What's on the wheel this week??

Hello all, hope you had a wonderful holiday! We ate ourselves silly at mom's and had a great time. What's new on the wheel you say? Crazy Quilt singles AND baby camel singles I spun from mill ends I was lucky enough to get my hands on! All sort of bulky and SOFT soft soft. I have always loved camels--wish they came in a smaller size though--they are BIG, strong and sort of destructive--but have great personalities! The big sweeties!



Here is the latest lash yarn--Raggedy lashes. You can find them on the site already and more lash yarn to follow. My computer would not read the second disc of pictures today so have to re-take them tomorrow and update again--will keep you posted. There are new rovings, Corriedale wool and more just waiting to get 'out there'.....

Wonderful Jacob wool from our friends Becky & Carl's Cold Valley flock! We love this fiber--it is absolutely spankingly free of debris, soft and just high quality lilac, white and tri-color fleeces. I washed up Spot's fleece and it is available on the site too. I really can't believe we still have any of the Jacob fleeces--they are usually long gone by now so don't miss out!

And here is what I do in my 'free' time-- create something from a lot of nothings! This lamp shade came out of Ross' bedroom when he replaced it. I liked the look of the shade so it hung around (no pun intended hee hee) until I got the perfect place/idea for it--my office/spinning studio! I found the chandelier crystals at the thrift store one day, then added in some pearly looking beads for a more dramatic effect--I love it! Adds some very warm charm to the office for sure. I posted more pictures here and please take a browse through the site too.

Also, a good friend of the Homestead--Linda in Ohio--has been having a rough go of things lately and she offers some fantastic yarn through her Etsy shop--take a peek and maybe you will find something you have to have!! She was involved in a car accident this week that totalled out her hubby's car--but she is fine--although it makes them car-less for now and lots of headaches on the way..... ugh. SO, Fleece Navidad to everyone and check back soon for more goodies!

Update and wonderful friends!

I got a wonderful box of goodies from my spinning buddy James--of Virginia! You may have seen our long distance spinning on the website listed as Franken Yarn... bwaaahahahaha!

The box arrived with this fancy schmancy wrapped batt selection that James created in his studio--the second picture shows the wonderful, fluffy batts--and they are gorgeous! I cannot wait to spin them--and there was more in the box, more pictures of that later--thank you James, you are the best!!

Today's update is complete so be sure to visit the website here or pictures here. Lots of fun washed and dyed fiber with more on the way for Sunday's update--including new roving! Happy fiber and almost Friday!!

Giant update today!

Finally done with our Sunday update! Featured today is our little beelzubub goat Phoebe--the Pygora! I did not get a ton of fleece from her this year as usual--she decided to be particularly NOT careful! SO, spun it up from the uncarded locks and added in random stripes of Tussah Silk. Phoebe picked out a pretty vintage beaded applique to go along with the yarn so be sure to check it out! There are two skeins in the set--one of Phoebs and silk, one of Tussah silk--both wrapped with twinkle thread....

We have hot water again--yey! and I am back to washing/dyeing wool so look for more updates on Wednesday depending on how quickly things dry. Have lots of new roving planned, batts and dyed fiber--OH, we just got a new batch of Corriedale wool from our wonder shearer too--his sheep are soft and gorgeous so keep an eye out for Corriedale!!

Be sure to check out the update on the site here and sneak peek pictures here! Look forward to hearing from all of you when you have time!! Happy Sunday!

Skip To My Lou!!! (no not the 'loo! ha!)

Well, we now have cold AND hot running water! Of course I knocked everyone over the second it was safe to take a shower--AFTER I put our Hershey's beautiful Shetland fleece in the wash--of course! bwaaahahahahaha! We have a mega update planned for tomorrow so keep an eye on the site. We always send out emails from the sheep when we update so be sure to add your name to our private/secure/not shared mailing list on the website....

I also hear that my good friend HollyEQQ is updating her gorgeous fibers and yarn tomorrow too so lots of fun goodies to check out! Watch for another update post tomorrow and hope you are all enjoying a snug, fibery weekend-sheep too if you have them!

A word about hunting.... it's that time of year

I am probably not going to win any points with this entry--with some people--but we are smack into deer hunting in WI and even in the first few days, someone I know has been forced to live with the loss of her beloved pet. Northern WI is home today of a sad young lady who went to national championships with her pet horse--and loved that horse dearly. She is the daughter of a good friend of the Homestead and is devastated because a hunter started shooting 1/2 hour early, shot at a silhouette that turned out NOT to be a deer, but her beloved horse. He made it back 'home' to his barn and was unable to be saved. Mind you his owner was away on a trip herself and had to receive this news from her distraught family and THEN try to make her way safely home. Please say a prayer and send good thoughts to her everyone, she is going to have a long way ahead of her to find peace. I can only imagine.

That said, if you live in deer hunting areas, even if they are not heavily hunted, please keep your pets close to you and watch them like a hawk. We live in a very heavily hunted area but are lucky that most are people we are familiar with that are aware of our animals. However, there is also a tendency to have people from out of our state even to wander through our lands, shooting indiscriminately--like at my neighbor's boarding kennel??

I realise there are 'responsible hunters' but please know hunting personally goes against everything I believe in, but what is best for one is not best for all. That said, pictured above is our little Casper (honkey donkey) who was also affected by a hunter's bullet-while his mama, a WHITE DONKEY was pregnant with him. A hunter shot her, along with a white llama that belonged to a friend--both of the critters in the same pasture. Now come on white?? Casper and his mama were ok, except when Casper was born, the bullet had smashed into his little spine, right at the withers and he now has a crippled/stiff/s-curved spine that he will have to live with all his life. It has not been easy for him, we have to keep a careful eye on his weight, and as he has grown, the spine curvature has gotten much worse--sometimes making it difficult for him to get up if he is in the wrong spot.

We keep our critters up close to our buildings now til after Thanksgiving and eagle eye any activity we see that is not 'normal'. We are thankful the hunters who belong in surrounding areas are careful and aware of our flock--and hope we make it through another season with out a horrid incident like our friend. To pet owners AND hunters, Please Please be careful! (thank you for listening to my rant....)