Nothing Says Spring Like a Trip to a Farm!

I almost snuck this little guy home....

Well, spring is FINALLY in the air!

I am very lucky to live in a nice city that is very close to many small family farms. My friend Chris has one such farm. She's a spinner and has a small heard of beautiful shetland sheep, and guess what!? They are having lambs... So cute! I had to go out and take a little visit! I was even lucky enough to score a bag of fleece that is going to be lovely to spin with... the bonus is that I get to break out my *new* Alvin Ramer wool combs to do it!

And now - PICTURES OF LAMBS!!!

Protective mom...

Boomer even got in on the action!

The "black sheep".

Old Molly.

Fun in the sun for these three week old lambs!

Let's Get Random...

There's been lots going on...  one thing is a very big project that I'll be able to talk about very soon!

Brrr - Moebius!

I'll be teaching a few classes this weekend at All Strung Out Yarns! The Moebius is a fun an versatile accessory for every wardrobe and can be worn many ways! I'll also be wrapping up a three session hand-spinning class, which I hope to continue - it's been a very fun one to teach and I really feel in my element when I'm talking about fibre and spinning.

Inside Moebius

I've been working on a sweater out of Jill Draper's Empire yarn. She has a contest going on in honour of Fred Rogers and it's really cool! You can find out all about it on her Ravelry Forum.

Long Cardi with "Bell Sleeves"

I've also (still) been working on my Borealis by Cal Patch. It's a lot of fun, but I'm at the stage that happens in shawl making where I'm asking myself, "Is this actually getting any bigger?" There's a big milestone coming up -decreasing!

It's growing s-l-o-w-l-y

This Saturday (after class), I'll headed over to Long and McQuade to participate in their monthly Ukulele group and I'm just so excited!

"Buffalo Gals Go 'round the Outside"

Cal Patch Crochet Genius!

In my opinion, Cal Patch of Hodgepodge Farm is a DIY genius! Her crochet patterns are really what it's all about as far as the direction that crochet is going. Beautiful, contemporary and showcasing gorgeous yarns (like Jill Draper's).
I'm currently working on her new pattern for a shawl called "Borealis" and it's so much fun and so addictive. Although hers is made from the Aurora by Jill, I'm making mine out of some of my own hand-dyed. Fittingly, it's a gorgeous silk/alpaca blend I dyed during my visit to Hodgepodge Farm!
In other news... I'll be teaching a three session spinning class starting this Sunday (February 3) at All Strung Out Yarns. It's going to be a fun one and student's choice on whether to use a wheel or a drop spindle.

Here we go now!

False Start...

The Rat and The Rabbit

I'm continuing with my series of puppets based on the animals of the lunar zodiac. So far I've made The Rabbit (mostly because that is my sign) and now I'm working on The Rat and The Ox.
I'm hoping to start adding some woven fabric to these puppets. I like the Rabbit but it's a little bit to "easter bunny", I might have to "weird" it up a bit!
After this series, I'm starting on some puppets based on important people in my life and incorporating their personal mythology into their likeness as puppets! We'll see how all this goes....

Four Skeins Done...

I've been working on spinning up roving I got at Sheep & Wool. I'm using five colours and doing random long colour lengths. Then, I'm chain plying to preserve the lengths. I have four skeins done so far.

Fall 2012... The Lost Posts...

It's all about friends!

I had a great fibre-y fall, as autumn is usually full of fibre-y things.  I'm way behind (obviously) on the Rhinebeck post and my fun two day workshop with Lexi Boeger AKA Pluckyfluff!

Arriving at Sheep and Wool!

As usual, The Sheep and Wool Festival was amazing. I got to hang out with my pals Cal and Jill, meet some new friends like Sonya Philip (of 100 Acts of Sewing) and Laura Nelkin (of amazingness) among others! 

Friends new and "old"!

I saw lots of cool animals and amazing yarns and fibres! I bought some roving to spin up to make a sweater for next year.  I've got four skeins done so far.

In addition to the festival, I got to visit Lagusta's Luscious and the Tuthilltown Distillery as well as the Hodgepodge Farm animals - Gertie, Trice and the Chickens.

The other fun thing I did was attend a two day workshop with Lexi Boeger with my buddy Andie L at the Niagara Artists Centre.

A beautiful Early Fall morning!

The workshop was an amazing break from our OHS homework (which is totally great but by the book).  In Lexi's class we got to be truly free in our spinning and learned some fun techniques. It felt great! 

From table of fibre to crazy bat to crazy yarn!

From fluff to auto-wrap to fluffy yarn!

Even yarn made of FABRIC

I've learned to share my Instagram photos directly to my blog, which is going to be fun but, not being super "tech savvy", the pics show up as links, not actual pictures.... oh well, can't have everything! 

A new project started!

I have been holding in to this amazing yarn that lixolux sent me ages ago! It's beautiful yarn from Verb for Keeping Warm! Crochet Socks!
http://instagr.am/p/THsf36MWGT/