For Chris

I feel very bad that I have not had much of a chance to spin fiber for Chris.  Not sure if you remember or not, but I have been spinning 1 pound of each of her alpacas' fleece.  Her sister is then crocheting the yarn into a bed spread for Chris.  With life getting a little in the way, I have not had much free time here lately to spin the alpaca.  Just last month though, I made it a point to make a little more time for this project.

On the bottom, is the last skein of Canty and the top is the first skein of Camigula.  Have to say, Camigula's fleece is absolutely divine and I love how well it spins!

The next skein of Camigula will have some sparkly added!  Not sure if it will be dyed or not.  That could be fun though!

Had to drive up to Lexington during the morning rush hour this week.  I completely have forgotten what rush hour is like and I was lucky to have my little cowl project to keep me busy at the Harrodsburg Rd / New Circle Rd cross over mess.  In all honesty, the traffic moved fairly smoothly until coming to this point and then a little further down the road there was a wreck.  Outside of that not much of an issue.  Mind you, I don't EVER want to have to willing drive in rush hour traffic again unless I absolutely have to!

This is what has been keeping me busy for the past week.  A monster of a fleece that was just dying to be cleaned and dyed!

Before dying the locks are separated and then painted with care and a bit of whimsy.  They have a lovely 6 inch or more staple and I can't wait to spin up a sample from the left overs!

After drying they are bundled into 1/2 ounce lots ready for the show season to start next week.  I promise to add them to the etsy site after show season is over;)

Pensacola 2011

This year, LunabudKnits, will be driving straight from SAFF to Pensacola for two reasons. The first will be to vend at the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival(GGAF) and the second, most important reason will be to take part in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.

Last year during GGAF, I met a wonderful knitter who bought some of my yarns and made some fabulous things with them.  She is truly one of the sweetest ladies and I am blessed to have met her.  This summer, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and is going through treatment.  When some of the Pensacola Knitters started posting about planning a team to do the Cancer Walk, well..... I knew I just had to be a part of it.

I would like to now ask you for a bit of help.  See, I made a goal of raising $250 for the American Cancer Society and I am quite a bit shy of that mark.  Would you please help me raise money for the American Cancer Society by making a donation here:  American Cancer Society

Yellow Springs

Well, I am back from a quick little trip to Yellow Springs Ohio and Young's Jersey Dairy for the Wool Gathering put on by the Midwest Festival of Fibers.  I just love this show!  Not only does it have a fine selection of fiber vendors and is only 3 hours away from me pulling the trailer, but....  It's at a dairy and oh my goodness are the fried cheese curds to dye for!  Pun intended!

The 'Wall 'O' Wool' at LunabudKnits.

I needle felted this little clutch purse from my merino fibers.  Yes, it is COMPLETELY needle felted and no, it did not cause me to have carpel tunnel ;)

My little painted sheep adorns the fairway of the 1/2 red tent.

Full shot of the booth.  I find the red canopy leaves a little to be desired for when selling dyed fibers.

Heartfelt Handworks, the vendor next to me hand felted the skeleton marionette!  Her craftsmanship is out of this world!

One of my customers and a fellow vendor of That'll Do Farm blogged about my fibers after the Mid-Ohio show.  And, here are her lovely batts she was selling at Yellow Springs.  How awesome is that!!

We had a wee bit of time to check out downtown Yellow Springs too!

A bit hard to see the fine print, but check out the link if you are interested in learning more about Yellow Springs.

One street was full of lamp post art work and yarn bombing.  How cool is that!

Yarn bomberific!

Not sure I should tell my Brother-in-law that an all LEGO store exists in a land close to us....  hehehe

As the sign says...  Bikes are for sale not rent.

How cute are these mail boxes on the side of a building.

I love the shabby charm of old paint chipping.

Out of no where....  A red door.

More lamppost art.

I loved this one.

Walk down an alley and you might find a small lion guarding a door.

Or a huge sea of dancing blue.

Or a juice joint you just can't miss!

Hunter-Gatherer

I suppose that is what I have become now that the natural dye bug has set in.  Today I took the camera with me as I was visiting with the horse and totally neglected to take a single picture.  But, I did manage to come home with a bounty of lichens and fungi for dying.  

Walmart bag half full of lichens and spider stow away.

Mystery fungi.  Anyone know if it will give dye?  There are plenty more small ones growing where I found these.

  

Pretty sure this is a lichen of some sort.  Found it on the base of a rotting log.

And what is this?  Well, I'm working on a free pattern for a new lace yarn.  Let me tell you this is one yummy little number!  More details coming soon!

Like sheep among the wolves

And Lions and Cougars ......

Say hello to the happy sheep of Wolf Run Wildlife Refuge in Nicholasville, KY.  Not only do they have Lions, Cougars, Wolves, Wolfdogs, Foxes, Turkeys, Deer and a few others, but they are also home to 3 rescue sheep who have the run of the property.   In the picture above, the cute little fat tailed one closest to me is extremely friendly and came over for a good chin scratching during my visit,  the fat happy sheep up the hill a ways is blind and the brown sheep(not in the picture) was a wee bit leery of strangers. And to the left of the sheep, you guessed it, a little pack of friendly Wolfdogs.

What prompted my visit to the Refuge was a phone call from my Mom.  She said 'I want to feel the Lions'.  She went on about how she was cleaning out the freezer and since they had way too much meat she wanted the excess to go to feed the lions and it clicked...lol  While I was at it, I cleaned out my fridge too!  Here are a few of the critters I said hello to while I was there visiting.

On the other side of the path behind a double enclosure were two lions.

This is Simba, a full grown lion sans the mane.  He was neutered at a young age thus the lack of a mane.

This little girl was so very happy to say hello to me.

And these two were bouncing for joy.   As I walked around all the little packs of in their enclosures would run up to the fence and bark or wroo at me until I stopped by long enough for everyone to come in for a sniff and say hello.  

Your eyes are not deceiving you.  That is a white deer on the left.

She came straight up to the fence to check me out.

And enjoyed licking the salt from my fingers.

This sweet boy had to get a few licks in as well.

And after this picture, I am vowing to never eat deer meat again.  These are such gentle and sweet animals and he was very insistent on having his chin scratched.  I'm sure I wouldn't be saying that if the two little bucks in the run were in rut, but right now, they are affectionate little guys.

Two cougars.

Bobcats or as we call them in Kentucky 'Wildcats'.

Last but not least the resident donkey with a volunteer who thinks he should be allowed to eat the wolf food too!

If you would like to learn more about the Refuge, I encourage you to visit their website.

They are always in need of donations which can be given via Paypal.

Are you local?  They told me that they can take meat that is past it's expiration date with freezer burn, etc.  As long as it is not rancid or rotten give them a shout.  This is a great way to clean out your fridge;)

Waveland

After dropping Bill off a few weeks ago, I took a little short cut past Waveland State Historic Site.  I haven't checked out the garden lately and thought why not stop by and snap a few shots with the little camera.   If you would like to read a bit more about Waveland, check them out HERE.