From the Animals to the Finished Product- Black Sheep Gathering

Ol'Blue Eyes!!! He was so sweet!!!

Black Sheep Gathering was Fantastic!!! It was different as all the
outside vendors had to move into the main building. There were

113vendors,I was told. Of course all the animals and fiber were there.

 You can see the whole process of animal, to fiber, to wonderful art

Some very fine sheep from my friend Susie Wilson's Farm
Sudan Farm

Tiny Angora Goats (Mohair)

Getting gussied up to show.. what a cute boy!!!

look close, wonderful crimp!!! My First choice!

a whole room of fleeces!!!

Allu Daugherty blending fibers to rolags

Moonsong Fiber Works

Mixed fiber rolags

Alpaca scarf woven by Dave Zandberg

Alpaca from Sandberg and Zofchak

Lovely Alpaca from Dallas Or at above website. David's woven

scarfs are lovely!

Hand dyed by Alexandra's Crafts www.alexandrascrafts.com

Mackenzie Textiles

From Cloth Roads / mostly from south America. Pricey but just gorgeous

Eugene Textile Center

I had decided I absolutely did not want to take home more

yarn or roving (I have a room full!!! You can imagine with

all my embroidery, spinning and knitting!) But this does

not preclude weaving! I got some 10/2 mercerized cotton for

Overshot place mats, another shuttle and a hook. Happy I found

exactly what I needed.

And the display of Competition Items:

Lovely felting!! Bremen-town Musicians.

Lots of my favorite Border collies/ felted

Hand spun/ Hand knit

Woven? Couldn't find a description on it,
but it is VERY NEAT!!!!

I love this shawl!!!

Pretty wing scarf

And last but not least... Best Of Show
a lovely shawl of natural colors.

My friends and I look forward to this day every year. Black Sheep
is the best in Oregon!!! Wonderful artists represented.
Please leave feedback on my page here!!! I like to know what you
think.

"Weft Over Sale" at Tollgate near Sisters

Weavers get the joke... "Weft Over" as we all have them!
Fun to purchase from a good selection. There was lots of cones of
thread and even looms and Spinning wheels. It was a hot gorgeous
day, but cool in the club house and in the shade. Every one brings
such good food for the picnic that we were all hardly able to waddle
from the table.  This is the COSW group that meets every 3rd Wed in
Redmond

Did you know Oregon has a plaid?

First business the SALE!!!

My friend bought this wheel to teach a young spinner.

Nice quilt in the Tollgate clubhouse

Next the meeting.

Then "show and tell" of which the "Oregon Plaid" above was

 a beautiful piece.

An Alpaca shawl Barb purchased recently in Peru

Rep weave that my study group worked on for the past months.
One nice lady actually got some woven! Actually quite a
few did, but not me.... I was just working on other things.
We tackle Overshot next and I am really ready for that.

A tiny beaded/ knit purse I helped my friend to knit.

Then we got to eat out in the warm sun! These ladies know how

to cook!!!

Annie and I are still out looking for owls.

By the irrigation pond in the sunset.

So many things happening in June!!! Tomorrow is Black Sheep in Eugene!!!
We look forward to that all year.

It is all about ALPACA and OWLS

Spring Shear in Terrebonne at Crescent Moon Ranch

3 colors of Cria I came home with!!!! All the bags have the names on them!

 This is Cria (baby Alpaca) softer than you can imagine!! 
My weaving/spinning guilds were invited to spin at
Crescent Moon Alpaca ranch in Terrebonne Oregon.  It is a
festival with the shearing + a great barbecue ,proceeds to go
to Veterans Buddies, service dogs. Live music too!
So, I  and all my friends spun under the trees in lovely shade.
It got up to 92 degrees! The best part is we were given some of
the older alpaca from last year. I had never spun with 100%
alpaca before, right off the animal. My friend Jeanette (below)
showed me how to grab some locks, comb off the tips to open
them up and spin away. Couldn't have been easier. It was
amazingly clean. I had a few seeds, grass and sand in my lap
after spinning. You can see my results above.
Right now you can follow the link above and buy the fleece or finished
sweaters, coats, scarfs, socks + in their store!

Me with my black new alpaca

Jeanette, my great teacher Spinning sooo fine!

Jeanette's gorgeous alpaca

Barbara spinning

Michele and more friends

More of the guild members having fun in the sun/ shade

Cria ready to shear, she is about 9 months old

Stretched out to hold her still

Lovingly held the whole time!

being sheared

Such a darling sheared Cria

Good meal before and after the shear

Love the look of the graceful neck after shearing

More moms and babies (my black Clarabell in center)

Hanging out after shearing

This is the black mom whose fleece I am spinning
 with her rusty colored baby

So... after we were thoroughly cooked (92 degrees at the end of the

afternoon) we had a rootbeer float and went home. HAPPY!!!

 

A young visitor Ava, learned to spin and did soooo well!!!

Now for the OWLS... We are sooo lucky. We had a 

family of Great Horned Owls move into our lower back 

pasture, by the irrigation pond. I think they are eating the

many frogs! They have been here for a week and I am

enjoying them every day.

Mom the first day

2 babies the second day

more of the babies at sunset

How fluffy the babies are! Short "horns"

Every evening I keep following the owls around and they

are so used to me they don't fly away anymore! Love them.