*squee* New drum carder!!!

10/23/2009 12:32:00 AM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »

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HEE! I got my new drum carder today - and even after getting home at 10:30pm, I just had to tear it open and try it out. Let me tell you, the Fancy kitty cards like a DREAM. There’s definitely going to be a learning curve (I think I’m turning it too fast - getting a lot of fiber on the licker-in drum!), but I feel like this is going to be a well loved addition to my fiber arsenal. :)

I only felt a wee bit guilty buying it - because it IS an expensive piece of machinery - but Himself didn't give me any grief over it, since every penny spent on the carder came from the business. Which is exactly where I want the business to be - successful enough to feed my fiber habit, but not overwhelming. It's a nice place to be. :)

So - here’s the inaugural batt, WitchyPoo! 1.6 oz of BFL, domestic wool, milk fiber and a wee bit of gold glitz. She makes me happy. :)

Wild Hare Fiber

10/20/2009 10:26:00 AM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »

Last spring, I bought this lovely 5.0 oz sample of natural colored, undyed Coopworth roving from wildharefiber:

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I spun them all in order, from dark to light, and then wound into a center pull ball and plied it back on itself. In the end, it came out like this:

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I love the way that there is so much color variation between the 5 different sheep - it really shows how beautiful simple, undyed wool can be! :) I loved working with this wool - it was truly a pleasure!

Sunday, scone-y Sunday!

10/11/2009 01:48:00 PM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »

Nom nom nom, as the cool kids say!

I work outside the home 40 hours/week, plus go to school in the evening - so a LOT of my food is purchased. Unfortunately, that has been detrimental to both my waistline AND my budget.

So my goal this week is to eat all my food from stuff we have at home - it will just take some pre-planning. One of the hardest meals for me is breakfast, since I tend to sleep in until JUST the last minute and then dash out the door. Starbucks has been my friend.

But... again, not great for the budget. We got a coffee machine for the office, so now coffee is taken care of. I decided to make some scones so I could have something to quickly grab on my way out the door. These are blueberry scones, using Grandma Johnson's Scone Recipe. They came out just wonderful - fluffy and cakey and just the right amount of sweetness. I used frozen blueberries (less expensive, and they don't get all mushy during the cooking process), and used the food processor to incorporate the frozen butter into the flour mixture, a la Alton Brown's 'Biscuit Method'. It makes cutting the butter into the flower nice, even, and easy. I'm a lazy baker. :)

They're tasty tasty - I'm just worried that they won't last the week!

Fiber... Saturday?

10/10/2009 06:44:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 1 Comment »

I’m TERRIBLE about actually photographing yarn - so I decided to fix that this afternoon. :)

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Forest Floor - ~60 yds, 2-ply merino. I usually don’t like spinning merino… and this didn’t change my mind. ;) I do like the finished yarn, though!

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Esmeralda’s Flame - ~450 yards. 2-ply yarn - one ply in romeny, the other in mohair. This is one of my favorite yarns I’ve spun to date!

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Phat Fiber - ~60 yards, done from various bits from the Phat Fiber Sampler Box in coordinating colors.

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Smoky Sapphires - ~220 yards, 2-ply yarn. One ply in natural, undyed grey mohair. Second ply in purple merino/silk blend.

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Mardi Gras - ~65 yards domestic wool. 2-ply, roving to yarn!

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Scrappy Jeans - ~175 yds mixed fibers, 2 ply. Solid navy blue is local dyed corriedale. Multicolored ply is random bits of silk, wool, mohair, and milk fiber leftover from other spinning projects.

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Strawberry Milk - ~120 yards, 2 ply. One ply is undyed fawn alpaca, other ply is brightly dyed pink milk fiber.

Life, in brief bullet points

10/07/2009 01:28:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
OK - I'm going to try to sum up the last month during my lunch break. Wish me luck. ;)

Midnight at the Oasis II - We had a lovely time at the event, once we got there. Since we were daytripping, we ended up sleeping in WAY too late - I think we left the house around 11am. Got lost on the way there. But once we arrived we had a great time - Irmgart and Wilhelm and Princess Dot traveled up from SC, and we got to spend lots of time with them, yay! Himself did a bit of fencing, and I sold a bunch of floof.

It was also the debut of my new working class Italian dress:



Like any other sewing project, it has some quirks that need ironing out. The sleeves, of course, still need to get done. It needs to be taken in about 1" under the bust to accommodate for the stretching of the linen. I still need a new shift and a new partlet.

But - in the spirit of optimism - I LOVE the color! The green linen that Drea gave me for the guarding is PERFECT. It makes me happy to wear it, I'm comfortable, and I feel pretty - even when I was sweating bullets and knew that I looked exhausted. So it totally wins on that level.

One more photo, for good measure:




Argh! Not enough time to get into any more detail. I updated the Etsy shop last night - clicky on the link for lots of new floof. :)



Feeling Sheepish - live and in person!

9/17/2009 11:24:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 3 Comments »


Wow! Although I don’t usually pack the floof up and head out on the road, somehow I ended up committing myself to not one, not two, but THREE events this fall!

So…. come and see me! :)

Feeling Sheepish will be vending at the following events:

Midnight at the Oasis - Apex, NC - September 19, 2009. MATO is a wonderful Middle Eastern themed SCA event hosted by the Canton of Nimenfeld. Besides getting to see us and the floof, you’ll also see and meet lots of great folks interested in Renaissance and Medieval history, culture, and arts. There is a cover charge ($15), and the SCA does require all event participants to wear garb (ie: clothes or costume that would have been worn before 1700). That said - it’s a GREAT way to meet fellow fiber lovers and other historic crafts, and this is a wonderful first event. They will have garb you can borrow - so don’t let that stop you from coming out to play with us! :) For more information about the SCA, look here!

You’re not interested in dressing up in funny clothes? Then come see us at Farm Fest 2009 in Liberty, NC on SUNDAY, October 4, 2009. This is a wonderful fiber festival - smaller than SAFF, but big enough that you can spend the whole day. Last year there were a ton of great indie vendors selling fibers, spinning wheels, hand-spun yarn, spindles, and lots of other fiber-related goodness. :) There is no cover charge to get in the door, and it’s a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. There’s also live music, sheep dog demonstrations, and the BEST lamb kebobs you’ve ever tasted.

The next weekend finds us wearing funny clothes again - this time in Elkin, NC at War of the Wings on October 10, 2009. This is a much larger event than Midnight at the Oasis, and there will be lots of vendors, knights in armor doing battle, equestrian jousting, and more!

So… that’s where I’ll be this fall. Where will YOU be? :D

125 yds Sport Weight Milk Fiber yarn - Napa Valley colorway - Feeling Sheepish

8/13/2009 09:41:00 PM Edit This 3 Comments »
I haven't been terribly productive in other areas, but tonight I made my husband dinner with cupcakes for dessert, and I recently indulged in allowing myself to keep some of the milk fiber I've been selling. This is the 'Napa Valley' colorway, approx. 125 yards, sport weight.

Suggestions on what I should do with it? It's SUPER drapey. Like - SUPER SUPER drapey. I'm totally cereal, guys.

Linkys to patterns, plz. :)
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