Batty goodness!
New batts posted tonight! š
Open Source – Open Source is a super-soft domestic wool base hand dyed in a lilac color, accented with deep red BFL, white silk, and red and purple firestar. This is going to make an amazing yarn!
Fathoms Below – two batts chock full of fibery goodness – a base of sapphire blue buttery BFL, with lots of silk, bamboo, and sparkle added in for an amazing spinning experience
Evergreen Forest – big, fluffy batts carded up with chocolate brown domestic wool, forest green domestic wool, brown firestar and green firestar. The firestar adds a subtle sparkle to these homey batts.
squee I am having SO MUCH FUN with this carder! š
Thank You!
WOOHOOO!!!! Thanks to everyone who participated in our drum carder sale ā Iāve reached my sales goal, and the new Fancy kitty Kitten carder has been ordered! Unfortunately, this means that the sale is endedā¦. but it ALSO means that soon Iāll be able to card up squishy soft batts for you! Iām super excited about being able to offer a whole new line of spinning fiber ā it should be tons of fun! In the meantime ā hereās the newest stuff in the shop, from last weekendās dyeing adventures:
Lots of yummy, floofy Romney (my personal favorite fiber to spin!) and domestic top to choose from! These are all big braids too ā theyāre all over 4 oz, great for planning larger projects! The domestic top is a brownish-gray base, so the fibers all came out wonderfully muted and heathery. It was especially difficult to put āSerenityā up ā but Iām still working away at my Corgi Hill Farms batts, so I have enough to spin on for a while. Happy spinning, yāall!
Feeling Sheepish giveaway!
http://phatfiber.blogspot.com/2009/10/feeling-sheepish-and-giveaway.html
Check out the Phat Fiber blog for a chance to win a 2.0 oz of our yummy, scrummy mulberry silk!
New handspun in the shop!
Added some handspun to the shop! š I donāt normally list handspun⦠but itās piling up, and Iāll NEVER knit it all! š
20% off sale – limited time!
Iāve decided that I want to invest in a drum carder – and pretty much have my heart set on a Fancy kitty āKittenā. I could put it on a credit card, but in todayās economy that seems unwise. SO⦠Iām offering a special āhelp me get a drum carderā sale in my shop!
ALL fiber purchases in the shop are 20% off until I have enough in my PayPal account to get the carder! Iām about 2/3 of the way there – so hopefully this sale wonāt last long at all!
http://feelingsheepish.etsy.com – include the code āsheepykittenā in the message to seller section, and youāll receive 20% refund from your order (not including shipping)!
Sunday, Scone-y Sunday!
Nom nom nom, as the cool kids say!
I work outside the home 40 hours/week, plus go to school in the evening – so a LOT of my food is purchased.Ā Unfortunately, that has been detrimental to both my waistline AND my budget.
So my goal this week is to eat all my food from stuff we have at home – it will just take some pre-planning.Ā One of the hardest meals for me is breakfast, since I tend to sleep in until JUST the last minute and then dash out the door.Ā Starbucks has been my friend.
But… again, not great for the budget.Ā We got a coffee machine for the office, so now coffee is taken care of.Ā I decided to make some scones so I could have something to quickly grab on my way out the door.Ā These are blueberry scones, using Grandma Johnson’s Scone Recipe. They came out just wonderful – fluffy and cakey and just the right amount of sweetness.Ā I used frozen blueberries (less expensive, and they don’t get all mushy during the cooking process), and used the food processor to incorporate the frozen butter into the flour mixture, a la Alton Brown’s ‘Biscuit Method’.Ā It makes cutting the butter into the flower nice, even, and easy.Ā I’m a lazy baker. š
They’re tasty tasty – I’m just worried that they won’t last the week!
Fiber…. Saturday? :)
Iām TERRIBLE about actually photographing yarn – so I decided to fix that this afternoon. š
Forest Floor – ~60 yds, 2-ply merino. I usually donāt like spinning merino⦠and this didnāt change my mind. š I do like the finished yarn, though!
Esmeraldaās Flame – ~450 yards. 2-ply yarn – one ply in romeny, the other in mohair. This is one of my favorite yarns Iāve spun to date!
Phat Fiber – ~60 yards, done from various bits from the Phat Fiber Sampler Box in coordinating colors.
Smoky Sapphires – ~220 yards, 2-ply yarn. One ply in natural, undyed grey mohair. Second ply in purple merino/silk blend.
Mardi Gras – ~65 yards domestic wool. 2-ply, roving to yarn!
Scrappy Jeans – ~175 yds mixed fibers, 2 ply. Solid navy blue is local dyed corriedale. Multicolored ply is random bits of silk, wool, mohair, and milk fiber leftover from other spinning projects.
Strawberry Milk – ~120 yards, 2 ply. One ply is undyed fawn alpaca, other ply is brightly dyed pink milk fiber.
Fiber Friday!
Woohoo!Ā I survived, and have great plans for the spring fiber season!
I am pleased to say that my first fiber show, Farm Fest at Rising Meadow Farms was a great success!Ā It was a GORGEOUS day – bright and sunny, in the mid 70’s.Ā We got to meet a ton of great fiber enthusiasts, and spent the whole day sitting in the sun and playing with fiber with good friends.Ā I really can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Unfortunately, no SAFF for us this year – it falls at a really tight point in my fall semester. š¦Ā I’m hoping next year will be better, but we’ll have to play it by ear.Ā I am CHOCK full of ideas on how to make our booth prettier and easier to navigate, and hope to hit a couple of shows in the spring.Ā We’ll definitely keep you posted!
See all the pretty floof in the photos above?Ā That’s just part of the extra stock that didn’t get sold last weekend!Ā I’m in the process of photographing it all and getting it listed on Etsy. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks!
I think my favorite of the new fibers has been our yummy yearling mohair top – it’s super soft, super shiny, and takes color like a dream:
‘Princess’ – 5.2 oz. yearling mohair top
Last but not least – a few photos from the last few weeks of fiber fun:
Me wearing 1580’s Italian Renaissance working-class clothing, playing with my drop spindle at an Atlantian SCA event, September 2009.
Corriedale roving, on the bobbin.Ā This should be plied this weekend, I can’t wait to see how it turns out! š
Feeling Sheepish, live and in person! :D
Wow! Although I donāt usually pack the floof up and head out on the road, somehow I ended up committing myself to not one, not two, but THREE events this fall!
Soā¦. come and see me! š
Feeling Sheepish will be vending at the following events:
Midnight at the Oasis – Apex, NC – September 19, 2009. MATO is a wonderful Middle Eastern themed SCA event hosted by the Canton of Nimenfeld. Besides getting to see us and the floof, youāll also see and meet lots of great folks interested in Renaissance and Medieval history, culture, and arts. There is a cover charge ($15), and the SCA does require all event participants to wear garb (ie: clothes or costume that would have been worn before 1700). That said – itās a GREAT way to meet fellow fiber lovers and other historic crafts, and this is a wonderful first event. They will have garb you can borrow – so donāt let that stop you from coming out to play with us! š For more information about the SCA, look here!
Youāre not interested in dressing up in funny clothes? Then come see us at Farm Fest 2009 in Liberty, NC on SUNDAY, October 4, 2009. This is a wonderful fiber festival – smaller than SAFF, but big enough that you can spend the whole day. Last year there were a ton of great indie vendors selling fibers, spinning wheels, hand-spun yarn, spindles, and lots of other fiber-related goodness. š There is no cover charge to get in the door, and itās a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. Thereās also live music, sheep dog demonstrations, and the BEST lamb kebobs youāve ever tasted.
The next weekend finds us wearing funny clothes again – this time in Elkin, NC at War of the Wings on October 10, 2009. This is a much larger event than Midnight at the Oasis, and there will be lots of vendors, knights in armor doing battle, equestrian jousting, and more!
So⦠thatās where Iāll be this fall. Where will YOU be? š
Store Update! :) Corriedale and domestic sliver!
I did some dyeing on Saturday – not a lot, but I got to experiment with some new natural grey domestic wool sliver – which overdyed into these AMAZING heathery tones. I almost kept it all for myself! But… I figured that it’ll be a new staple for the shop, so there will be plenty more to play with. š
Row 1: Bourbon Street – Corriedale, Oceanic – Corriedale
Row 2: Walden – Corriedale, Briar Rose – Domestic Sliver
Row 3: Walden – Domestic Sliver, Bourbon Street – Domestic Sliver
Row 4: Iolite – Domestic Sliver, Clowning Around – BFL
Everything at Feeling Sheepish! š