The Caturday Report!

 Hello Effurykitty & Effurybody!

It's the Caturday Report - a day late as usual - I keep telling Mummy that beans and kitties expect the Caturday Report to come out on Caturday - but she said she was busy and this was a good as you were going to get.

The big news this week was THE FAIR! 

 Mummy and The Shepherd entered some things in the NW Washington Fair, which happened last week in Lynden WA.  It was a beautiful week for the fair, in that it didn't rain, but boy was it hot.  Mummy & The Shepherd went out on Wednesday so she could do her "civic duty" and spin in public in the wool barn. It was so hot, that Mummy said she was almost as roasted as the yummy BBQ Roasted beef sandwich with baked beans that she had for dinner. 

She had also entered a couple of things in the Wool Show.  All items in the Wool Show must be made from handspun yarn and then hand crafted.

She took out the fingerless gloves that she made for her nephew Jason. 




 Here is the note that she put with the gloves: 

Class B – Items made from Handspun yarn

Lot 22 – Men’s gloves – (fingerless) 

I spun this yarn from a bump of plain red merino roving, but I knew I was going to use it to crochet these fingerless gloves for my nephew,  He is football coach for a small High school in Eastern WA, and their team colors are red and black.  While I was spinning the yarn, I added bits of black and white roving here and there to give the yarn a little bit of added zip!  I made the cuffs extra long to fit under his jacket.  Go Broncos!  





 
  
The other thing that she took out was a scarf that she just made.  She said that she hated the color of the yarn, but really liked how it worked out for the scarf because of the striping.  The scarf is right below the green and black sweaters.  The pattern is called "Mosaic's Scarf's Little Sister"  It was really fun to make. 

She got BLUE ribbons on both items. 






Here is a closer picture of the scarf that she took today after The Shepherd brought it home from the fair.  She got points taken off because, as you can see, the corner of the scarf curls up.  That's because she didn't block it.  That's because she didn't decide until 10:00 the night before things needed to be out at the fairground that she was even going to take anything out.  Pure dumb luck to get the blue ribbon, - well, actually, the yarn was well spun, and the crocheting on the scarf was very well done.  She thought she would get a red ribbon on the fingerless gloves because the seam was not straight, which the judge did comment on.  But again, she knew her yarn was well constructed  and the crocheting was very even.  

Here is the story that she put with the scarf:

Class B Items made from handspun yarn

Lot 21 – scarf

The fiber that this yarn is from was part of a “roving of the month” Christmas present from my sisters.  I love the soft cushy feel of Corriedale fiber and thought the yarn it made would be perfect to use for this little mosaic scarf for my co-workers to wear around the office this next winter (it gets REALLY cold in our office – last year I made them all fingerless gloves)   It is just the right length so it will not get caught in the shredder and it has so many colors that it will go with almost any outfit they might be wearing and keep them warm and toasty to boot.   The Judges liked her stories too. 

This is Rita's fleece - it got a blue ribbon too. 

 

As you can see, it has very nice crimp in the fleece.  Sorry, this fleece was sold last spring at the Wonderful Woollies sale - but if you are interested, I'm sure that The Shepherd would take your name for next year. 

The Shepherd took out two fleeces, but the Wool Barn lady would only let him enter on under his name, so he entered the other one under Mummy's name.  She got a Blue Ribbon too! 

They were beat out for best of show by a Romney ram's fleece owned by Mummy's friend Janet.  Oh, well, we beat her out last year. 

This is Eva's fleece - Mummy said it is so different from Rita's - soft and buttery, and hardly any crimp.  This one was sold last spring too - the ladies who bought them were nice enough to let The Shepherd take them to Black Sheep and to our Fair. 

Well, that's all I have to tell you for now.  Effuryone have a GREAT WEEK!!! 


XOX  Your Roving Reporter, Gracie

.

Off to the Skagit County Fair we went....

The County directly to the south of us is called Skagit (soft "a" and the "g" is is pronounced like a "j") - The past week was their county fair - we went two years ago, but did not get our entry in soon enough to go last year. This year, all the Shetland breeders who were going sent their paperwork in as soon as the enrollment opened to ensure that we could have a "mini" Shetland Show -



There were four farms who participated -

Krissie and Robin were our sheepy representatives - Ruby would not take part in any of the pre-fair lessons, so she didn't get to (have to?) go.

Mt. Vernon, where the fair is held, is only about 30 miles from our place -






Joyce came from Thistledown Shetlands - She had the longest trip - over 300 miles - to get here.











She had some very handsome little boys - I just loved the one with the "cumber-bun"










Lynn came from Soap Lake - probably close to 250 miles -










She had recently had foot surgery, but she always had a smile on her face.













Sally came from Granite Falls - about 45 miles SE of Mt. Vernon.









We all wondered if she had Max on Prosac. He was the mellowest, sweetest ram I've ever seen.












She also brought these two cuties...





Our friend Denise was nice enough to come help with the showing - she got to lead Robin while The Shepherd got the wiley Krissie.

Did I mention that it was hot - it was about 90 degrees at the "top of the afternoon" - in fact we have broken heat records for the past three days now.









The Shepherd also helped Joyce show her boys. (it looks like I need to sit down and figure out what's going on with my camera - a lot of my pictures were terribly overexposed)

The judge is the owner of Dawn's Custom Carding in Roy. She was fast, and definitely knew the type of fiber that she preferred...





I had to work on Friday, but Saturday I took my spinning wheel. This is where we sat to spin a couple of years ago. so this is where The Shepherd put my chair and wheel when he brought it in - but you see the square light spot at the verrrryyy end of this walkway? That is where the Shetland stalls were... So I packed up shop and moved down with "my people" --- it was much better.




Joyce didn't have a spare spot for her wheel, so she brought the lovely shawl that she is knitting. Lynn brought her wheel and all kinds of "show and tell" stuff - I brought the wool that I'm spinning for one of the baby sweaters that I'm making for my boss's new twin daughters.

As always, we attracted lots of people - prospective spinners and men, fascinated with the workings of the wheel - Since Lynn teaches fiber classes at her work, I let her do a lot of the talking, but I did a lot of explaining about why my wool was colored and how it got that way.

This yarn will be for Annie's sweater - I will ply it with the other bobbin straight out, not Navajo ply, because I want the sweater to have lots of color to it.

The wool for the other sweater is lavender, pinks and blues - it, of course will be for their other daughter, Violet.






And, speaking of Violets - last but not least, OUR Violet's fleece got the blue ribbon and rosette for the Shetland fleeces - (Outstanding in a class of one - )

As I mentioned earlier the judge is the owner of a fiber mill, and was clear that she was partial to "uniform length" fleeces (Appendix A anyone...)
However, I know quite a few hand spinners who would LOVE to get their mitts on this fleece - so, what ever, we got the blue, and we'll take 'em however we can get 'em.

The fair went really smoothly this year - they had changed some policies to let us go an hour before the actual closing time, to alleviate some of the congestion in the animal areas. We had a scary thing happen with the trailer just before we got on the freeway, but everyone (humans and sheep) was safe - although it might have knocked a few years off our life expectancies...we got home safe and sound.

This next Wednesday, I'm the spinning demo person for the NW Washington Fair in Lynden - I did it last year and it is quite fun. I need to get my new "story board" (How wool goes from Sheep to Sweater") put together. And the good news is that it's only supposed to be about 70 degrees instead of 90! Whoopee!

I "Demo" spinning at the NW Washington Fair

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from "Marcia" who said she was the superintendent of the wool barn at the fair and my friend Nancy (who was going to demo on the loom) had suggested she call me - she was looking for spinners to "Demo" in the Wool Barn at the fair this year. It seems that all her "regulars" were busy - could I come out and do that?

I talked it over with The Shepherd, as it would not be feasible for me to go out by myself - He was actually wanting to go to the fair to see the draft horses - they always give a great show before the grandstand acts come on. So, I called Marcia back and said I could do it.

I took a half day off work so we could go out a little early. The Shepherd shuttled me up to the gate where Marcia met us and helped me carry my bags in. I have figured out just how to get my Ashford Standard wheel to stay on my luggage rack - with a bungee cord holding it tight - but I needed help with all my "stuff"

By the way, we have 9 gorgeous 6-horse hitches in Whatcom county! Almost too many to run the Crazy 8's any more - but The Shepherd really enjoyed watching them perform.


If I was going to do this "Demo" thing, I decided that I needed a "Story Board" to show people some of the aspects of the craft.

I decided that "How wool goes from Sheep to Sweater" was the story that I wanted to tell - and because I have heard that so many "townies" seem to think that in order to get the wool off of a sheep, you have to kill it, I tried to dispel that myth with a picture of one of our sheep getting her hair cut last spring.

Then some samples of raw wool, roving, top and batts, and some yarn samples and a little swatch of crocheted "Luna" wool - I was all set.

It must have provided just the info that people wanted to see - I had a lot of people reading it.


Nancy G. and the loom were inside the barn, but it was WAY too hot and stuffy in there for me, so I ensconced myself out on the ramada - with a bench to lean my story board on and a spot to put my water bottle, I was all set.








Plus, for a couple of hours, I had the delightful company of Nancy B., the owner of NW Handspun Yarns. She was showing off her talent on the sock knitting machine. Wow, she could really book on the thing. She made several pairs of socks while she was sitting there. Amazing machine to watch. It made me really think about how the "industrial revolution" affected making clothing. All of a sudden, instead of having to knit night after night to make socks , the owner of this machine could make pair after pair in just a few hours! Amazing!


Here are some of the sweaters and items in the wool barn. I only got a few pictures taken before my battery went dead, and boy when this sucker goes dead, it goes DEAD.

My demo went well, I got to see bunches of old friends and made a few new ones.






And, I got this bobbin filled - it will be for yarn for another vest for The Shepherd.

Well, gotta go make a salad for our church "Secret Pal" tea that is happening tomorrow at noon. We don't hold services during the summer (we decided that god trusts Unitarians to take the summer off - ha, ha) It will be fun to see all the ladies.

We went to the Animal Fair ~ ~ ~

The fun of our trip to the Skagit County Fair was somewhat pre-empted by Neelix's passing - but here is my report (finally, you say?)

Here is our little "corner" of the world - between two big pens of Suffolk sheeps - or pens of BIG Suffolk sheeps, I should say - the little gals on our left had market lambs who were also being shown in open class - cut short by the processor's arrival on Saturday morning. Many tears as they said good bye to their sheep friends - (and that would be why I could never raise market animals - you work so long getting them tame so they will show well, then, it's like the Queen says in Alice in Wonderland - "off with their heads!"




Here are "the inmates". They were surprisingly well behaved for the whole time that we were there. Of course there were lost of treats involved with the whole process too...









The Shepherd had worked tirelessly on halter training - so to test out the situation before the show, they went on a little jaunt around the fair -

They boys were perfect gentlemen out on their walkabout - and good Shetland ambassadors!!














No fair would be complete without a visit to the chickens, would it now?










John shares a few last minute hints with our friend Margot, who helped show Danny.

Our friend Nancy G. showed Louie for us. Thank you Ladies - we couldn't have done it without you!








Our Judge was Amy Wolfe, who judged last year as well. She makes a point of giving the breed history and telling what the breed is used for before she judges each class. Very nice young woman. (She is also a shearer and a spinner - so she definately knows what she is looking for)








In the Ram Lamb category, Danny placed third and Louie placed 5th. Louie, who is the fellow with the WIDE horn set in the second picture is for sale. Anyone want to add some Flett to their flock?









Our boys also got the BLUE ribbon for the best pair of ram lambs. They were so evenly matched, she said there was no other option.

Luna's fleece (blue ribbon from Black Sheep Gathering) took second place in the Shetland lamb fleeces - although he would have been happier with the Blue, the fact that she came in second indicates that it is a truly superior fleece.





Here is a picture of our motley crew - NW Shetland Breeders and Washington Wool dot Net Board Members.

Starting back row going clockwise -
Me, Nancy G., The Shepherd, Tom S, Dave & Franna (in the red), Sally T., Donna S. & Joyce T.

Joyce & Nancy joined me with their spinning wheels - we were quite the little "educational" display for people.

It was, all in all, fun. And we met many nice people, made new friends and got to see old friends - that's what the fairs are all about, isn't it?

A Neelix update

Several people and kitty friends have asked for a Neelix update. What is the old saying, "De Nile is not just a river in Egypt". I guess I just haven't wanted to talk much about it.

We went to the V.E.T. today - Neelix has continued to lose weight - and with the heat yesterday, he could barely move from one place to the other. So I called and left a message for Todd (our V.E.T.) to call me back - we talked about options, (*NOT "that one" ) about why he is continuing to lose weight - there are no lumps or bumps (other than mats of fur that he won't let me cut off - maybe when they grow out). We also decided that since they never did a urinalysis, that I should bring him in this a.m. & he'd see if he could get a little bit to test - to see if there were a lot of proteins in it or what. (since he's been eating pretty steady, its just that the "food" isn't metabolizing or something.) The blood tests were negative for kidney problems, but apparently urine tests show other things -

Being in a "coulda-shoulda-woulda" mode, I agreed that I should bring him in - he REALLY didn't want to get into the PTU (that's prisoner transport unit, or, in other words, the cat carrier, for those of you who are uninitiated to cat language). He also was a lot more spunky than he's been in a few days. Adrenalin maybe? Anyhow, the V.E.T.'s office was packed. including someone bringing in a BIG dog on a stretcher, and they still were able to get me in within an hour. He'd had a big drink of water before we left home, so there was something in his bladder. They were supposed to call me this afternoon, but didn't - so I'll check with them in the morning and post a quick update before I leave for the fair.

What fair you ask? Well, The Shepherd has entered H.B., Louie and Danny in the open class sheep at the Skagit county fair in Mt. Vernon. He has been working very hard halter training them so they will behave in the show ring.

It is a little fair - I didn't walk around much last year - since I'll be there tomorrow afternoon and all day Saturday, I'll explore a little and report in. He's also taking Luna's Blue Ribbon Fleece - we'll see how she does.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of my baby boy - I took this a couple of years ago, and even had a mouse pad made from it. Doesn't he just look sassy? Please get better, my little friend.

Doin' the Skagit - Part 2

The judge for the sheep show was a young woman named Amy Wolf. She is a handspinner and had obviously done her homework to learn the breed standards of the sheep she was judging. She gave a commentary about each breed with good reasons for her placements. Dave and Franna from EverRanch in Auburn started the show with their yearling rams.







We had a nice contingent of little fellows.

Sally Tibbets (in the flowered shirt on the right) from Sleepy Hollow farm in Granite Falls was the other breeder with sheep at the fair.


Notice the puzzled look on my face? This is where the batteries in my camera decided to take a nose dive - & I had just charged them, too. Donna's step father, Al took most of the rest of the pictures, although I was able to squeeze a couple more pictures out after the camera was turned off for a while - some reporter I make! (Thanks, also, to Franna & Donna for some of my content)

Two other Shetland Sheep breeders stopped by during the fair. Donna & Tom's neighbor, Alta was by on Saturday and our friend Nancy came down on Friday night.













Next were the ewe lambs - Donna & Tom's Amanda and Moni got first & second place.

The Shepherd is on the right in the dark green shirt, helping Donna & Tom show - they had 4 ewe lambs in this class. Moni, the little black lamb that John is leading is very pretty and I think he has his eye on her. She and Scooter would make very pretty babies with fantastic wool (and we might even get a spot or two)




Joyce Thomas, from Thistledown Farm in Edwall, WA helped out by showing Dave & Franna's yearling ewe. Joyce's granddaughter, Brianna also helped out, showing sheep as well. It was great to have Joyce join us - it's about 270 miles from her farm to Mt. Vernon, so it was a huge commitment for her to come. Hopefully next year she'll be back with some of the beautiful moorit sheep that she was telling us about.





In the lamb flock entries, the judge really liked Dave & Franna's triplets - two gulmogets and a katmoget -







Besides having the open judging by Amy, we held our own "NW Shetland Owners" group competition. While all the woolies were lined up outside the pens waiting to go out for the judging, we had our own judging and judged all the Shetlands at the show for Best Tail (Sally's Aggie got first, with D&F's Winter as runner up); Best Horns (T&D's Hemlock with a tie between Sally's Guinness and D&F's Buddy) & Best Fleece (a tie between D&F's Buddy & T&D's Amanda). Prize money, from NASSA & a donation from Eliz. Martin certainly helped to offset everyone's traveling expenses. It was eye opening to get to play "touchey/feeley with so many different styles of fleece (and I'm sure all those little sheepies were ready to say "Would you guys get your paws off our tails" (poor babies).



There were also a number of fleeces entered and having a handspinner as the judge was just the greatest. You could tell that she really liked Shetland wool! Right here, she's commenting to Donna about all her moorit sheep.

Congratulations go out to Dave & Franna for the Best Overall Fleece for a Finn lamb fleece and Reserve Best for one of their Shetland lamb fleeces.


I spent most of the morning demonstrating with my spinning wheel, so I didn't really go out and walk around at all (I'm kind of a "you seen one, you seen 'em all" in the fair department - this fair looks very much like the North Centeral Washington Fair that I spent my "grownin' up years" and my 4-H years going to in Waterville, WA.) - small, homey, a place to meet your friends and have the best corn dog you've eaten in years (mmmm, and the Shepherd put LOTS of mustard on it too) - but of course, no fair would be complete without the biggest steer in the countryside - this big guy's name is Ben and he is over 6 feet tall at the shoulder and is 11 years old. He lives here in Whatcom county. Now, that's a LOT of hamburger...

I think I could easily say that a good time was had by all! Hope to see everyone back next year!