Almost Shearing Time

We're less than three weeks away from shearing. I used to shear in February, but several years ago I shifted shearing day to November thinking that I'd shear before I started feeding hay in the winter. For several reasons I decided to go back to February shearing but I didn't want to make the shift all at once and risk having the fleeces ruined. Last year we sheared the first week of January and this year we will shear February 7. Here are some of the sheep in full fleece.Sonata.

Jean. She was Champion Jacob Ewe at Black Sheep Gathering in June.

This is Cascade.

The BFL-cross named Ears.

This is Kenleigh's Isadora.

Vanessa.

Wesley is one of three wethers that are part of Ginny's sheepdog training flock.Wesley and Wally are BFL-crosses and the other two wethers in Ginny's flock. They were all born at the fair in July.This ram was also born at the fair. I'll have to decide about shearing them since they will have only 6-month fleeces and it will be more of a stress on them.

The Holidays

The holidays are upon us. I finally got a newsletter out. I usually get to it about once a month, but if I expect to sell anything at this time of year I need to do it more frequently. You don't sell things if no one remembers that you exist. So the first one is out, announcing a Holiday Open House  in a couple of weeks with two other local fiber vendors and...  ...a holiday craft project (above) and......a photo op with our friendliest sheep dressed in her Christmas garb.Here are some more ornaments that I made from locally grown and dyed wool. By the way, if you'd like to get my e-mail newsletter let me know and I'll add you to the list.

The Latest from the Loom

In preparation for Fibershed's Grow Your Jeans event I wove six shawls using locally grown Timm Ranch wool yarn.   I showed photos of these before they were washed in this blog post. Quite a dramatic change. With the exception of the second blanket the weft is all the same as the warp, but naturally dyed.  From left to right: Osage orange (exhaust), Jacob wool, osage orange, black walnut, pomegranate, not dyed.  One shawl will be worn in the fashion show and they will all be for sale at Grow Your Jeans.  After that they will be for sale  at the Fibershed Marketplace website and at the Artery in Davis.More locally grown wool. These scarves are woven using Solano County Anderson Ranch wool. Not locally gown, but one of my best sellers--chenille scarves. You've seen this before but I hadn't taken a photo with the magazine cover.Here's is one of my photoshoot locations. Hard to find a smooth surface in the shade.