SAFF--southeastern animal fiber fair

Blogger still seems to be having picture problems---so I will post them later.

We went to SAFF this past weekend. It was of course a beautiful drive through the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Very nice weather and the leaves are turning a bit of color. Of course this year rain would have been my preference but I wasn't horribly disappointed to not have to travel on the highway pulling a trailer while it rained----but I wouldn't have whined if it did.
Anyway---this was our first time to SAFF. We were going to take a dying class but things didn't work out for us to get there in time and we had to cancel out of the class. Our friend, that we met there, did take a space dying (fiber) class and said it was very well done and she liked it a lot. They still had some openings for Sunday classes---some that I would have liked to take---but we weren't staying that long because we had to pick up our guinea hog. Oh well---maybe next year.
The festival was nicely set up but smaller, about 1/4 the size, than the Michigan Fiber Festival. It had quite a few vendors types there---- some of who stopped off on their way back from displaying at Rhinebeck New York---so the selection was good: Pelts (no Icelandic pelts though!), lots of different color yarns and different fiber content yarns, felters and felting supplies, wheels, carders, hand carved needles, knitting shawls and clothing, bags to carry your projects in and many other "necessaries".

I spent some money on some felting needles and bright red/burgundy/purple merino/silk roving and saw the next big purchase I will make-----a circular sock knitting machine. I have been perusing them on line for a while---but I had never seen them in action. See what they look like here. This is how "commercial" socks were knitted in the 1800's and early 1900's. While we were looking around we happened to stumble on a vendor who makes and sells socks with one of them and her husband buys them and repairs them. So....now I know what to save my money for. You can make a PAIR of sock in about an hour once you get good at it. Even at 4 hours----that's still way better than me hand knitting them since I am very very slow when knitting. No production knitter am I. AND I love love wool socks----but at $15 a pair I do have a tendency to buy only a few every year. I know you can buy cheaper one's at Target and such----but they are not as thick or warm and sometimes they are itchy from the cheap wool they are made from.

Over all we had a good time there.

On the way back we went through a town called Hendersonville North Carolina. Very nice place. A tiny bit touristy but it is exactly what I thought Gatlinburg Tennessee would be like (but wasn't). It it a cute downtown, old looking brick buildings, full of antique stores, craft and art stores, artsy clothing stores, food places, candy places toys, bags, pet stuff ----something for everyone. Here is the historic Hendersonville link.
We also went into a couple of art places there called Wickwire fine art/folk art. Both were very nice---one was paintings and higher end art (unique wood tables etc) and the other was smaller knick knack type art things: bowls, frames, mirrors etc.
Overall a cute town. We would go back again someday but we didn't spend too long there this time since we had a pig in the trailer waiting to go home.

Over all a fairly nice weekend. Maybe next year some of you will get a chance to go to one of these places and enjoy some of the festivities.

We have a winner!

About a month ago a very nice lady from Tennessee contacted me about sending some of my Icelandic sheep fleeces in to the Tennessee State Fair. Kim, as she is known, handles the fleece show there and is trying to develop it into one of the larger shows in the country. As far as I can tell she is becoming somewhat successful at it since it has become one of the largest for the southeast and a pretty large one for the East in general. Kim would eventually like to have as many breeds represented in the fleece show as she can---you know all those "rare" or "less well known" breeds of sheep---in addition to the "common" breeds that are at every show across the country.
Anyway---since she already had some Icelandic breeders sending in fleeces she wanted to see if she could get some more and have as large of a class as she could. So she contacted me to ask me if I would send or bring some. I told her yes I would be glad to "promptly" send some but in the end I ding donged around. Finally--days before the judging---I sent in a few fleeces. I had almost backed out of because I have been so busy however I basically promised her and would have felt kind of bad if I hadn't sent some.
So up to the Tennessee State Fair I sent a solid black adult ewe, a solid moorit ewe lamb and a solid moorit adult ram. These were pretty much the best I still had left since either 1) any other candidates were already sold and mailed or 2) the sheep had done some "dirty deed" to their fleece like scratching against the water trough and felting sections of it. I of course hoped one or two would place to pay for the shipping to the show and back to me (Kim was so very nice to offer to ship back as an encouragement for me to please send some). I was not holding my breath though. I knew my fleeces this year were the nicest we had ever had, but I wasn't sure how they compared to others. After three continuous years of vitamin/mineral work for our flock we are finally getting close to getting it right---and it's starting to show. As I said though---I didn't know how they compared to others.

Anyways, late at night this past Sunday I received a call from Kim. Good news. My black ewe had taken first in the ewe class though my lamb had not placed----the judge felt it was TOO soft to correctly represent the Icelandic breed (better that than some other faults aye?). However the ewe lamb did sell to someone :-) and would not be coming home to me. Yeah! Also, even better news my ram fleece placed first in his class AND then went on to beat out some pretty heavy competition to win Best in Show! So now not only do I get some cash for winning---but I also get a special ribbon and a "pewter" platter. Go figure. I am not even into that sort of thing-- however I am glad that my fleeces did so well.
Kim said the Judge narrowed best of show down to a Romney, a Rambouillet (which is basically a type of merino sheep) and my Icelandic ram. She said he finally said that to him my ram's fleece was just so nice and epitomized what an Icelandic should be that he couldn't not give him Best in Show. Also, Kim and the Judge both said they absolutely loved the color--she said the judge raved about it! My ram does have a very odd color---and for an Icelandic who does not carry the gray gene, he for some reason has a "grayish" almost blackish cast to his brown. Very different. Very unique.
Now just to give you an idea how big this is for him and us just let me tell you----"primitive" breeds like Icelandics, Karakuls etc RARELY ever beat out sheep like Ramboullet or Romney or a few other better appreciated breeds for Best in Show. So for a primitive to win Best in Show is a pretty big deal!

Since this ram is technically "sold"--- and to a lady who wanted to add him to her flock specifically for his fleece attributes---I'd say I represented him well AND she got a sheep that hopefully will do for her exactly what she hopes he will.
So next year we are again sending in fleeces to the fair--as promised to Kim (again)-- AND I already have the moorit ewe lamb's fleece from next year sold since it was so appreciated! How about that!
I will post a picture of my "winnings" when they get to me---which could be a week or two I was told.

Also, thanks for helping us make our booth a success at the "fair" this weekend. We appreciate it and enjoyed seeing everyone. We were one of the few booths that actually went beyond breaking even and actually made money. The town did not do it's best to advertise this year---and it showed---but luckily we did well.
I have also been asked by the lady that is running the "museum" in our downtown to 1) please come and do a spinning demonstration periodically there when the antique train comes into town on Saturdays (bringing tourist from Tennessee) and 2) to offer some of my knitted items and hand spun yarns in the gift shop.

** A quick plug for my "sponsor": SmallMeadow Farm---check out the site it is updated with fleeces, fiber and hand spun and/or hand dyed yarns. Check it out :-)

Overall---a DAMN good weekend wouldn't you say? :-D At least in regards to sheep!:-D

Getting ready

We have been getting ready for our local festival that occurs each year at this time. It is a Civil War/reenactment/craft festival that is hosted by our town. Chickamauga is one of the small areas around Lookout Mountain that saw fighting during the civil war as the North pushed through to Atlanta. As an added history lesson (a little bonus if you will) for those of you who didn't know---this area held off the North for quite a while. If they had won---Atlanta would never have been burned. This was the last great battle and because they lost here, Atlanta fell to the Union forces.

Anyway, we (yes, my husband is helping) have been prepping fiber until I feel like I could scream. Though I don't have many pictures of it I thought that I would post a few just so you could see some of it and we will try and remember to take a picture of our booth this weekend.
We won't have a huge selection at our booth since quite a bit of our fiber is already sold but we have added a few things like dye to sell and a few other small things. Our area doesn't really seem to have a place to by fiber dye so we are going to offer it at our booth along with a few other non essentials. We will see how it sells here and at our next festival we go to to decide if we will keep offering it.
We were hoping to also have pelts for sale but unfortunately they will not be back in time to have on hand. We had six this year: two black, three black gray, and one moorit gray. Most are lamb fleeces---but two are adult ewes and all should be very nice except maybe one. The butcher was a bit "eager" to get it off and may have left it in less than perfect condition. We will see. The tanner takes 4 to 8 weeks to do them before sending them back. It has been 5 now and so they shouldn't be much longer but I don't think they will make this weekend.

No matter that we are low on supplies---the booth is only 25 dollars and we will mingle for the afternoon with people while they watch us spin and also with friends from in town.---generally a good afternoon for everyone.
Maybe we may see some of you there? We will be located near the Coke Ovens with the other crafters. Stop in and say hi if you come.

Michigan Fiber Festival

So, as I previously mentioned I would have some "special" pictures for everyone soon. Well I flubbed a bit---I do have some pictures but not as many as I would have liked to have brought back to post.
The Michigan Fiber Festival is held every year in Allegan, Michigan around the third weekend of August. We have only gone two times now but both times we use it as a mid way point to pick up sheep that we are buying for our farm. I purchased 2 ewes and a ram from Jager Icelandics, one ewe from Little Cabin Farm and another ewe from Ingleside Icelandics. I also picked up sheep for a lady in Atlanta.
In actuality our trip started with us meeting Nancy Chase (Ingleside Icelandics) in Nashville,
picking up a ram of hers and then meeting some very nice people from Wisconsin in Indianapolis to
give them the ram---basically a delivery. Unfortunately we were late meeting them ---three minor fender benders, a fire at the side of the road and a horrible storm all contributed to us being 2 and 1/2 hours late. Ack!! I hate doing that to people---but it was out of our control. They were very nice and understanding about it though---Thank you Cathy :-)
After that we camped that night in a state park in Indiana and it was just gorgeous. The weather was perfect and the bugs were doing their whole "forest chorus" thing----which I totally miss. ( We used to live surrounded by a forest and I miss it very often ) By the way---I forgot to take pictures of any of this part.
The next day--Friday--- we diddled around for a while but eventually made our way to the festival at about 3pm. Some of the Icelandic breeders had arrived and were set up and some hadn't made it yet, so we went to wander around the fair. When our sheep got there we helped get them in a pen and I took one picture of my husband watering afterwards.




















Eventually most arrived and we ended up eating a little "pot luck" dinner----that fortunately did have some "pot luck" to eat. A number of us were from way way out of town so we shirked our duties of bringing a dish. The others were very gracious to share with us---and I did get ONE picture of this. I am not in it of course :-)




















Saturday dawned wonderfully cool (late fall weather seeming for us---breezy, dewy and we needed a light jacket) and we got started for a busy day.
I fed and watered all the sheep and then we went off to eat breakfast. I took some pictures of downtown Allegan which is a very cute little town to stop at and even spend a night if you ever go through that way. It's not large, so a week worth of things to do might be hard to find unless you were there for something specific---but it is very cute and clean. The people are pleasant and friendly---which makes the stay enjoyable just because of that. By the way---you can tell by the picture that the weather was wonderful that day.























































Later that afternoon---I showed some of the sheep for Jager Icelandics. Of course, Barb kept giving me the polled sheep---which don't have the handy dandy handles on top of their head to control them with. Some people halter break their sheep---but not everyone does so they can be a bit of a pill sometimes. Little ballerinas doing high jumps on the end of a "string". Then they will throw their selves down into the flooring and roll in it as they have a fit about being held still and cover the very fleece they are being judged on in wood chips. Baaad sheep.







































Unfortunately none of my victims, err....sheep, placed at all. Though I think the judge thought my handling technique was good (which it wasn't) since she chatted to me a bit (a no no) and I placed right on the other side of the ribbon every time. However---a good time was had by all and there were lots of sheep to see. We got to talk with friends not seen for a year, made new friends and saw lots of fiber related STUFF.
I even broke down and bought some yarn---a rarity for me. I am a very very good person about not buying on whim---but I did like this yarn and since it is boucle, it is out of my skill range to produce. I will post a picture of it when I start the project. I think I will make something for my mother's upcoming 60th birthday with it.

Anyways---we had a great time. Made it back safely and now have sheep in our quarantine area. My new ram is wonderfully built (I had to shear him to figure it out though) and my new ewes all seem to be somewhat friendly and curious. Overall---good purchases. I will post pictures of them another day.

Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival

So we have made it back from the first annual Middle Tn Fiber Festival. It went very well I thought with the weather really being nice (of course I was hoping for rain here at home while we were gone!).
We met some amazingly interesting people---both customers and other vendors and really had a great time. There were demonstrations, instructions and fiber animals too.
We had a drive of about 3 hours to get to the festival, getting up at 4:30 in the morning and back home at 10:30 pm. which made it a very long day. One other vendor came from about as far as we did: Peaceful Vally farm (no web site on them but fresh veggies, honey, eggs, fiber, flowers and herbs fresh and dried.) They are in Taft Tn.---931-425-6551 Which is near Huntsville Alabama. Extremely nice people---we also took shearing classes with them a few years back. It was one of those "I KNEW I recognized you from somewhere!" situations. Here they are:























One really great vendor there was Jacque Dumas of The Outback Menagerie. She raises angora rabbits---of which she traded me fiber for fiber and I definitely got the better deal for sure (thank you Jacque!) Gorgeously soft soft soft fiber. Magnificent. Jacque is located in Waverly Tn.

Here are some pictures of one of her rabbits (he's a national champ!) and of her interesting electric spinning wheel.





Jacque sells her fiber dyed and not dyed and also breeding rabbits.














Then there was Far Out Farm of Jane and Kim Caulfield (email jcaulfield@vallnet.com) They sell the fibers of their sheep mixed with silk, quiviet, mohair and a number of other fibers. They also sell tussah and another (can't remember name--though it was super soft) silk ready to spin already dyed in luscious colors. My favorite was a blue/green blend called Opal. Gorgeous. Here's there picture:


















The last vendor I would like to mention is Deer Trace Farm. Gary and his wife Carole do fiber (think exotic: camel, mohair, yak etc) but even better is that Gary is an excellent woodworker and makes custom crafted spinning wheels. Very nice people with excellent products. Reach him at deertrace@callnet.com or 931-433-0936 Sorry no picture (!???)

And though I thought my husband took pictures--he thought I did-- so we didn't get many unfortunately.
There were some other vendors---some we didn't meet and some we didn't really talk with much but overall it was an excellent day.
So---Next year: Make plans to attend the Tennessee Fiber Festival near Nashville Tn. Though this one was put together in under 3 months and was a bit small: Next year will be bigger and even better since we now have a whole year to plan it. What more could you ask for than a day of Fiber, Friends and Fun. Such a convenient time of year too!

FIBER FESTIVAL--near Nashville

Well! How about that! Someone is trying to start a fiber festival for my "area". Well, it's not actually IN my area, I will have to drive about 3 hours north to get to it, but that will be the closest festival we will probably EVER go to.

It is going to be very very close to Nashville Tn and is going to be titled from this year on the "Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival". It is hosted by a farm named Three Creeks Farm (who raises Icelandics too, but also has some other breeds of sheep.) It is going to be held in Dickson Tennessee on May 26th 2007 from 9-5. How about those apples? Maybe I will see some of you there!

Since we are going we will take our felting batts and some roving that we still have left of course---I mean that is what a fiber festival is about after all. However we will also take some of our sheep so we can show them off. Maybe a ram or two and I do have one ewe without a lamb that currently can go with us. Secret is still not quite up to it---we would be worried about stressing her so soon after her ordeal. Maybe one of the ewes with older lambs.....maybe.

The Festival is also going to offer a few classes and lots of demo's. Over time it should build into something greater with spinning classes and dying classes and weaving classes and.......maybe just like Michigan or Maryland or some of the others! Yippee!

Anyways---hope some of you can come out to join us!