Bitterroot Fiber Arts Studio

A New Pillow

2012-01-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here's my little pillow that I made yesterday. A friend is picking up a 12 x 12" pillow form for me so I'll find out tomorrow if I made proper calculations in sizing.

A new neck scarf

2012-01-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

Merino with mohair ringlets

New Shawl

2012-01-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

Trying to come up with some new styles for the new year and get the creative juices flowing for my trip to California later this month. I will be teaching three classes and would like to have some, fresh ideas for the class. I am pleased with this simple triangular shawl - unfortunately it is probably too large for the nuno felting class I will be teaching.

A hat in progess

2012-01-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a nuno felt hat I am working. I love the surface of the hat. I originally thought it would like great with white trim (band and flower) but now I am thinking that the trim detracts from the surface design of the hat so I may end up finding something simpler to put on it.

Second round with hearts

2012-01-05T13:43:00.001-07:00

Well you see after fulling the slit became a circle

I made a matching piece of felt, cut a circle out and sewed it over the opening after stuffing the pillow.

The back, which of course, I like the best. I am thinking about doing some beading or stitching

My second attempt at a heart was back to wet felting around a template. Once the wool was felted around the template I cut a straight slit across the middle of one side. Now what do they call those surgical procedures they do on women to avoid a big incision.

Valentines Day is just around the Corner

2012-01-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

You I am thinking about hearts. I wanted to make a seamless heart pillow, but frankly I can not think of any place to leave an opening that does not have to be sewn shut and of course then that seam stands out. So first I needle felted heart shape with some suffolk wool, then wrapped it with my beautiful Bluefaced Leicester wool and eventually wet felted it. Not particularly thrilled with the outcome although I could see it being used as a method to make pin cushions in different shapes.

Mokies New Look

2012-01-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Mokie and I went to the big city on Monday as she was long past due for a hair cut. She is looking really pretty this week.

Flaming Red Nuno Scarf

2011-12-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Have been trying to keep productive the past few days. I decided to try a piece of habatai silk with some yak down and superfine merino. I used lots of other fibers on the surface to give it more interest. Then into the dye pot. I am quite pleased with it.

Felt Scrap Purse

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by Andrea Grahams recent posts on the Felters List to try making a small purse of out of some of my felt scraps. I have lots of felt scraps since I have started using traditional millinery techniques to make my felt hats. A bit more cutting and sewing is involved and it is nice to have the extra felt on the hood to get a good stretch when you are blocking the hat.

The purse is still an ongoing project as I am having fun embellishing it with some simple embroidery. I am looking forward to trying another one soon.

And here is a hat which I finished yesterday and it was picked up for a holiday gift. I have had my cloche hat block modified to remove a thin piece of wood from the crown so that I can now make a cloche with a shorter crown and then add the piece of wood back on to make a taller crown should the next customer require that. In this case, the young lady tried on a tall crown cloche and we decided the short crown would be better for her. Her mom drove up to pick it up and shared the good news that the young lady has been accepted to Harvard so this hat will be heading east next fall.

Wool shipped for processing

2011-12-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well I thought the three big boxes of wool would be gone by now but the freight truck never showed up yesterday so I imagine it will be today. Three large boxes are stuffed to the brim with my wool as well as wool from several friends. We are a month early this year as Zwool started their sale early. I am having all my Bluefaced Leicester wool put into roving and all the BFL/Gotland cross wool done in craft batts. I sort my wool carefully so I had nine separate lots of wool this year, Adult BFL, BFL Lamb, three shades of BFL/Gotland wool from silver to nearly black. I kept the 3/4 Gotland rams fleece as a separate run - he was very dark but also very strong. And I had two very dark BFL/Gotland lamb fleeces which, of course, called out for their own lot. It will be exciting to see how lovely it all is when it comes back home.

Professional photos of some of my recent work

2011-11-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

Felt Purse Class at Yellowstone Art Museum

2011-10-25T19:23:00.000-06:00

A full day of felting making sturdy felt bags was enjoyed by teacher and students at Yellowstone Art Museum great educational room. Now that would be a great studio.

Felt Flower Class at with Prairie

2011-10-25T19:19:00.000-06:00

I had a great time teaching a felt flower class for the Prairie Handspinners group in Billings, MT on October 14, 2011. The class was held at the Yellowstone Art Museum's Visible Vault - a great place for a large class.

Class at Oregon Flock and Fiber

2011-10-06T07:31:00.000-06:00

I taught a purse making class at Oregon Flock and Fiber September 23. Traveled to Canby with my friend, Laurel Orthmeyer and her husband, Tim. The students all seemed pleased with their finished purses and I think we all had a good time.

Two new hats made from Gotland cross wool

2011-09-08T15:20:00.000-06:00

Some recent hats made from my Gotland/BFL wool.

Small House Remodeling Project

2011-09-08T15:16:00.001-06:00

The remodeling project which includes replacing one really big window with two nice small windows (which will actually open) is well underway. Hopefully I'll be able to move back into my sewing, hat blocking room in another week.

Cleaning wool to get ready for the mill

2011-09-08T15:13:00.001-06:00

Our temperatures have been in the high 80's and mid-90's for a week or so so last week I finally was able to get my outside wool cleaning operation set up. I have all the fleeces out of the barn and they are each going through a thorough skirting followed by one hot soak to remove excess weight. This really cuts down on the costs I'll have when I ship all the wool to the mill in January for processing into roving and batts.


Two cattle panels covered with chicken wire provide a good 32 feet of	drying space.

Bigfork Art Festival

2011-08-10T08:14:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I had a booth at the Bigfork Art Festival. A good show, but always hectic as they make you set up and break down each day. It's taking me a few days to recover but then I've been working long hours for a long time - a few days at the lake with nothing to do sounds good to me right now. But the cow needs milked daily and the sheep need attention and I have another show in just two weeks so I guess I'll keep at it a bit longer.

Here's a photo of my booth with me in one of my hats - which sold right at the end of the show.

Felting with Susan Krimmer

2011-08-01T10:00:00.000-06:00

Fellow felter Susan Krimmer and her husband Jack came for a three day visit and we had a great time felting, sharing ideas and experience.

Jackson Hole Art Fest.

2011-07-20T08:14:00.000-06:00

I shared a booth with friend and felter Kim Miller at the Jackson Hole Art Festival. What a fun weekend. Fairly long road trip but great scenery all the way. I did manage to get some photos of some of my hats and scarves before we left and I hope to get them cleaned up a bit in the next few days. Here are a couple photos of our booth. Kim made the bird yurts, rugs and table runners and I made the hats, scarves and pillows.

Felting up a storm

2011-06-25T10:21:00.000-06:00

Here's another cloche hat. I'm getting ready for my first time at the Jackson Hole Art Fest in July - so many hats are in some stage of preparation.

Another hat

2011-06-18T21:21:00.000-06:00

My sewing machine broke down a couple days ago and is at the shop. Here's hoping it is fixable and that I can get it back early in the week. My first show of the season is in mid-July so I've been felting as much as possible.

New cloche style hats

2011-06-09T18:41:00.000-06:00

Well, I hope I have the right name for my hats. These are made on the new hat block I bought from a Polish hat block maker on ebay. I'm very pleased with the hat block and just wish I had more. Here are two finished hats. I'm into natural silk and Bluefaced Leicester ringlets on white wool at the moment. The first hat has an antique pearl type button and the second has another lover antique button. I'm happy with the texture on the hats.

Red Cap's new bull calf

2011-05-01T20:22:00.000-06:00

We had a dandy little miniature Jersey bull calf this week. This photo was taken just a few hours after birth.

April Weather on the 18th

2011-04-20T08:22:00.000-06:00

It is spring right? We had been thinking it might be time to mow.

New baby chicks

2011-04-09T15:57:00.000-06:00

Picked up the new baby chicks on Thursday. 8 Buckeyes and 2 Frizzles. Supposedly Frizzles are great at hatching eggs. We'll see how that goes next spring.

Greenhouse Overhaul

2011-03-23T20:49:00.000-06:00

David did a great job of redoing our greenhouse for spring planting. Our March wwoofers did a great job of cleaning, painting the walls and staining the wood. David made new redwood raised beds which better utilize the space in the greenhouse. We're looking forward to a more productive growing season.

More lamb Photos

2011-03-23T20:44:00.000-06:00

Lambing is winding down. Fanny had a set of twins at 3 a.m. this morning and then Faith, who is much more considerate, lambed around noon. I've named Timea's ewe lamb Hyacinth and couldn't resist adding a few more photos of her - she is definitely photogenic. I'm just waiting for my 3/4 Gotland ewe and one Shetland to lamb.

BFL/Gotland Cross ewe lamb - she's too cute

2011-03-21T18:45:00.000-06:00

Here's a photo of Timea (a first time mom)'s ewe lamb. I'll have to think of a really cute name for this 50/50 BFL/Gotland cross.

The Swans are Back

2011-03-18T08:20:00.000-06:00

I feel more hopeful of spring since the swans arrived on our back pond on March 16th. They will be regularly visitors for the next few months. I love to see them.

More Lamb Photos

2011-03-18T07:54:00.000-06:00

Only one BFL left to lamb. The BFL/Gotland crosses are bringing up the end of lambing. Gem had a nice set of twins when I went out to check at 6 a.m. this morning. Jet black ram and ewe - very healthy and vigorous - only 6 more to go.
Here's a few photos from yesterday.

Trillium, natural colored BFL ewe lamb

Trillium's mom and sister and brother

Triplets' pen - enjoying some sunshine.

2011 lambing

2011-03-14T16:51:00.000-06:00

Lambing has been pretty amazing so far. We've had 11ewes lamb: 1single, 3 sets of twins and 7 sets of triplets - not much time for pictures,

Evelyn (one of our March wwoofers) supplementing one of the triplets.

A ewe with a pile of lamb. Each set of triplets are color coded with markers to help keep who's who straight.

Bella is a BFL/Gotland cross with her 50/50 BFL/Got X ram and ewe lamb - great mom.

Surprise Scarf

2011-03-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a scarf I made this week. I bought the silk at Exotic Silks on my trip to California. It was so fun to get to see the store and pick out some silks that were different from what I would buy via mail order.

This scarf turned out to be a big surprise. It is sheer silk covered with little squares that are quite shiny and much denser. I dyed the scarf red after felting it and imagine my surprise when none of the squares dyed. But it turned out to be a pleasant surprise and added quite a bit of interest to the scarf - the scarf is quite reversible.

Leo's Hat

2011-03-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

We had an unexpected house guest this week. Turned out he was the perfect fit for one of the hats I made at my millinery workshop in California so one of my hats has found a new home.

Waiting for the Storm

2011-02-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

After feeding the animals today and putting out extra straw I was able to start a felt hood for the next hat and decided to experiment with a flower that will go on the hat's brim. I decided to incorporate beautiful Bluefaced Leicester ringlets, bamboo and tussah silk into the surface of the hat and decided to do the same with the flower. I haven't decided yet if I'll leave the hat and flower white - I'm leaning towards dyeing both of them tomorrow. Here's the flower in it's undyed form.

Shearing Day

2011-02-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

what a day. I was outside from 8 a.m. till 5:30 p.m. Fortunately, it was a pretty nice day - a few snow flurries then sunshine, then snow but all in all pretty nice. I had really good help. One lady from our spinning group brought her son Phillip - so he wrestled the sheep out to the shearer - a job I would have had to do and I'm probably not up to anymore. I also had 4 ladies helping so it was awesome to have so much help - sometimes it has been just me and the shearer which makes a lot more work for the shearer when I can't push a 200 lb sheep up to him.

We finished up at 1 p.m. and had lunch. Then Phillip and I followed Leroy up to my friend Julie's where he had to shear 12 more sheep. We knew Julie didn't have any help and thought it would be easier on Leroy if we helped. Really Phillip was a big help with the sheep and I just took care of the fleeces.

I came home and put straw in the barn and tried to seal off the back door to the barn (just an open doorway with a gate). I nailed a blanket over the door found some plywood to put up - the wind comes from that side of the barn and if it really gets down to below zero and the wind blowing through could make everyone miserable. I think I have it pretty well blocked off.

I'm thinking a nice hot epsom salt bath is in order this evening and I will probably take it easy tomorrow - aside from feeding the animals. I'm really thankful for all the help today.

Donna Peck, Heidi Medland and Joan Goldstein took charge of the new fleeces.

DD Wilson kept the shearing floor clean

Shearer Leroy Sikorski shears a little gulmoget shetland ewe

Phillip Peck couldn't resist picking a Shetland up to transport to the shearing floor - he's used to larger sheep.

Millinery Workshop with Wayne Wichern

2011-02-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd update my blog as I sit in the SF airport as my plane keeps getting delayed. The workshop was incredible. Wayne is an excellent instructor and I really felt I gained new skills which will take my felt hats to a higher level. Now to get home and put it into practice.

I blocked eight hats during the workshop but only managed to trim one. I blocked two straw hoods and two felt hoods that Wayne provided with the class and also blocked four felt hoods that I had taken with me. My hoods were a little thin, although they still turned out - I think I will try to make them a bit more dense.

And despite the torrential rain that is delaying my flight, I had absolutely splendid weather for most of the week. Seventies and sunshine - actually was able to wear sandels. With all the flowers blooming I felt like I was in the middle of summer. Lovely break from winter.

Wayne demonstrating blocking a straw hood

Wayne, Shirley, Max and Sue.

Sue Krimmer blocking a hat

Some of our hats drying after blocking

A straw hat finished by Shirley Smart

A block that will be on my wishlist.

Nuno Felt Class in Redwood City, CA

2011-02-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of Kathy and Susan and their beautiful nuno felt scarves made today.

Susan and Kathy with Kathy's scarf.

Susan and Kathy with their finished scarves

Visit to Exotic Silks

2011-02-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

How fun to actually get to visit Exotic Silks while visiting San Francisco. Friend and felter Sue Krimmer knows all the great spots to visit and we dropped in at Exotic Silks after our workshop on Saturday. Fortunate to hit a time when everything in the shop was 25% off. Yahoo!

Heading to San Francisco

2011-02-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm taking off tomorrow afternoon on my trip to San Francisco. Will spend the first two days with my son, Aaron, and then will be taking a three day millinery class with Wayne Wichern. During the workshop I'll stay with my friend and fellow felter Sue Krimmer. I'll start out the workshop using the professional felt hoods that milliners typically use but then Wayne is letting me use some of my own felt hoods. So here are the hoods I've made to take. It will be interesting to see what they look like when I come home.

Finally finished hanging lamp

2011-02-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the hanging lamp I made as a donation for the Ninepipes Art Group's Valentine fund raiser. It is made from Bluefaced Leicester wool roving, bamboo fiber, BFL ringlets, silk chiffon and silk fibers.

Finished Felt Window Covering

2011-02-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

A carpenter friend downsized my frame for the octagon window in our bedroom. I had planned to wrap the felt around the sides of the frame and then slide it into the window. Unfortunately, we didn't calculate for the felt in the downsizing so the frame just slid perfectly into the window with no felt. Rather have it all taken apart again I decided to just afix the felt to the front of the frame using furniture tacks and then cut the excess felt off. It worked fine and I really like the way the light comes through the felt - it was pretty overcast today so I'm looking forward to the next sunny day.

Felt Window Covering made from BFL wool roving, ringlets, bamboo fiber and glass beads.

February started out very cold and sunny

2011-02-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Crunchy cold, but oh so beautiful

Flower Pins

2011-01-27T15:18:00.002-07:00

Here are the felt flower pins I was working on when Callie decided she could be of help.

Callie Cat

2011-01-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

My mom is spending the winter with my sister in sunny Arizona, so we are hosting her cat, Callie. I'm sure Callie has widened her horizons while staying with us. The adjustment from being the only cat to sharing living space with two standard poodles and one cranky old cat who doesn't appreciate newcomers has been challenging for her. I'm afraid she thinks embroidery is something I came up with for her entertainment.

Fence Line Feeder for Sheep

2011-01-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Since we've had two feet of snow on the ground twice this winter getting into the pastures has been difficult at times. David came up with the idea to turn some of our green metal cattle panels upside down - we covered the bottom openings with a wood panel. The second opening seems to be a good size for the ewes to put their heads through. David can use the tractor to place a 1200 lb. bale into the enclosure and then I use a pitch fork to place the hay along the feeder. It's really working great.

another vest

2011-01-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

This time I've tried making vest on a template. It is taking quite a while because it seems hard to get into the studio the last few days. We're having a January thaw - it was 42 degrees yesterday and nearly as warm today. The snow is almost gone although the driveway is still a sheet of ice. David took a fall yesterday so we looked all over Missoula to try to find a pair of ice grippers for his boots but it seems they are out of stock. The temps are supposed to stop dropping again in another day or so.

I really rolled this vest a long time. I basted the silk around the template and then put a layer of yak down and merino followed by a layer of merino.

Nuno Felt vest

2011-01-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, this vest was quite a learning experience. Inspired by Becky Utecht's blog about her recent felt jackets I decided to try a vest. I'm fairly pleased with the way it has turned out with the exception of the armholes. I must be doing something wrong as I have reworked the arm holes twice now and they just seem to be to flared out. I've tried refelting them rubbing vertically to try to take out the excess but they still seem to flare out a bit. Also I didn't do a swatch with the silk and the natural colored Bluefaced Leicester wool I used and I think the fiber was a little too coarse for the silk habatai I used and the fibers did not pass through the silk as much as I would have hoped. Actually there were several large spots where very little wool went through. I was about to give up on the project all together but then decided to do some free form stitching on the piece after it had dried. My friend loanded me her "Big Foot" foot for her sewing machine - it fit on my 30 year old New Home sewing machine and allowed me to do the free form sewing - not sure what the real term for this is.

It did a great job of saving the project and I've ordered the special foot for my sewing machine so that I use this as an additional embellishing technique for other projects.

Starting more texture projects

2011-01-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

I've recently enjoyed working on projects that are meant to be viewed with a light behind to show off the beautiful textures of the various fibers. I've decided to tackle a lambshade next. Here is a photo of an overhead flower I made a year or so ago that has really wonderful texture.

Janet Szabo's Chemo Tocque

2011-01-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

One of my friend's has successfully completed all her treatments for breast cancer but is still in need of hats. She explained that several of the follow up medications also cause hair loss so I just completed one of Janet Szabo's Chemo Tocques for her. Janet developed this pattern when she lost her hair during cancer treatments back in 1994. You can download her pattern for free at her website:
www.BigSkyKnitting.com

My friend assures me that it is great for a bald head. If you make one for a friend - be sure and use very special yarn. This latest hat was made with bamboo yarn.

Happy New Year's Day

2011-01-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

The first day of 2011 (I almost can't believe I'm saying this number) dawned quite foggy and cold - minus 15 degrees. After feeding the animals we headed to a neighborhood brunch at Traudal Stockstad's. We are blessed with many nice neighbors and apparently they are all good cooks - the food was great. The sun broke forth in total majesty over the mountains so I stepped outside to snap a few photos.

Snow fall from Dec. 29/30, 2010 - about 18 inches of new snow

2010-12-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

The snow is beautiful - definitely enough to cross country ski in the pasture these days.

The Day after Christmas

2010-12-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Felt for Window Covering

2010-12-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Now that holiday preparations are over, I've started working on some wool window coverings. We have a small window quite high on the north wall of our bedroom - it has six sides - not sure what that's called. In any case, I've made the piece of felt and thought I had a frame (that came with the window when it was new) that I could stretch the felt over and slip into the window. Unfortunately, the extra frame must have been used on the outside and it is slightly too large to fit on the inside. So now installation will be delayed until I can downsize the piece or come up with another plan. I'm thinking the wooden frame is really the best way to go. Here's a photo of the piece that my husband held up to another window so I could take a photo.

Winter has arrived

2010-12-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Winter started out with a real blast this year. We have more snow on the ground than we've ever had in the 18 years we've lived here in the Mission Valley. David has kept the tractor busy with snow removal. My last art and craft show was in Missoula this past weekend. It was a good show despite the snowy weather. It would seem there would be lots of time for felting now but feeding the sheep and cows will keep us pretty busy outside every day. Hopefully things will settle into a rhythm that will make time for felting too. Below is a photo of one of pillows, a felt star as well as an angel pillow that I made this fall.

Andrew and his felt creations

2010-10-23T08:22:00.000-06:00

Andrew was our wwoofer in October. He was a great help with all the work on the ranch and he also took to felting very well. Here's a photo of him with the hat he made, plus the scarf which he made to give as a gift.

Another trip to National Bison Range

2010-10-23T08:18:00.000-06:00

Andrew and I visited the National Bison Range and watched these two elk for quite a while.

Wool washing and felting

2010-09-28T20:11:00.000-06:00

Molly working on a felt fleece rug

Another view of felt fleece rug - 4 layers of Icelandic base plus a raw Gotland X fleece

wool drying on a beautiful September day

wool everywhere

Visit to National Bison Range

2010-09-01T15:06:00.000-06:00

While hosting our Wwoof (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) Katrin in August. We managed to get a way for one morning to visit the National Bison Range which is located about 4 miles from our ranch. This first picture is from the top of the Bison Range.

Katrin making a felt scarf

Katrin at the top of the Bison Range

Antelope

A lone Bison

Another view from the top of the Bison Range

New Wraps

2010-07-27T18:13:00.001-06:00

Here are two new wraps made from my Bluefaced Leicester lambs wool felted through Silk Fabric. Embellished with bamboo and other wool fibers and hand dyed after felting.

Pillows Galore!

2010-07-25T21:25:00.000-06:00

Silk Kitty - Silk flowers adorn both sides of the kitty

I've been on a roll - no pun intended - trying to build an inventory of hats, scarves and wraps for my upcoming art and craft shows but last week I felt like I needed a break from that for a while so I decided to make a cat pillow. No, this isn't a pillow for the cat to lay on - rather it is a cat pillow to grace a couch or bed. Then I decided I needed a few more ruffle pillows so there are two of them as well.

Ruffle pillows - button closure on back - removeable 100% wool pillow form

Pyscho Kitty - it's the eyes - also stuffed with 100% Montana Wool

Peach Kitty

Flower Kitty

I've been working on hats lately.

2010-07-13T17:54:00.000-06:00

This hat is made from some of my BFL/Gotland cross wool. The wool was natural gray but I overdyed it a dark burgandy. The inside layer of the hat is a pale pink Bluefaced Leicester wool that was dyed with Cocheneal. This will be one warm hat.

I had alot of fun with this hat. I used the remnants of my fancy salt dyed silk from New England Felting Supply as a surface embellishment. I sculpted the top of the hat and further embellished it with beads.

Latest wrap

2010-06-14T21:35:00.000-06:00

Here's my latest wrap. I used some new silk georgette for the base, with a layer of BFL lambs wool on one side, also BFL ringlets an bits of bamboo on the surfaced. Hand dyed after felting.

New calves sired by Cadfael

2010-04-26T09:34:00.000-06:00

So far I have four new calves sired by Cadfael, my miniature Jersey bull. All heifers - needless to say I'm really happy. The top picture is heifer no. 78 - her mom is a purebred Lowline Angus heifer.

The little heifer above is out of a very small crossbred cow (#24). #24 is about 38 inches tall. Cadfael is 39 inches tall so this should be a very petite little heifer.

Felt Workshop held April 17, 2010

2010-04-26T09:29:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our workshop on the 17th. Participants made small wallhanging.

Latest Lambs

2010-03-22T20:51:00.000-06:00

The top photo is Jewel and her Shetland lambs - a gulmoget ewe lamb and a tiny moorit ram lamb. The next is a photo of Gabrielle's triplet rams - the sun was out and they decided to strike a pose for a family portrait. These are purebred Bluefaced Leicester rams.

Bluefaced Leicester Lambs

2010-03-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a couple lamb photos. The first photo is of Tara's two ram lambs, they are AI out of Red Kite. The ram in the back is much darker skinned. The second picture is Elva's ewe lamb, #18, she has a lovely twin sister who is also nice and dark. AI out of Carryhouse. Our we have gorgeous spring weather or what?

new lambs

2010-02-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Lambing started Thursday morning. My friend, Laurel, is here helping me with night checks. I don't know how I would have made it this year with out her. We were in the barn from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday night for the arrival of two sets of triplets and one single. Only a couple singles born yesterday and this morning I found my first 3/4 Gotland lamb (a black ewe) at 6 a.m.

January trip to Florida

2010-02-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

Just checking out the updated editor for blogger and thought I'd add a few pictures from my trip to FL in January.

Skirting fleeces and dyeing raw wool

2010-02-05T10:43:00.004-07:00

I have a great sense of accomplishment today as I have 200 lbs of my wool bagged, compressed and boxed and ready for a freight truck to take it the processor. I also decided to try dyeing raw wool and was amazed at how clean it came in the process. I'm sure the mill will still wash it again but it certainly removed most of the lanolin and alot of dirt - so a bit less weight to ship. Wish I could have done it with the whole 200 pounds. Guess I would need more hours in the day to accomplish that. Mokie (one of our standard poodles) had a hard time finding a place to lay in the living room.

Aaron's winter visit

2010-02-05T10:40:00.002-07:00

Aaron was home from San Francisco for nearly a week. He helped with all sorts of farm chores and was amazed that he had retained his ability to back up hay trailers and stock trailers so well. Since he graduated from culinary school he also served up fantastic meals. I would definitely have to watch out for weight gain if he was around more.

Surprise Calf

2010-01-01T09:08:00.003-07:00

Found little Noell Christmas Eve amongst the cows still on pasture. Had to go home and hook up the stock trailer and bring her and her mom home so mom could have some better feed. She's a happy, healthy, frisky calf. Mom is registered as a three-quarter Lowline and dad is our own smallframe White Park bull, Whiteman. I'd say she's just about perfect.

Dec. 23, wintery morning in western Montana

2009-12-23T19:18:00.002-07:00

Today turned out to be quite interesting. Awoke to find a ram lamb in the yard and quickly noticed that the two adult rams had joined the ram lambs in their pasture. All gates were still closed so I knew it was time to check the electric fence. Discovered a broken wire on the fence dividing the two pastures and was quite pleased that I had quickly solved the problem. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and despite spending the entire day walking every inch of the fence I've yet to find a major ground. So here's hoping the sheep and cows are still in the proper pastures come morning.

Latest Hats

2009-12-19T20:17:00.002-07:00

The black and white hat is black merino with one layer of white cashmere on the inside. The second hat is a blend of turquoise Bluefaced Leicester wool and teal merino wool. The BFL made the hat a little stiffer than I had wanted but it will be a warm hat that makes someone happy.

2009-11-30T10:54:00.003-07:00

I'm just back from my three day show in Missoula - Under the Big Sky. This was the first year for this show and it was a great success. It was well juried and well attended.

Hat Making Frenzy

2009-11-19T10:35:00.003-07:00

Getting ready for my three day show at Thanksgiving has kept me in non-stop motion;

Studley the Guard Llama

2009-11-16T12:05:00.003-07:00

Studley is a new addition just coming to the ranch this summer. He shows promise of being a good guard llama. When his previous owner told me he doesn't like anyone messing with the lambs I knew that was a good sign. Our best guard llama todate was Pj, who we had for 15 years. He definitely did not like anyone messing with the new lambs. As a matter of fact we got into a bit of a hassel over some lambs one time and I had to leave the field. I headed for the house, told David that PJ and I had had a fight and had him go bring the lambs in.

Some of the girls

2009-11-16T12:00:00.002-07:00

The photo on the left show Gem in front - a light gray BFL/Gotland cross. The dark charcoal gray behind her is Bella, one of last spring's ewe lambs. They were both shorn in September and easily grow an inch of wool per month. The second picture shows my ewes grouping up to come check me out. I love the way Bluefaced Leicesters flock together.

2009-11-16T11:57:00.003-07:00

I took the camera out with me for morning chores this morning and snapped this photo of Alex, a lovely little gulmoget ram lamb I'm leasing from Cathy Campbell for this breeding season. It will be interesting to see the Shetland lambs in the spring.

Show at Daly Mansion

2009-11-14T17:09:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos from my show at the Daly Mansion last weekend. It was a great show in a beautiful location.

Twice dyed hand felted scarf

2009-11-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

A felt scarf idea from Fabulous Felt Scarves by Chad Alice Hagen and Jorie Johnson - fun project, although the hand sewing takes for ever.

twice dyed felt scarf

2009-11-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a scarf from Chad Hagen and Jorie Johnson's Fabulous Felt Scarves.

recent felt work

2009-11-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

2009-06-28T09:07:00.000-06:00

This year our yellow roses were so beautiful. We didn't have any heavy rains so they lasted longer than normal. The fragrance was so lovely.

Natural colored BFL lambs

2009-04-23T12:24:00.000-06:00

Finally had a nice set of natural colored BFL lambs this morning. Sire is Bitterroot Cosmos and dam is Bitterroot Dana, a first time mom. Great mom, nice big udder and quite the sturdy little lambs. I found them after they were dried off.

2009-04-21T07:16:00.000-06:00

This morning when I went out to see if there were any new lambs I discovered 6 swans visiting the pond behind the house. I ran back for my camera and managed to get a few pictures. The swans are my favorite visitors to the ranch.

2009-04-19T18:59:00.000-06:00

I had made a white felt hood and decided it would be fun to do some resist dyeing with it. It turned out quite interesting.

2009-04-19T18:09:00.000-06:00

There's a photo of Gabriella and her ewe lamb doing the lambie stretch. This ewe lamb weighed a whopping 17.25# at birth. Biggest we've ever had. Gabriella did it all by herself. What a ewe!

2009-04-19T17:45:00.000-06:00

Well, it's spring, so I have to show a few pictures of the lambs that will be donating there wool for future felt projects. This little ram lamb is half Shetland, 25% BFL and 25% Gotland. He just came out too cute.