Forgot some awesome

Back in April, I went to a small but lovely sheep farm on its shearing day. Shepherdess Alice is an amazing woman, lemme tell ya! She's got a great (and growing) flock of Shetlands and Icelandic and a pretty bunch of Finn sheep too, along with the money sheep (meat). I'm going to let the photos do the talking now...


First you have to herd the sheep (walk slowly with your arms out.) into a smaller and smaller pen, and as you shear, the big guy helping just picks up a sheep out of the waiting pen and plops her on the shearing table.

Shearing tables are awesome. Much less bending over, and the sheep can just stand there resting its head in the holder (it looks scary, but is not.)


This is Flynn, the Finn, the first bottle baby of the season, I can't remember if Alice had any more, but he is SO cute. She's kept him as a wether, and his fleece will be coming down to me in the fall after shearing!! YAY!


This is Harriet, the Icelandic. This was her first shearing, and she was somewhat of a rescue, which is why she is SO small. Icelandic sheep are small anyways, but she is just teeny-weeny!
See, wasn't kidding!!


Alice gets to look out her kitchen window to this... but usually with all the sheep on it too. Prett, no? I was so lucky to get up to the Shenandoah Valley again, I miss that place! And I had a great time too! All said, I came back with half of Harriet's fleece (which I just finished setting the twist on this week, photos soonish I hope), and a whole Shetland. The Shetland missed out on a photo shoot because when we put her on the table, she LAID DOWN. Would NOT GET UP. So I had to be a little more involved with that shearing, making sure she didn't try to get up and jump, or roll off. We named that yearling Noodle, and her fleece came home with me. I've washed, but not carded Noodle yet, but all that oatmeal-grey goodness is calling my name, so it will be next.

Crafty Sweat

Thanks to all who came out last Sunday! The Bazaar went really well, tons of people, despite the heat, I hope they'll do it again! This was the first show I've done that I felt really ready and prepared for. I had change, water, cards, a cute table cloth, STUFF and everything. The only thing I forgot was a snack, but cookies were being sold, so that wasn't even an issue! Here's my table:


And various shots of the table, forgot to take one just of the tiles and my button tree... oh well.



The only problem was, in my desire to avoid the sun and being burned to a crisp, I placed myself under the patio's roof... not a problem until I realised that the AC units were right behind the table. (the suckers blow out HOT air to the outside... oops!) Heat ontop of Heat was not the desired affect, but it worked out. So there was lots of sweating and water drinking, but the tiles and flower clips did great!


I need to take photos of everything that was left over (there's plenty) and put them on my etsy site, but everything's so crazy with some exciting stuff, that I haven't had the brain space to do anything about it. Soon though, I'll have this week all to myself as Dudeman is off on a mini tour with Mich Easter. (YES, he is that cool!!) Not that he gets in the way of crafting, it's just easier to do that kind of thing by myself. If you see anything in the photos you NEED, just let me know and I'll pop it up there for ya.

Have a good one!

Hooks

So the company I work for had a HUGE crocheter based following... Makes sense, but it also means that I have had to own up to talking about improving my crochet skills and actually do something about it.

I bought a stitch dictionary of crochet patterns, not just motifs and granny squares, and have been making dishcloths, practicing reading the patterns and being productive and stuff all at once. It works out well as a movie project, but mainly they've become my " But I don't WANT to work on what I should work on" projects. They're quick, so nothing gets neglected too long. And now I have a pile of cloths for my dishes. As one gets nasty, I make another, it's a pretty good system.

I still like knitting better, but I do LOVE being able to knock out some dishcloths and really play with chain stitches on top of them, exploring what textures make a better scrubber and the like.

The best part is, I have a huge pile of Creme de la Creme, our cotton yarn. It is hard as hell to find in a store, but I really enjoy this cotton yarn. It's soft and colorful, and in fact, I have some that will become a shawl someday. I'm not a huge 100% cotton fan, but this stuff is my exception.

I have no pictures of the dishcloths because it is time to make another, and who wants to see nasty cloths? yuck! So instead, I present my newest favorite sweater. Modified Memories of Ukraine from The Natural Knitter knitted in red Silky Wool. I wore it to work the other day (yes, the office is that cold...) and love it. Want to wear it every day. except on the days I have to wear my other favorites. I also love this photo, makes me giggle.




I love this yarn, and have more in a mossy brown color... I'm thinking a cardigan this time. Any pattern suggestions? (though I'll probably end up making something up, you know how I am)



Don't forget Charlotte People, Craft Bazaar tomorrow!

Busy Busy

I swear, I kept meaning to write and say hi and be all up to date.... Then I kind of gave up on it, but lately, well, I'm feeling the urge to write again, lots of things have happened and lots more has lined up to happen soon.

First big news, I work for This lovely company now! I love it... it's a great fit for me, and they GIVE AWAY FABRIC and YARN every once and a while. (can you believe it?!?)

I'm test knitting a stole I made last year for my mom, hopefully soon it will be done and photographed and up on Ravelry. That's the plan at least... and maybe that will help kick me in the direction of writing up more of my patterns, but let's not push it, right?

Things have been pretty busy around here since changing jobs, but I've managed to sew up a few dresses, which have become one of my favorite articles to wear, so comfy! I have plenty of fabric to make more out of, and perhaps some more skirts, which are a regular occurrence in my sewing repertoire. A few bags and toys have also been made with the machine as well.

Here's the sweetest thing I've made in a long time, cute, no?



It was made for a very special new big sister, and the skirt was promptly pulled off and thrown aside. I rather fancy the nekkid bunny myself, but wanted to give the option in case she felt modest one day. I am so in love with the tail... I have a few more to sew, to sell but I think I might skip the skirt... any thoughts?

Speaking of selling, a little self promotion here:

On August 9th (it's a Sunday) I'll be at Snug Harbor, one of the best bars in the whole city of Charlotte, if you ask me. They're putting on their first ever Craft Bazaar, and I'd really appreciate it if any of you who can would come out and support everyone! I have no idea what to expect, and am super excited to show my clay work from Appomattox (LOTS of tiles), as well as a good handful of sewn bits and bobs, and perhaps some yarn, but I'm just winging that part. (read... too in love with the yarn to part with it yet.)

I'll try to post again about knitting stuff, and with more pictures soon. I'll leave you with this guy:

He'll be at the Bazaar too. Have a great week!!