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Haircuts and Hoof Trims

denisemor 0 May 22, 2016

I got lucky and caught everyone in the shed Saturday morning, so it seemed like a good time to get everyone tidied up.

Edgar, Felix, and Chone finally got their rear ends sheared- so they look a little more respectable now.

We tried to trim off part of Felix’s horn that is growing down right next to his eye, but it proved a challenge keeping his head still long enough to get it done, so we’ll have to revisit that at some point later.

The only one who didn’t need any fussing was little Dottie. She’s got a fresh haircut from the end of March, and her hooves looked great.

Got a little bit of wool-work done this weekend too-

I still only have one bobbin for Sigrid, my antique Norwegian (Swedish?) wheel, but I’ve come up with a pretty slick way to wind off singles for plying on my Lateral treadle wheel. More on that next week!

New Girl in the Pasture

denisemor 2 May 15, 2016

And she’s not a chicken!

We are all still feeling the loss of Griff.
But there is is a lot of grass out there to eat, and an opportunity presented itself to add another player to the roster.

So I jumped on it.

(Sorry this photo is through the fence, but it’s the best one I have so far of her flashy facial markings.)

Her name was Wynette, and she’s a Gotland/Finn/Shetland cross from Schoonover Farm. Born last spring.
I wasn’t looking for a ewe, but she has a lovely fleece, and is very sweet and friendly.

In fact, I had already spun up some of her fleece, as it was the one I brought home from their shearing at the end of March!

I was originally thinking that I would keep her name, as she’s had it for a year.
But it doesn’t roll off my tongue very easily, and I thought it would be fun to keep the baseball theme going.

So I’ve decided to call her Dottie, for Dottie Hinson from “A League of Their Own”.

So happy to have her on the team!

The Hardest Part of Having Animals

denisemor 2 May 7, 2016May 8, 2016

Is losing them.

It’s been a very rough week here on the homestead.

Last Sunday night Griff went down. He was never a sheep who would let me approach him, so as he lay on his side in the pasture and did not try to rise when I came near, I knew it was probably serious.
I called Tom and Donna and I’m so grateful to them for coming over help assess what was going on, and decide how to proceed. It seemed that the likeliest culprit was bloat, as the pasture is quite lush right now. We talked about treatments, but in the end I decided that it was probably kindest to let him go.

Griff was never a people-friendly sheep, but he was a good boy, and had a beautiful crimpy golden-taupe colored fleece.

He will be missed, both by me and his good buddies out in the pasture.
My heart is heavy, and am really anxious about the possibility of the same thing happening to one of the other sheep. I’ve put out baking soda alongside their free-choice kelp, and am watching everyone carefully for signs of bloat.

That was Sunday.
Since then, sheep have seemed ok, but Thursday evening Boo kitten came limping home, carrying her left rear leg.
It was after the vet had closed, and I didn’t think that it seemed to terribly serious, so I tried to make her comfortable and clean out the woulds I could see (though she wouldn’t let me do much). Friday morning I took her in right away to have her looked at.

Turns out it was a pretty bad scrape she got herself into. Something really chewed up her left rear lower leg, and apparently the ankle(?) joint was involved, which complicates things. But no broken bones. Seems something had a good hold on her by the achilles but she managed somehow to get away.
Vet said that it was a good thing I got her in that day or she might have lost the leg. Yeeks.
So now she’s patched up, with drains placed all around her foot and leg (5 total) and a bunch of stitches as well. Poor girl is in a cone, and I’m administering pain meds and antibiotics twice daily.

And we lost a baby chicken to ravens last Wednesday.

So I’m hoping that is my 3. I’m kinda wiped.

Down to the Buttons

denisemor 2 April 24, 2016

The Chone Burr project is off the needles and fully assembled!

And I am pleased 🙂

It turned out well, I think, and fits nicely, though the sleeves are a little slim (Or maybe my arms are just thick)

I’m glad I went with the 44″ size for the shoulder space, but it could probably have used a bit more waist shaping, as it is a little boxy.
But I do love it. And it is 99% done.

Here is a shot of the collar detail-

And here is one of my lovely sleeve caps-

I used to be a little afraid of set in sleeves and sewn together sweaters, but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. It was actually almost enjoyable putting this together!

(You are not imagining things, the cap of that sleeve is a bit darker than the neighboring pieces. A little natural variation in Chone wool coloration that I didn’t notice until it was all assembled.)

So it was another good Brooklyn Tweed pattern experience. And I even learned a new technique- the stem stitch bind-off (used around the buttonband and collar). Work out great and might come in handy for other projects.

Now I need the perfect buttons.

I’m not sure what that means yet, but I’m sure I’ll know them when I see them.