A Catch Up Weekend

I played catch up this week end.  So many things to get done in such a short time.  First on our list was to restock our pantry.  Gas prices are going up, so we know everything else will too.  We can't just get in the car or truck and drive a few blocks to a grocery store from the farm.  It is a 25 minute drive one way to the grocery store and a little over 2 gallon of gas.  So we decided to buy more things in the bulk and eliminate the town trips when we can.  We stocked up on flour, sugar, rice, macaroni, cheeses, meats, and fresh fruits.  A pick up load.  Nice to know we have the extra but I burned the late night oil, repackaging, using my seal a meal to split up the meat packages and put in the freezer, putting the dry goods in sealed containers.  We are praying for a good garden this year.  Last year, I did not get one can of vegetables put up. 

We also hit the farm supply store to buy some new lambing heat lamps, nipples, and fender washers...and they were having a SALE!  We found sweat pants, 4 shirts for me, and a couple of hooded sweat shirts for  $1 apiece.  They also had 600 count sheet sets for $25, orginally $79.  I am into sleeping on a very comfortable bed.  Yes, we got all this at a farm supply store.....now, I want to show you what a do with the washers.  Make your own diz.





plain old fender washers, about $3.98 a lb. at farm store.

I applied the inks to the washers on front and on back.

You know that I could not just leave them plain!  I took my inks for glass and metals and of course, added color.  Is this a necessary step?  Absolutely if you are a person that must have color on everything!

using the washer as a diz to unload the drum carder.

This is one of the smaller washers and look at the nice roving I am removing from the drum carder.

This is the rovings from one drum carder load.

I hope everyone that purchased wool from me receives their boxes this week end and are happy with their wool from the Spinning C.

 Danny saw this set of combs on Ebay and he purchased them for me.  They look lighter and not as long so maybe I can use them without my hands hurting.  I am excited!  I love any new fiber tool!

I also ordered this apron pattern.  I wear aprons all the time in the summer when I wear my summer dresses.  I think I will make a few of these. 

We feel very blessed.  God supplies all our needs. 

I pray that God will give each and everyone discernment to make the correct choices that will honor God.  



Boxes of Wool Yarn and Rovings..Let the Fun begin.

Danny called me at about noon to tell me that my wool roving and yarn had been delivered today.  I was so excited so of course the afternoon went slower than ever.  After shearing last Spring and washing a few fleeces, I sent a few boxes to Illinois Fiber Processing to have it spun into yarn and to get one fleece made into roving.  I love to spin but I can not keep up with my weaving and knitting.  I also devote lots of my day to taking care of the sheep and cows and dogs and cats here on the farm.  I also spent a good share of my time washing wool...over 30 fleeces. 
I am very happy with the yarns in two weights.  The roving feels so silky, makes me want to spin and dye yarn tonight.  In fact, I am soaking a few skeins to dye this evening.  I want to see how it grabs the dye and I need some brown and rust yarn for a weaving I want to do.



This is the silky roving, I can not keep my hands out of it!  




Is it Christmas? My Birthday?  My girls' fleeces made some beautiful yarn! This is the batch of thinner weight.





This is a close up of the thicker yarn.  Not as many skeins but this will make some warm mittens, hats, house socks.



Already got a few skeins soaking, getting ready to dye some browns and rust.
I love to dye wool yarn...I will be posting some of my colors in the next day or so!
I can't wait to knit up something to see how it felts.

Playing in the Wool

After choring yesterday morning and admiring the wool fleeces on some of my sheep, I decided that I wanted to play in the wool. 

I had dyed this roving earlier and split it up and rolled each strip into balls.  I wanted a chunky yarn out of this ewe's wool for mittens and a scarf.  Please note that I muted my colors for this batch.

I drum carded this lamb's wool and it feels like silk.  I folded a piece of card stock and folded it around the tip to protect.

I continue to gently roll the wool around the card stock.

This is what my carded wool looks like before I stack each section.

I will put each card in a sack to protect until I am ready to spin it.  This soft wool will be spun into a sports weight yarn and then I will dye after I have spun it...I want to keep the air in the wool to make spinning easier.  When the wool is loosely packed on the cardboard or card stock, it spins like a dream.  I prefer to spin before dyeing for this reason.  Dyed rovings sometimes has to be pulled and fluffed more before spinning due to the dying process. 

I found this dyed roving while I was going through my stash, I think this was intended to be socks.
I have plenty to do...more wool to card, spin, dye, and knit...oh what a terrible perdictment.  What shall I do????