Projects On The Road: a new phase for Walking Wool

Little Bear, waiting for her stuffing.

Like the Design, not the end result so much, for a hat.
Better as a bowl to hold fibery things. (That's the jewelry-making stash in the background. More good things to come from it.)

Tiny Sweater, for hanging up and oggling. 

Special Chunky Handspun Hat, made with love, and llama and shetland fleece found in New England.

Fun Stripey Chunky Mitten, soon to have a mate. Sorbet colors! 

Making Friends (is the best!).

Felted Birdie catches the worm, or your heart.

Tuesday Visuals

Saturday fun in the studio with mother (knitting a summer scarf with yarn from The Sheep Shack) and good fiber friend Chris (combing some of her fleece stash). We enjoyed the coolness of the subterranean space, some yummy dark chocolate, lemonade, and great conversation. Sleeping dogs kept us company. 

Trying out grey llama while learning a core spinning technique courtesy of my new Jacey Boggs book.

Making some progress here with a long standing large quantity of beautiful chocolate Merino roving  acquired at  Gore Place in Waltham -- their annual spring wool festival was my first foray into festival going and fleece acquisition. We know how that story goes.

January 22nd Visit with the Shepherds at Orchid Patch/Andes Alive

A beautiful ride in southern Worcester County brought our Guild members to the Orchid Patch/Andes Alive homestead. Alpacas, llamas, Peruvian Hairless Dogs, exotic birds and a tropical plant-filled greenhouse awaited our visit. Ellen and Mike toured us through the sights and sounds, and warmed us with their wood stove and wonderful hospitality. I am definitely in love with llamas. What's more, the shepherds plan to bring Blue Faced Leicesters to the menagerie. I volunteered to help with llama shearing this year if I'm needed. What excitement!

Gift for a special friend

Carmel is our friend in Montreal. She had baby Finnegan in September. I was finishing up my handspun llama yarn knitted teddy bear and thought that he should go to little Finn. Here he is just before shipping off to Quebec Province, a big trip to reach a little person.

Sheep to Shawl, Llama to Pajama 2010

Save the date for Sheep to Shawl, Llama to Pajama 2010, a free festival on Saturday, October 23, 2010, 12 noon to 4PM, rain or shine at Green Hill Park Farm in Worcester. Watch a llama get a haircut, learn to weave, meet some sheep, try spinning, and knit some stitches! Enjoy games, music, giveaways, and more. Learn about fiber farms, fiber artists, and fiber businesses found throughout Central MA. For all ages and wheelchair accessible, this fun outdoor fest is sponsored by the City of Worcester and VSA Massachusetts, and made possible by a grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. For more info, visit the event facebook page or call (508) 757-4646.

Fiber Animals are Shorn at Green Hill Park Farm

May 17, 2010: a visit to Green Hill Park Farm to see the freshly shorn fiber flock included viewing the llamas and Romneys in a much more comfortable state for the warm summer months. The green vegetation was very, very green, and the air was fresh and clean. Who knew, in the center of Worcester, such an experience could be had?!

Christmas around the corner . . .

Slow start to this blog but there's no shortage of photo and fiber activities happening. Experiments with "wild wool" or spinning with a multitude of fibers, colors, and textures is underway with my friend Maile and it is VERY liberating. New books borrowed from the local library including spinning, Teva Durham designs, and sock patterns. Mailed off hand dyed and knitted socks for Mom -- in Florida colors of yellow and green -- today to arrive in lieu of "three French Hens" or whatever day of Christmas they get there. She too, has been eyeing fiber animals and sent this photo to me of a llama she spied in the Buffalo NY area.











And, back to dog hair . . . have been mourning and trying to move on after Marsh's death, and so found myself looking at her brother Jeric's spun fluff that was an early attempt at my spinning. Needless to say, it was a very fragile hank at that! So, gave it a whirl with Navajo plying to attempt to spin it up into something relatively bulky and strong. I think it worked.



Here's the boy himself (thank you, Erika Sidor, for the beautiful portrait).



Chow Chow fluff is softer, I think, than alpaca and I'm told extremely warm. I haven't finished my first dog yarn scarf yet, so can't confirm on the heat factor.




Hope to shoot some sheep and horses next week at Sara R.'s farm. Cameras and the cold are a tricky mix!