More adorable lambs, plus some backsliding, and fiber in fine art

Tina has a fiber/yarn garage sale on Saturday. Marilyn & I went and gorged ourselves. I was a bit naughtier, but I had Yarn School fleece to buy. I got 2 enormous Romney fleeces, a ton of yarn, mostly singles, which I’m trying to swear off because they pill like hell in sweaters, and sweaters are all I want to knit anymore, some dyed locks, a little raw alpaca, a little raw moorit merino, and a good chunk of dyed commercial top for my personal use. And, TONS OF BABY LAMBS! Mostly Shetlands, but a few Romneys and one late Merino they didn’t even realize was pregnant.

Look!

This one was the only Shetland who didn’t twin, and she was particularly vigilant over her lamb. I think she’s the cutest of the Shetland ewes. You know how some animals just look like people in animal suits? She totally looks like people.

Mama kept going from stall to stall, with the lambs following her. Here she’s changed her mind and now they’re all running back into this stall. The darker lamb is the only ram lamb of all the Shetlands this year, and he’ll be moving to Cupcake Ranch after he’s weaned.

This nice lady was more than a month after all the other Merinos. She just had the one little lamb. They didn’t even realize she was pregnant. He’s only about a day old, and all tuckered out. Eventually, he’ll be raised with goats at Laura’s place. They’re pygoras, which means he’ll be bigger than them, which is good because goats are more assertive than sheep. Like the Shetland with one lamb, she was very watchful. Not nervous or anything, but in both cases, they were quite still and Secret Service-like, never taking their eyes off the people.

And how about this! Bertha, this Romney ewe, is mama to both of these little lambs! One black and one white! Could you ask for a cuter family?

Mama’s fleece will be for sale at Yarn School. We’ll be washing some raw fleece in class, but I bought extra so students can buy a pound or two if they want to take some home and get some experience working on it without committing to a whole fleece.

Speaking of fleece, I sent off Ninny’s (the chocolate merino) fleece to Zeilinger’s, along with 2 stray random mystery fleeces I bought off a list a while back, to get in under the wire of their prepay sale. Those were all smaller lots, so they’ll all be roving instead of combed top. It’s always so fun to see how raw fleece will turn out. If I were clever, I would have kept samples of all the fiber I’ve sent off. Too bad I’m not.

And I still haven’t figured out exactly how I want to wrap up the spin kits I made for CRAFT. I have to sort it out tomorrow one way or the other, because I want to pack them up Tuesday and get them on their way so I can concentrate on Yarn School. I’ll try to post a few shots tomorrow if I can make a freaking decision. They’ll be for sale at Maker Fair.

If you’re near Lawrence, take a look at this show this week. It runs through Friday. The gallery’s in Marvin Hall (the building’s aren’t numbered, so the address won’t help you at all). It’s a small show, maybe 10 or a dozen pieces, lovely & compelling and smartly made. Exciting art made with excellent craftsmanship, and particularly resonant if you’re a female losing a battle with domesticity. Charming and clever and tender. I was well pleased, but wished it was a much bigger show.