With the beautiful warm weather we've had the past few weeks I've been dyeing fiber again.  This time something new was tried.  I put the pre-soaked fiber into a couple of large plastic containers and poured leftover dye in different colors in the jar as I added the fiber.  Then into a black trash bag and sat it in the hot sun for a couple days.  

When I rinsed them afterwards there was a little more color in the water than normal, but they rinsed clean after a couple times.  I don't think any true color was washed away.  The colors were not as varied as I'd hoped.  They pretty much did their own thing together, but pretty anyway.  I think I will try carding them with some of the flash I got a couple months ago.  We'll see what turns out.  I do like the colors they both ended up ... fluorescent pink and electric blue, and a light lime green and soft royal blue.  The computer really doesn't do them justice.

We have a new family member!  Meet Emmy, my daughter's newest addition.  Emmy is about three days old in the picture and is a tiny little chihuahua puppy.  We will be receiving her when she's about 7 weeks old.  The longer little animals spend with mom, the better the start in life they usually have.  We can't wait!

Our kitty Petey that was missing for three days has returned home.  We found him up in a Very tall tree in the woods behind our house.  We had to get our tree cutter friend to climb up and get him.  He was so ready to come down, didn't fight at all.  I can't imagine why he would go so high unless something like a coyote or fox scared him.  We also have owls and hawks that have carried off at least one of our kitties in the past.

No spinning being done right now.  Its been very warm, 80's and 90's.  With no air conditioning in our house its a little uncomfortable to be handling such warm fibers.  Early morning is ok sometimes, but I'm just not organized enough that early.

Jury duty for me this month, I can't plan anything.  Fortunately I still have not had to go, but you just never know.  Each Friday night I call to see who is on their roster for the following week.  So far, so good.

It seems we have lost another kitty.  Petey, our much overweight orange boy has gone missing.  Only since yesterday, but he's always the first one at the food dish.  We are very worried and pray nothing has happened to him.  He is sooo sweet and we've raised him from a bottle baby.  He is a previous foster baby.

Yesterday the three pygora goats were sold to a nice lady from Plummer ID.  I went outside early this morning and didn't hear them calling me to come feed them!  I think I miss them (no!) already.  But they now have eight acres to eat, so should be really happy.

The yarn in the photo is the merino top / cashmere.  It is incredibly soft and spun with the little bits of cashmere making it look 'tweedy' or heathered.  Only four ounces of the merino so maybe I will have to buy a little more so there's enough to make a scarf or something.  I Love it!  These fibers came from Paradise Fibers in Spokane WA.

And I wish I knew how to take better photos, the yarns never show up as pretty as they are in person.

Summer is here, off and on.  One day 85 degrees, next day 69.  But a little rain once in a while keeps everything green and fresh.  I really don't mind.  My flower garden was looking so good but now is getting a little tired.  The purple flowers at the top of the page are Campanula, this pink one is called Poor Man's Orchid.  They are tiny, about the size of a 50 cent piece, the stalks grow to about 5 feet tall.  Anyone want any?  They are very prolific.


Finally got a picture of the black alpaca / green firestar, but its not a very good one.  It is hard to get a good picture of black anything.  I finally ended up putting it in a sunny window.  Haven't started spinning it yet and hope to get about another 3 ounces blended.  Maybe I can put in on the Etsy shop.

I did get some beautiful soft light beige merino and blended it with super soft cashmere.  Both these were through the fiber club I joined with Paradise Fibers.  It is incredibly soft and spun thick and thin.  The cashmere made the merino top just a little bumpy, so not too much variation.   It would make a wonderful scarf, mittens, socks ... just about anything next to the skin.  I will post a picture next time.

Spring is here and I hope it stays a while.  Beautiful flowers everywhere.  Along with the flowers we have an over abundance of dandelions to deal with.  So much yard work! 

The green flash I have has been blended with black alpaca.  Wow!  That really makes it flashy, lol.  Also blended with about 10 different colors of wool I had used for a 6th grade class demo that was done last week.  There were only bits and pieces of different things, not enough to do anything with, so they were all blended together with the green flash.  Very nice.

Yard sale days are finally here.  One of our favorite things in the summer.  We are cleaning out our own closets and storage areas in the hopes of getting rid of a lot of unneeded stuff.  We've got several big tent-like tarps to set up in the yard but probably most of the stuff will go into the garage, just in case it rains.  Memorial weekend is coming up so that seems like a good time to start.

Our Blanchard Spinners went to Paradise Fibers yesterday.  Not all of us could go, but those of us that did had a great time and found some yummy fibers to put on our wish list.  I bought some green flash fibers that I want to try blending with my alpaca to give it some bling as well as being soft.

The yard is coming together again.  Everything is so green and fresh.  Lots and lots of weeds.  That's the next project for me I guess.  I love gardening, but on this farm there's just so much of it.  Anyone want to have a garden?  C'mon over!

My beautiful, sweet Dolly is still gone ... Since Feb 4, 2011.  In the last couple days I've received several calls about big white dogs who apparently were hit on the road and died.  Funny, these dogs were all quite a few miles from us and all in different areas.

I refuse to give up looking for her.  I just have the feeling she is close by, possibly being cared for by well-meaning folks.  If she is, knowing Dolly she will find a way to ecape again.  Praying God will lead her home.

In the meantime, I have my two beautiful other companions, Bella and Jessie.  We love these huge, gentle beasts.  They love playing together and with my niece.  Its so comical to watch the two of them rolling around all over each other.  Maybe I can get a video going on soon.

Our Blanchard Spinners group is heading off to Paradise Fibers in Spokane Sat morning.  Most everyone hasn't been to the new store, so we will all go together in a couple vehicles and I will show them where it is.  I Love the new store.  So many fun things to look at!  Better leave my checkbook at home, I'm always so tempted.

Shearing Day!  Alpacas usually are sheared once a year, our goats twice a year.  Its always a hard day, pretty dirty too!  I just had knee surgery on Wed, so had a very good friend come over to help my daughter and my niece.  Also my niece had a friend from school there and the two little girls did a super job.  Our wonderful shearer Clint did a great job and was able to get everyone done is a fairly short time.

I got to sit in my chair and be the picture taker for the day.  So much easier than bending over to gather the fiber off the tarp. 

I will be selling the 2nds right out of the bag, if anyone is interested.  Probably around $2 oz, unwashed but since it doesn't have lanolin like a sheep fleece, it may be dusty or have a little VM still in it.  Let me know if any of you would like some, its extremely soft.  There is a lot of white, a good amount of brown, and one bag of black.  Oso is a true black and has no white at all in him. 

All in all a very good day.  The weather was good, a little windy at times, but warm (finally) and it didn't rain.  Woohoo.  We're done.

Paradise Fibers Fiber Club Subscription

Paradise Fibers Fiber Club Subscription
What a great idea!  For $35 or less per month you can try out three new fibers from Paradise Fibers in Spokane WA.  Made a quick phone call to them this morning and (of course) it depends on the cost of the fiber as to how much you get.  But, the total amount should usually be between 12-16 oz for the three.  Increase your stash or try out something new! 

I bought some Punta fiber a while back ... WOW.  My new favorite.  Never would have considered it if a friend hadn't recommended it to me or I had been sent a sample to try.  Thanks Paradise!

Here it is mid-April and its snowing this morning.  Light and fluffy so hopefully it will disappear soon.  It was in the mid-20's this morning when I got up.  No fair!

We got five new babies shortly after we lost the first two little ones.  Three black girls and a white boy and a beige girl.  All doing well, thankfully.  Their eyes have opened and I think they are beginning to hear a little.  They sure can smell when one of us is around though.  waaaaAAAA!

I'm working on new fibery stuff for our spinning group.  New colors, different blends.  So much fun.  The shearer is coming on Friday to give everybody their summer haircuts.  Unfortunately, last week the goats B-E-utiful long lustrous fiber went the way of dreadlocks.  The little boys were rubbing against the fence, and all their fiber felted into a tangled mess.  I'm sick about it.  Just a couple weeks ago I was admiring how beautiful they looked.  All that work and expense for nothing ... again.  After they get cleaned up Friday I think I will put them up for sale.

Sad news today.  In the last two days we lost both the new baby kittens.  The little orange one went peacefully on Friday, the little black one went Saturday.  They were so tiny, so delicate.  RIP little loved ones.

This one was named Pumpkin.  I couldn't bear to take a picture of the little black one.

They've arrived!  The first two babies for fostering by my daughter.  She is the one that does all the feeding, loving, playing and cleaning of these little beings, along with lots of help from my niece.  The shelter likes our foster babies because they are usually so people friendly.  How could they not be, with three of us always kissing, touching and holding them.

These two are just 24-hours old.  They arrived Tuesday evening still wet from being born, and one even had the after-birth still attached.  They will live here with all the rest of the ones (to come) and at about 12 weeks be returned to Priest River Animal Rescue shelter to be adopted by some very lucky family.

There is no word yet on Dolly.  I can't give up looking for her.  New flyers to be hung on every post and pole around.  Now I'm resorting to driving up to farms and houses asking if anyone has seen her.  That's a lot of territory to cover, but like I said, I can't give up.

I've been dyeing alpaca roving this week.  I dyed some brown alpaca with indigo in spots.  Very interesting and I think I need to card it to distribute the colors throughout.  Then I put white alpaca roving in the nearly-spent dye pot and it came out a very light blue denim.  We'll see.  Pix when I get them spun up.