Sheep & Wool

This past weekend was the amazing New York State Sheep & Wool Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY.  And when I say amazing, I mean it.  It's huge, with a hefty attendance.

It made me think... just a year ago, I'd just taken up spinning, and attended with friends, on the hunt for some wool and mohair roving with which to practice before my first angora bun shearing.  This year, I went with the same friends on Sunday, plus more spinning friends, plus Eric, to show him why I was so excited.

I've been spinning for over a year now, and I've gotten good fast, if I do say so myself.  This year, I had a more narrow idea of what I was looking for.  First, I got a huge bag - 5.5 lbs! - of a raw fleece I've never tried before... Navajo-Churro, a threatened heritage breed.  I'm glad to buy the fleece to spin, as a market for it will give the farmer/owners the incentive and capital they need to maintain and rebuild the breed.

I was also in the market for some natural dyes for my yarn, and some naturally-dyed roving.  I got these really nifty Japanese mud-based dyes that I'm very much looking forward to trying.  Plus I got some of the roving pictured below, the green you see in the top middle, which is Corriedale dyed in yarrow and indigo, and a beautiful bright yellow you can't see in the photo, more Corriedale, but dyed in weld.

There was braided roving too, which I've never tried.  Didn't get any this year, either, despite the tempting prettiness.

For the knitters, crocheters, and weavers who may or may not also be spinners, there was a boatload of yarn too.  The colors... all the colors!  Amazing.

There were finished products, too.  Knitted and crocheted clothes and accessories, felted suit, ornaments, toys, and cat beds.  And hooked tapestries and rugs.  I was, of course, enamored with the Halloween ones.

There were all sorts of tools I recognized, like carders, Turkish spindles, and even antique wheels.

There were even vendors of beautiful pelts.  Something for everyone, for sure.

But then I saw something I'd never seen before.  It was so cool!  It was a mini tabletop spinning wheel... that works like a walking/great wheel!  You draft with one hand while spinning the handle with the other.  I did try it, but stopped for fear of making a mess of their yarn.  It was hard!

And of course, the sheep part of Sheep and Wool... and goats, too!  It's settled, I really, really, really need angora goats.  Their fleece is mohair.  And they're adorable.

And they like to be scratched behind the ear, just like Jack.  In fact, this one tilted it's head just like Jack when Eric scratched it.

Look at that 'do!  Before they're sheared, they look like they have no eyes.  It's awesome.  I need them, I tell you.

And there were cashmere goats.  So soft!  These kids were adorable.

Of course, can't have a Sheep & Wool Festival without sheep.

The personality!

The bangs!

And?  Alpacas & llamas!

Alpacas are awesomely ridiculous looking, but llamas are really pretty.  Love those ears!

Check back here at Reef Botanicals, the Facebook page, and in the Facebook group to see what I do with my new acquisitions!

Truckin' Along

While we wait for honey extraction and the forever home for three of our five new hives, I knit.  And knit, and knit, and knit.

And it makes me happy.

Busy, Busy... as a Bee

On Friday, we inspected our two queenless hives, to find that they'd both been unsuccessful in making viable, mated queens.  Sigh.  We had such high hopes, especially for the Fish Hive.  It's been raining a lot, so it's highly likely that any new queens that hatched were unable to mate or simply unable to get back to the hives.  It's a precarious thing, going on a mating flight.  She could get caught in the rain, eaten by a bird, or any number of other mishaps might befall her.

Sorry, no photos, we were moving quickly to check them out after my half day at the office.

So we headed on up to Hudson Valley Bee Supply on Saturday morning (yes, the 4th, but it's become evident that there are no holidays when you're dealing with agricultural concerns), where we picked up two new mated queens and their attendants, together with just about everything we'd need to extract honey.  Except the extractor.

But then Saturday evening, after I face painted at a country club July 4 party, a beekeeper friend let us know he'd ordered a new extractor and was selling his old one... so we went over there and bought it!  We are now the proud owners of a three-frame Kelley Bees extractor, unlike any of the ones currently on their site, but I suppose the predecessor to this one.  We're so excited!  Now the biggest problem (aside from the fact that we still need to order jars and design/order labels) is waiting for the bees to be done making their honey!

We're not patient types.

I guess it's ok, though.  Where we are, the echinacea, black-eyed Susans, daisies, butterfly bushes, and balloon flowers are just starting to bloom, and we still have a bunch of our fruits and veggies flowering - zucchini, cantaloupe (although if you watch Alton Brown's Good Eats, what we're really growing is apparently muskmelon, no matter what the label says), tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc., so if the nectar from those blooms all get added into our honey, that's just fine with us!

In the meantime, I've been knitting my little heart out.  This photo shows the bee blanket as it stood a few days ago; at this point, I've got the second motif (with hearts and another row of dots) completely finished, and I've started in on the third motif, the big bunnies and bee.

Besides that, I got my ceramic bee bowl back from firing!  I think it came out really cute, and find it amazing that this...

... became this.

Back to Knitting

I haven't knitted in months, so there's nothing like starting big, right?  Know that bee blanket Eric wanted me to try that means me learning 4 new techniques?

Started it last night!

This is going to take a loooooooooooooooong time.

Meet Harmony the Hippo!

Harmony is 100% designed and knitted by me, so you won't find her anywhere else in the world!  This is my second animal scarf, the first was Daffy the Dinosaur, of course.  For both, I started the design with an idea in my head and some graph paper, choosing the type of pattern I'd want for the "skin," and deciding on features.

Where Daffy got pointed teeth, a spiny back, and brow ridges, Harmony's got square teeth, a tongue, and ears.

Both of these personality-filled accessories are made of 100% soft washable wool that won't felt, so it's completely OK if the children who own them get them a bit grubby on occasion.  In a beautiful grey, Harmony's a great neutral to go with any coat and keep someone warm.

I design my animal scarves with a bottom jaw so they've got potential to become a toy and companion as well as a scarf.  Bet you wouldn't have to convince a kid to bundle up the way my mom had to do with me if Harmony's around.

Both animal scarves can be found in Fabric of my Mind's "Imagination Safari."

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I've Been Knitting, Too

As I said in my cupcake post, I was cast as the Evil Queen's assistant in Snew White and was therefore on a poison apple kick.  I tend to like to give a little gift as a "break a leg" token with every show, so for this one, poison apples it was!

I did 21 of these little suckers, which measure about 2.5" across the body of the apple, and by then my hands were so sore and tired, I didn't even do one for myself!  Yet.  I'll have one at some point.  They're too cute not to have one for myself.

To give my hands a break after this, I went back and finished a cool green hat I'd started previously.  This one's now listed in Fabric of my Mind here.