What a wonderful weekend!

My weekend started early, with a surprise in the mail! A mysterious package arrived on our doorstep this week, addressed to me, but with an unfamiliar return address. Inside was a beautiful quilted tea cozy from Roxie!





















I don't know just how she knew the colors to go with my decor, or the size to fit my great-grandmother's teapot, or just how she found my address since I didn't give it to her, but she was spot on all three! She's a pretty smart cookie, that Roxie is!

Saturday was spent running errands after our traditional weekend breakfast out. We've recently found a new place for breakfast; Maxwell's Pub & Grill on 185th at Baseline. Good food at very reasonable prices; breakfast for both of us, with drinks was under $15! The only drawback is that they don't open until 9, which really hasn't been a problem for us lately; we've both learned to sleep late in the last year.

Sunday was spent at SIL Faye and BIL Jim's new home in Our Vancouver. We give them a hard time about subjecting us to interstate travel to visit them now, but it really is less than half the distance from where they lived in Sandy. Niece Jane built the house next to her mom and dad, so we get to visit with her when we drive up there. BIL Myron and SIL Joan came up from West Linn for the day, too. We all spent the day out on the patio, talking, catching up on family goings-on, and trading places in and out of the sun. I took my wheel and got some spinning done. I finished one bobbin of StitchJones' "Earth Angel"; I split it into 4 lengths, intending to make a 2-ply lace weight with it.



















Then, I went back to the yak/merino blend that gave me such fits a couple weeks ago. I must have been more relaxed, because this time the long-draw came very easily and I finished spinning the entire 8 ounces in about two hours! I'm going to let this rest on the bobbins for awhile before I ply it. It should come out nicely woolen spun, probably sport or worsted weight. I don't know what it will be knitted into yet, but whatever it is will be really soft!

Today, ToolMan and I stayed home and puttered around the yard a bit. I scrubbed a winter's worth of moss and dirt off the table and chairs on the deck; ToolMan power washed the front stoop, trimmed limbs off the maple tree, moved some hooks for the bird bath and mobile, and repaired a solar light. When the chairs were dry, we sat out on the deck with a couple of friends



















and enjoyed the view. The grass suffered last year, when we had all the reconstruction going on, but as long as we have Andy Rooney using the back yard, there's little hope of it recovering.
























We cranked out the awning, took our cold beverages out on the deck, and enjoyed the great weather while I cranked on a knitting project.




















Yep, another Clapotis! This one is in my hand spun; made from the Blue Moon Fiber Arts: 8 ounces of superwash Merino combed top, an Oops! dye of Rooster Rock that I got at Tina's first de-stashing sale. I'll have more than enough for a Clapotis, but I don't know what I'll do with the remainders. Maybe a pair of gloves to go with it?

Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

My apologies to Bette Davis, but this is a rather disjointed post. So hang onto your hats!

This is Devon, my new neighbor, and her mother, Nancy. Devon and her husband bought the house next door several months ago, but Devon's been in Phoenix trying to get their house there sold or rented and finally got here last week. ToolMan apologized for making so much noise in his garage (running the woodworking equipment making shawl pins), Devon said she was a crocheter but wanted to learn to knit and spin. Poor thing didn't know what hit her.



















When she came to, she was in the middle of Westside Wednesday, being forced to play with sticks and string. Nancy had been a knitter, but hadn't picked it up in years; by the end of the night, she was back to doing garter, stockinette, and ribbing like nobody's business.

Last week was unofficial "Sweater Night" at Westside Wednesday. There were "February Lady Sweaters" in abundance.



















And a "Hey, Teach!" was there as well.
























Kathleen presented a darling turtle sweater to Rachel.
























And trtlgrl herself finished teeny, tiny sweater dress! Some of us who are already mothers thought trtlbby might have already outgrown this one; hopefully, it'll fit long enough for her to wear it home next month!



















I finished, or mostly finished, a sweater for trtlbby this week, too. A BSJ made from Red Heart's Heart and Sole in the "Mellow Stripe" colorway. This is one of their fairly new yarns; it's a superwash merino and nylon blend which has been infused with aloe vera that's supposed to last through about 50 washings. It's didn't feel especially soft when I was knitting it, but it did soften a lot when I washed it.


















I had 2 balls and you can see how much was left over. I used US 6 needles and did an I-cord edge all around the neck/front/bottom. It's about a 6-month size. I didn't leave buttonholes; I think I'll add either I-cord toggles or loops for buttons.

The TKGA Spring Show was in Portland this weekend, so Tami and I rode MAX into downtown on Saturday morning to hit the marketplace. We met Kathleen and Sara for lunch; they were both working the Carolina Handspun booth for Morgaine. The lucky girls are getting paid in fiber!

We arrived at the marketplace about 11:30 but Kathleen didn't get out of her class until 12, so we went to Morgaine's booth to visit a few minutes with Sara and Sheila until Kathleen arrived. Somehow, in that short space of time, Tami bought her first wheel! Well, to be fair, she's been wanting a Lendrum for awhile; she's not been terribly happy with the borrowed Louet with the warped wheel, so it's not like it was a real spur of the moment purchase!

The four of us had a nice lunch (fried egg and bacon sandwiches, Reuben sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and onion rings) at the DoubleTree Inn and headed back to the marketplace. Kathleen and Sara went to work, and so did Tami and I; we methodically went up and down every row and every booth. Partly to look for the best buys, and partly to visit with friends and vendors. I tried to restrain my spending but there were a few things that fell into my bag.

Klaus at Crown Mountain Farms had this exceptional black silk roving. The picture just doesn't do this justice. It's a true, deep black and the silk sheen is beautiful! I bought 2 ounces which I think will eventually become a shawl with jet beads.

And from Morgaine at Carolina Handspun, I picked up 4 ounces of merino in a luscious turquoise and 4 ounces of merino in a heathered blue/green.

Good thing Tami and I got home early on Saturday because we were up bright and early this morning to meet Cindy and head for Islay Hill Alpacas. The owners, Jan and Jim Grammer, invited us to come for the spring shearing.

The shearers got an early start on the llamas and were almost done with them by the time we arrived.

Then it was time for the alpacas. Jim had separated the boys into a separate pen, and divided the girls into two holding pens. While the shearers finished up the llamas, Jim talked about alpaca babies, including one little cria who was absolutely adorable.

That low humming or moaning sound in the background is the alpacas. I thought they sounded like one of Andy Rooney's toys when the squeaker is almost shot.

The girls waited patiently for their beautification,

and then spent a few minutes recuperating afterward.

Then it was time for the boys, who were generally not as cooperative; it's all that testosterone, you know.

I know Tami had her camera and took some videos of the shearing; go over to her blog and check them out.

When everybody had their new "do's", it was time to head home.

By noon, all 6 llamas and 20 alpacas had new haircuts, Jan and Jim had fiber bagged and weighed and ready for sale, their daughter Kate had gotten a drop spindle lesson, a little white dog named "Perogi" had herded alpacas, and 3 fiber fanatics had fondled a lot of fiber. All in all, a pretty good way to spend a sunny Sunday.

I'm Rather Sheepish . . .

about telling you where we went yesterday, that is. (You know you can click on the pics to enlarge.)



Some of the PDX Knit Bloggers and Portland Spinnerati went on a little field trip yesterday.

We went to meet Rhonda and Jon at their Greener Pastures Farm in Camas, Washington.

I went to have fun; ToolMan agreed to play "paparazzi" for me, since I would be too busy to deal with the camera.



Did I mention they have sheep there?

Cascade Farmstead sheep to be exact.

And just why did we choose yesterday for our field trip?

Because yesterday was the day Eddie was coming to shear sheep, that's why!



There was a section of fencing put over a couple of sawhorses which we all stood around while Eddie got set up.

We watched while he sheared the first sheep.

It was amazing how the sheep let Eddie move them around, turn them, over, and straddle them while he sheared.

As soon as the fleece was off, somebody grabbed it and flung it up on top of the section of fencing.

Then it was our turn to get to work, skirting the fleece, which is the process of picking off matted sections, pulling off the dung tags, getting out as much vegetable matter as possible, and shaking out the second cuts.

While we were picking, somebody would call out, "This one's mine!" and the fleece would be rolled up, and put into a bag. Ronda (that's her in the red coat) had made a card for each sheep with the ear tag number, name, birth date, fleece color, and any other important information. The name of whoever was buying that fleece was written on the card and put in the bag for later identification.

Then we watched and waited while Eddie finish up the next sheep.

When he was done, we went to work on the next fleece.

Rinse, repeat.

Duffy was just a little too happy with the fleece she picked out. (She has some great pictures of the day over on her blog, by the way.)

Then, it was back to work on the next fleece.

Kathleen told us about watching a sheep shearing and going to the Ashford store during her trip to New Zealand last year.

And pretty soon another fleece was ready to be skirted.

Eddie started on one side of the sheep, working from the neck down, throwing the fleece upside down over the sheep.

Then he flips the sheep over, head down, to release the fleece.

Yes, that pink part of the sheep you see there is just what you're afraid it is . . .

Back to work!

I think Kathleen and Tami were having a minor disagreement over who was getting the next fleece . . .

The last one was the one everybody was waiting for; it was a blue ribbon winner at OFFF last fall.

A fleece so black, you couldn't photograph it.

Even flash didn't help.

I think Tami would have wrestled to the ground anyone who tried to take this out of her hands.

Finally, the last sheep was sheared and the last fleece skirted while Eddie packed up to go to the next farm.

I want to wash and process the fleece myself, so I didn't want a whole one. Thankfully, Pam agreed to split this lovely black and gray one with me.

After the last fleece was bagged, it was time to clean up. Some people took the yucky bits which had been thrown and fallen under the fencing to use for mulch.

Then it was time to hand out the fleeces and pay Rhonda so she could pay Eddie. Microeconomics, live and in person. Or maybe it's "trickle down" economics.

The sheep, though no worse for their experience, were not all that happy to be loosing their
fleeces.

In fact, they looked downright skinny without all that fiber on them.

The spinners, however, were more than happy to be taking those fleeces home.

While we were packing up to leave Greener Pastures, a lady from a neighboring farm, where Eddie had been earlier, came bringing some shetland fleeces and alpaca fleeces from her farm. No pictures of her, but I did buy some of her white alpaca to blend with some brown that I have in my stash.

Needless to say, both bags had to be inspected immediately upon entry into the house.

The alpaca passed inspection pretty quickly.

The sheep fleece apparently needed a more through going over; Andy Rooney tried to take it out of the bag and roll in it, but when I wouldn't let him, he settled for rubbing his head through it and trying to paw it.

Now, I just need to get these washed and processed. Hmmm, I think I'd better Google "washing fleece" for starters . . . .