Tag Archives: spinning wool

Spring!

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There has been a lot going on since last I wrote long ago. Spring is definitely here. Weeks ago our pear tree bloomed.

pear tree blossom

Before that we started being puppy sitters one weekend a month for the NEADS organization which trains service dogs. NEADS.org  They want them to spend weekends in a home so that they get experiences outside of the Early Learning Center where the youngest stay before being given to inmates to train during the week. This time we have a bigger guy and he and the chickens entertain each other. They show no fear of him and he is calm but I imagine if they were out running around and he was not on a leash that interaction might change out of excitement. They are dogs after all! We won’t be testing that idea out.dog with chickensI feel a little sad when we drop them off and wonder about them afterwards but our mindset is that we are doing this because we like being around dogs but don’t want one full time. We know that their higher purpose is to be a loving companion and helper for someone with a disability. As an OT and a person who would very much want a dog if I were disabled I feel purpose in having one each month. After all the training is complete including training with their soon to be owner they have graduations for the people and their dogs.  At orientation they told us that the prisoners are allowed to go and most end up crying. I feel tearful right now thinking about seeing these puppies we watch all grown up and leaving with their person with whom they will share such a special bond.

My high school and college friends and I are experiencing our big 60th birthdays which seems kind of bizarre. It is getting me to look back on life a bit. College friends and I will be renting a house on a lake in Maine in July and my high school friends and I will be gathering in NC in 2018. How does this happen?

We feel the same inside as we did then, and now.

Heather just gave me a treasure- her family’s heirloom spinning wheel! In high school for the seven of us each other’s families were our extended family and having this means so much. It is clear I am not much into hair style changes and so glad I don’t choose pants like those anymore. 🙂mag 7 young

In April we had a wonderful Easter with my niece who came from Atlanta to see a childhood friend of hers – we Burnhams are big into our long time friends- run the Boston Marathon. She wore Steve’s BMX racing jersey so her friend could easily see her.  marathon

She and Kyle got to hang out in Boston after he picked her up at the airport on Saturday. Then she got to meet the chickens. She thinks they live in a chicken resort and she isn’t that far off.cousins with chickens

I learned that we share a fear of snakes. We came upon a little one- they are all small and none are poisonous around here but that doesn’t matter, my view is that they could still slither back and forth over your feet if they wanted and they just might if you stick around   🙂  from which I ran and she screamed. She said it got our neighbor’s attention in the next yard but I didn’t look out of embarrassment. No time was taken to snap a picture of that creature before I left the scene. He has several friends around here who love our old stone walls as much as we do.

I have been doing a lot of spinning and fiber preparation teaching and the fall is crammed with more. fib prep zzFirst in September are three classes I am teaching at the Fiber College of Maine. fibercollege.org  Again the 5 class Sheep to Shawl workshop at Assabet Valley Vocational High School’s adult ed program called Assabet After Dark, an overview of the Sheep to Shawl process at Weir River Farm in Hingham MA, then we are bus trip leaders to Rhinebeck for the Sheep and Wool festival. In November I will share a booth with my friend Dorothy at the New England Fiber Festival Nov. 5-6.  2 more workshops are pending. More on all of those as the time gets closer. Lots of excuses to dye. As if I need any. dyeing may 2017

Fiber, friends, family and animals (except those conniving snakes)- clearly I don’t need much more than that to be happy. Something that hasn’t changed over all these decades.

me with angel

A neighbor’s Shetland pony, Angel, one of her 3 ponies who I was lucky enough to be able to be around whenever I wanted.

January Joys

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Here are some things that I am enjoying and appreciating as January  so quickly draws to a close.

Luxurious home made soap given to me by a friend. These are way beyond anything I have made or probably could make.

soap

Luxurious hand made soap

A gorgeous winter sunset we happened upon as we left Tractor Supply with chicken feed.

Jan sunset

January sunset in Taunton MA

 

The fun of getting ready to teach our second workshop this month which means our second opportunity early in 2016 to get unsuspecting people addicted to spinning and fiber. Sure, they know they are coming to an introductory spinning workshop. They don’t know it is about to captivate them and take over their lives.

tools fibers for Jan workshop

Let the magic begin!

Sourdough bread taking over my kitchen since I can’t stop making it. Talk about magic!

sourdough breads

Sourdough waffles, rolls, bread and bubbling yeasty smelling starter to make more.

The cutest sheep hat in the world made just for me.

sheep hat

Ewes and lambs

A typically nervy cat. She has learned that  she isn’t to eat our food as we eat it much as she wants to. But apparently she isn’t against pushing the boundaries with my water and this time getting away with it using the element of quiet surprise. Of course she has a bowl of her own! What she is doing maybe isn’t a joy but the amusement, companionship and love she provides is.

cat drinking my water

Thankfully we have a dishwasher.

Here is hoping everyone has many of their own joys this month.

 

Using What You Have Part 2: New Skills Day, Spiders and Waylon Jennings

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A little while back I wrote about the appeal that the phrase “Use what you have and you will never be without” holds for me. I  applied it again recently when I was feeling guilt about the fiber tools/patterns/techniques  that I have rarely and sometimes never used. I usually get them for two reasons: 1) they are new and interesting and get that adrenaline flow going about how much fun they would be  2) I tell myself that with the new tool I will surely use up lots of my pounds and pounds of fiber sitting in the attic in plastic bins….

Okay, that worked well when I bought a lucet over two years ago. A cute, inexpensive, beautifully made wooden tool that has been around since the Middle Ages which you can use, among other things, to make braids. My supposedly rational thought: I can use it to braid lots of my roving and make seat pads which I have always wanted. I put it on a shelf where I could admire it… and never touched it again.

So the other day I decided I would take a couple hours and have a learn new skills afternoon. I first went for the lucet and watched a youtube video. When I learned to spin back in those Middle Ages there was no youtube and few books on spinning. Much harder to learn things then. I do appreciate the internet for that. Here are my results.

Lucet

Lucet and braids

That was fun. I can make lots of braids and sew them together for seat mats and virtuously use a lot of fiber.

Then I looked under something on my table and found an article that I had gotten from somewhere and even put in a plastic sleeve (I love office supplies, I feel so organized and efficient, I enjoy wandering around Staples even if I don’t get anything) and then forgotten of course.  There was instruction on how to crochet circular or square mats from roving- which meant no sewing braids together. That sounded good. Easier to complete and could use up pencil roving I bought and never used for spinning because I found the quality was not as good as I had hoped and it fell apart more easily than I expected when spinning.

seat cover

Crocheting chair mat

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much better for ktichen chair mat- but how will I use the lucet now? It is back on its shelf and still looks beautiful.

Next skill to learn: chain plying. I had done some in the past and found my yarn was pretty twisty, and several months ago been shown another technique. I watched the video I made of my friend doing it -got to love that technology once again and believe me, I am not a big electronics fan but I guess as with anything else that helps my fiber, I like it for that! I practiced and created two skeins that were a bit twisty but became balanced when soaked in warm soapy water.

two chain plyed skeins

Chain plyed skeins

I  hung the yellow one on that spoon like thing I dug up when putting in herbs behind the barn. I still don’t know what was used for but now it is a proven yarn dryer thing.

chain ply fall colors

 

 

I will still give a prize to anyone who can

definitively tell me what it is.

IMG_0761

I have to interrupt this train of thought because  a friend, sort of a spinning sister, just dropped in. IMG_0908

Spinners and weavers have an affinity for spiders since they also spin and weave.

IMG_0912

Good-bye spider??

Uh oh. Someone else just found you too.

Now I have totally  lost my focus because my husband is rooting around for food- it is way past supper time-and put on Waylon Jennings and my legs won’t stop moving to the beat so I will stop for now. “Did old Hank really do it this way?” 🙂

 

Making Our Own Peace

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At Christmas when I received books I realized I already had several that I hadn’t read, or had only read partially. I put those books in a basket and decided I would not take a new book out of the library until I had read those. I do keep a list of books I hear about that I would like to read when I have earned it.

One Man's Meat

One Man’s Meat

One of those books was One Man’s Meat by E. B. White. It has a series of columns that he wrote while living on his small farm in Maine in the 1930s and 40s. I didn’t understand the title until a few weeks ago in an old movie someone said “One man’s poison is another man’s meat.” Now the title made sense. For him and me.  He knew that leaving the city and close proximity to his publishers was seen by many to be a foolish thing to do. I could relate to that as sometimes people tell me that they can’t believe  anyone would spin and raise chickens.  🙂

He didn’t seem to  care and certainly neither do I. We all need to do what feels right inside of us and it is different things for different people.

His columns show a slice of life from that time period. The war in Europe and then our country’s entry into war were occasionally subjects of his columns.  He made this statement in his forward that resonated with me to the extent that I still feel a little emotional when I write it here.   “It is a collection of essays which I wrote from a salt water farm in Maine while engaged in trivial, peaceable pursuits, knowing all the time that the world hasn’t arranged any true peace or granted anyone the privilege of indulging himself for long in trivialities.”

I feel privileged that I am able to take time each week to indulge myself in trivial pursuits that give me peace in an uncertain world.  I think that when we pursue peaceful goings on in whatever form they take there is some good being given out to counter the unpeaceful things in this world.

Certainly his book, published in 1944, continues to radiate peace. Thanks E.B.!

Josie

Josie’s Bluefaced Leicester lamb fleece

This month I want to talk about the also peaceful  Bluefaced Leicester sheep. They have the sweetest little curls in their fleece which has great sheen (shine).

A friend and I “disagree” about the outward appearance of these sheep. I dearly love them but I think their faces are, well, kind of unattractive. The babies look like little aliens to me. She doesn’t think they are ugly at all.

Bluefaced Leicester yearling females in wool . stock photo

Bluefaced Leicester Sheep thanks to Farm-Images.CO.UK

 

 

 

 

 

BFL Gray Sheep Named Silver Dyed with Blue and Yellow

BFL Grey Sheep Named Silver Dyed with Blue and Yellow

Bluefaced Leicester Lamb Locks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Millie mittens

Millie mitten

 

 

 

 

Here are mittens I spun several years ago and wear a great deal each winter. Still in excellent shape, This fiber was from a BFL lamb named Millie.

More on the wonderful Bluefaced Leicester next time! Until then, find a trivial pursuit that gives you peace and go do it, even if you only have a few minutes. E.B. would approve.