Soapmaking Day

Had fun this weekend making soap for Christmas gifts!!  I made goat's milk with lavender, goat's milk with oatmeal, and the orange-ish soap is brown sugar/pumpkin.  I tried to use a little food coloring in the lavender, but it didn't work out....I got most of it out, but ended up with some tiny blue dots here and there.  Going to call that soap "Lavender Surprise" because you may end up with a small patch of blue on yourself when you  use it.....

More SAFF photos

Here's more photos from the Southeastern Area Fiber Fair:  Jacob Sheep

Cindy and Linda from our Cotton Patch Spinning Group

Tonni, my blogging/Ravelry pal

There were 4 of us in our camper and this is what we bought....mostly....

SAFF - fun at the Fiber Festival

Had a GREAT time at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair in Asheville, NC! Here's a few pics of what I enjoyed most.












I took a class on how to make this large project basket - finished lashing the rim at home today.














These sheep hats were a riot - the guys wearing them really had "balls"....















I loved the Llamas and Mohair Goats

GA National Fair

I've always wanted to enter something I've made in the GA National Fair held each October in Perry, GA, but I just never got around to it, or I  decided too late and the entry deadline had passed.  This year was different - I actually looked at the website and found out when the entry deadline was, organized my entries and got them there IN TIME.  (It's a little thing, but a big thing for ME).  Here's a few pics of what I entered - the biggest surprise was a 1st place ribbon and special achievement rosette for my handknit Monkey socks.

I entered 3 skeins of handspun in the apprentice division and won 2 third places.  Perhaps my biggest thrill was seeing my  quilt on display hanging in the giant exhibit hall.  At first I couldn't find it, but later located it hanging right over the top of the Chili cook-off competition.  The attendant at the door wasn't going to let me in, but I explained I had no interest in the chili but that MY QUILT was hanging overhead and I wanted to see it.  She smiled and let me sneak behind the competitors so I could see it more clearly.  Later on in the evening, I was able to take some photos.  I pieced and sewed the top, and my friend, Sue Shippey did the quilting. We won an Honorable Mention.  That's pretty good for this competition where LOTS of quilts are entered and hang from the ceiling all over the giant display hall.

New Wheel

I've been suffering with a bad ankle for about 3 years now, and read that a double treadle spinning wheel would be great therapy for my torn ligaments.   Janelle in Washington wanted a single treadle wheel, so we swapped!!  I got her Ashford Traveller, and she got the Kromski Prelude - and we're both happy. Thanks, Janelle~!

Wool Dyeing Day

Here's some photos from our "warped party" dyeing day.  It was lots of fun, and I learned alot from the dyeing experts in our Cotton Patch Spinning Guild.

Georgia's Jewel - Jekyll Island

This place is one of my favorites on earth!!  Here's a few pics to make you want to visit here, too!

From starting locks to finished skein

When I first learned to spin, I bought pre-drafted "rovings" which are already combed and ready to draft and spin....but I wanted to someday start with sheep "locks" of wool, comb them myself, then spin them.  I did it!  I purchased some Howard student hand carders from Margrett at Running Moon Farm, bought some dyed Romney wool locks from Rhonda at Marsh Mellow Farms, and went to work.  Here's photos of starting and my finished skeins.

2008 Tour de Fleece

The spinning has begun!!  Lots of us are spinning our way to victory!!  We've all set a challenge and are working hard to finish before the Tour de France is over!  We spin on days they ride, and rest on days the cyclers rest....Come check us out on Flickr!  Here's some wool I'm spinning from a Shetland sheep named Margaret.

Georgia Peaches

This is mostly what I've seen the for the past 10 days....after spinning in Louisiana with my spinning guild friends, I came home to Georgia and started picking the June Gold peaches on the farm where Cosmic Ray works.  I've picked over 120 twenty-five pound boxes as of today, and the June Golds are almost through.  In about 10 days the Hawthorne peaches will start.  No rest for the weary....

Spinning in Louisiana

Just back from a WONDERFUL weekend spinning and knitting with fiber friends near Lake Charles, Louisiana.  Eight members of the south GA Cotton Patch Spinning Guild traveled together and had lots of fun laughing, spinning and learning.

We also saw lots of critters on walks after meals to stretch our legs and work off a few of the calories we consumed eating those bountiful meals....

Another pair of socks finished

Love knitting this Monkey socks pattern by Cookie A. My sister gave me this sock yarn for Christmas and it's SO SOFT!! Petting the socks is therapeutic....

Take my picture, Mom, please??

Aren't I cute?? I'm sitting here waiting for someone to scratch my face or take my picture....glad someone finally came around....

Smokey meets the kitten

If I had a better video camera, I would record the interactions between the kitten and rabbit and make millions of dollars...but for now, you can just look at these pics. One of these days, I'm going to get the loom threaded, but it won't be as much for the kitten and rabbit to play with batting the strings.

A new Critter here....

We adopted a new kitten yesterday -he's a cute little bobtail fella and we're going to call him Creampuff.

Lots of daylilies and irises are starting to bud and bloom - it's fun to walk around the yard and see what's blooming every day.

Planted some new annuals in the front flower bed this week, too. The white zinnias make me smile when I see them.

Shearing Sheep

Learned alot about shearing sheep and llamas last week. It was lots of work, but lots of fun with my spinning guild friends!

This is a sheep fleece I brought home. Hope to card and spin it myself...we'll see how it goes.