Post Great Lakes Fiber Show

The 21st Annual Great Lakes Fiber Show

was a huge success!

We had great weather, awesome wool fibers in the show and sale area.

Sheep shows and sales, lectures, kids activities, classes to 

increase your repertoire and 100 vendors!

My "home" guild, The Algonquin Spinners and Weavers guild helps with the Fleece judging and sales.  We were happy to see such nice fleeces this year.  There were

153 fleeces at the show, most were available to purchase, some exhibitors' 

entries were there for judging only.  

The picture above shows some locks that I needle felted onto a square of felted roving.

What fiber is it???  

LINCOLN !!!

I know.....I know....I know,

I have so many shetland fleeces but I couldn't resist it.

I wanted to use some locks for felting and these sure are the ticket!

My picture isn't the best, but it washed up so easy 

and has such sheen.

This is a pretty fun fleece to work with, I plan to use 

most of it for felting projects.

I definitely will have to get another one next year.

Sometimes we need to step outside of our 

box and experiment with some of the other wool breeds fibers.

It will expand your skill set in spinning and fiber related techniques.

So....there is your justification to add another fleece to your stash

and you can say I told you so... 

 

Great Lakes Fiber Show

Fleece judging began at 7pm Friday evening for the open class.

We had 80 fleeces that were judged, another 51 fleeces 

that were just there to be sold.

I am amazed at the quality of fleeces that we had this year,

very clean all presented well in clear plastic bags.

It is a real joy to help with the fleece judging and sales.

I love to see all the fleece types and talk to 

everyone who comes in to look and purchase a fleece...or two.

Sales were good today, Saturday.  We still have

many nice quality fleeces available to visitors 

who will be coming on Sunday.

 Stop by, say "Hi"

on another note. ...
ending the day at 5pm to drive 40 minutes home
and care for my sheep.
Upon arriving home I immediately turned my sheep out to the pasture.
After filling lamb troughs with grain and watering everyone
my husband and I sat out in the barn for a little while
discussing our day.
We had noticed the lambs running and playing among the trees in the pasture.
After a little while one ram lamb comes hobbling back to the barn when he gets
close he starts bawling at us.
He had broke his back leg.  I went out and around him. 
He hobbled into the barn, walked right into an area that
I was able to pen off and immediately began
thinking of the options.

 We ended up putting a splint on his leg.
I crushed two ibuprofen in some warm water and
gave it to him by drench.

I think he knew he needed our help.  He held still the whole
time he was held and we wrapped his leg with gauze and
used a cut paint stir stick on either side of his leg for
a splint.  We will see how well we did when it comes off
eventually. 

Shear, lamb, skirt...repeat

It's that time of year again...Great Lakes Fiber Show.

I am taking 11pounds of very fine wool to the GLFS so that Zeilinger's 

can take it back to their woolen mill and wash, card, blend and make 

more roving.

While finishing skirting the last of the fine wools to be blended I thought I would pitch in a 

very fine wool that I had dyed in batches last year but did not do anything with it yet.

So I am going to have it blended into the other wool, it should be

a beautiful green when I get it back.

We'll see, I'll show you when I get it back.

I will also be picking up my quilt batts that they will be bringing with them.

Anyone interested in real wool quilt batts, send me an email or call.

 I had 15 - 60X90 cheesecloth lined batts made

and several 81X90.  These are nice.

Turned the girls out late this afternoon.  You can barely seen them 

way out and off to the right.

 Enjoying the long grasses.

We have finally come into warmer weather.

The lambs are about ready to be weaned.  

This next weekend I will pen them all but the last four lambs that were 

born here, they are a little farther out.

They are all eating good and hopefully will 

transition well.

If you have some time this weekend, stop out at the Great Lakes Fiber Show

at the Wayne Co. Fairgrounds.  It is always an interesting show.

# 1113 Whistlestop aka Oregon

 This ewe's name is Oregon appropriate since that is were she came from.

She delivered last evening these two beautiful white lambs.

On the left, a ram lamb who already has horn buds and to his right

a ewe lamb.

 A view from atop the ewe lamb shows two spots that she has, one around her left

eye, the other you can see on her back over her hips.

This is the ram lamb, he has some speckling on his legs.

Oregon was bred to my ram, Royal White.

We've been trying to get some white sheep for some time and 

finally this year we have 4 white lambs, 2 rams and 2 ewes.

I believe we have finished our lambing season.  Another ewe I had put in with our Gulmoget ram did not take.  We have finished with 33 lambs in total, 12 crossbred lambs which will be sent to market when they have gained our target weight and 21 purebreds; of which we have 7 rams and 14 ewes.

That's all for today......Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Demo at Beechcreek Garden

 Today was a beautiful day to demonstrate spinning.  We had an opportunity to participate 

in the Beachcreek Garden's celebration of spring. 

My first time being here and I will definitely need to stop back.  I didn't get the chance to venture far from our set up but really enjoyed the day.

We brought three bottle babies, which were perfect for the event. 

 Bottle babies associate more with humans than with other sheep, since the human

is the one that they look to give them food (milk).  Dave Lewis, in the red shirt 

letting a visitor hold one of the lambs.

This is the first of two more of Events this month.

head's up...I will have a post tomorrow "Oregon" is having her lambs at this time :)