How 'bout some color on a cold Jan. day?

 Daylilies in our garden

It's very cold here.  I believe it's colder here than anywhere else in the nation...perhaps even including Alaska!  The weather has been crazy and we are having many nights around twenty degrees below zero or much more.  Such cold is not normal around here for so many nights, so we are quite busy keeping up and keeping everyone as comfortable as possible.  The animals want to lay down to keep warm, which is good, but you have to stimulate them to get up and run around every little while.  Stock tanks have to be watched carefully every few hours because the tank heaters evaporate the water quickly.  If the water gets too low, the heaters will burn out.  Everyone needs higher fat feed to help maintain their weight and have energy during days of shivering.  Shivering is good.  Pens have been constricted so that stocking density is tighter.  This helps everyone sleep closer together and feed off each other's body heat.  Works really well.  Then when the sun comes out and the wind dies down, outside they go!  Last years ewe lambs get VERY leapy...gleeful to have some fun in the sun.  You'd think they would have outgrown lamb races by now, but on a day of release like that, the lambs are off once again.  It's so fun to watch!  That means, I'm outside for hours and hours in weather like this.  TG for WOOL!!!!!

What other problems does the cold create?  Doors don't work properly, metal snaps in two like twigs, bedding freezes tight which creates uneven surfaces, latches freeze tight to your mittens the instant you touch them, buckets crack and break just sitting there, mirrors crack in two, and salt for walkways doesn't work.

Fortunately, the sun is shining nearly every day and that has been a very good thing.  So despite the cold, the days are a bit of a reprieve.  Indoors, it doesn't take much to make the ol' farmhouse feel cozy!  All it takes is a little baking, or spinning, or planting of seeds for next summer's flowers and one can fool oneself into thinking winter is far away for just a bit.  I finished another pair of wool socks...again a Romney yarn I spun.  I spun it in it's natural whitish color, then dyed the yarn afterwards a beautiful bright mango color.  Fun on a cold winter day!!  With all the snow and ice, color is virtually gone from the natural landscape.  How nice it is to put such bright colors on my feet on these cold winter days!  

Some other pretty dyed colors on Wheely Wooly Farm yarns...perfect for whitewashed January days!

We surely hope all of you out there are also keeping warm and that your flocks (if you have one) are safe!

Not at Market Today! Roads too bad

Wheely Wooly Farm will not be at the market this morning due to blowing and drifting snow.  We headed out early this morning and only made it a few miles before white outs and big drifts forced us to turn around and head back to the farm.  We will miss being there!  Let's hope the weather will settle down soon and that next Saturday will be better!

My Daily Harp found out west...wool is Olympic Gold!

Read this!

http://www.acontinuouslean.com/2014/01/23/ralph-lauren-olympic-collection-conversation-jeanne-carver/

My Daily Harp has another voice, this one out west!  Very interesting article that the whole nation should read, and I hope that the reaction to the uniforms does not overshadow the fact that wool is a rightful Olympian itself in performance that is the best in the world, worthy of it's own gold medal!

Jeanne Carver and I could surely corrobrate for hours....

A Busy Week

We've been busy as a swift spinnin' round!

(But not going in circles!)

Isn't this a pretty picture?  I took it last spring as the warm spring sunlight was shining in the window and the pretty little African violet was blooming.  Thought you might enjoy a bit of warm color on these chilly winter days!  This yarn is Posie's Wacky Peachy Pink...a very soft two-ply of about sport weight.

This has been a very busy week for the Shepherdess.  Last weekend, I worked on my Flock Box, aka the sheep medicine chest.  Inside are things needed to get ewes through lambing and anyone else through whatever might come, as well as routine stuff for good flock health and identification. Plus, there was that terrible ice storm that made all surfaces super slick.  Then on Tuesday evening, one of our ewes whom we were expectantly watching lambed in a textbook perfect lambing!  She gave us two beautiful ram lambs that were very vigorous and exciting!  It was cold, so I was up most of the night making sure they had what they needed to succeed.  By three am, we were all in the house (the two lambs and I) dozing and getting warm.  By 4:30, they were back out nursing.  By 5:15, we were back in, dozing and warming up, to again go out at 7 for more good nursing.  The ewe was fantastic!  At 7 am, I knew the lambs would be fine and not chilled, and things have grown from there!  They are doing great!

The rest of the week was used to prepare for the market on Saturday, and another spinning demo we had been invited to give on Friday afternoon.  The spinning demo was fun and we got to know some new people better who inspired us as much as we hopefully inspired them!  Then this morning, we were off early to market!  Lots of people came out to shop so it was a pretty busy morning.  

One weird thing happened.  This morning as I was pulling out of the farm, I noticed weird tracks on the side of the road along the farm.  Since our road is quiet, I stopped and hopped out to take a better look and WOW!  Big tracks, running along side two sets of horse tracks.  The horses were moving at a trot to the west, the big tracks with toes moving to the east.  Very odd!!  So I hopped back in the vehicle, headed off down the road and called DH to investigate.  He did, and upon walking around our barns, discovered horses had been all around!  The evidence was clear.  Either someone rode past the vehicle and ran around the buildings (and through my fall raspberries...), or someone's horses were loose.  Later, we saw a neighbor walking along the road.  This made us chuckle...as it was a sight we've seen before!   I hope they find what they are looking for.  Last time, I saw their loose horses and began making the calls, then, I was there to catch them on the side of the road.  This time, I haven't seen them anywhere.

So it has been a busy week, and the last of our Customer Appreciation Sale.  We hope you all enjoy your new yarns!  And thanks to those who came back and showed us how your projects have turned out!  We love to see how things turn out!  Let's hope the weather stays decent so next week's market can be as much fun as this week was!

P.S.  I'll put up pictures for the demo group of that Sampler Poster and Poncho as soon as possible so stay tuned!

A Luxurious Flock Box!

This Shepherdess is so excited!  Check out this luxurious Flock Box!  After years with a cheapy delight, I knew I'd need to get a new box for flock supplies to take out to the barn after a latch on my old box broke last year.  I continued to use it through the rest of the season, risking the whole works breaking open and shattering the contents inside.  It created a bit of anxiety, so I carried it under my arm instead of by the handle, with the thought I'd get a new one when I had time.   Plus, my old box was a dark blue, and just over a foot tall.  That's VERY hazardous when the Shepherdess is deprived of sleep, and stumbling around in the barn with little lambs in her arms!  On more than one occasion the thing was dumped when someone stumbled over it...so hard to see on the ground in the dark of lambing.  The last key problem with the old box was that it being soooo short, I wore out my pants going over the fence time and again to fetch something!

 This one's a dandy!!

This new box fixes many problems!  First, it has a lot more room for everything a Shepherd needs in the dark and cold of lambing.  The bottom space is a huge compartment that opens by the orange handle there in the middle.  It's perfect for paper towels and things for drying off lambs or cleaning up hands!  Kept clean and organized, I'll never have to worry about things rolling out onto the straw again!  The top part can be separated from the bottom by the orange latches on the middle sides.  The top is nice and deep, deep enough for the 8 inch bottles that have to sit in there.  There is also a tray inside for the drench tool, ear tag applicators, thermometer, note pad, and other little things.  The lid has little compartments perfect for ear tags, 20 gauge needles, bands, and other little things.  I'm now so organized, I can hardly wait for lambing to begin!  Even more, the whole works sits up high enough to be placed outside the fence, outside the zone where curious sheep could reach it, yet still reachable for me without having to crawl over the fence time and time again.  Because the top separates and carries separately, I can take it inside with me so nothing can freeze, but the bottom can stay out, ready for use.  Last, the whole works sits on wheels and there is a pop-up handle so that the whole thing can be pulled across the ground like a suitcase.  Handy!

So my old box has been retired to some other, less important use.  I'm happy I waited because that delay is what lead me to this wonderful set-up!  Do you have your lambing stuff ready to go?  I can hardly believe it's that time again already!

Shetland/Mohair blend on my wheel last week

The yarn just off my wheel last week is Maewyn's natural moorit yarn (beginning to fade lighter) blended in a ratio of 80/20 with natural colored mohair that was given to me free years ago.  January is clean-up time in the wool room, during which time I discovered this forgotten little bag of mohair.  So I carded them together and spun it up.  Glossy!  Mohair does bring more of a sheen to the yarn.  After washing and a bit of wearing, this yarn should bloom out a bit and look more appealing for a mohair yarn.

Looking back at the weekend, the ice was so bad all day Saturday, we could not get out.  By Sunday, with some work, we were finally able to get out and do some things.  The main roads were fine, but the less traveled roads were still quite hazardous!  Today is balmy and in the thirties, but we are under a storm watch, possibly being upgraded to a warning for tomorrow.  Several inches of snow are headed our way!

Ice!

Update:  We are not at the market this morning due to ice build-up on roads, and on the farm.  Last night, a rain storm gently moved in with warm air that was above freezing.  This would normally melt any snow or ice on the roads, but since we had such severe cold earlier in the week, the ground is very, very cold.  As the warm air moved in, moisture hovered in a light fog.  The fog began settling on the ground in some places, creating black ice and lots of accidents before the rain even started!  As the rain came down later, the cold, cold ground caused the wetness to freeze right away.  When I walked out the door to do the last chores of the day, I was shocked at the nearly one inch layer of glaze ice on everything I needed to walk on!  The trees and things higher up were spared, as they could warm up in the warmer air, but the ground, being soooo cold, froze everything.

It was decided that loading the truck would be very hazardous if not nearly impossible with this sheet of ice on everything.  The other realization was that we don't think we'd be able to drive out of the driveway with all that ice!  Very few vehicles are on the road this morning out here and for good reason.  DH was on the road coming home last night and said it was the worst he's ever experienced.  He topped less than 20 mph and was still afraid he'd slide into the ditch. He had little traction, and was frequently slipping around.  This rain has been deceptive, as normally, the warmth would bring people out.  It's the cold ground that is the fooler this time.

We will extend our Customer Appreciation Days to the next market we attend!  Our sale of 20% off everything except the sheepskins is to show our appreciation for all of you who support small family sheep farms and keep the economy going!  We apologize for missing today, but we'll be back!

Hope all of you are doing well in this week of demanding weather!

Embroidery Yarns - Popular sellers

Wheely Wooly Farm embroidery yarns have been popular sellers.  There are lots of colors to choose from, and each bag has a combination of dyed and natural yarns to inspire your creativity.  The feedback we've gotten on these lovely yarns is that they create a special look to embroidery that is different from commercial yarns and very appealing.  Hand spun yarn brings a cozier, more charming look to the work that cannot be matched.  As needlework seems to be growing in popularity, Wheely Wooly Farm is pleased to be bringing you these unique embroidery yarns for your creative needs!

  Colors are usually coordinated.  Prices vary by weight.

Try some today!

We are hoping to be at the market tomorrow, but the forecast is not good for drivers who live on farms...freezing rain, then snow.  If the temps warm up and the roads are ok at sunrise, we'll be there!  If it's icy...well maybe not. :(  Don't forget that whenever we are at the next market, we have one more week of Customer Appreciation Days!  Twenty percent off everything (excluding sheepskins)!  There are two sheepskins left, a dark one and a silver one, and they are moderately priced, ready to go. 

Hope to see you tomorrow! 

Spinning for Cold

I mean...Gold!

What fun spinning is!  When the weather turns cold, like we've had lately, spinning is such a wonderful way to pass the time!  How cold has it been?  Two nights ago, it was twenty four degrees BELOW zero.  That was air temp.!  Air that cold is not typical around here, and our society does not have the infrastructure to handle such cold.  Plastic and metal breaks like twigs in that cold.  Furnaces that heat homes stop working...or burn out because they cannot keep up.  Batteries in cars drain without warning and cars stop working.  Water buckets freeze solid in a couple of hours, cracking apart.  Mittens freeze instantly to stall latches, bucket handles, door knobs and gate hooks.  Yuck!!  Makes the shepherdess feel more like a tree frog...

Over the years, I've had to deal with all of these problems, but this time, we seem to have come through the cold snap ok.  Hope all is well in the homes and on the farms of all of you out there!   We hope you are getting to enjoy knitting and spinning rather than repairing or fixing.  Soon, this cold snap will move on.

In the meantime, I'll keep spinning for that gold...

Wheely Wooly Lerwick, Top Sire 2014

 As a yearling with his dense and luxurious fleece.

Sheared...what a poodle!

I LOVE those horns!  Such Shetland character in his face, too.

Our top sire this year is Wheely Wooly Lerwick.  We are very fortunate to have such nice genetics in our flock so as to keep the Shetland breed alive and strong!  Lerwick has been a very strong ram in many ways.  First, he has nearly outstanding conformation.  I am not one to say any ram or ewe is total perfection.  There are things I'd like to see improved, but his conformation is very close.  As a two year old, his topline became beautifully level, just like his sire and dam.  He exudes amazing Shetland character in bright eyes, a super good face and snout, and a nearly perfect tail.  I LOVE his horns!  Not one to buy into new fads, we believe horns tight to the head are a deficit in a ram, making him a question mark for breeding.  Tight horns are a problem, and do NOT indicate quality in Shetland genetics!!  Rather, they are a huge management problem, and they are super hard on the fleece in one of your best fleece areas, around the neck.  Neck wool was very important historically, as neck wool provided the super soft and fine wool for finer knitting.  Horns that are tight to the head ruin the wool there via rubbing, and make for very challenging rooing or shearing...something I've since learned was not desirable to Shetland women who did all the work.  Felted fleece equals lost money!!  Rather, horns that cleared the head were very desirable as they kept the wool from being felted and ruined, the wool was easier to roo or shear, and the horns were less detrimental to the ram, and his fellow flock mates.  Rams with tight horns get caught...especially on each other!  Sheep who are tangled, and not assisted, rarely manage to free themselves and would be lost.  Since Shetlands live (lived) on the hill, not entirely supervised every day of the year, entanglement-prone horns were (are) NOT desirable!

Learning about the history of Shetlands helps keep breeding today in the correct place.  The reasons for the breeding choices of the past keep us from wandering today.  We feel very fortunate to have Lerwick, who is out of Wooly Bear and Mona.  He is also of ideal weight and frame size.  We here at Wheely Wooly Farm do not breed for miniatures, as that would be a disqualification on our standard.  Rams should be well over 100 pounds, and Lerwick is.  He is beautiful.  His wavy fleece sells out every year and he has developed a following of repeat buyers.  Not bad for a ram!  His fleece is now turning to a lighter shade of dove gray, with black closer to his hide.  Makes for beautiful yarn that can be used in many types of projects...another reason he is so popular with buyers.    Last, something we take very seriously here at the farm is temperament.  If a ram isn't a personable fellow, and willing to accept handling, he is not eligible for breeding.  We handle ALL of our rams.  It doesn't make them dangerous, it makes them SAFER.  Period.  The worst thing you can do is NOT handle your rams!  Each one learns to walk on a halter, have his hooves trimmed, and get inspected overall, without threatening me, the handler.  I want my rams to communicate with me.  They tell me important things that I don't want to miss.  Afterall, THEY are the true 'keepers of the flock', not me!  Rams were historically given a band of ewes that were theirs alone, and those rams felt responsible for their group.  They will engage in similar behavior today, if you give them that chance, and they will tell you what you need to know regarding your fences, predators, or if a ewe is not well.  I've only had one ram in the years we've had sheep who did not meet these standards, and he outgrew his aloofness before he was big enough to cull.  Despite that, he was never a candidate for breeding because I would find breeding that temperament undesirable.   My rams are not run out with the ewes except for breeding season.  The rest of the year, my keepers are with a wether, and they can whack each other around in their ramness all they want.  The girls are my charges all year, except breeding season.  When I put my ram in, those girls are his and his alone!  His job is to take care of those girls, and he was instantly on the job the moment he realized where I was taking him. I don't mess with that, and the rams have been so good, I've never had to intervene.  Well, that is until Rainbow jumped the fence into the lane! lol  But Lerwick worked with me, and was very safe as I put her back in.  He knows and trusts me as HIS ( lol ) assistant, not his threat.

I guess I have to say...you know how old 'wives tales' hang around in a culture?  Well, there are some 'ol shepherd's tales' hanging around, too.  One of them is to never handle your rams.  That to me is like saying, never clean an open wound, for you might open it further!  Cleaning a wound is critical.  So is training your rams to accept handling, and to respect you as top guy.  If someone tells you a handled ram is a dangerous pet, you are in a bad situation and you should leave!  Don't buy sheep from someone like that as they obviously don't tend to their ram's temperaments and who knows what nasties they've bred on!!  You know...like horse people who say "Yeah, he's a real good boy, but I never touch him and he's not trained for the halter or saddle,  but he'd make a real nice boy for your kid to ride...."

We also chose Lerwick for his outstanding parasite resistance.  He's only been dewormed twice in his whole life.  First, as an unborn lamb, and again as a two year old when we did a whole flock deworming in the fall one year.  We are very reluctant to use chemicals as we are very grateful for their effectiveness, and want to keep it that way!  We watch our sheep every day.  Parasites will rear their ugly selves in many visible ways and you can catch them plenty in time, but doing whole flock deworming every few weeks has not been our strategy.  After all these years, we have just now removed a ewe from the breeding line up for showing weakness to parasite resistance.  Wow.  We are very lucky.  We believe our luck doesn't lie so much in us, but in the true Shetland sheep.  They are really good sheep to have!

So with Lerwick's fleece, Shetland character, conformation and temperament, he was an ideal candidate for top ram.  To test him, we bred him slowly through the years to see what he'd produce and he's given us some of our finest lambs such as Splash and Lacey.  His fleece, drive, health, and temperament have all checked out and come through the years at the top.  It is for these reasons we picked him for most of our ewes this year.  None of them are related to him, and we can't wait to see what spring brings! 

Wheel Maintenance

Keep your wheel in good order, like this one.

If you love to spin, you've probably come across little problems with the ease of spinning on your wheel.  Squeaks pop up, things seem jiggly, the wheel slips, take up might not be what you think it should be, and so on.  When we get into the deep cold, like what's coming for so many in our country, the wood of your wheel can go through some changes, and other things can happen that affect the performance of your wheel.  Here is a quick, but certainly not comprehensive run through of how you can give your wheel a good check up and get it back to dreamy, low resistance spinning.

First, find the tools you need to tighten things up.  Check all spindles, posts, and attachments to make sure everything is fitting snuggly.  You'll be amazed at how upright spindles and support posts can get loose in the deep freeze of winter, without you realizing it unless you pick up your wheel to carry it off somewhere.   As cold, dry air replaces the more humid, warm air of other seasons, wood contracts, which can loosen up your wheel.  This looseness makes for jiggly spinning.  Nothing seems tight.  The wheel might be shaking a little, or clattering.  So tighten everything you can find.  Put your wheel up on a well-light table and give it a good check up.  The difference in spinning performance will amaze you!

Second, check your drive band.  Is it dirty from oil?  Too stretchy?  Frayed?  Put a new one on.  Just the cleanliness of that bright white spinning around can make you feel good! lol  Then check your brake band.  Does it, too, need replacing?  Check your spring or rubber band.  Is it stretched out?  Replace it.  Then hold on!  You'll be amazed at how your take up has faded over time as these things stretched out, and you just didn't realize it.  Instead of a rubber band or spring, use a kid's hairband.  Works great!

Get your dust cloth out and dust spray.  Clean off your wheel...every spindle, nook, and cranny.  Remove oil splatters, wipe off the footmen, the tips of treadles, arms of the flyer, everything.  You'd be amazed at how dirty everything is!  If the wood appears dry, recondition it.  Bringing sparkle back to the wood will make you feel really good, and ready to spin for many more hours!  It'll give your wheel a nice glow, too!

Get a tweezers.  Then clean out all those little fuzzies that have fallen around the drive shaft of your drive wheel, or any other area that turns.  Check front and back.  Getting rid of the gunk there will bring smooth, effortless spinning back to your treadling.

Go buy yourself a little paintbrush, about one inch across...the kind used for painting walls around trim.  Get one that has a little hole in the handle for hanging.  I love those!  I always tie some yarn through the handle, and have the brush hanging on my wheel at all times.  It's amazing how often I slip it off and use it as a little 'broom' to sweep fuzzies or tiny bits of VM off the wood of the wheel and flyer!  Spinning makes things fly around, and the brush gives you a fast and easy way to brush it away, so it doesn't get in any new fiber your spinning.  Later, you can vacuum it up...piece of cake.

Last, get your oil out and give all things that move a good drink.  Check the hinges on your treadles, or joints where treadle support boards meet the legs of the wheel.  Check where the footmen attach to the treadles.  Don't forget the flyer.  There are lots of places where squeaks might evolve.  Oil the rod before slipping a bobbin on, oil the back where the rear of the bobbin is supported, and of course, the orifice.  Getting things oiled up nicely makes for hours of good spinning.

This is not a comprehensive list.  Rather, one just as a reminder of giving your wheel a good tune up in the depths of winter cold!  If you have any other great suggestions, leave a comment!  We'd love to hear how you baby your wheel.  I would imagine that since this cold snap is covering so much of the country, lots of people will be spinning to pass the time stuck in the house.  So give your wheel some tender loving care, and enjoy!

Sometimes, I just need some relief of the winter drearies! :)  Love these perky faces!

Have you heard?

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Announcement, Announcement!

My Shepherdess says she's comin' to market today!  To market, to market, baabaa baabaa!  I also heard her say something about a SALE!  That means, she is giving all of you a thank you for supporting us little baabaas all year.  She does that for us too!  We love her tokens of appreciation!  But since we're sheep, she does not give us savings because we don't know how to use money, and we're not supposed to eat it.  Can't hold money in our little hooves, either.  Rather, she gives us apples or fresh, new, yummy mineral blocks, which we lick right up!  So come on out to market and SAVE!  See you there!  (giggle, giggle...watch for me on the Shepherdess's sign she made, and I'm on it!  I'm a starrrrrrr!)

Happy Wool Year!!

Wheely Wooly Farm has just wrapped up our fifth year and what a year it has been!  We have survived through a lot!  Here is just a little list:

1.  We made it to grass green up in spring, after stomach aches over hay supply all last winter!  The wicked drought the prior hay growing season had many people culling heavily, or selling out all together.  We managed to hold on, feed, and breed very, very, very carefully, and we made it!

...a very cold, windy, wet spring...is it ever gonna warm up?

2.  The growly wildthing kitty hisses so viciously, you are immobilized while diving backwards...couldn't dial 911 if I tried...

...launch of an Etsy shop...thud.

3.  Wait!  Why is Carumba over there in the neighbor's pasture squealing like a piglet???????

4.  Our best lambing season on record!  Highest rate of twins, highest rate of ewe lambs with only five ram lambs!!  All moms lamb without problems, all lambs born healthy and lively.  The shepherdess cannot jump for joy high enough after that stomachy winter (after a good, long nap...)!!

5.  Highest sales day comes in June!!  More people are enjoying knitting/crocheting during hotter months while hanging out at the beach or under their favorite shade tree...

6.  One duck goes missing...

7.  Trophies!  Trophies again!

8.  Posie goes ill, then recovers after emergency call to vet leads to "She's gonna die you know.  There's nothing I can do and I don't know what to tell ya..."

9.  rotate, rotate, rotate, rotate, rotate, rotate, rotate, rotate...

10.  Things fall off as we address non-farm things...

...then an AWESOME trip out to Seattle!  What fun!

11.  An incredibly cold December topping off a parasite explosion this fall in one ewe's line.  TG for cold!!  WHERE do those little buggers come from?!?  You know what I mean?  Ewe is pulled from breed pool.

12.  A happy and peaceful holiday season, with the return to market coming in January.  What could be better than that?

This is the short list.  It has been a year of much happiness, surprise, and high points, some super good spooks, and sadness all at the same time. Personally, I've had a LOT of fun knitting stuff this year despite all the farm work.  I've especially enjoyed my Wooly Bear sweater, and wear it frequently, especially in this cold.  I don't know how I used to survive without wool!  I do remember those years as frigid years where I never felt warm.   This is the year we also advertised and educated on how our farm is vertically integrated from sheep to garment and the response by you, green knitters, has been wonderful!  Thank you for your support all these years and we are looking forward to many more years of pretty naturally colored fleeces, warm and fuzzy yarn, and cute little lambs!  And thank you for your green consciousness.  Without you, many small farms in America would have lost the red and white, left to be only blue!  You are all keeping the American dream alive and we appreciate you!  How about a Customer Appreciation Sale???  Come find us at the market for 20% off everything (except the sheepskin pelts) the first two markets in January!  See you then and all of us here at Wheely Wooly Farm wish you a very happy new year!