Because the weather has finally turned bitterly cold and windy, the Firefly Farm flock has decided it is time to start lambing. Last year the first lamb was born on Groundhog Day, but this year we started yesterday morning, January 24. When Bob went up to the barn at 7am one of the older ewes had just delivered a lovely ram lamb. Will post a photo shortly. "El Ninio" will be the first of the new generation fathered by our young ShetlandXCoopworth ram. My goal in bringing him to the farm has been to bring a bit of color and shine to our RomneyXTexel fleeces. Time will tell!
Getting a batch of fleece picked and ready to go to the mill as we speak. Picking is not my favorite task, hence the delay since shearing was in, uh, June. I always feel I could have picked more so I keep going back and finding, of course, more vm. I could card quite a lot of fiber here on the electric Louet, but find it well worth the expense to send the wool out instead. This year a friend wants to send some of my wool with her pygora, which promises to make a very lovely mix.
Speaking of the fiber front, not much spinning going on lately but learning quite a lot about weaving. Late last year I came into a 1963 Union 36 loom. I have always wanted to learn to make rugs of all sorts, so rag rugs are a current obsession. The learning curve here is steeper than it might seem to those who have never looked into it but like everything else, the more I do it the easier it seems to get. Made placemats this week of which I am inordinately proud. But I anticipate it will be very satisfying using them every evening. A nice farmy kind of feeling.
Getting a batch of fleece picked and ready to go to the mill as we speak. Picking is not my favorite task, hence the delay since shearing was in, uh, June. I always feel I could have picked more so I keep going back and finding, of course, more vm. I could card quite a lot of fiber here on the electric Louet, but find it well worth the expense to send the wool out instead. This year a friend wants to send some of my wool with her pygora, which promises to make a very lovely mix.
Speaking of the fiber front, not much spinning going on lately but learning quite a lot about weaving. Late last year I came into a 1963 Union 36 loom. I have always wanted to learn to make rugs of all sorts, so rag rugs are a current obsession. The learning curve here is steeper than it might seem to those who have never looked into it but like everything else, the more I do it the easier it seems to get. Made placemats this week of which I am inordinately proud. But I anticipate it will be very satisfying using them every evening. A nice farmy kind of feeling.
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