Spring is finally here at the farm. It has been a long time coming.We have be inundated with cold and  rain for  weeks and so many of us had not had a chance to till earlier. The green house is full of early spring plants that have had nowhere to go until I get a chance to till the ground. The frog leg shallots have been sorted and waiting for a  spot to go in.  I am heading out after late lunch to start the tiller  and see how the soil looks. We have a good strong west wind today  that is just what we need  The leeks in the picture  are so tall I  might be able to sink them in 4 inches when I plant  in the next few days.
     Thank God I have had fiber work that needed tending to keep me busy as I have waited for winter to give up it's fight and the ground to dry out. I attended the Iowa Federation Of Spinners and Weavers last Saturday near the Quad Cities. It was a very beautiful day with lots of spinners and weavers taking home  big bags of Fae Ridge Fiber. I have already begun two new blends and spent several wintery days in the studio washing fleeces and dyeing. Now that the weather has turned I sheared last spring lambs, Ebony, Milo and Trudy. I have their fleeces  on the skirting table just to admire them.  I love the tiny locks of these Blueface fleeces. They look so beautiful I can hardly
wait till next weeks "Processing a fleece class" when we will work our way through at least a couple of the spring fleeces. I am very happy with my hay feeders and how clean  the fleeces look.I had better sign off and go start the tiller.

The studio  filling up with screens of fresh fleeces, and indigo seedling sprouting  under the grow lights are inspiring  me to get out the calendar and start planning classes for the year.  I have  had several folks ask for a needle felting class.  In this class students learn all the basics of creating 3 dimensional creatures. Many or you see my woolie babies every year at New Pioneer co-op around Easter but I am posting a picture of some out at the store.
     I am planning to run this class on Sunday May19th. This class will be taught in the studio at my home. It will run from 10:00AM to 3:00 PM This class will be limited to 8 students. All of  the materials will be provided  and students will take home everything they need to keep making these fun creatures at home.  Class fee is $50:00
   

I am also planning a processing a fleece class for Sunday May 5th.  This class will be limited to 6 students and will  begin at 10:00Am and run through 4:00AM or 5:00PM. Class fee is $50.00.         This class will be taught in my in home studio space. This class guides student through the complicated world of choosing a fleece, and is designed to help build confidence to through every step of how to take a fleece from the sheep to spinning. Students are welcome to bring fleeces they have on hand.

This is always a fun class  and each student will take home a nice collection of ready to spin rolags in a wild variety of color.

I am also  posting my annual natural dye retreat  for August 24th and 25th. This two day retreat fills up fast as we immerse ourselves in a world of natural dyes.  Students stay at the farm  eating the bounty of the farms summer gardens.This retreat runs from 10:00 AM Saturday to 5:00 PM Sunday, and is limited to 8 participants. Room and board are included in the class fee of  $275.  We will  harvest plants from the farm dye gardens for most of our dyes. We will create  Echo Steam Prints and Happa Zomi  from the farms gardens. These are  two unique method of natural dye surface design.   

 All classes are filled on a first come first served basis. A 50% deposit is due upon class registration to hold your spot in these classes.  If you have any questions about any classes or would like to register for any classes please contact Janette at 319-643-5873 or at faeridgefarm@lcom.net  

I just got back from my annual visit to see the sandhill cranes  in Nebraska. The weather was very cold but the cranes  danced on  in all their splendor.  We cut wood for my friend and eat lots of amazing food.It was great to spend a few days with old friends under a sky of singing cranes
           It has been a super busy week here at the farm since I got back. Spring barn cleaning and shearing have begun. Wednesday I  got the barn lot all cleaned and swept then set up the shearing stand and sheared Hatti and Beatrix.  Spring fleeces are never as nice as those stunning fall fleeces but some of these are turning out very nice.
        A volunteer from kirkwood was out yesterday and together we cleaned most of the main goat barn. We hauled load after load to the compost pile. While I sheared one of the goats she topped the compost pile with wet hay the flock had spilled on the ground.
       I got back the new blend from the carder. It is stunning. I was so nervous about this one not at all sure it would turn out as I had planned but it did!  Here are a couple of shots I took. It looks a bit more orange in the picture. In real life it does look like a garden blooming in pinks and yellows.

       Last Sunday's natural dye class was great. Five students and we went covered over 15 different dyes. It was a busy day covering this many dyes in one day. Several people brought small skeins from home and  took home a rainbow of mini skeins.
       I spent yesterday cleaning up the studio. I pulled the overnight indigo samples out and they are darker than I think I have ever seen. I dug out a nice pile of  un-dyed skeins I have had around for a bit. I am going to use up there wonderful leftover dyes and have some natural dyed skeins out at the store. I combined our left over pots of Rabbit Brush, Marigold, and Osage Orange. I have two skeins in that pot simmering as I write this.  I can't wait to see how they turn out.  I  have two more skeins in the avocado pot and a couple in the walnut.

I am posting some picks of our samples. The top one is all the fun colors I got from Avocado skins. The center shows some of the amazing blue/turquoise from red cabbage, as well as osage orange and cochineal.The bottom one  shows  the red onion greens that are always one of my favorites.

Here are a couple of picks of the new colors I am playing with. The rolag and bit of fiber on my spindle are the first I have  blended with these new colors. I plan to add a bit of light green to  get the summer garden theme I am working towards. I will dye some up and do a second  sample. I am  very happy with this one so for. I can't wait to do a second try with a few more colors.
          Gail is coming over to help blend this one up on Feb 14th. If anyone els want in on a blending party. Drop me a line or put up a post on the Fae Ridge Farm Ravelry group  thread about this party.
Back to the dye pots.

       Freezing rain this morning  and I am thankful I am not having lambs like so many  of my friends. I am  happy every time I go out to see the flock that I have  decided not to breed anyone this year.   I will miss lambs and kids but the girl's fleeces will be so much nicer, softer and silkier without  being breed. We will not be listening to the barn channel, I can get away for spring shows without  endless worrying. On days like today I  do not have to lock the pregnant ones in with extra food. Life is so much simples with just a spinning flock rather than a breeding flock.    
      The new weathers  are such a nice addition to my barn yard. Ebony has one of the most beautiful  chocolate fleeces I have ever seen, and he is such a sweet boy. He loves to eat out of my hand and get his neck scratched.  Teddy is going on three this year and still produces a wonderful fleece. I  can't wait to see the next few years in the lambs from this last spring.
         I got back from the Des Moines Metro knitters winter retreat yesterday afternoon. I  had a great time reconnecting with folks I only see at that show. I guess if they get stranded in this weather they will just happily knit away until the roads clear up.
         I will be heading down to the studio later today to start dyeing on a new fiber blend. I like to stretch my color world every so often, so I am going to try to create a summer garden of fiber this next round. I will work with pinks, oranges, yellows with just a bit of olive green and purple splashed in.
 My friend Gail who loves these tones loaned me several balls of yarn and a stunning shawl she has woven. I have them laid out in a big basket so I can meditate on the interaction of these  colors. I will keep posting my progress on this new blend.         Janette
     

The new blend just got back from the carder! These are fibers I sheared, washed , dyed and blended back in November. I have a  dream and a plan how they will turn out when I dye and blend, but there is always a bit of  a mystery of how it will all blend up on a big carder.  The Blue blend is one of the nicest I think I have ever come up with. It has bits of purple along with 6 shades of blue, and a  wonderful gray from Ebony's baby fleece. I can't wait to  see how they spin up.  I will get at least a few bags weighed up for the store on Saturday. Here is a  sneak  peak.