Christmas is over and slowly things are getting back to normal for us.  The scarves I made for my daughter and niece turned out nicely.  They are so warm and feel so good when the weather is nasty.   As soon as I can I am going to make up some kits for these scarves.  They are so easy to make and are a nice one-day project.  And I can dye them whatever color someone would like.  Merino wool is extremely soft and blended with silk makes the perfect felted scarf.  Spun up the wool / silk would be wonderful also.  My niece's scarf is purple ... her favorite color!

Keeping the animals fed and watered, pens cleaned and fresh straw down is a major job these days.  As soon as I can get my tractor up and running we will take it over to the pasture for some major cleanup work.  As usual the battery is dead, even though it was a new one last summer.

We are waiting for a snow storm today that will probably last through New Year's Eve, then the temps will drop to below 0.  As long as the wind doesn't blow too much we should be ok.  We always have extra water on hand and keep the wood stove going.  This seems like a good day for some serious spinning.  I have several unfinished projects that I'd love to get done before New Year's.

One more project before Christmas completed and on the drying rack.  This is a merino / bamboo felted scarf for my daughter.  I have one to go by Christmas.  Hope I get it done by Friday evening.  They are both a surprise. 

Still haven't finished my shopping so off to town tomorrow and hope I find what I'm looking for.  We went into town last week to view the Christmas lights and they were certainly pretty.  I thought we'd walk around a bit to see what the stores had to offer, but at 4:15pm on a Sat evening, about a third of them were closed.  Too bad, with only a week or two left before Christmas. 

This will probably be the last posting before the 25th, so I pray everyone has a beautiful and blessed Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

So far I purchased one gift and have the 'makings' for several others.  Our family doesn't make a huge thing out of gift giving.  We enjoy the true meaning, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Trying to get out to the studio but so far I've only been able to do some carding and spinning in the house.  But that's something I certainly enjoy ... blending some batts for my etsy shop, but when I get them carded they look so interesting I always end up spinning them.  I really need to stop being so selfish and get some of this on the net for sale.  Here is the blue / aqua BFL I carded this week after dyeing it last month.  It looks totally different after blending.  This was put through the carder three times.

Inspiration for color blending and dyeing comes from so many different places for me.  God is the master and He is so able.  Every once in a while we are blessed to come across something that is so remarkable, and I just had to share this.  This is the 1st Place 2010 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition: Eyes of daddy longlegs, from an internet picture. 

I just wish we could witness more of His magnificent workings ... and recognize them as such.  God bless you all on this Thanksgiving.

Today we had our first snow.  When we got up at 5:30 there was only about an inch or so on the ground; its now 9:30 and still snowing.  My niece was so excited as she has never seen snow before.  She actually walked up in the dark to get our great pyr Bella out of her pen, just so she could be outside in the 'white stuff'.  They are best friends and go everywhere together.

Last week we had company, my sister and her daughter.  We did some spinning on spindles and had a go at the wheel.  They did so well.  Then we went over to see Paradise Fiber's new store.  Wow!  It is great, and they are still doing some remodeling.  So much space.  Paradise is a wonderful place to go, or shop on line.  They always seem to have just what I need, or are able to get if for me.  Check out their website:   ParadiseFibers.net

Yesterday I dyed about eight ounces of beautiful BFL fiber.  Four ounces each of Royal Blue and Aqua to blend together along with some kind of shiny 'glitz'.  Here's a photo before I card them on my drum carder into batts.  I plan to leave large sections of color, rather than completely blending the colors as I normally do.  We'll see.

Got out to my studio at last, after a short hiatus.  I forget just how incredibly peaceful I feel out there.  I'm hoping to get a spinning group going at our local community center this fall so I've been dyeing different types of fibers for participants to try.  So far I've got some Wensleydale, White Norwegian and my favorite BFL which stands for Blue Faced Leicester, but so much easier to just say BFL.  There will be spindles for everyone to try that doesn't have a spinning wheel available, also lessons or demos for everything.  Its possible to blend different fibers and/or colors by hand so we won't need a carder.

Also did some rainbow dyeing with a bit of blending nylon.  I've left it as it was when it dried so I can show how the colors blend after the fiber is drafted out a little.  There's probably enough for everyone to try a little anyway.

Fall in north Idaho is such a nice time.  Usually the weather is cold, clear and sunny.  This week however its been cool, cloudy and rainy.  The painters were here this week trying to finish painting the outside of the house but it rains off and on so they've had quite a time.   The screened porch is wonderful and sure keeps the bugs out of the house.

I finally got some of the Polworth washed, picked and carded with just a little pink nylon glitz.  I've started spinning and Wow, it is beautiful.  Its soft and since the fibers are so long a dream to spin.  Not sure what will be made with this nice yarn but is very suitable for hats, scarves or nice outerwear.

It is not quite as soft as alpaca, but certainly worth the effort.  Like I said before, it is a dream to spin.

 We had Dolly groomed this week.  She is so clean and white that the night after I think she actually glowed in the dark.  She's been hiding out in the alpaca barn ever since so maybe she's tired from the ordeal or could be mad at me for taking her there.  Anyway, she looks beautiful and smells much better.  Now to get Bella done.

We have a new addition to our family!  Thanks to my good friends at Serano Alpacas, Jasper has been added to our herd.  He is a year old and incredibly beautiful!  I can't wait to spin some of his fiber next summer.  We will be shearing in the spring of 2011 so I will have to wait until then.

Things are moving ahead on the farm.  I finally decided to let our Great Pyr 18-month old puppy Bella out of the goat pen where she's been kept the last couple weeks.  She spends her days in the pasture with the other animals, then back to the goat pen at night because I don't trust her not to dig elephant-sized holes in the newly planted front yard.  I let her out mid-morning today and by early afternoon she had a nice sized hole started.  My daughter promptly went out and retrieved her by loudly proclaiming "naughty!".  Bella got up and slowly walked to the goat pen.  Guess she knew what she'd done.  It was almost funny.

I hope to get back to some spinning soon.  I've got the dark brown yak carded with the bright red tencel nepps started on one of my spindles.  I'm planning on spinning the rest of the plain yak roving into another single on my wheel, then plying the two together.  The fiber is so incredibly soft and short it's taking a little longer than usual to get done.  At least I can take my spindle with me when I have to sit and wait anywhere.

I finished the wool and silk felted scarf I had been working on.  It turned out very pretty.  I just might have to keep this one, since I don't have anything red!  It was easy to do and maybe I will make up some kits to sell so you can make your own.   I've got my tencel nepps dyed red and plan on blending a few of them with some beautiful dark brown yak fiber.  Maybe this week.

Summer is winding down, at least in north Idaho.  We had a dust and wind storm yesterday as a cold front dropped in for a visit from the north.  Lots of fires fanned by the swirling winds.  It would be nice if we could get some rain too. 

We had our front yard somewhat landscaped over the past few weeks.  I had a water problem in the back of the house I hope is finally solved.  After the yard was planted with new grass, we had the front porch screened in.  We may not be able to use the porch much longer this summer, but next summer it will be so nice not to fight the moths and bugs every time you go outside.

Our sky is normally so blue, but this picture was taken right in the middle of the wind and dust storm.  You can see how gray the sky was yesterday.  The inside of the house is now covered with a fine brown dust that seeps into every crack and crevice.

How busy can one family be?  We've had eight baby kittens for several weeks now.  Three different litters, all with no momma kitty.  Its so sad how things happen that way.  Last week we were asked to take in another single baby.  He is very thin but so sweet.  He's all white with one green, one blue eye.  My daughter believes he is completely deaf.  Not surprising with the eye colors.  She's finally got him on the right track eating and drinking on his own.  Quite an appetite!  Then this week she was asked to take another litter of five.  They are about three weeks, mom was killed by a coyote and they are all being bottle fed every couple of hours.  She has such dedication and love for these little beings.  After they are a few months old she returns them to Priest River Animal Rescue shelter to be adopted.  Here is a picture of one of the white Siamese babies.  Three white and one gray.  Kitten anyone?

While she is busy with the kitties, we are also having a portion of our property landscaped.  I'm so excited about that.  Its something that's been needed for several years.  The guys work hard and are doing a wonderful job.  I can't wait to post a picture once its all done.

So ... who has time to spin or weave?  I got out some beautiful, soft Yak rovings this week but wanted to dye up some tencel or cotton nepps in a contrasting color before I spin it up, but just haven't had a minute to do it.  Hopefully after Labor Day things will calm down and I can get some 'fun' stuff going on again.  We're going to Blanchard Daze tomorrow, parade then a craft type fair.  Always a good time with good food.

Carding is not hard ... my 10 year old niece carded her first batt all by herself.  I showed her how to do it, gave her some hunks of fiber and turned my back to work on something.  Pretty soon she had this beautiful batt ready to remove from the carder!  Beautiful.  This is a blend of alpaca, mohair locks and some odds and ends of different wools.

This has been a very busy month and it looks like there's no end in sight.  We went to the Art on the Green last weekend.  Didn't buy too much but its always so much fun.  I love the street craft show and the food.  We've had so much wind today we can't get much done outside.  The lawn and flowers are drying out but not much we can do.  Hopefully it doesn't last much longer.

I have a carpenter working on the front porch, screening it in at last.  At least we will be able to sit outside without being attacked by moths and mosquitos.  Also have a landscaper scheduled to help with the drainage situation, which is a winter-time worry.  The ground freezes, then the snow melts and no where for some of the runoff to go.

Finally got the Cotswold locks dyed and spun up.  They were blended with some dyed nylon fibers, then spun thick / thin, and the single was plyed with some rayon yarn.  It turned out very pretty.  The pic is before and after carding.  I did use the picker to get those little locks nice and separated.  Still have an entire bag of it to go.

Also finished the green wool singles and plyed them with some hand dyed silk hankies I bought a couple years ago at the NWRSA when it was held here in town.  I had spun the hankies already and the colors just matched so well.   Never throw anything away, even if you think you won't be using it, not that I would have thrown the silk yarn out.  The weather has been beautiful and warm.  Went to a church BBQ last night, it was so fun with the live music from our own praise band.  All the summer foods including ice cream.  The kittens have been so sick but are doing much better.  My daughter takes such good care of them but its certainly is a full time job.