Category: Blog

Yesterday the man and I went to the fair. The weather was marginal, but we still had a nice time.

Saw some horseback riding, 4H dog showing, and of course, the sheep!

Was good to see that the Shetlands were well represented.

Also had Border Leicesters, Cotswolds, Romneys, etc.

Lots of nice wool on the hoof- and some in bags as well, but they weren’t judging fleece until the very end, so we didn’t stay for that.

Here are some photos from the Shetland judging:

Ram lambs-

Yearling Rams-

Ewe lambs- I thought the little ewe in the center with the neat markings was so pretty-

So here she is again. Please note: This photo was not taken by the official blog photographer, which explains the poor focus and composition of the shot (we had to crop the heck out of it). But she still looks really sweet, doesn’t she?

And Champion Ram (winners from lamb and yearling ram classes)- The fellow in front with the fabulous golden wavy locks won.

Next weekend is the NW Washington Fair in Lynden. I’ve entered the Denisee-ized Urban Aran and a skein of yarn from Gigi’s fleece.  Will be there on Saturday spinning for the sheep-to-shawl event, as well. Should be fun!

I’ve finally listed a couple of items on Etsy.com
My “handle” is fullyfleeced.

This is something I’d thought about for a while, and it just took me a bit to pull myself together and get organized enough to make a go of it.

There’s a lot to think about, once you get down to actually making it happen: photos, weights and yardages, descriptions, pricing, shipping policies, etc, etc.

And its harder to take a good picture of yarn than you might think.

So, if it sells, I’ll be starting a sheep fund.
And if it doesn’t, it’s not a tragedy- because I love it, and you can never have too much stash, right?

Right?

I stayed up on Sunday night and pushed through to get the collar done. Just couldn’t leave it so close to completion. Monday I wove in ends. Tuesday I grafted the underarms and put it in the bath to relax and unwind.

So now it’s resting and leisurely air-drying in my office.

Done on July 30. Not bad. Went back and checked the blog record to see when I actually started this project, and it wasn’t quite as long ago as I’d remembered. I started the knitting mid-May, so it’s only been 2 ½ months. Of course, I had a little less than half of the yarn spun before I started, so that helped.

Still have to order the zipper from www.ZipperSource.com and get it installed. That’ll be a whole ‘nother adventure.

I still may enter it in the NW Washington Fair (minus zipper).

I love the fair. So much fun. So many great fiber-bearing critters.

And it would be cool to have something in the wool show.

(It’s not like I’d be wearing it anytime soon, anyway.)

Things had been moving slowly on the Urban Aran of late, so last week I decided to set myself a deadline. I vowed not to let the knitting of said sweater lap over into August.

So this weekend I got down to it: the saddle -shouldering. I love the saddle shoulder. And I love EZ for coming up with a seamless way of doing it. I love how the shape is fluid, and preserves the vertical-ness of the ribbing and cable patterning. It makes so much sense and has a great fit, to boot.

I am in the final stretch now- working the extra short rows across the back of the neck Then I’ll knit a little bit of a stand-up collar, and that will be it. (Other than blocking, and weaving in ends, and sewing in a zipper- but that doesn’t count against my knitting deadline, so I think I’m good.)

Here is my favorite blue chair modeling the almost-done sweater:

And this is all the yarn I have left. It will pretty much dictate how much of a collar the sweater gets.

All I need is maybe 10-15 rows. Wish me luck-