Enough already!

Today is the first day of spring and we are expecting 1-4 inches of snow!!  The good news about snow at this time of year is that you know it can't last.  We had a warm week last week and a lot of our snow left us.  Enough left that I could see some of the spring bulbs were sprouting!  I am going to ignore this snow and think about daffodils for the rest of the day :-)

We had a great day yesterday with 9 students dyeing sock yarn.  This is a picture of a skein headed to the steamer. It sure doesn't look like much wrap in plastic does it?    Left to their own imagination the color combinations were amazing.  None of them were the same. We did both strips and fair isle patterns.   I hope that everyone will send me a picture of the yarn when it has dried and ready to knit with.    The class to knit two socks with one needle is on Saturday.  I have a couple of spots open if anyone is interested.

This is the new roving as it came back to us from Battenkill Fibers!!  Don't you just love it!!  It spins as beautifully as it looks. The fibers are from left to right. Wensleydale X Romney,  BFL X Romney, BFL X Border Leicester. This week I will be dying locks and getting them to the mill. They will pick and card into three color swirls for me.

 Right now is the time to get things to the mill before spring shearing begins on a lot of farms.  The turn around time right not is great, the quality of the work is excellent, and the staff is amazingly helpful.

March

I have had enough of March already!!!  Rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, wind... Is there anyway we could skip the rest of this month??  I guess we can only hope that it will get the evil weather out of its system and will begin to show us a few signs of spring soon.  I'm thinking of crocuses, is it just a dream??

Yesterday was the first time since we moved to this house (15 years or so) that the plow truck could not move the snow. It was drifted too much and too heavy for the truck to push.   It doesn't look like that much snow, but we just couldn't get it out of our way!!  We were snowed in until around 8pm, when the tractor rolled in and made some progress.  We still haven't shoveled out the cars, but it looks like we could get out of the driveway today.


 On the positive side, I walk to work!

Lamb count is 66 lambs.  We still have 16 ewes left to lamb.  They are taking their own sweet time.  We are still waiting on Liz's merino, the new BFL girls, and some white romneys.  







I did spend a little time sorting some wool and I am sending it to Battenkill Fibers to have roving made.  Some of this is from the BFL girls!!  I'm very excited to see this roving.   They will be washing, carding, and pin drafting this wool!!!  I let you know when it back to the shop!








I busy working on socks, and the flying geese mitts.  I am about ready to cast on pair #3 of socks.  I am preparing for the 2 socks on one needle class.  I have one pair ready for toes, another about ready for the heel flap, and I will be casting on the third pair later this week.  I am so pleased with the self stripping socks.  We did a trial run to test the technique and they are stripping beautifully!!  Mine have a little fair isle look to them.  You will be able to do that to if you like.  The class is scheduled for March 20th.  Let me know if your interested?  I still have room for a couple more students.

The flying geese mitts, are also a class.  I am writing a pattern to work with the traditional pattern and worsted weight yarn.  This is two color knitting, that will provide extra warmth with the double layer of yarn used.   March 26,  with still room for a couple more students.

Check the calendar on the fostersheepfarm website to see all of the classes that are scheduled!!