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| An Easter Eve sunset from horseback |
On Easter morning I 'hopped' into both Brian's room and ours to give my lie-abed guys some
Fortunato treats – causing some alarm before I informed them I was their 'Easter bunny' (maybe some rabbit ears would have helped explain my ponderous jumping?). Then I dashed off to an agility fun match with Poppy for the morning. Back home, I caught Bridget and sheared her; I told myself I
had to take advantage of a few nice days to shear the three pregnant ewes, and made a good start. Only Bridget isn't pregnant!
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| Poppy enjoying a sunny bathroom spot after agility in the morning |
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| Bridget is in good flesh, but disappointingly not pregnant |
Work and errands on Monday didn't leave enough time to shear someone that afternoon, so I planned to shear both Broadway and Boop on Tuesday. Ha; Broadway took way longer than I hoped and behaved very badly at one point, trying to hang herself from the head rest which necessitated releasing her so she could drag her half-sheared fleece across the ground. ARGHHH. I had to physically wrestle her back onto the stand and onto her feet; by the end I could barely drag myself up to the house to drop into my recliner.
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| Broadway's fleece has developed interesting mottling |
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| Definitely pregnant when viewed from front and rear |
Even though today was much cooler and cloudy, I am nothing if not determined, so I dressed in warm layers and set up at the barn aisle entrance (in case it showered) to shear Boop. I don't know why, but I am getting slower at doing this myself. Part of it is that my fleeces have gotten denser and finer over the years (as evidenced by micron testing; very happy with this year's results) which makes them harder to shear with scissors as I do, and I think part of it this year is trying to shear at a less than optimal point in the rise. At any rate, Boop eventually HAD ENOUGH, making Broadway's bad behavior the day before look like a little snit. Boop thrashed herself off the stand repeatedly, making me fear for her safety and forcing me to heave my biggest sheep back in place multiple times; and yes, she managed to drag half of her fleece across the dirty ground, too. I don't want to admit how many hours it took me to finish shearing her, or how close I came to sobbing with exhaustion. That's one third of the flock finished; can I make it through the rest? Give me a few days to recover; I'm sure I'll forge on, at least through this year's fleece harvest.
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| Also obviously pregnant; sorry, lambies, for the wrestling matches! |
Here is one of the waiting two thirds, and the sire of the coming lambs. One of Sanson's leg straps came unstitched so I caught him to swap coats and took a photo. His hogget fleece, with its variations, will make gorgeous yarn; next year it will likely be uniformly light. Hopefully it will stay uniformly soft and fine; his micron test results are 22 AFD, 5 SD, 22.6 CV, 8.3 CEM, 21.7µ SF.
Before it gets too far past to share, here are photos from a recent 'field trip.' Our church women's ministries organized an outing to the
Willamette Heritage Center on March 26. I wasn't planning to go, but one of the leaders urged me. She took weaving classes at the Center and gave me my loom, so thought I'd enjoy it (plus they needed more bodies). Even though I've been to the annual "Magic at the Mill" Christmas event several times, I got to see much more of the Heritage Center during this visit, and of course was much more interested in the weavers and looms that occupy the fourth floor of the old mill building now that I'm weaving myself. As a bonus, the PNW Community Coral Reef Project was on display in the Mill Building!
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| The millrace that powered the mill for most of its existence |
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| I was amazed to learn that the crown gear teeth are made of wood! |
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| That diagonal pipe was used to BLOW wool from one building to another |
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| I liked, but didn't buy, this t-shirt in the gift shop |
That inspired me to dress my loom with the warp I'd wound and get to work. This black cotton warp is long enough for two rugs plus a 'dummy warp;' I'll be able to tie on to this existing warp instead of starting from scratch.
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| First rug finished |
That's it from the pooped shepherd at . . .
10 comments:
If this is beginning weaving, you are remarkably talented. My beginning weaving looks like a child did it. Keep up the good work!!
I was just going to say what Sharrie said. You clearly have a natural talent for weaving :-) I would love to see that mill. Wow!! I saw one in Scotland - New Lanark, which was a "mill village" and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. I have some yarn from there - still waiting on me to make a decision of what to knit with it. Could it be time to start budgeting for shearing costs for next year? I've seen the shearing demonstrations at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool and man, they are fast and hardly any second cuts.
Sharrie and A, you are both very kind. I really am an uneducated beginner and don't know (or worry about) a lot of weaving terms and calculations; I just 'warp and weave' using some of the easiest patterns in my one pattern book.
A, if you ever make it out here to visit (that would be wonderful!), I'll take you to the Willamette Heritage Center. It really is a remarkable place, and functioned until 1970, I think; most of those years powered by water. At one point 20% of Salem residents worked there! One of the founder's daughters (granddaughters?) couldn't inherit the mill as a woman, so she went off and started her own, which became PENDLETON WOOLEN MILLS. Take THAT, inheritance laws!
A, first I'll have to find out if there are any "handspinners' fleece" shearers in the area. If I get some names and prices, then I'll start budgeting, definitely.
Oh that's great about the woman who founded Pendleton!! (And you know I would LOVE to visit some day :-) Any chance you'll be judging in Wisconsin again this year?). I'm sure you can find someone to do the shearing for you. Imagine having them all done in one afternoon!
Awesome visit!
I grew up hanging around my Grand Dad's blacksmith shop. His tools were driven by an overhead shafting system like the one shown in the mill. I can still hear the 'clackety clack' of the belts in my mind's ear. It was a wonderful place - although dangerous beyond description!
My only use of wool fleece is to make French polishing rubbers. I wish I could, but I can't, wear wool garments. Scratchy allergies. Hang in there!
A, unless another international issue like the pandemic interferes with bringing over UK judges for the Wisconsin show, I'll not be tapped again. And I am looking into options for next year's shearing.
Sara and Tim, my offer to A goes for any of you who visit. I'll put you up and take you to see the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill at the Willamette Heritage Center! Tim, you especially would appreciate the mechanical aspects of the place.
You are a true natural on the loom! Of shearing, it sounds worse than hoof trimming for some sheep!
The museum pics are so interesting. And I have to admire all the work that went into the coral reef project. Quite impresssive.
Leigh, trimming hooves is a piece of cake compared to shearing. Thanks for the weaving compliment, even if my projects are very basic.
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