A New Ram at Villa de Micaela

A little over a week ago, we picked up our latest ram.  He is a big, beautiful, boy.  We drove to Port Ludlow to pick him up.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the sun was even coming out from time to time.  However, the further North we drove, the more foggy it got.  Eventually, we came out of the fog into a big, beautiful farm.  Being Washington, it was wet and muddy.  There were several large fields filled with lots and lots of beautiful sheep...big sheep...small sheep...white sheep...black sheep...sheep in full fleece...sheared sheep...all Romneys.  I wondered which one was ours.

The woman we were going to purchase the ram from came out of the farmhouse and led us to the barn.  The first thing we saw inside was a beautiful tortoise colored barn cat.  She was very interested in us and followed us around the barn.  The woman told us that she was very good at her job...keeping the rat population down.

Next, we saw the bred ewes.  They were all sheared and waiting to lamb.  They were together in one stall, milling around and eyeing us, full of curiosity for the strangers in the barn.  Next, we met the sheep's guardian, a Great Pyrenees.  She was a very big, white dog, that apparently has a hankering for whatever is on the other side of the fence.  The woman said she has to tie her up or she will go exploring rather than sticking close to her charges.  So, I helped the woman untie the lead that was keeping the rams' stall closed.  She needed the lead so she could tie up the dog while we had the gates open to get our ram.

Once the dog was tied up, we got to go into the stall that held the two black rams.  These were the two rams we would choose from.  One would go home with us that day, but which one?  We had to catch both to look at each of them to choose.  First, we caught the smaller ram to check out his fleece.  He was a little lighter in color than the other and a little smaller.  He had a very fine crimp to his fleece.  He was beautiful.

Then, we had to catch the other ram.  He was a little bigger, a little faster, and wanted to be caught a little less than the first ram.  We had to chase this one around the stall and make a few tries at grabbing him.  At one point, I fell to my knees trying to catch him.  I'm sure it was funny to watch.  I wish I'd had someone videoing the whole thing.  I'm sure it was a sight!  Rueben thinks the woman was probably laughing at us.  If not then...later.  Eventually, we got hold of the ram, but he kept trying to get away.  I remember hearing the woman telling us, "...keep his head up...keep his head up."  I put my left hand under his chin, holding it up and kept my right hand at his rump.  We looked at his fleece...very nice crimp, but very close, very dense.  I then told Rueben to go and get the lead while I held him...this was the one I wanted.  He will provide us with large lambs that have nice fleece.  I had to try to keep hold of him while Rueben went to get the lead.  I did it.  Rueben brought the lead and we brought him out of the stall.  I kept hearing, "...keep his head up..." "...choke up on the lead..."  It wasn't easy, but with one pulling, the other pushing, we got him out of the barn and to the Tahoe.  Now for the hard part...getting him up into the Tahoe.

This boy probably goes at least 200 lbs.; not easy to deadlift into the Tahoe.  Finally, we got his front two hooves into the back of the truck.  Rueben was on one side and I was on the other.  We tried lifting him, but couldn't deadlift him.  We tried pushing and pulling, pulling and pushing...but he just wouldn't budge.  Finally, Rueben said to roll...roll...roll!  So, we rolled him into the back of the Tahoe.  When we closed the door, the ram was still on his side.  It took him a good five minutes to roll over and get to his feet.

When we got home, we put him in the small sheep pen in the back to isolate him from the other sheep to ensure he is healthy before we introduce him to the other sheep.  I wanted to name him Methusela, because I want him to live a very long life.  However, Rueben didn't really like that name (I think it was too long), so we agreed to name him Moses instead.

Artfelt Paper

A couple of weekends ago, I went to the Sew Expo in Puyallup with Mom and Michelle.  I purchased a felting kit.  It was for making a camera or whatever case.  It takes a little bit of needle felting and wet felting processes, but it is so much easier and faster than either.  You start with Artfelt paper and wool.  Place a layer of wool roving in the paper and tack it down with a felting needle just so the wool does not fall off when you pick up the paper.  Then, you add a layer of colored wool in whatever design you wish.  You need to tack that down, too.  Once you have your design, you put a towel in a shallow pan and wet the towel so it is saturated.  Place the project on top of the towel, paper side down, and press to wet the project.  Pour more water on top, so it is very wet.  Place a piece of plastic on top, and press to ensure the piece is saturated.  You then roll it up, with the plastic, around a small towel, place in an old sock, knot the sock, and toss in the dryer for about 15 minutes with a few clean, dry towels.  When you pull it out, it is felted.  next, you lay it in the sink, paper side up, and pour boiling water over it to dissolve the (potato-based) paper.  Then, itonly needs to dry and be sewn together.  It was so easy!  Here is my project before felting, after felting, and when the case is sewn together.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the kit and in the process of putting all the roving together.

Before Felting

After Felting and Completion

At the Sew Expo, I also purchased a large piece of Artfelt Paper (I guess I was optimistic that it would work and be easy).  I need to try now with my own wool to see how it goes.  I'll keep you posted!

My Spinning Wheels

I thought it was about time I introduce my spinning wheels.  There is my Wee Peggy (on the left).  I got her from a yard sale several years ago.  She has been my favorite wheel ever since.  Then there is my Norwegian/Scandinavian wheel (in the middle).  I got her last Summer off of Craig's list.  She is closely rivaling my Wee Peggy for my affections.  However, she is a bit loud.  One evening when we were getting ready to watch TV, Rueben asked me if I could knit instead of spin...he wanted to watch without the noise of my girl.  Then there is my Ashford Traditional wheel.  Mom gave her to me.  She was one of the pair Mom brought back when she and Dad went to Australia and New Zealand.  I learned to spin on her.  For Christmas, Rueben got her a jumbo flyer and four bobbins.  Then, he finished them to match the.  I haven't used her with the new flyer yet.  I have to finish my spinning on my other wheels first so I can ply on her.

Then there is my Great Wheel.  She was my best ebay find.  I found her in Grants Pass, OR.  Although I am about 400 miles from there, I have a friend who lives near there.  She agreed to pick her up for me and bring her to Mom's; about half way to my house.  I met her there and brought her home.  I haven't gotten very good at spinning on her, but I'm thinking I just need to practice a little every day (yeah, right!) or at least a couple of times a week (much more likely).  I will be taking a carding class in April and a drafting class in July.  I'm hoping between the two that I will be able to better take her for a spin.

Although just about everyone I know has a name for their wheels, I don't.  Is that horrible?  I keep trying to find the right names, but have so far come up empty.  I guess I just have to think a little harder...

I have two spindles, too, a Spindolyn and a Trindleman.  Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that spindles (other than on the Great Wheel) are really not for me.

Spinning and a pig

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted the Saturday spin for my spinning guild.  We were having a good time when Rueben came in with the neighbor and a pig.  The neighbor, Chris, said this was my Valentine's day present from Rueben. He scared me for a second...Rueben and I have talked about NOT having any pigs.  Apparently, the neighbor has had Gunther for a couple of weeks.  He talked about the girlfriend he's going to get for him, too.  Her name is Penelope.  I must admit, he was a cute pig.  Everyone thought so.  He had a cute smile, too.  However, the cats didn't trust him.  Not one bit.

Betty Ewe and Fleecity

Today, Seth and I got to go and pick out two new ewe lambs.  They are both natural colored "black" sheep.  They are called black because the color of the wool next to the skin is black.  We named the lambs Betty Ewe (the darker one on the left) and Fleecity.  They both have rather dense wool that looks like crinkle cut french fries when I opened the fleece up and looked down to the skin.  When I looked at Fleecity's wool, I looked at the wool on her back thigh, too.  It's not as crinkly, and it has some locks of white.  It was very interesting looking.

I took a picture of Abraham's mom, too, when Seth and I picked up the lambs.  She is beautiful.  She looks a lot like Joy, beautiful, clean face with a lot of wool.  She has a great smile, too.  What do you think?

Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn

I finished the yarn.  First I spun singles, then plied two of them.  Although the picture shows only two skeins, I got three skeins of 60, 70, and 80 yards.  I really enjoyed this project.  Now, I just need to knit it into something.

Carding the Colors

Once I got all the wool dyed, I carded it on the drum carder.  The first go through took the better part of an evening and the next morning.  The colors are now much more muted than they were, but they're still pretty bright.  I ended up with 11 batts.


The second time around, I took a piece of each batt
and carded a single batt from them all.  I went through this process until I finished the small pieces from all the batts.  Going through this process, all the batts should look similar.  I ended up with six new batts.  These pictures show what I got the second time around.  The batts are more muted still, in color, but they don't all look as much alike as I thought they would.  Some are more orange and red while others are more blue.  That's okay, though, I like them.



They are all still very pretty, I think.  I wonder what they will look like when I spin them.  I will post pictures once I have spun the singles and after I have plied them.  I'm sure the singles will look different from the plied yarn.  Stay tuned...