July

July...was brutal.  So incredibly hot and humid.  Demoralizing.  I did manage to spend about 36 hours up north for a wedding...and that made it almost worse.  Worse in a  "need to buy a lottery ticket" way.  And yet, watching these photo flash by, there was a little good mixed in...but I can say it was better watching it than living it.  

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Zen And The Art Of Spinning Wheel Maintenance

The first thing I tell someone who's having trouble with their spinning wheel or weaving loom is that while these tools are definitely specialized, they are at heart, basic tools, and when they aren't functioning well, probably just need something adjusted or simply fixed...

...and then I spend Two Weeks of the Tour de Fleece fighting with my own wheel, not having the most fun, whining about the trouble I'm having, stressing that I need to start saving for a new wheel...

Luckily our small, but mighty Ravelry group is full of experienced and helpful spinners...who still had to suggest to me twice that maybe my drive band was just slipping, and sure enough, five minutes later I am back to spinning with a well working wheel.  

Do as I say, not as I do.  

Sigh...

This is an odd picture, but I was working with blazing too hot, too bright sun and this spot in the shade worked perfectly for a yarn shot.  Neither the wheel or Bea are in prison.  They are both just trying to stay cool.  The fence is for Pinot...who is enjoying the AC in the wash room.

Love this light silver and it's so soft, lightly spun and fluffy - Sara yarn - and I think I might just go ahead and spin the rest of what I have left of his roving and make a souvenir from one of the sweetest sheep ever.

This is what a touch of Cotswold will do for your yarn.  Drape a shawl would die for :-).

This picture just struck me funny.  Do you see two eyes, a silver wig and my poor downtrodden wheel sticking her tongue out at me?

I probably need to go sit in the AC with Pinot ;-).

Pedaling and Treadling Along

My Tour has not been amazing this year, but some spinning is better than no spinning so I'm pedaling on and enjoying what I'm doing.  If you are discouraged by your progress, keep going.  The back of the pack is not the worst place to be ;-). 

I wanted something fun and easy to work on yesterday so I headed up to the fleece loft and pulled down an old favorite, Hershey.  As I looked back through the archives this morning to find my favorite picture of him, I see that he's a frequent choice for a fun spin during the Tour.  It's good to have friends who are comfortable to hang out with.

I posted a cell phone picture on the Ravelry group last night and had a comment about how white he'd gotten so I pulled out the big camera to capture the tiniest bit of gray still shining through.  I think the yarn, with the fibers twisted to compress the colors, will look at least a little gray...

...but nothing like his original lamb fleece...which was definitely a Hershey chocolate :-).  What a grand old sheep.

I mostly love scrolling back through decades of old blog posts, but in doing so I always know I'll shed some tears so some days I just can't.  Today was no exception, but I also came across this picture, which is one of my favorites.

This was the day Hershey and friends arrived from New York back in 2013 and that's my friend Julie waving from the road.  So glad to have these old pictures.

Short Round

I knew as the Tour de Fleece started that rather than one big spinning challenge I was once again going to do a "tour" of some of my favorite sheep.  I started with Short Round because I also knew that she and I were soon facing a really hard call and I knew I'd have more fun spinning while she was still sitting by my side.

She's buried out next to Jared who I believe was her very best friend in the whole world.  Or maybe her last very best friend.  Maybe she had other special friends earlier in her life before she moved here.  I hope I get to find out some day. 

She was a funny old ewe.  It was an honor.

Short Round

April 2011 - July 11, 2025  

The 2025 Tour de Fleece

Against my better judgement, I'm putting Murphy in as our Team Leader this year.  What could go wrong...

Hopefully he'll just lead us to good grazing and some grand fiber adventures...but he could also lead us into trouble, so everyone should be prepared.  I have a small stash of bail money.  20 knows where to find it.

The Tour de France and Tour de Fleece start Saturday, July 5 and run through July 27.  The women's race starts July 26 and finishes August 3. This is primarily a spinning challenge, but any fiber work counts on our team.  You can officially join our team on Ravelry or just spin along on your own.  Feel free to tag me on IG if you'd like to share your progress.

I think I'm going to once again do a sampler of some of my favorite sheep, but this year I'll also be including some processing as well.  I have several fleeces already washed and ready to card or comb, but I'll be washing a few more and hopefully I'll take some pictures of the entire process from sheep to spinning.  

Air up your bike tires and get ready to ride :-D.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was a little lamb living in London, England.  Not out in the countryside, but right in the city!  They've never shared how they got rescued by Loved Before, but their adoption profile said their name was Merino and that...

"Despite being a sheep, they never grow fluffy wool and shiver in winter.  Once, they tried to warm up by snuggling with the cat, who was not amused.  Merino's charm lies in their endless quest for warmth and their knack for finding the sunniest spot."

I'm sure it's no surprise that I couldn't resist helping a little lamb.  Even stuffy sheep need to be rescued sometimes!

Merino arrived safe and sound, albeit a bit chilly because it was so long ago it was still winter.

I set the Iknitarod vest aside and started their sweater right away.

And to help Merino not feel too homesick, we watched eleventy episodes of  The Great British Baking Show.  

 

And then, like magic, a warm wool sweater.  Not really.  I've never managed to pull off a quickly knit sweater before, so why start now.  It's been long ago enough though that I don't really remember what my issues were except for general nit picking and needing to make the sleeves longer.

The best part was how both sheep made a new best friend and enjoyed all sorts of adventures together as we got back on the Iknitarod Trail.

And it turns out, Merino just hadn't found the right cat to snuggle up with.  Bullseye made a couple of new best friends as well :-).

The yarn for Merino's sweater was some Woody that I'd spun for the Tour de Fleece a couple of years ago.  Little sweaters like these are a fun way to use up sample skeins and practice new techniques...like knitting sweaters.  

And the 2025 Tour de Fleece starts in just over two weeks.  

WHAT!?! :-o

To Early, With Love From Ellie

Once upon a time there was a dear sweet little lamb named Early who was the delight of every single person who ever met him...except maybe that one time with Maisie.  I had planned to write a "letter" to him from his sister Ellie telling him about this small shawl...but I just can't.

I spun the yarn for this during the 2024 Tour de Fleece.  It is Ellie's lamb fleece.  It's soft and cozy and the shawl is not too big and with just enough whimsy that it feels fitting for a little gift to Early.

I'd originally planned to photograph it with Ellie, but everyone is as hot and tired of this awful long summer as I am and the barn was hot and the sun was glaring and there was nothing fun about any of it and I just walked back out.

What about under the tree...

Yes, this little tree.  No longer a spindly sapling.  

 

And I noticed that the flowers I thought I'd been knitting might actually have been little oak trees.

The pattern for this is Pumila by Ayano Tanaka.  I had to go with a modified edge because I kept messing up her design and that wasn't very fun.  I really needed this to be fun and a success.  Karen to the rescue and I ended up enjoying this project very much.

Tour De Fleece Wrap Up

Last week I walked out of the Wool House and around my car to find my beloved bike crashed and all the accessories strewn about...and a sassy little tail sashaying away.  Hit and run.  A bit like my Tour de Fleece this year.  If you look closely, Jared is standing up the hill peeking around the back of the truck.  Jared does not like drama.  He lives with Maisie...

I ended up spinning four bobbins of Ellie's lamb fleece.  I had some issues with back fatigue because I was using a not ideal chair in the air conditioned wash room so I could hang out with Pinot while I spun.  I didn't make any effort to change my chair until almost the end.  I'd have probably spun more if I'd done that earlier.  My typical can't get out of my own way strategy.

Removing the chair aspect, Ellie was a fun spin.  The yarn is super soft and just a bit fuzzy and a beautiful creamy white.  I loved it even, or more so, as a single, which is not very common for me.

I did my weights and measures thing and paired up the appropriate skeins for plying and then swapped out to the double arms for my skein winder.

This is my favorite way to ply.  Everything stays nice and tidy and evenly tensioned and by using skeins rather than balls or bobbins, you have a better idea of what each skein looks like throughout and I find I have better luck matching up my singles that way as I'm not a very consistent spinner, especially over a long time frame.

I was able to get most of the plying done during the day with just a little bit left for after evening chores.  The porch was cool and comfortable, even in the heat of the afternoon.

As I was plying I noticed a pretty big spider crawling on a ball of wool off to my left.  Just as I was thinking I needed to remember to watch for that in the morning it took off towards the ceiling and I realized she was building a big web.  That really struck me, the two of us spinning on the porch.  Two Wool House Crafters :-).

I ended up with a little over 700 yards of smushy, cozy, sportweight/dk yarn.

It lost a bit of it's fuzziness being plyed, but Ellie's dad was a Cotswold cross from Nistock Farms so I know if I want it back all I'll need to do is run a soft brush over my finished item.  The pattern I've picked will look pretty either way.  The skein winder is from Nistock's as well - good sheep, good tools :-).

I started knitting a few practice rows with the small skein yesterday.  I'd have more to show if I hadn't had trouble counting to nine, but I've practiced doing the stitches required for the patterning and I'm hoping to get started for real this afternoon or tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are going to go back to In Person Crafters here on the farm.  We'll still be on Zoom as well as we are every Tuesday, but if you are local and would like to come out from 7:00 to 9:00 on the second Tuesday of each month until it gets too cold, the porch is really nice now - spider approved :-).  We'll have to over flow onto the grass so maybe wear long pants if you are a bug magnet.

July

July was a pretty fun month...except the heat and drought...which is easier to forget when it takes over a week to get the month end compilation put together.

The highlight of the month was getting to see my friend Robin and her dear cousin Caroline.  We had a great visit and did pretty much everything we wanted to do including driving Frankie, complete with Christmas in July sleigh bells, making sauerkraut, taking a small painting class, setting up together for the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl, some punch needle work, checking for monarchs, watering gardens, taking care of sheep, talking sheep and fiber, cooking good food, going to the farm market, taking Bea to Dairy Queen, and really, really enjoying just getting to hang out together.

"Our" purple martins had already headed south, but we had plenty of company from large groups stopping by on their way though.  More this year than ever.  I wonder if it's because we have two houses now and we are "on the map".

The Tour de Fleece happened and while I lost the course several times, I did get some nice yarn spun and I'll share that in my next post.  Maisie "kindly" has provided the perfect TdF wrap up picture to lead it off ;-).

 

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The Bottom Of The Pile

I had planned to share a Tour de Fleece post today with some more TdF spinning, but I started skirting my spring fleeces the other day...finally...and ended up pushing through to the end this afternoon and what a huge relief it is to have that job finished.

As I worked through big fleeces, small fleeces, beautiful fleeces, messy fleeces, surprising fleeces, favorite fleeces and finally reached the bottom of the stack...and there was Blossom.  

Oh!

Inhale...exhale...

Dear sweet Baba.  One of my very favorite sheep ever.  I still can't believe she's gone.

I've made and sold over 400 drop spindles over the years.  I would guess that Baba's roving was in at least 350 of them.  Her wool was so easy to spin that she was a perfect choice to help set up new spinners for success.  I'd love to know how many of them are still spinning.

I guess I'll use this last fleece for one last batch of spindles. Or maybe I'll keep it for myself.  I've always wanted to spin and knit a pair of boots socks.  She'd be perfect.

This doesn't look as impressive in the photo as it does in real life :-/.  There are 24 fleeces in there. Maisie's was already skirted and washed.  I took a few pictures as I worked and I'll get organized and post a fleece list in time for the start of the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl that kicks off this coming weekend.  More on that to come.  

So Where Are We

I'm sitting on the Wool House porch drinking coffee and watching Pinot mess about being a happy rabbit.  It's been cool this morning and last and he loves that.  I'll be so glad when summer is over.  This has already felt like a long one and it's just the beginning of July.

I've mentioned the Tour de Fleece, Pinot, the woven rug.  The month end compilations have at least included pictures of the gardens, sunrises, sunsets, sheep, horses, cats.  I made a little knitted Maisie, but while I've wanted to start my walnut dyed sweater, I haven't let myself cast on.

It's a good thing Maisie's so cute ;-).

I get beat down by the "can't do something fun until you get your chores done" mentality.  First, I live on a farm.  The chores are never done.  Not only are the chores never done, but I keep adding to the chores by planting too many flowers, getting a rabbit friend, wanting to teach Frankie something new...  I love my flowers and Pinot and I'm proud of what Frankie and I are getting done this summer.  Some rain would be helpful.

Second, if you want to maintain a fiber business to help support your sheep, maybe actually doing something with the fiber needs to be a "chore" if that's how your kooky brain works.  Just because a chore is fun doesn't mean it's not important.  I'm assuming ten years from now I won't remember the blood, sweat, tears and bruises, but I will enjoy looking back at the blog pictures and stories while wearing warm sweaters made from my best friends fleeces.  

I'm going to be 56 this summer.  If I haven't figured life out by now, maybe it's not going to happen.  Or maybe I'm just now getting old enough to start figuring it out.  Maybe I'm just a slow learner...

So, some things to look forward to:

The next post will be about all the building we've done lately.  Mostly for Pinot and some flowers.  Oh, I also put a board back up in Frankie's stall, so I guess I covered all my "distractions" ;-).  Don't let me forget to share the out house as well.  

I've started skirting my spring fleeces...finally...and promptly ran into a nest of very aggressive bees living in guess who's fleece. 

I covered them back up and was trying to find a place to safely stash them (even mean bees are important pollinators and they were just trying to protect their family), but our resident barn skunk cleaned them out last night.  I should have seen that coming.  Slow learner...

Yep, it was Maisie.  You can't make this stuff up...

The Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl is coming up and I'm going to participate this year.  I'll do a separate post with my open dates and information about what we are going to offer along with some new farm and fiber products.

I finished my first bobbin of Ellie last night and I'm going to carry on spinning her for the Tour de Fleece.  She's a sweet spin and I'm really excited about her yarn.

How's your summer going?

The 2024 Tour De Fleece

The 2024 Tour de Fleece started last Saturday.  I got off to a slow start...but at least I've finally started.  I can't explain why I haven't been doing all sorts of fun fiber work lately.  I love my sheep and I love their wool and I love to do all the fun stuff you can do with wool.  This used to be What I Did.  

I couldn't come up with an exciting Tour plan ahead of time and finally, in a Do. Something. move, grabbed a bag of Ellie.  That was a perfect choice.  She is a perfect reminder of why I do all this work.  She's soft and slightly silky and a wonderful creamy white color and her wool practically spins itself and she's one of my favorite sheep.  Her yarn is going to be beautiful and I'm already thinking about what I'll do with it.

I used to think of Ellie mostly as Early's sister, but now I think of her almost more as Short Round's daughter.  I still don't let myself think about Early very much. When I decided to bring his mom over here when it was time for her to retire, I figured it was the least I could do for him and I thought of her as Early's mom.  Now she's also Ellie's mom and just Short Round herself and has become one of my very favorite sheep too.  

This is why I do all this work.  

Don't forget to enjoy your work.

Maybe don't put in so much garden stuff next year.

Bea and I have been riding our bike a lot this summer.  I took this picture on the evening of the summer solstice.  It was almost 9:00.  I wish I could get the camera to capture the blur of the ditch as we zoom past.  I think that would be a neat picture.  This is nice too, but Bea's shadow in front of the blur of grass would be extra fun :-).  

She does a great job riding in the back basket and I really enjoy riding with her.  She stands with her front feet up on the basket edge and I love feeling her leaning around me to see what's coming up.  I have no interest in riding like the Tour de France, but once again our Ravelry group is enjoying brilliant written commentary about the actual race from one of our long time members. I look forward to that every year.

It's not too late to join in.  You can find us here if you want some team fun and support or just spin on your own.  It's fun!  

It's what we do :-).

Fox Tales

Um, little fox?  You better not be thinking about climbing that fence.

"I won't bother your chickens.  I promise."

I finally finished my little knitted fox.  He told me his name is Jeffry and he's from the same designer as the frog and the bat.  I had a bit more trouble with some parts of this pattern, but I managed to figure things out and I think he turned out pretty cute.  

His sweater ended up a bit too long, but it was designed to be sewn with a seam up the back and it  worked out to leave the back seam open a bit over his tail :-). 

I used Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb yarn and dyed the orange and dark gray colors.  I stuffed it with the orange combing waste from the Tour de Fleece.  I like to use similar colors for stuffing so any loose spots don't show through.

I have two other stuffed friends in my queue.  One is a knitted lamb and the other is a sewn felt sheep.  January has been a bit busier than I'd hoped it would be, but it's still nice to not have all the summer work hanging over my head so I have time to think about what would be fun to work on next :-).

How has your crafting year started?

August

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July

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July was hot and humid, but we got plenty (and then some) of rain so the grass grew and nothing turned soul crushingly brown and crispy.  I already know it's going to be hot.  I can live with the extra humidity if it's from rain.  I'd prefer it didn't flood the barn, but we can deal with that. 

The B Garden has been a real treat this summer.  We've had several monarch appearances already (usually not until August) and have seen several caterpillars!  I'm not sure if this is just going to be a good monarch year all over (finger and toes crossed) or if we've just added enough habitat that our farm has made their map.

Our year supply of hay and straw is in the barn.  The Tour de Fleece was fun and productive.  I pulled the big girl camera out and enjoyed taking some nice pictures.  Archie only nearly fell off a couple of things this month, Possum has fully embraced the air conditioner life, and Bea has learned what a "pup cup" from Dairy Queen is.   

Onward into August!

Big Moose - The Cliff Notes

 

This was his lamb shear.  Look at those curls!  The locks were all carefully separated and then hand washed by a dear friend.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to take them for a spin, but I've gotten almost as much fun out of just admiring them as they are :-). 

If you remember from the Blaze combing post, I lash some locks to my stationary comb and use the loose comb to transfer the combed locks from one back to the other and them pull off the combed "top".  It's slow going, but you can't beat that prep.

I was undecided about how to handle the different colors of gray in his fleece.  I love all the variations, but sometimes once it's spun, the charm of it gets a bit lost and just looks messy...disorganized...I'm not sure how to describe it.  Not being a "color" person makes life complicated sometimes.

I ran the combed fiber through the drum carder - one pass.  You can still see some variations, but maybe a bit more subtle.  I really like how the yarn turned out.  I will probably do another sample where I don't blend it on the carder and maybe one more where I run it through twice to further blend it.  

Wool is so fun :-).