August Updates and my Etsy Shop!

First off, my sincere apologies for taking the last 5+ weeks off! It seems that my brain went into hibernation mode during this incredibly miserable, hot summer we've been having here, and other than tending the sheep, the family, and doing loads of spinning on my wheels, I really haven't been terribly inspired to do much. In addition, the last few weeks have seen the worst air-quality I can remember in this area due to the wildfires that are engulfing my beloved state (as well as neighboring states, not to mention various other areas of the country).

A normal July and August here will see about 2 weeks of 90+ temps - enough that we put in a couple of window air conditioner units every year (one in the dining room that helps to keep our living area cool, and one in our master bedroom that keeps us comfortable at night). But this year has been something else - so hot and dry, with temps over 100 for several days on end, then up and down from 70s back up to upper 90s and 100+. In fact, it is so hot and dry that the local harvesting has been done about a month early! I'm still rather stunned when I drive past the fields and see them already harvested - they should be getting started about now, or even into next month and finishing up toward the end of September. I don't know enough about climate cycles and what-have-you - all I can say is that I hope this isn't going to be the "typical" summer for us in the future. I'm praying for the hard winter that we so desperately need.

I realized the other day that I never updated you about Panda Bear's cruel - the abscess on her jaw. We had an appointment for the vet to come out to our place and clean it out - I wanted to watch the first time so that I could learn how to do it properly. Well, the day before that appointment, my son came in and told me that it had burst on its own...sigh...so he and I got her corralled so that I could clean it out. She was NOT pleased by this treatment - although the cruel had opened up, there was still an awful lot of gunk to clean out. But I did it with Iain's help (Panda Bear actually pulled him over in an effort to escape, but he held on like a trooper), and I got it flushed out with Betadine. I let the vet know that it had opened up and was cleaned out, but I still wanted her to come check it out - she checked it over and said we did a great job. She also cleaned it out a second time, just to be sure, and since then it's totally healed up. I am continually amazed at how quickly sheep heal - the nicks they got during shearing were gone within a day, and this cruel healed up within a few days.  So HOORAY! We survived our first abscess, and I discovered that our vet is AWESOME with sheep - she is very knowledgeable, friendly, and was a pleasure to meet!

I also remembered that I never told you about my etsy shop! I have been having a great time starting up this little business of mine - Blaine Fleece & Fiber - and I wanted to share with you how I make my drum-carded BFF Batts. When I contemplated starting a fiber business, I knew I didn't want to do any dyeing - to be honest, dyeing is too much like cooking, which I definitely do not enjoy! In addition, I hated the thought of dyeing my sheep's fleece - I know that sounds crazy, but I have fallen so totally in love with their beautiful, natural colors that I didn't want to change them. The beauty of art batts (or, as I like to call mine, BFF Batts) is that you get to play with and combine colors that enhance the natural colors of their fleece. Here is the first batt I made - I used Panda Bear's fleece as the base, then added in various other fibers, like silk and silk noils, Merino, Columbia, and Cashmere:
 

Here it is after spinning it up, then crocheting it into two granny squares:

When I make a BFF Batt, I start with a base - whatever the main fiber of the batt is. After that, I play with the add-ins - here is an example of one where I started with Icelandic fleece, then added bamboo, tencel, Merino, firestar, and angelina:

 

After that I added more Icelandic:

And more add-ins...layer after layer...then I pulled the batt off of the carder - and then I pulled it apart into chunks for re-carding:

I always run my batts through the carder a second time in order to more fully blend the fibers together - if I don't, then I have strips of different fibers within the batt that want to pull apart while spinning, rather than staying together in the beautiful blend of colors and textures that I wanted. Here is the final batt, ready for spinning, as well as 4 others with the same "ingredients"!

These batts are part of my Vikings Fiber Club series - if you would like more information about that, please visit our group on Ravelry - Blaine Fleece and Fiber - the Vikings series won't be in the shop, but you can find out more about it in our Rav group.

The shop currently has several Harry Potter-themed BFF Batts, and I'm working on a special group of batts to coincide with the premiere of Doctor Who in September! So be sure to check it out, favorite the shop, and keep an eye out for updates!

Thanks so much for reading! I hope everyone is having a good end to their summer (or winter if you're in the southern hemisphere!) - after weeks and weeks of smoke and heat, we are currently enjoying 65 degrees and a good hard rain! I'm sure it's all in my head, but I feel like my pores are opening up and embracing the moisture - I feel more alive than I have in weeks! And my sheepies are definitely happy as well - my next blog post will give you some updated pictures of them and their gorgeous wool - which will be sheared on October 10th! I can't wait to see it!