SPINKITTY

Chiengora Meathead Hat

2010-12-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

Handspun dog from my amazing Bijou. I have bags and bags full of super soft belly fur. Enough for hats, scarves, mitts, footies... its gonna be a warm warm winter for this little Goat wrangler. Anybody want some doggie duds.

Fair Isle DeathFlake

2010-02-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

Im so loving stranded colorwork and this cool hat is a must have for the men in my life. JC models
the cherry red and steel gray version. I have lots of cool color palettes from Knitpicks. I can see my daughter Chloe in maybe a Chartruese, orange and light turquoise version. I also knitted up a Mink Brown and Saffron Yellow version as well. I am obsessed with colorwork and I am now knitting up the Owlie Owl Cowlie found on ETSY in Heathered Cocoa, Bridesmaid Seafoam Blue and Heathered Green Tea. Its so cute! pics soon.

Los Luna Moth

2009-08-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

My Very First Lace

Now I started the Knitpicks lace project in Atoll.

Its going pretty good. Pics soon

World Wide Knit in Public Day

2009-06-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

WOrld Wide Knit in Public Day was a hit. Linda, Pam, Kim, Deby G., Suzanne, Carla, Chloe and myself. We had lace knitters, sock knitters, sweater knitters, hat and washcloth knitters and I brought my wheel and drop spindle. In between knitting and chatting we ordered up some yummy Teofilo's New Mexican cuisine.

I was told by a few patrons that it was great to see people spinning and knitting.

I plan on posting pics from the event soon.

Lilly's red Doeling

2009-03-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Lilly was sold to my friend Carol . The day Moxy and Q-tip Kidded Lilly did the same. Here is her super nice red doeling . I feel fortunate that my Buck Sam threw so much color. These are his first kids and he did an awesome job. Sam is a white buck with small indiscriminate patches of black. He has red, black, cream and tan in his background. This little girl was named Megan, then we have Cloudy who is a Red and White Pinto and then Milagra. Im still unsure if Milagra is Sams kid. There is a possiblity that she might be part Nigerian so I have to wait and see as she matures. Mia ( Milagra) is solid black. All of these kids have the softest fleece and Cloudy and Megan have super curls.

I cant wait to shear in the fall and spin up their awesome locks.

Mila and Cloudy

2009-03-02T19:51:00.001-08:00

Milagra is so black its really hard to see her. I have never seen a goat so black. She is blue/black. Her face is so black... her nose and eyes are almost invisible against the blackness of herself. Its quite something to see in person. The pics do not do her justice. I believe Mila is the daughter of Huckleberry our prized nigie who now lives at Prairiewood ranch. That would make her a Nygora. Cloudy is from our Angora buck Sam. Cloudy is not white. I may need a few days to see how she looks. She has a reddish cast and a light brown or tan head.

This has been a day I will never forget. Finding tiny Milagra in a frozen heap in the corner and her amazing spring to life. I have never seen anything quite like it and then the birth of Cloudy hours later. This day has filled me with such Hope.

Milagra

2009-03-02T13:54:00.001-08:00

What an amazing morning. It didn't start out that way. I went out to feed goats about 8 and noticed Moxy my first time kidder looking very thin. I immediately ran out to the barn to see what was up and found that Mox had given birth to a baby doe during the night and she had froze to death. There in the corner of the barn was the frozen stiff body of a tiny black mass that i knew was a goat. I was so upset. I picked up the tiny cold stiff body and headed to the house to get a trash bag so I could place her in the garbage dumpster...its one of those things i hate most about having farm animals. Sometimes death happens and you have to deal with it. Anyhow while I was looking for a bag to place her in she made a very faint murmur. Oh my gosh is this really happening, how can this frigid stiff carcass be alive. I immediately grabbed the heater pad, threw some thick towels in the dryer to get them toasty warm and began massaging her. I held her up to clear any liquids that may be in her lungs and she was as limp as could be. I continued massaging and rewarming towels for about an hour or more and then a friend brought me some nutri drench and goats milk .I couldn't catch Moxy the momma to milk for colostrum but the goats milk will help I thought.
I really didn't think this little goat was gonna make it but over the next 5 hours i kept it up and now she is drinking from a bottle. During all of this craziness my other goat Q-tip kidded and gave me another little girl. I managed to get enough colostrum from her to feed the Miracle goat. Well our new little Miracle is called Milagra. Spanish for miracle.
This was the most awesome day Ive had this year. It fills me with so much hope . I had been needing something hopeful and today was my lucky day. I Thank my lucky stars I went out to the barn today. I had plans to go to town. Usually JC does morning feeding but this morning I decided to do it. Synchronicity really came through for Milagro, me , JC and the Flying Goat Ranch.

Ahhhhh what a day. I needed a little Miracle in my life and today she came.

My Mosaic

2009-03-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today I was visiting a few of my friends on Ravelry to see what they had been up to which then led to me visiting their blogs. One of the ravelers had a creative challenge on her blog i thought was fun so I have decided to post the same challenge here in honor of her. Heres the directions and the Mosaic I created.

The Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

have fun and please tell me where i can find your mosaic once you completed the challenge.

Space Dyeing

2009-01-25T11:46:00.001-08:00

The Harvey House show is coming up so I have been busy knitting, spinning and dyeing items to sell.
Here is a small sample of the dyed roving I have completed the past few days. I have roving still drying on the racks that is really beautiful... so as soon as it dries I will definitely add it to SpinKitty. This small sample was my experimentation with different types of fiber and new ways of applying the dye. All of it was steamed. The stuff still on the racks is fun and vibrant. I cant wait to share it. My fiber journey has been amazing. I owe a lot of my success to my fibernistas. Love to my Wednesday afternoon gIRL pOSSE and a big giant hugg to the Thursday night BFFF mammas.

a new thread

2008-11-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

I have been playing with some fiber that came from my friend Wendy's farm , roving that Terri got me in Taos and the hand dyed Sharon and I did. Now I need to decide if they are to become singles, doubles or triples and if they will be plyed with them self or other fibers. The dark brown is really lovely kid wool. I think I would like to make a shawl with it. The colorful stuff will most likely become hats .

fluffy white

2008-11-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

Im always looking for new ways to feed my creative side. I have this wonderful fluffy mohair that allows me to do just that. I just ordered lots of new Dye colors in oak, iceberg, mustard, musk, crabapple and silver birch. I plan on combing this mohair with some creamy alpaca. I see a beautiful shawl in my future.

Sock it to Me

2008-11-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

Socks... Oh where do I start. If you search back in my blog youll see that early on in my knitting it was the first thing I Really wanted to do. Unfortunately it hasnt gone all that well.
My Biggest problem is that I keep choosing patterns too difficult for my skill level.
Then I came across this cute little Mountain Color bootie pattern and I even spun the yarn. Its a combination of Mohair from my goats plyed with tencel . Ok so it took me a jillion years to complete this little cutie and now I have to make one that matches. Right now IM just glad that I was able to complete just one simple sock despite the fact it has no partner. SO Now I guess I better get cracking on its mate. Hopefully it wont take me a year to finish the next one.

To Dye For

2008-10-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to the east mountains to visit my good friend Sharon Shaver. What a fun day. We dyed from morning to late afternoon. I came home with a wonderful assortment of dyed roving, yarn, and silk hankies. Today I started spinning up the garnet and blueberry roving and it spins so delicate. I love Sharons way of dyeing. The roving and yarn stays fluffy. Im so excited by what she taught me I ordered a bunch of dye and Im ready to play again soon.

When I get the Garnet/Blueberry all spun I will share a picture. Thanks Sharon, Im DYeing to visit soon.

Weavin' Ways

2008-10-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

Ive had tons of help setting up my Rigid Heddle Loom. While shes not fancy its perfect for this weaver. Thanks to my amazing friends;

Terri Greenlee, Sue Goudy and Greg Schwirtz.

I chose some Funky Alpaca from Four Pines Alpacas. Its really loosely spun and very fuzzy making it a difficult project. Despite the problems Ive had its been a good learning experience. Choosing the proper yarn makes weaving much easier

Taking notes for future projects

Not too bad . Practice Practice practice...

Indigo

2008-06-23T10:54:00.001-07:00

Beautiful Indigo
Linda our Indigo Mistress
What a great class, Linda Du Blois of Village wools was a enthusiatstic teacher with helpful tips on successful Indigo dyeing. I have really been wanting to do a Indigo pot. Now I feel I have the confidence to move forward. It was also fun to share the day with our Fiber to finish group. Thanks to Linda and Myra our club prez for putting together an educational and fun day.

Sheep Shearing Day

2008-03-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

BEFORE
DURING
SO much fleece...wheres the sheep
ALL NAKED

I had a blast at Wendys today. The shearer was amazing. I told him I was getting ready to shear my goats in the coming weeks and needed some expert advice. While he sheared Wendys he gave me tips on how to do the goats. When he was almost done he said if I ran home real quick and grabbed a few he would give me a quick lesson. My pretty Zia was first in line. While her fleece was not as long as I would have liked I felt like I got a really good overview on how to do a better job.

I sheared Pearl and Rasta last year and didnt get it as close as I would have liked Now Im armed with better tools and the knowledge to do a more professional job. Thanks goes to Wendy and Jake , and of course Pat the Shearer. All in all it was a fun day.

Toe Up

2008-02-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

The knitting Gods must have heard my plea for sock help yesterday. My Knit GURU called to see if I wanted to come over. What a great day to sit outside let the sun warm the winter out of us and get a lesson on Toe-Up socks. I love this method. You really get the feeling of progress going Toe-Up. I have the pair I started at Terri's yesterday and this Alpine Blue Mountain Colors BearFoot yarn that I started last night. This picture doesnt do the color justice. When I get my first sock done Ill post my results.

Thanks Terri for a great day in the sun knitting and purling.

SOCKS

2008-02-26T16:34:00.001-08:00

Our Thursday Night Knit Guru Terri Greenlee taught me how to make socks last

year. I chose some Cherry Hill yarn in some luscious berry colors and really got

going on this big endeavor. About a month into the project I realized the socks

would fit a GIANT. So rip, rip, rip, and my knitting needles

still lay barren. This summer I would

like get down on this sock groove.

So Ms. Sock Guru if

you read this blog

how bout another

sock lesson?

Pretty Please!

YARN BOY

2008-02-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

I love Yarn Boy. His blog has a great little section on the history of knitting plus some of his own beautiful knitted items , links to other crafty things and lots of other fun tidbits. I remember my brothers were taught to knit when they were little but as they grew older it just wasnt manly enough. Maybe Russell Crowe and YARNBOY can show men today that knitting can be very manly. YOU rock YARNBOY

Marathon Spin

2008-02-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

Sampling
Navajo Ply from Brown Sheep Wool
Sakina needles Fruit Salad Roving, Navajo Ply
I was really sick a few weeks back. Stuck in the house with nothing to do I found myself

spinning in between sleeping. Now I have some beautiful yarns for this summers projects.

Im finally acheiving a nice consistent look to my handspun.

Spinn SPinn spinn

2008-01-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

The class with Sue was a great success. While this picture doesnt do my spinning justice Im happy with the uniformity and delicate thread that was spun. The Mohair roving was from the Square Hole Ranch that I bought at Taos Wool Festival. After I spun a mohair single I plyed it with some white tencel. It helped me to see how well I was doing
I love how it makes the yarn shimmer and pop.
I cant wait till our next class. Sue makes it effortless and fun.
Of course its always fun spending the day with my knit posse.

Purls of Wisdom

2007-12-11T15:32:00.001-08:00

I have all this wonderful mohair, wool and angora sitting in baskets waiting to be made into yarn. And then there are all the soft woolies I dream about creating. Rasta gave me the softest black and silver baby mohair. JC already has dibs on that fleece for a winter hat and muffler.
Pearl and Sam gave me wonderfull long white locks. I am still dreaming about whats to become of their gift and while I love spinning right now Im anxious to knit and purl.
Ive missed my little knit group. Every other week we get together and share what we did during those 2 weeks. It helps somebody like me who is new to knitting. Im alway inspired by their talent

While all of my animals have gifted me with the mohair to create, the friendships inspire and encourage. Having a group to share the journey is the best. So heres to my Thurday NightKNit Posse and those Purls of wisdom they so generously share.

Roving

2007-09-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Heres the results of the dyed roving I did at Mary's a few weeks back. Iv'e had a chance to spin some up and I then plyed it with some cream mohair. Its whimsical and fun. Now if I can just get a little chunk into that handspinning of mine Ill be happy.

My Louet

2007-07-03T16:12:00.001-07:00

Here is my very first spinning wheel. When I first started to spin I was using my teachers wheels. I struggled so much with both of her wheels.When this wheel became available I jumped at the chance to buy her. It had been used at the Las Aranas Weavers and Spinners guild to teach and was available at an amazing price. The minute I began spinning I knew that I had to have her. She may not be fancy but she spins like a dream. Ive tried many wheels but so far Louet is by far my favorite.

Pearl, Milo, Zia and Rasta

2007-06-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Their first day at the Flying Goat Ranch, ZIa is hiding in the back

ZIA

2007-06-29T15:33:00.001-07:00

Heres a close up of BABY zIA. She really is the sweetest of the group. None of the babaies are very friendly but Im hoping after getting the bottle they will all come around. Gayle Bone of Square Hole Farm has some really beautiful angora goats. She was sweet to offer me 4 goats for the price of my 2 Nubians . I think we both got a sweet deal.

Just Dying

2007-06-23T06:48:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Terri, Wendy and I took a Dye Class in Edgewood. We spent a few hours learning how to handpaint and dye our handspun wool. As you can see we got some beautiful results. Im anxious to start dying here at home with the kits we purchased. It has also inspired me to get busy on my spinning wheel so I will have lots of yarn to dye in the coming weeks. Now I just have to figure out what Im going to make with all this beautiful yarn.