I just got back from the 2015 Bishop Hill Spin In. I want to thank Juliana, Gail and Gaylene for all the help on Saturday. I do not know what I would do without all the great help. Juliana won best of show for her lace shawl, and Gail won best skein once again for her amazing lace.  I am so  lucky to be surrounded by such talented people.
         I had my new green purple blend for this show and will also have it for Shepherds Market at the Amana Woolen Mill on Nov 14th.  I am calling this one "Lilacs in the Vineyard" It is a blend of Blueface , Coopworth, yearling mohair, silk and Angelina.
     

 I have a large list of fall clean up and winter prep tasks, but I  am glad things will be slowing down a bit soon. I will be doing the Johnson County Fairgrounds Winter Farmers Market. I will have lots of felted creations, natural dyed silk scarves,  hand woven items and all my herbal body products.  I am off to put windows back in the chicken house for the coming winter. Hope to see you soon at the store or the market.

August Heat is Here

Temps promise to be dangerously high again today. Day of the hot weather take a tole on all the animals. All the critters here at the farm have fans running on them. The quail and rabbits have ice packs are in their space to lay on and help get them through the  nasty heat wave. At morning chores today there were signs of coons snooping around last night. Digging in the compost and water tubs spilled all pointed to visiting coons. Once agin I am so thankful to have Ruby the best guard dog in the world on patrol every night here at the farm. 

        The baby bunnies are growing so fast it is shocking.  I swear they double in a weeks time. I spent last sunday "baby proofing" part of the outside run. They are all having a great time playing outside in the cool of the day.  Hazel (the brown bunny in this shot) and Bluebell one of the white ones in the batch will  be staying here at the farm to help me produce some great angora fiber.  So many spinners have ask about buying baby bunnies and Violet has been such a great mom that I am planning on breeding her again  in a few months.  I found a male french angora who is a tortoise shell. This is the color of our wild rabbits, and color I would love to add to my bunny fiber .  I am planning to divide the bunny house so thatViolet will have her own room and outside run when she is ready to birth her next litter. Time to sign off and go open the store.  

 

August at the farm

Gardens and bunnies are growing like mad and the weather in Iowa is absolutly perfect. On Tuesday we filled the barn with hay. A barn of sweet smelling hay is food security and one of the greatest feelings for a farmer this time of year.  The prairie plant that were tiny plugs in 2013 are thriving and in bloom.

I can't wait to see the switch grass as it turns to the tawny color of autumn. 

   The last two weekends the baby bunnies have been in the store for their socialization.  They get bigger every day now. Violet is the best mother bunny in the world. She loves her babies so much  and is teaching them all the important life lessons, what is the bet to eat, how to keep yourself clean and even where to poop to keep the bunny house all clean and fresh. They are eating lots of lambs quarters and dandyloins these days.

Sara has picked the two babies that will get to be going home with her soon. They will get to be house bunnies  to pet and a fiber source for her spinning soon.

 Lots more bunny petting on saturdays until the weather turns so cold the bunnies move to their winter home on the north end of the farm.

       There are still a couple of spots left in the July 19th dye class. I have Birch bark and walnut simmering for the class.   Indigo, and weld are looking great and the dyers coreopsis is  beginning to bloom just in time. I will harvest and dry these stunning little flowers this week, and we can pick on Sunday for a beautiful peachy red.

          As many of you know I have been down sizing my flock of sheep to lighten my work load. As I  look down the road to a life without sheep I know I will need  fiber animals in  my day to day life. With this in mind I had my angora rabbit Violet  breed by a beautiful white fresh bunny a bit over a month ago. On wednesday she gave birth to  8 babe bunnies! I am leaving them alone but have peeked into the nest box to see what is happening.  Violet has turned out to be a great mom all 8 seem to be doing well at 48 hours. Here is a pic of the new fiber  animals at the farm.

In a few weeks these little sweeties will need to  be held so they are used to being handled and make good lap spinning bunnies. 

 Summer is here and natural dyeing is in full swing. Last Sunday was the first natural dye class of the season and we had some amazing samples and skeins. I think this was the best onion skin depot I have ever had. Must have been some super orange onion skins.

 I have a natural dye retreat  on August 22nd and 23rd . There are still a couple of slots available in that class.  This retreat is always fun.  We pick from the dye gardens and eat from the veggie garden with pizza on saturday night. I can't wait to see what amazing things we come up with  on that weekend.  Today I need to start drying this years crop of dyers coreopsis. Life is busy but I need to pick every day to keep them blooming.    

        Violet the angora rabbit had babies 2 weeks ago, I posted video on the Fae Ridge Facebook page when they were a few days old. I will click a shot of them in the next few days for anyone who missed the Facebook shots. I am now spending lots of time handling them so they will be  good lap spinning bunnies.  I plan to take a couple at a time out to the store on Saturday for  holding.  I will have some beautiful babies for sale in about  6 weeks.  

I have been having fun with gelatin prints, and decided to add a "Creating Art Cloth" class to the farms  summer classes.  Here is a photo of some of the fun fabric I have been creating  in the last few weeks.

 There are still two spots in the July 29th Natural dye class, and a posting of all the classes I have on the calendar. 

Natural Dye Class July 29th from 10:00-4:00  $75.00

In this class we will harvest many dye plants from the farm's dye garden including indigo and weld to create amazing colors.  Each student takes home  an extensive  handout and great selection of samples in both wool and  cotton.

Spinning Designer Yarns

July  26th from 10:00 to 4:00  $75.00

 In this class we dive into the amazing world of textured yarns. Spirals, slubs, boucle as well as many other adventurous yarns will be covered in this class. Students must be experienced spinners and have  good control of their wheel. 

2015 Two Day Natural Dye Retreat 

August 23rd and 24th   $225.00

 At this two day retreat students stay at the farm eating from the vegetable garden and creating an explosion of color from the dye garden. We Will immerse ourselves  in a world of natural colors. Students are welcome to bring  so skeins or fabric to add to some of the many dye pots we will create over this amazing weekend. Each student takes home  a large handout  as well as a great variety of dye samples in wool silk and cotton.

Creating Art Cloth 

August 30th   10:00-4:00  $75.00

In this class we will create one of a kind detailed plant prints with echo steam prints. We will also  explore the world of Shabori and other resist methods of  unique art cloth. 

For more information on any of these classes contact Janette at 319-643-5873 or faeridgefarm@lcom.net All classes require a 50% deposite. Make checks out to Fae Ridge Farm  and mail to Fae Ridge Farm 5140 rapid Creek RD NE Iowa City Ia 52240  

I am working out a schedule for summer classes.I am planning to offer three natural dye classes this spring and summer. Sunday May 31st will be the first class and Sunday July 19th will be the second class. These two one day classes will run from 10:00 AM to 5:00PM and will be a $75.00 fee. This fee includes all materials.This class will cover a wide variety of natural dyes from the dye garden, as well as an indigo vat. Student takes home a great selection of samples in both wool and cotton. Students are invited to bring a few skeins of their own to add to some of the dye pots. These two classes require a $40.00 registration fee. For more information on this class contact me on Facebook or call 319-643-5873.
The third class will be the annual two day on farm retreat on August 22nd and 23rd. This is a chance to submerge yourself in the amazing world of natural dyes. Students stay at the farm and we spend two days exploring many methods of natural dye, and eating from the gardens. The dye garden will be in all its glory for this class. This Retreat is $225 this include room and board for the weekend. This is a very limited class and students have lots of opportunities to dye their own skeins, wool and even cloth.Indigo,cochineal and log wood are just a few of the dyes in this amazing retreat. For more information on this retreat contact me on Facebook or call 319-643-5873 Here are just a few shots of  some of the wonderful creations from last years retreat.

It was a gorgeous day in Iowa yesterday. Not a big turn out for Studio Sunday, but we had a great day with lot amazing results.  The onion skin dye pot turned out beautifly with lots of different shades from different wool, different twist in the yarn and different alum mordent methods. Natural depot never  fail to amaze me.  The carder was running and Juliana and Sarah turned out some nice bats. I am still deciding on the depot for next Studio Sunday. Hope folks come to join me on My 3rd from 10:00 to 4:00 in the studio space in the house. I will have some nice big depot going so be sure to bring a skein or two to add to our mix. Here are a few shots from the studio yesterday.

Spring is here and each day seems to have a huge list of things to do. On wednesday morning I  sheared Milo and Trudy. I can't wait to for a rainy day that I can spend in my studio  working on their fleeces. They were both very cooperative about the shearing. Trudy almost fell asleep as I  had her down for her tummy cleaning. It was a mixed look as I walked them down to the pasture behind the store this morning.

Milo is on the left Trudy is on the right and Ebony and Teddy are still waiting for their spring  hair cuts. One of my task in the next few days is to set down with my calendar and pin down class dates for this summer.  I plan to do tow natural dye classes this summer and maybe even three. I have had a woman get ahold of me requesting a Nuno felting class. I would love to teach that one again, so contact me if you are interested in learning this amazing method of felting.  I am contemplating a designer yarn class too.  I have to sign off and go bag up the latest fiber blends, but I will let lots of class ideas   drift through my thoughts and post a schedule soon. 

I have two new fiber blends back from the carder. In my last blog I posted pictures of one of these blends as I worked on it. I am calling this one Kaleidoscope with all its amazing bits of color.  I have been busy spinning up samples of these two blend. Both are created from beautiful Blueface fleeces  from my sheep and a few from other Iowa  Bluefaces.  The red blend  has a bit of star fire in to add just that hint of sparkle.  I am still working on a name for the red one.

 Spring is here and it is time for spring fiber shows. The Iowa Spin in will be held on April 25th at the Kirkwood Training and Outreach Services Center in Marion Iowa. The doors open at 9 and this spin in  has some fun mini classes set up for a fun day. Everything from Beginning Spinning to Combing Fleece. It looks like lots of great vendors and fiber will be there for  folks to stock up on. 

 The next show after this one will be Shepherds Market held on My 9th at the Amana Woolen Mills. I hope  to see many of you at one or both of these spring shows.

I will be shearing the flock in the next  week or so, and can't wait to get my hands on these wonderful fleeces.       

 Once again life is just too busy to post as often as I should. It has been a good but challenging winter  here at the farm.  I am getting ready for spring fiber shows. Iowa Federation of spinners and weavers  is holding  the spring spin in in Cedar Rapids  on April 25th.   I will post info on the Fae Ridge farm Facebook page  in the next week. Shepherds Market will once again be held at the Amana Woolen Mills in main Amana on May 9th. There is  a link on the FRF Facebook page. I  am working on a new blend with some yummy icelandic and  Blue Face lamb fleeces.

 I am so blessed with an amazing studio that  has facilitates for skirting, washing, drying, dyeing, picking, and carding as well as a fleet of spinning wheels. I have desided to open my studio space to the public on the first Sunday of each month from 10:00 to 4:00. I will have tea and coffee on hand and  am asking $5.00 per hour for folks  using equipment. For more details send an email of check the FRF Facebook page.
       I have to sign off and go to the loom. Rugs are calling me.