We Have A Winner

Congratulations Liz Doolittle for winning our fiber give away!  Thank you to all who now follow us on Facebook and here on the blog!

Tail Spun Mohair

Welcome to my new blog followers!  Thank you for joining me here and at Facebook!  As it stands right now those who have entered the give-away have a 1 in 10 chance of winning.  Not bad odds at all.  There is still time if you haven't entered and would like to do so, the contest ends on the 27th.

I go through phases where I enjoy one aspect of working with fiber more than I do others, sometimes I just want to wash fleeces, sometimes I want to only card, at times it is dyeing, sometimes I just want to learn how to spin (don't ask how that is coming).  Lately I have been more interested in working one type of yarn and knitting.  Thank goodness it comes when I have some custom orders to fill.

My new yarn passion is tail spun Mohair.  It is just delightful.  I spent my Christmas money on a few skeins of beautiful tail spun from a fiber friend Cintia.  She amazes me, does all her spinning on a spindle. The photo below is of the goodies that came in the mail last week.    

We're Having a Give Away!

Tell me what your favorite type of wool is and why, to be entered in the Bless Ewe Fiber and Yarn give away. You must be a follower of our blog and like our Facebook page to be eligible to win.

~Here's how to enter~

#1 - Become a follower of our blog...make sure you leave us a comment so we know that you did, along with your comment on what your favorite type of wool is and why.

(one entry).

#2 - Find us on Face Book and like us, leave us a comment there so we know that you did .

(one entry).

Please make sure you leave a comment for each entry. So if you like us on Facebook and follow our blog you will leave 2 separate comments. If you already follow us on Facebook or on our blog...just comment on that you currently follow. Also, it is important that we know who you are so if you leave an anonymous comment on the blog we won't have a way to notify you.

The prize, 8 ounces of raw (unwashed)white merino/dorset wool and a leather carding/combing pad to protect your legs while fluffing those fibers.

This is a photo of a sample of the merino/dorset wool.  On the left is the raw, on the right is a small bit I washed.  It washes nicely. 2-21/2 staple, some VM.

About the merino/dorset - I have been told Dorset wool spins very easily and is an excellent choice for beginners as well as advanced spinners. It usually classes as a medium fiber diameter wool, wears well even in socks, is a Down wool, and is generally considered one of the softest breeds in the Down classification of wool types. I imagine you all know about Merino wool.

The leather pad comes in natural or black.  Measures 9 x 15 inches.

If you are one of my fiber friends that has the dislike of washing and working raw fiber I am going to offer a second prize for the winner to choose from. A skein of our wool yarn (hand spun by the lovely and talented Looliemom, Adele) and a set of circular bamboo knitting needles to knit it up. 

 Also if our FB “likes” happens to reach 200 during the giveaway, I will draw a second winner to receive the prize the first winner does not want.

The give away ends on Saturday, January 28 at 12:00 noon CST. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Sunday, December 29. The winner will be announced on both the blog and our Face book page.

Blessings and Gratitude For The New Year

Happy New Year! For the first time in years the better half was home off the road for New Years. We spent a quiet New Years eve at the farm with our son. We stayed up til the ball dropped though called it a day soon afterward. New Years day was spent with my parents and enjoying the blessings of our family and farm.   

Have to say we consider everyday of the year to be a blessing on the farm and we are grateful to be able to do what we love and love what we do.

I want to express my grateful thanks to all who have purchased our products over the years and continue to bless us with support for our farm and flock. For those who don't already know, I'm refocusing the fiber side of the farm, it is slowly becoming Bless Ewe Fiber and Yarn.  The better half seems to think since that the majority of the hours in my day are spent with the sheep and their wool I should figure out how to make money doing it.   

However juggling real life on the farm with creative needs and the time to get things up and running has been a bit of a struggle. There never is enough hours in the day to do all that is needed done around the farm let alone learn new skills. 

Since I have not yet learned to spin I went in search of another set of hands to help. Through an online group of fiber artists and yarn spinners, I found a creative and talented fiber artist who agreed to use her charmed hands to spin our wool into fine yarn. Though I have never met her in person, she has became a part of our family. We call her our spinning goddess. She has not only educated me, inspired me, encouraged me, she has enriched my life with her friendship and support. She is the giver of the greatest gift for the sheep and I. She has brought our fiber full circle to yarn.  

She understands my desire to keep our fiber and products as natural as possible. She works fiber by hand, uses natural dyes, spins on a variety of wheels creating a variety of yarns and realizes that our wool is a unique multipurpose material. She also is an animal lover, knows the breeds of our sheep and remembers their names. She was raised on a farm in her younger years so she knows the work involved to produce wool. If you are looking for hand spun yarn, someone to spin your fiber into yarn, beautiful knitted items or spindles for your spinning please contact Adele. 

She has an Etsy store http://www.looliemom.etsy.com  

You can find her on Facebook

 https://www.facebook.com/LooliemomFiberArts

Tell her Jama sent you :-)

This past year my dear friend and sheep mentor unexpectedly passed away at an early age of 58.  Twelve years ago, when I first moved to the farm, he brought me 2 ewe lambs and told me they were mine to keep though I had to learn to raise them on my own. He offered no help and told me I would learn valuable farm and life lessons in doing this myself without his help. So I raised them, I mean I really raised them. I researched and read all I could on necessary nutritional, breeding, genetics and husbandry issues. I spent hours each day and night with them, fed them, cleaned their stalls, sheared them, worried about, cared for and called the vet when things didn't seem right. I gained confidence in my shepherding skills and became passionate about sheep. I am so blessed to have known him and for the gift of sheep in my life. Rest in peace Rick, we miss you.

Gratitude is the memory of the heart. ~Jean Baptiste Massieu