Another busy week here at the farm. Last Sundays farmers market at the Johnson county fairgrounds was great. we had a nice steady turn out and everyone seemed to be in a great mood for some holiday shopping. The last two days  I have been painting skeins and working on an indigo vat.  Yesterday I dyed a bunch of Peace fleece skeins in indigo. They turned out so nice I can't  wait  to get them out to the store for knitters. I also worked on silk scarves and cotton project bags. Here is a pic of the rack in my studio with lots of  drying  blues.

 

I have made it through another year of gardening. Most of the gardens are cleaned up the last harvest is in.  We had leeks and ducks for Thanksgiving and celebrated the bounty of food on the farm.
      It is not New Years yet but  I am vowing to do more blogging. I am setting a goal of once a week.  My new motto will be blog by wednesday.  I have been  doing more posting on the Fae Ridge Farm face book page.  If you want to see  what I have been up to in the last few months go cheek it out.
       I have been busy getting the store ready for the holidays. I once again have alpaca socks in lots of sizes and  have some wonderful new cloth gift bags (pics on face book). This week  I have been spinning, painting skeins, making slippers and mittens from  felted wool sweaters.

Is Spring really here?

Today feels like spring with warm winds and lots of sun. The forecast is for more cold weather  in 48 hours. The signs of spring are all around. Gold finches are turning bright gold, the garlic has shot it's way past the winter mulch and is 4 inches tall, and the snow drops are in full bloom, so there is hope all around us.
              Life has been busy here the last few weeks. Two weeks ago the whole flock was still snug in their winter coats.

Now the studio is filled with beautiful fleeces in varying stages of processing.   After 14 years of shearing llamas I have finally come up with the perfect  way to shear these big independent critters. Last years addition of Cheyenne the alpaca lead me to lot of investigation as to how to shear  him. I came across a method on line that looked great.  this method is a simple cross tie system with an addition of a girth under their belly hooked up to the ceiling with a bit of spring to keep them from laying down.  I rigged up  a amazing system yesterday with chains from the ceiling that I hooked the heavy duty bungie straps to.  I am going to get myself a  official girth strap for my next time but the   ropes sewn together worked for  this first time.I had the smoothest shearing ever! The spring (bungie strap) system discourages them from kicking. This new system cut shearing time in half. I took a pick of Perkins  before I started and hope folks can use this one in their shearing of camelids.

 A reminder that this Saturday is the  Iowa Federation of Spinners and Weavers spring meeting in Waterloo. I will be there vending along with lot of other fiber fun. Hope lots of folks can come check it out. Here is a quick shot of the  new blend I got back last week I am calling it Mojave Tweed.

My coffee break is over I have to sign off and  go back out to  more barn cleaning.    

 

Winter is still working on us and won't seem to quit. I am thankful every day I am not having any kids or lambs this spring! My heart goes out to all  those folks who are lambing and kidding in this brutal weather. Somehow life here at the farms seem to stay busy.   I have a new blend back from the carder. It spins up like butter and is such a nice blend I am glad I created a big batch on this one.  Here is a shot of the sample I spun up today.
            I am working on felted bunnies and blue birds these days. I hope to have them in at New Pioneer soon. I have a tray of bluebirds waiting for their  white tummies and  eyes and lots of bunny parts waiting for my attention.
 We have an up coming Spinning For Lace Class  on March 30th. Gail McPike will be teaching this one.  Gail has mastered lace spinning and is now going to share her knowledge with   a few lucky students.   This class starts at 9:00Am and will  run all day in my  in home studio space. This class  is $60.00 and there is a $10.00 materials fee.  We have two slots left  in this one. If anyone is interested or has more questions call me @ 319-643-5873. I HAVE to sing off now and go do chores before the cold gets any worse.

         

It has been way to long since I blogged. I  am just now catching my breath from last summer and fall. We are having the coldest winter in years.  I finish up my seed orders and garden plans last week on a cold and sunny day.

 
          So far all the animals are doing well. The fiber flock all have their own warm coats and are  getting extra hay and grain every day. The last few days even the sheep have been returning to the barns after their breakfast.  Cheyenne the alpaca who joined the flock last fall seems to not feel the cold at all. All the sheep have beautify fleeces. Milo and Ebony's fleeces are extra nice and once again remind me of the wisdom of keeping the best weathers on the farm.
           The hens are even laying very well inspire of this weather. I take then out a warm high protein meal on the coldest days. This is a great way to clean out the freezer and keep them healthy.  All those out of date things hiding in the corners of the freezer are coming out, going in the crock pot,  being chopped up and mixed with warm powdered milk for hot meals for the hens. They rush to meet me every afternoon.
    This weather is great for chucking wood in the stove, spinning and weaving. I have been having fun working on a Ashford ridged heddle loom I recently added to my fleet of looms.  This loom is part of my summer plan to attend  the Iowa City Farmers Market with my weaving,  herbal body products,  natural dyed silk scarves and woolie babies.  I just ordered a pound of cochineal bugs for  wonderful pinks and reds this  year.  I spent part of yesterday spinning up some  designer yarn in hemp and cotton  that will go in one of my next projects.

There are a couple of classes coming up at the farm I wanted to list here. I hope to have  more classes listed soon so keep checking.         Beginning Drop Spindle Class

 $15.00  Sunday February  9th  1:00 to 4:00

In this class I will guide student  trough the basics of creating your own yarn on a drop spindle.  spindles and fiber will be available for purchase after the class.   This class has only one or two slots left so call Janette to register. 

                            319-643-5873

  

                  Spinning for Lace 

  Gail McPike from Davenport will share her passion for lace as she teaches this class at Fae Ridge Farm.

In this class students will learn how to set up a wheel for
spinning a fine lace weight yarn and different techniques
that will produce the results we want. This class is for students with  a good amount of spinning experience. Students will be supplied with a variety of fibers and fiber preparations to experience the diversity of lace we can make. We will also learn how to “wrap” lace weight singles with silk thread in the Orenburg tradition. Spinning for lace is easy when you know the tricks!

MARCH 30th  FROM 9:00 TO 4:00  in the Fae Ridge Farm Studio STUDENTS BRING: Students should bring a spinning wheel in good working order.   (Let me know at registration what wheel you will be bringing to the class. Gail needs to prepare and study adjusting all the student wheels.)
CLASS FEE: $60.00

Material fee $10.00

*Note* Material Fees are in addition to Class Fee and are to be paid to instructor at time of class

Instructor Biography

Gail McPike, Davenport, IA
Last summer Gail won Best of Show in Knitting at the Iowa State Fair with her hand combed, handspun, Cormo Estonian Lace Shawl. In September, her work was judged Best of Show at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool; this time for a hand combed, home spun lace weight Cormo skein. She has developed a passion for combing wool to spin for lace and is currently working on spinning wool for projects in the Estonian, Shetland, and Orenburg lace traditions.