grow on my own flock of sheep. I still marvel at the yarn I can produce from my spotted , multi-horned sheep. The wool of each sheep is unique and speaks to me of their personalities, and the things that make each of my Jacob sheep unique!

~And the little purses are fun to make!~