Spring Exhibit of Photos in Concord

Thank you very much to Peter Lovis at The Concord Cheese Shop for inviting me to show some of my farm animal photos in the store. The connection is obvious (cheese from goats, sheep; meat delicacies from, well, pigs . . . ), so I am pleased to let the work grace their walls. They needed some air, and the Concord community is a great place for them to rest for a time.

Selling Handspun Yarns

Oh, such a sobering experience. Etsy has over 14,000 listings for hand spun yarn. Hmmm, how is one to stand out with such monumental competition? I love my yarn, am proud of the washing, picking, carding, combing, dyeing and spinning that I do. But, me thinks I'll be putting it to use for my own knitting projects rather than become a yarn seller. What do you think?

This week at the Salty Ewe Farm . . .

New lamb! Mama Rita gave birth last week, and  on April 9th I got to visit with darling, curious, and daring little no-name-as-of-yet ewe lamb. Nothing like having ones fingers nibbled by such an innocent little sweetie.

The following morning (7AM-ish), other members of the flock were looking as if their turn at lambing was just around the corner. The sounds of birds chirping and sheep baaing was a pretty near-perfect soundtrack for my viewing pleasure.

It couldn't have been a more memorable spring visit to the Salty Ewe.

Gift of a special book

Thank you, Sara, for the gift extraordinaire. The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook will forever be a treasured addition to my fiber-y library. The authors and publisher have done such a gorgeous job of documenting and describing animals and breeds that are our fiber fanatic's raison d'etre. My virtual flock has just grown by tremendous leaps and bounds (!).

New England Felting Supply

Home - New England Felting Supply

Another great local resource.

The Great Rhody Yarn Crawl: Our Crawl 2012 Guest is...

The Great Rhody Yarn Crawl: Our Crawl 2012 Guest is...: Alasdair Post-Quinn , author of Extreme Double-Knitting , will be at the Crawl Culmination Ceremony on Sunday, April 15th! Come visit Slater...


I can't wait to go to this. A new fiber event in Rhode Island.

Spring brings with it many surprises and delights. But, never would I have imagined that I would enjoy such an unexpected sighting out through my office window; a chicken egg in an apple tree. Now, I know they don't grow on trees, and neither do chickens fly (or, leave the ground much more than a few feet). So, how did it get there. On closer inspection, I realized it was an empty shell, already cracked open some time ago. Aha! No chicken was involved in this careful placement of shell in tree. Apparently, a squirrel raided my compost pile and carried the prized possession far and high, leaving it where no one would have expected. Thank you, squirrel, for my spring surprise.

Spring Egg

Positively Pinterest-ed

I have discovered Pinterest late in the game, and it is a delight. Are you having fun with it?

Classic Elite Yarns: An Extraordinary Knitter...

This project is simply . . . wow.

Classic Elite Yarns: An Extraordinary Knitter...: As soon as Cheryl pointed this project out to me, I knew we had to feature it here on the blog. Silky Alpaca Lace is the perfect yarn f...

Italian artist aka my worlds are colliding!

Andrea Kotliarsky: Contigo pan y cebollas

Vegetables and fiber. OMG.

I knew it all along . . .

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/09/146583986/pet-therapy-how-animals-and-humans-heal-each-other

Sheep at Tufts Cummings Vet School

A quick exploration of the sheep barns at Tufts last Sunday discovered these, which I guess are Tunis, dear ovines lounging in the sun on a very windy/chilly day. Sunlight is not my friend when shooting sheep, so I will return another overcast day for better conditions.

Our Guild makes it into Spin-Off Spring 2012 issue

Spin-Off, Spring 2012 - Interweave
Thank you Betsy for a great story and images (see page 66).

New publication from the first CSA wool farm in the USA!

Hair-larious!!!!!!

Visit Heifer Project's Overlook Farm in Rutland MA this spring -- you won't be disappointed.

http://www.heifer.org/visit/overlook-farm

Sheepy group in RI

Rhode Island Sheep Cooperative

A blog to like

http://spokesandpetals.wordpress.com

You go, Jenny!

Must-Watch Sheep Herding Video . . . it will surprise you.

The Walking Wool Calendar: Status Report

I have printed a number of configurations of the calendar and continue to research how to print the darn thing in a cost-effective way. 

 

Update on the printing projects . . .

In the portfolio of promo items are new postcards, note cards, magnets, and small posters. Would love feedback on them.

Awesome Knitgrrl . . . Shannon Okey

If you don't yet know of her, check this fiber femme out!

Exciting Promo Developments . . .

Christmas at the end of January!

New items just received from the printer:
postcards
note cards
posters
sticky labels
magnets
decals
assorted configurations of the calendar concept

I used these images and others:

Needless to say, I am quite excited for feedback and plan to get going this week with showing samples around.

Have also been working with Blurb.com and have a number of ideas in the works utilizing this online self-publishing service:

Maine Sheep
Celebrating the Divine Ovine by Walking WoolCopyright 2012 | Make Your Own Book

Happy New Year

Things are looking very green still here on January 1, 2012. Nevertheless, thoughts and activities turn to sheep and wool, constantly. A late December visit to the Salty Ewe Farm flock found no snow but very woolly and warm looking ewes, wether, and new-ish ram Hercules. Camera and fingers not functioning as well as I would have liked for this shoot, so I expect to return when there is white on the ground with equipment in better shape.

Next weekend is the annual spinning bee at the Westford Museum in honor of St. Distaff Day. This homage to spinners of yore is a great way to kick off a fresh new era of all things fiber. My spinning teacher from the Textile History Museum, Penny Lacroix, is the director of this museum and, presumably, the organizer of the event. Not sure if I will make it this year, again, as it always falls on my husband's birthday weekend.

Linen Sweater Project finally done!

Looking good in Louet linen yarn. Finally finished this project (years in the making) and seems to be getting good use in Florida. I love linen, and this yarn was fun to work with.