Introducing New Babies

Meet Ebony and Ivory!! My new babies. We brought them home last night.
Ebony is a Lincoln lamb and Ivory is a Columbia/Lincoln cross. They are just adorable. I can't wait for my grandchildren to see them. Ivory is about 2 months old and Ebony is about a month old. Ebony still needs a bottle. We just brought them home last night, so they are still getting aquainted with each other and with their new home. My hubby built them a new pen with a manger so we can lock them up at night. So far so good. It will take some work to get them petable, but it is fun to spend time with them.

I go to work next Monday! Where did the year go? It seems like only yesterday that I was looking forward to being home full time. Oh well, lots of time to get ready for next fall. I will be hand knitting a lot while working. Then the Fair will start and I will be really busy. All this while the grandkids come for a visit. Wow, we will have a busy summer.

My fleeces made it to the processors today. I only mailed them on Tuesday. That was fast. I really look forward to getting it back in wonderful roving. I need to learn more about dyeing wool now that I have 5 white sheep. I did some a couple of weeks ago. I used the black trash bag method. I have been spinning some of it to make a novelty yarn. It looks pretty good. I think I will ply it with a silk thread or something like that. I dyed it as Fleece.
Garnet Red, Lavender, and Sky Blue. Very pretty!



It is a lot of work. I think I like dying yarn better. Oh well, gota try it all.

Today I am plying some Freckles that I spun. I have about 700 yds done so far.

Spin on................................Sheena

A day off

Today was the day I was suppose to take my MIL back to the eye Dr for a recheck. My hubby was sick all night and we are beat! I'm just taking the day off. We haven't done this in a long time so it feels funny. I did feed all the critters and make sure they are all OK. But that is about it for today.

My daughter and her sister-in-law are suppose to come over and help me shear that last sheep.

We were too tired to finish on Sunday. This one will be a challenge I'm sure. The others have had time to warn her. HA HA. Just one look at them and she knew. This one is a Border Leister. She is a different breed and has the most lovely wool. (I think I just love wool and all it can become.) She was one of our bottle babies from last year and has grown up to be a beautiful lady. Her name is Gabriella (we call her Gabby for short) She got her name on the ride home because she bellered the whole way home.




We cancelled the sheering for today. Maybe another day, probably Sunday. We need Ron's muscles to help us and he is not feeling that chipper today.








These are the deer that came up to my nieces house when I was on my trip. They go by her house twice a day. Every one's yard is natural because they eat everything.



More later.
Spin on...................Sheena

Sheep Shearing Sunday

Freckles


Isabella

This was the week end to Shear the Sheep. Wow what a job. We got three out of the four done. We simply got too tired to finish. I'm sure the sheep felt the same way. We will do the last one on Thursday night. We had lots of help, but it was still very hard. I might get a shearer to do it next year. I'm getting too old to work this hard.


They were very woolly and really didn't want to be sheared. I have a hard time with that. It's like if you don't want me to shear you, do you want to be "lamb chops?" You are no good to me if I can't shear you. Anyway, it's like a horse you can't ride????? what's with that? That is one Useless horse. So we got them done and will finish up later this week. I already have all the wool packed up in a box to send off to the processor.



These are the after pictures. Lost your wool? They were so happy to get back out to the pasture. They look really funny and kept sniffing each other because they didn't recognise each other.


It was really cute. They have on their new coats, ready for next time. I will have lots of wonderful wool to spin this next year. I plan on learning more about dyeing.



I did some dyeing of fleece in a black trash bag last week and it turned out pretty good. I am in the process of spinning some really fun novelty yarn. We did some blending at class last week and that was fun. I haven't had much time since then to mess with it.





We went to my friend Amy's last week for Wednesday, Thursday and came home Friday. We had a lot of fun and of course Amy and I knitted and talked not stop. She has a group of ladies that come to her house and knit on Thursdays so I got to meet them and that was neat.

We started a scart that I got off of Knitty.com called Edger and we had a good time with that. Amy is a really good knitter and makes lots of beautiful things. Sweaters for her grandkids and for herself too. She can really knit. This is one of the scarfs I made. I think it will be a mother's day present.

I will have more about our trip next time.

Spin on....................................Sheena

Train trip, fun fun fun!

This is my Mom at the train station. We were a few minutes early so I took some pictures.

Back again. What a fun trip. Riding on the train was very fun. I love that you can sit and talk and knit and read and all that jazz while going somewhere. It is not as tiring as driving and certainly more fun for everyone. I love the sound of the train going clickity clack and when the whistle blew it was very cool. I finished my socks on the trip up there.

We had a good time visiting and my sister and I always talk our heads off when we get together. We went out for Mexican food on Friday night and that was really good. She lives in Atascadero and works for the Sheriff's Department. It is kind of rural there and she is learning all kinds of new things. Like, reading brands, comparing steers to their paper work. She is actually a crime prevention officer in San Luis Obispo. Everything was green and lots of rolling hills. I wish I would have taken more pictures.

On Saturday we drove up past Fresno somewhere for a birthday party for two of my sister's grandchildren. I'm still not sure where I was, but they had deer walking around in every one's yard. That was great. They eat all the shrubbery and grasses. All the yards are kind of natural, with very little landscaping. No yard work! I hadn't seen my sis's kids in three years. It was great to see everyone and all the grand kids (she has 8) and of course all the little ones had grown a lot since I saw them last. My sister is a red head and has two red headed grandchildren. That is so special. This is Sienna age 18 mo. She is a strawberry blond. The boy is Matthew he is a red head too. (he is also my very favorite)

Marsha with Sienna Matthew

On Monday we went to Morrow bay and spent the day shopping and eating and just plain having fun. These pictures were taken in front of a bit Rock shaped like a whale. Very cool.

Mom and Marsha Me and Marsha

We really did have a fun time and I can't wait to do it again. The train ride was so fun and it was great to spend some time with my sister.

Back to work! I need to spin more Freckles if I am going to have enough yarn for a sweater by the time I go to work. April 28Th. Boy that came around fast!

Spin on.................................Sheena

Finished Socks, Working on Shawl, Trip coming up.

Well, I finished the socks I was working on and they turned out great. I went to Newton's this last weekend and bought a bunch of really great sock yarn. I don't know why, but I love knitting socks. Probably because they are fast and fun to take along.

I have started the Shawl from Mystinclight KAL and have had nothing but trouble. I really don't have any experience knitting lace, but really want to learn how. I have started and ripped it out three times now. I am determined to get this right . The second clue comes out Wednesday and I will just have to catch up.

My mom and I leave for my sisters on Thursday morning. We are taking the train to somewhere around Monterrey. Hope it is as fun as it sounds. I can't wait to see my sister's new house. We will be going to one of her Grand children's birthdays. I forget which one. We will be back on Tuesday. This is a short trip, but it will be fun.

I have six full bobbins of "Freckles" spun. I hope to make a sweater. I have about 15 ounces left to spin. It will be time to shear them in a couple of weeks. Then I will have more wool than I know what to do with. Maybe I should be planting cotton instead.

Spin on..............................Sheena