BYC Spinning Fiber

[bnjrob]

Beautiful! I love the vibrant color!

 

[bnjrob]

I saw that article and it looked interesting. Nice to know that it works!

 

[GardenGal]

Peepacheep, it was such a fun surprise to meet you at OFF! Someone showed me the long draw there. She pulled it back past her shoulder and then let the machine pull it in. She said it's also called the beer draw

That's some gorgeous yellow roving!

 

[peepacheep]

Good meeting you too!!! Your spinning wheels are Beautiful! Also nice Icelandic fiber. A long draw past ones shoulder? Wow. Beer draw is a good name for it. Silk hankies are the one thing I can long draw but that is only because they stick to the calluses on my hands. Great fiber festival. Learned a lot about angora rabbits but did not bring home one, (yet) Hope all is well with your flock.

 

[GardenGal]

Peepacheep, hope you and your flock are doing well too Did you see the French angora rabbits? They were so friendly, even licked our hands! The lady said you can get 3 oz of roving from each rabbit. I don't know if that's per year or seasonally.

Does anyone here have fiber rabbits? I'd love to hear about them!

One cool thing I learned is how to ply with a drop spindle. All you do is spin counter clockwise. Very handy for when you can't get to your wheel!

 

[peepacheep]

Oh I wish I had seen the French angora rabbits! (well maybe it is a good thing I didn't...) I like the idea that they molt their coat, no shearing. After years with mini and full size rex rabbits plucking molting bunnies is easy. A couple of interesting points that were mentioned at the German angora demo was that they do not molt, the speaker recommended high quality $400 German electric shears, the rabbits have a 30,60, and 90 day grooming cycle that ranges from check and cheek trims, (shearing their facial fur and butt fur) to full shearing every 90 days. She said the German and English angora were bred to be mellow muffins due to all the maintenance they required. Her opinion was the French angora were more 'rabbity', as in more energetic. That is so cool that you got rabbit kisses! I have had only 2 rabbits that would do that. I do not know what an average ounce per year is on an angora but it is my understanding that they produce about a sweater's worth.

My chickens did fine while I was away to OFFF. Had to spend Thursday night up in Eugene this week and came home to a pullet that broke the tip of her beak off. She acts like she is hungry, but it is too painful to peck and has not figured out how to scoop or take food from a syringe. Looks like I may have to do some refresher reading on tube feeding.

 

[GardenGal]

Definitely continuing research on angoras, Peep! Wow, I had no idea you could get enough for a sweater.

Your poor chicken - I wonder if soaking her food would help? Yogurt, scrambled egg? Hope she recovers really soon!

How's your new wheel working out?

 

[peepacheep]

There was an a water color painter we often saw at craft shows that spun and knit sweaters from her angora for her little girl and herself. Loved to watch them walk along the aisles, they looked like soft dandelions gone to seed.

Zelda, the Buff Brahma pullet, is doing better. Yes, wet food helped! A mix of wet food, kefir, hard boiled egg yolk got some nutrition in her while the beak quick scabbed over. What a mess syringe feeding her! Should you ever need to teach a chicken to scoop food instead of pecking at it a peanut butter jar 1/2 filled with sunflower kernels helps speed up the training. I hold the jar on its side at head level, Zelda sticks her head in. no vertical room to peck, she has to scoop with her broken beak. So good to get a noticeable amount of food in her crop.

I really like my new wheel. I have switched back to the older style flyer with hooks that came with my single treadle Louet, more room to cross lace it to reduce the pull. Have been spinning some mini batts of silk and CVM from Beacon Farm, very pretty fiber, make s a yarn with nice drape to it.

 

[GardenGal]

Poor baby! Glad she's doing better.

One of our chickens is going through her first molt and is just miserable. Probably better make her an outfit. Outfits always make a gal feel better

We're going to be at St. Distaff's in Edmunds WA January 5th. Wish it was sooner - I'm ready for another fiber event!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Where is everyone??