Introducing Mixies!

Miniature batts and tops to mix-and-match for endless inspiration!

This new line of miniature tops and batts are designed to be blended together while giving you more control of your yarn. They'll be making their debut on Saturday, September 29 at the WNY Fiber Festival.

Here is a sneak-peak of 6 colors (out of 20!) on the Rambouillet top.

Each Mixie Top is 2 oz. of 100% Rambouillet from a father/son ranch in Texas, and it feels wonderful! They're semi-solid and will blend with the other colors in the line.

The Mixie Batts are 1.5 oz. and feature a variety of blends including local wool, silk, firestar and alpaca. There will also be lux batts of fine wool, alpaca, kid mohair and silk blended in various ways. All Mixie Batts are semi-solids that are carded with multiple passes to ensure throughout blending and easy drafting.

What to do with a Mixie?

* Spin the colors separately as singles and blend for a 2, 3 or 4-ply finished yarn.

* Strip the top/batt and hold various colors together as you draft for blending at the wheel (blend two Mixies for one singles and another two Mixies for the other singles, ply, and you'll have a complex, interesting yarn for larger projects!)

*Strip the top/batt and hold various colors together as you draft for blending at the wheel AND alternate which colors are in the mix for a subtle shifting of color or a fade.

* Alternated colors at even intervals for stripes.

* Randomly alternate colors for crazy stripes!

* Spin each color separately and use for colorwork projects.

* Let your imaginiation soar, and make the yarn your own!

Come see me at my booth on Saturday and mention seeing the Mixies here on my blog: I'll have a special gift waiting for you!

Goats are Here!

Last night we had our two Angora goats delivered to the house! Angora's grow mohair, so they'll be great additions to the fiber farm. And they're wethers (castrated boys), so they'll stay nice and sweet (hopefully).

When they got here, they were due for a shearing (Angora's are sheared twice a year), so we decided to start fresh and get them clipped before putting them in their quarantine field.

By the time we were done, it was 10 pm and Mike and I were exhausted!

The boys did fine over-night and Kat and I went out for a visit this morning.

Starr was beside herself with curiosity . . .

Look at all those wrinkles!!

I don't know much about goats or mohair, but hey, I didn't know anything about llamas 18 months ago! Mike and I are fast learners.

The fleece off these guys is absolutely fabulous; soft and shiny--it's like touching a cloud. It was so soft over all their body, I couldn't tell how to skirt it. Finally, I just decided to keep it if it didn't have burrs or poop on it. I'm washing some up now to give it a test spin--can't wait! 

They came with the names Patriot and Roman, but we haven't decided if those will stick or get changed. I'll let you know!

Wordless Wednesday, August 22, 2012

June peeking around our willow.

Birthday Drama!

Today is my birthday! Happy birthday to me!! 

I love my birthday, so to celebrate, Kat and I took a nice walk in the woods. 

I was looking forward to just the two of us enjoying an hour or so in the woods like we did last April.

So imagine my surprise when we turned a corner and saw this:

See the brown brush in the background on the right hand side of the burnt earth? It's hiding some of the damage. Here's what was behind the brush:

I quickly decided that it was some teenagers' campfire that had gotten out of control, and was thankfully now out without too much damage. I mean, it could have been there for weeks for all I knew. But, of course, I checked the edges to be sure.

It was still smoldering! Can you see the smoke along the edge in the very foreground?

That kinda freaked me out: it was pretty fresh and could keep burning. We walked back home, had lunch and put Kat down for a nap. I went back out with 2 gallons of water, and after emptying them on the smoking edges, there were still hot spots. I went back in, and called my in-laws (they live right next door, you know. AND are members of the volunteer fire department. Basically . . . the Experts).

My dad-in-law met me in the driveway with 5 gallons, I had three more, and we headed back out. I also wanted his reassurance of our safety, because I have no idea how to make sure a forest fire is out. I had images of California and Alaska wildfires flash through my mind that were started with small, neglected campsites!

We dumped the 8 gallons and there was still smoke.

David (DIL) made the call: we needed the fire company to come out with their four-wheeler loaded with water and make sure it got a good soaking.

Here's how the cell phone conversation with my mother-in-law went as we were still out in the woods:

DIL to MIL: Call the chief and let him know that we had a fire in the woods, and that it is out but is still smoldering. I just want to get more water on it with the company's four-wheeler.

MIL: We need to call it in officially.

DIL: OK. Can you please do that, but just let them know we only need the four-wheeler.

A few minutes later, we hear the fire whistle go off and we chuckled to ourselves. Then Jude (MIL) and one of the volunteers that didn't bother to go to the station, but came right to the house, show up along the path with brooms in-hand.

And with them, I can hear the conversations over their radios.

Dispatcher: We have a brush fire behind a home.

(it's now a brush fire)

Station: Copy. Sending tanker 3.

Seriously, a tanker. Here's what showed up at my house along with the four-wheeler:

A whole fire truck!

The off-roading vehicle did a great job soaking the area, so I'm very thankful for the crew showing up; it put my mind at-ease. But seriously . . . only in a small town can you have some charred ground in your woods and get a fourwheeler, tank truck and 7 volunteers within 10 minutes. Biggest story of the week!

As silly as it all seemed, and even though I laughingly apologized over and over to all of them, I'm actually very thankful that I live in a community that takes care of each other like this. And the guys all had a good time teasing me and David about our fire, but not one of them looked annoyed or irritated. 

I'm so happy to live where we do, and get to raise our children here with wonderful people. Well, except for the ones who left a fire going in my back yard! I'm pretty irked about that!

Now I'm getting ready for a nice dinner out; at least there will be something to talk about!

Wordless Wednesday, August 1, 2012