Sunrise over Phoenix from the 6th floor of the Hilton. I stayed with my good friend, Irene, owner of Cotton Clouds.

This is the inside of the Hilton looking down from the 6th floor. I reminded me of the space-age Jetson’s. (I know this dates me.) The Hilton was a nice hotel, but the internet was down for the last night we were there. That was frustrating as I wanted to work on my new newsletter (stay tuned) and the blog. But there were other things to keep us entertained.

Inside the Phoenix Convention Center.

I took a class on Thursday afternoon and in the evening went to Sample It where retailers can purchase selected items from the vendors so that they have something to take home. Look at what I got!

The show opened on Friday with an Apache blessing.

This is the first show since the Spinning & Weaving Group became a part of TNNA. Their debut was marked by some fun garments in the fashion show…

…and a beautiful blanket.

Irene and I spent time discussing new weaving projects and choosing items for both of our stores.

Someone who will remain nameless pretending that she is not in a booth full of wool.

Irene and I have been friends for 31 years. We had a great time together and I am grateful to her for helping me with things relating to my business. (I’m also grateful that she had a car in Phoenix and is willing to ship all my clothes home to me because I couldn’t take them and my new books and fun samples home on the plane.)

First box–Single ply Jacob yarn spun years ago at Yolo Wool Mill.

Three scarves in a plaited twill. They feel nice, but have a few issues. They curl at the edges because this is an unbalanced twill–warp emphasis on one side and weft emphasis on the other. Besides that the center stripe turned out to be something else. It probably has some llama fiber in it–it has less elasticity than the rest so it puckers. Are these design features? It serves me right for keeping yarn for so long that I don’t remember what it is.

Second box. Full of funky, slubby, heavy handspun yarn, mostly spun by my mom–that means it was many years ago. It will make wonderful throws.

Here it is going on to the loom.

I wove two blankets using the handspun as warp and the finer singles yarn from the first box for weft. Handspun yarn has such a nice feel to it–I don’t think you can duplicate that with millspun yarn.

Third box–heavy 2-ply mill-spun Jacob yarn.

On the loom.

I was going to make ponchos, but I took this off the loom and decided that it was a great shawl (and if it was a shawl it was finished–no cutting and sewing). It is very soft with wonderful drape.

Three boxes started. I haven’t counted how many more to go.

Sparkle was bred as soon as I put her with the ram. She is due February 18, a month away.

I don’t have a breeding date for Summer, but she is obviously pregnant.

I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t have triplets.

Jimmy is out there with the ewes and he is a very luck sheep. Most males that do not make the cut as breeding rams end up in the freezer. When he was a young lamb, I thought Jimmy had breeding potential. In fact I had a buyer for him. She was very disappointed when, after taking a closer look at him at about 3 1/2 months of age, I would not sell him for breeding. I was knew that his lower horn on the left would be a problem, but what was not obvious until I looked more closely was the freckling.

In this photo you can’t see the freckling, but when I parted the fleece I could see it. Freckling in a young lamb is a disqualifying trait for Jacob sheep registration. It increases with age and it is almost as if a spotted sheep turns into an overall gray sheep. Jimmy has a beautiful fleece (although not appropriate for a breeding ram) so I decided to keep him as a wether. The horn issue was dealt with when he was castrated because, without testosterone, the horn growth slows drastically.

Why keep a wether? When you have to separate a ram for whatever reason, he needs a buddy to keep him company. Sheep do not do well by themselves. The other wether I have right now is Jerry (nice fleece, but too much black for a breeding ram)…

…and he is Faulkner’s permanent buddy.

This photo was taken a few years ago in early February.

Here is another that shows the edge of the pasture.

This is the same field as in the first photo and the larger pasture is in the background. Why the difference? No rain.

The Central Valley of California has a Mediterranean climate–hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. We count on the winter rains (and snow in the mountains), starting some time in October or November and continuing through April or May (and last year, into June) to fill reservoirs, replenish aquifers, and to grow grass. Normally the annual grasses start growing when it rains in the fall and when it gets warmer in the spring the grass growth takes off and we get the kind of growth as seen in that first photo. The annual grasses dry out in the spring, but can still provide feed through the summer when properly managed. The cycle starts over with the next fall rains.

I have irrigated pasture. I usually have the best of two worlds. I take advantage of that lush spring growth of annual plants…

Grazing annual ryegrass as some of the other annuals are drying out.

…but I start irrigated in May or June. Through the summer, when livestock on dry land eat dry feed, my sheep eat perennial forages that include clovers and birdsfoot trefoil.

Birdsfoot trefoil

Clover

The  perennial plants drastically slow their growth in the winter but rely on winter rain to grow strong root systems and be ready to support new growth in the summer. Look at the next photo taken two weeks ago.

Annual grasses that germinated after the good rain in November have since died. Some plants are still trying valiantly to hang on but there is virtually no growth. The dry grass in this photo is the remnants of the late summer growth of less desirable yellow foxtail and bermudagrass.

This photo is behind the barn. That clump of grass in the foreground is under the place where any moisture (fog, dew) drips off the roof. Had there been normal rainfall the whole place would look like that.

Let’s hope we see the rain that has been promised for this week so we can look forward to this scene soon.

I use a band saw to cut the horns into button shapes. That was a huge improvement over the table saw. I could easily cut a finger off with the band saw but it is probably not as likely as with the table saw. These are pieces that are ready for the next step:

I still need to drill holes and sand these buttons. Then I finish each button with polyurethane.

Rounded buttons.

Squarish buttons.

Shawl pins (without the pin part).

These are for sale on my website

These are four placemats. Jackie bought fiber from me, then spun it, knit it, felted it, and then needlefelted the designs. (Is that little red hen in the corner Jackie’s self-portrait?)

Here are close-ups:

Amaryllis

Hudson is the lilac ram so he is on a mat of lilac wool.

This is the bantum chicken that hangs out in the barn.

Stephanie

Thanks so much, Jackie. This is an amazing gift.

These photos are of  a beautiful Targhee yarn that I just got back from the mill.

The photo above was taken using my camera on automatic. Yuck.

The yarn is in the same place but I have the gold cover on the disc. I also changed the camera to using manual settings for aperture and shutter speed, but I kept those the same for all the following photos.

This is the photo using the gold. It’s a pretty photo, but probably doesn’t show the true color of the yarn.

This is the cover that is not reflective, but diffuses light as it shines through.

Here is the yarn using that diffuse light. Not bad.

Here is a white reflective cover…

and the yarn. The yarn looks ok but there is more of a blue background.

How about the silver reflective cover?

This is the photo using the silver cover.

There are other variables of course–especially how my computer monitor displays the color and how your monitor displays the color. Those may be two different things.

And while I’m at it, here is a photo of felt that I got back from the mill last month. This is incredibly soft.

Look at the back side of that felt. Isn’t that cool?  I think this will inspire something interesting.

Here is the first warp on my new loom. I think that a 46″ wide chenille throw is a worthy project for the occasion.

Back view of the loom (before adding the extra beam or even the rest of the treadle tie-ups.

The piece on the left is the original throw that I was to duplicate. The loom was a joy to weave on, even with a 46″ wide warp. I am thrilled and can’t wait to wind the next warp.

In the meantime I had a deadline for a piece to (hopefully) be used in the next issue of Handwoven.

This was finished  yesterday and mailed today. Its a v-shawl out of yarn called Bambu Lace.

This is Fanny, my oldest ewe. I absolutely love it. Thank you so much, Julie!

The original idea was to frost the cookies later, but then I got out the food coloring and sprinkles.

Each successive batch was more interesting (creative).

I had to leave before this batch was finished. What fun to have grown up kids in the house!