OK, the other thread was so long, I thought we should start a new one.
We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1003722/#new
Here is Catscan's yarn being spun, to start us off. I have done some more of it.
Divine socks, auras, spinning, and other assorted chatter
But much remains yet to be spun....
That looks like fun.. Thankz for starting over.. it was getting quite long..
Fun and beautiful....now to spin some reckless verbiage worthy of that Divine stuff...
I came home early today from work. I have to skirt fleeces because we are taking them to the processor tomorrow. Wheeeee!
Well, that's a start Grow.. LOL
What is/are skirt fleeces? I'm guessing prepare it to be processed, but ?
What exactly is the processing??? Clean and dye?
Also curious. Also wish to see more pictures of our "Babies"!!!!!!!!
I came across this pattern in an email ad today.. ooowwww claire I have a vision... lightly died alpaca so it halos a easter yellow... (we could go green) or whatever color.. you know how alpaca halos..
http://www.mypetchicken.com/Chicken_Supplies-Crochet_Pattern_Mama_Hen_with_Chicks-P616.aspx?utm_source=MPC&utm_medium=eNewsletter&utm_content=NItM09&utm_campaign=eNewsletter-0906
I like it.
Ohhhh Fran! It's adooooorable! I MUST have it! Ohhhhh....so cute!
Skirting fleeces is looking at them overall and taking off the icky bits (they call them manure tags, it's from the back end of the sheep where manure and pee stain the fleece) and then checking for areas that are weak in the fleece or areas that have a lot of hay or other vegetative matter in them, and removing all that from the fleece. People tend to remove the fleece from the belly and legs because it's not as nice.
processing includes washing, carding (to remove veg matter and align fibers), and optionally can include turning it into balls of roving ready to spin, or even sheets of felt, etc.
How did I know she needed that.. LOL
It just screamed Claire...
I love the yarn, its beautiful colors. I really like the crocheted chicken too.. will have to find a way to purchase that.
Claire did you see Jelly Bean and my Ducks on the thread i posted i wanted you to see my Ducks how are yours doing??
I didn't see them! I'll go look now. My ducks are doing really well. They are laying like crazy. I hope one will go broody soon because there is a nest of like 15 eggs or so. I keep leaving it in the hopes one will go broody.
Oh WOW! The thought of little waddlie ducks makes me grin ;~)
My Cayuga's have just started mating do you know when they begin to lay?
I have no idea where the nest will be they are free range and sleep under a bush they won't go inside at all.
Oh i hope yours go's broody then you can help me with mine LOL
Sorry i didn't notice this thread before i been out all afternoon designing a turkey pen and going to build that tomorrow.
I think mine started to lay about 1 month after I first saw them trying to mate, which was funny in and of itself because the males kept falling off the female once they were trying. Very amusing - little male ducks being unceremoniously dropped onto the ground, and sometimes the female would run away. My Pekins and Swedish go into the chicken coop at night. My Muscovies will not even go near it and they just wander around. i worry about predators but they will not go in a coop at all.
Mine Mate in the pool i have a drake and 3 hens and they won't go in at night and i have worried about predators too.
I really hope mine make a nest where i can find it LOL
I agree with you about them being more hardy than chickens and smarter too {:~)
Oh! I read somewhere, just FYI, that sometimes the drakes can drown the females in the pool if they are mating in there because they hold their heads down too long. I never saw it happen, just read about it.
Drake drowns hen while mating....seems like a poor evolutionary strategy. Maybe it selects for buoyancy?
Oh My i did not know that!! I saw it happen and it only was like a second or two he stuck her head under and it was over.
I will keep a watch on them for that "Thanks" :)
I do however think he was going to pinch me on the behind this afternoon LOL
He came right up behind me real fast and when i quickly turned around he was right at my backside.
I'm going to have to keep a eye on romeo LOL
LOL! You gotta stop shakin' your tail feathers at him Harmony! Tee hee! I have a rooster who does the dance for me all the time. Makes me laugh. I tell Kelly that's because I'm so good at hen pecking! Haha!
LOL
Woooooohoooooo!!!! I got my processed fiber! OMG it's too awesome for words. Check out this pic of all my fiber roving. Those are all full size garbage bags. I have 30 lbs 5 oz of roving. Generally it is sold in 4 to 8 oz lots. I am just itching to spin....
Luscious Jacob fleece roving, swirled together.....dreamy.....
beautiful, Claire!! Congrats!!
Thanks Grow! I'm all over-fibered tonight!
This fawn alpaca - white cheviot cross wool roving makes me swoon.
Good glory, I guess so!! Wow. Up til 3am spinning???
Actually, my spinning guild is having a dyeing party in August, so I want to take a bunch of this to dye then. I bought some Earth Hues dyes, which are natural dyes, and I want to try them out. I don't know if I can wait until August. Might turn my kitchen into dye-pot central....
Wow.. That is awesome.. Love the colors.. All of them!!!!!!
WOW.. I just turned green... it's not such a bad color.. I may sit here in greenville and sulk..
Just beautiful.. noting like getting your own critters parts back.
I have 58 pounds from the angoras that need processing... oh no I forgot, I washed 8 pounds and starting clouding it.
This message was edited Jun 27, 2009 10:37 PM
Thanks for sharing my excitement. I know I'm a little fiber crazy, but this is just so exciting for me.
Fran - 58 pounds????!!!!! OMG!!!! That's a lot of fleece.
Love the colors Cong.
now i want sheep... I saw my first angora sheep a couple years ago. They were so sweet & so soft. I loved them. They'd stand there forever & let you brush them. The lady also had angora bunnies she brushed & spun their fur out into yarn. It would be so nice to be able to dye my own yarn for knitting. Pick just the right colors & such that I wanted instead of having to make do with what they have in town. i've been watching but the lady at the farmers market hasn't been back. Which is sad bc i really want to buy some yarn from her. I want to try & make a pair of socks.
Hmmm.....not to be difficult, but there's no such thing as an angora sheep. I think what you must have seen were angora goats. Angora goat fleece is referred to as Mohair, so as not to confuse it with Angora, which is from rabbits. I also have angora goats and bunnies. I highly recommend sheep though. Low maintenance and oh-so-sweet. Plus they earn their keep with their fleece! Also great manure for use in the garden!
Oh now we're gonna get into the cat/dog discussion.. lol
Angora goats are as sweet as sheep and you get fiber too..
And I think the fiber is easier to shear than the sheep or alpaca.. it doesn't stick to you or the burlap bag.. the others fiber seems to stick to everything..
The guy I talked to about shearing told me he hated and would not do angora cuz it gets in his face.. I found the others to be that way.. like I said.. cats & dogs.
No matter, it is all fiber and just gorgeous!
Oh, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my angora goats and their fiber is superb. Definitely easier to shear, except for the neck area because they have extra skin and with electric clippers it is easy to nick them by mistake. But I was advocating sheep because greykyttyn said she wanted sheep, not goats. I totally advocate angora goats also. I advocate both. Heck, I advocate anything with a nice fleece!
Claire I love the colors :~)
hmm... i thought at first it was a goat.. but then thought maybe i was remembering wrong bc the goats we had you didn't ever shear they were just.. goats, ate everything & were mean to us kids ...sorry i said sheep. I do remember the bunnies fur stuck to me everywhere when i was petting them. It was awful but they were so soft & so sweet. I didn't want to put them down. I need to get my house before I get more animals. A guy up the street tried to give me pygmy goats a couple months back. I'm just not set up to keep the flower beds safe from a goat at this point. :) i do still have rabbit hutches tho. Might have to consider moving them back down into the yard & getting rabbits ago soon.
Sheep are sweet & I'd love to have them too.. but once again.. they are hard to keep in this area. The coyotes, bears & cougars would have a nice dinner unless i locked them in a metal building & I'm not set up for that right now.