Finn Fleece To Woven Pillow

Hey all, I  have been washing all my fleeces over the past month and everyone is done! Its such a great feeling. I thought Id share a short post on the entire process with some photos.
Who you are seeing here is my Finn sheep Rosie. She was a bottle 4-H lamb so she is extremely friendly. Get into your lap friendly! Rosie has a wonderful fleece that needs to be shorn twice a year. All my sheep and goats are fiber animals that need to be shorn twice in a year. So I get double the fleece from my animals! Rosie grows a fantastic Finn fleece with lots of crimp. So it is next to the skin.
Below is the process that one of my fleeces go through once off the sheep.  From Sheep to Woven Pillow in pictures.


Raw newly shorn Finn Fleece

 6 months growth

                                     Gorgeous crimp

Rosie, peek a boo

                         HEEEEHEEE!

 

One months new growth

                                 Washing the fleece

 drying the fleece

                            newly washed

spinning the fleece into yarn

                          sample skein

  Woven Pillow

 xo

May Blog Post From Dream Come True Farm

 

 

Hi Everyone, Im going to share a quick blog post to tell you all what has been going on at the farm.

First we are thrilled that Spring made an appearance! It was a long winter.

Spring brought with her baby chicks to our farm!! We are thrilled to welcome a number of babies and some pullets. Those of you that know me well know that I love my chickens and their eggs. Our choice of breeds are heirloom or specialty rare breeds. We love the beauty and differences in appearance and personalities that these birds offer us. Not to mention the color assortment of eggs! We expanded our chicken coop to a really big space for our birds. Our eggs are starting to come in by a dozen a day and more expected  to start laying in the fall. We have been lucky enough to now be working with The All American General Store in Seymour here in CT to sell our eggs. So if you are in the area pop into the General Store for some home grown with love chicken eggs! Of all colors

BIG NEWS! we are in the process of adopting two ducks from the Majestic Waterfowl

Next news, shearing is done!! All the critters have their winter coats off so I have been washing and spinning fleeces like crazy. Now Im spinning them and listing them in my etsy shop as I go along. take a peek www.Pamsfiber.etsy.com  I have also been weaving pillow toppers. They too are listed in my Etsy shop.

The Spinners Notebook has taken on a new look again. Lots of new contributors with some awesome new actual fiber samples. A supplement is available to those who already have the book. We will be offering lots of Brown Bag Fiber samples through my etsy shop. Which are brown bags with 2-4 oz of wonderful fiber samples often from our shepherds who contributed the fiber sample in the Spinners Notebook. Also in my Etsy shop.

Garden is in and growing with cool weather crop. Tomatoes are next. Patio plants planted along with a huge pot of lavender. Fairy garden is in.

Looking forward to the Spinning Retreat that Im part of offering at the Yellow Farm in NY. Oh, what a weekend that will be.

Follow me on FB under Pam Blasko for farm updates, specials and news all about the Spinners Notebook. I post daily and would love to friend you. Through my page you can access my etsy and the Spinners Notebook page for all updates ect.  I just posted my tips on setting your handspun yarn. So please stop on by.

I hope your spring is going well and is productive. Ill be back soon to post pics as soon as I can figure out why Im having trouble with blogging!! Its either me or blogger has an issue. Youve got the news from the farm anyway...

Oh, one more thing, the Farm Shop is open now by appointment all most anytime....

Happy Spring Folks!

We're bahhhhhhhhck!

 

 

Where to start? It has been such a busy 2014 that our blog has suffered terribly. Its been a long winter and hard to manage the farm as well. But here we are all the critters from the farm to say we're baaaaahck!

 

So lets begin by telling you that we survived the winter. WHEW! it was not easy. Plus Mom had hand surgery over the winter which made things really hard. We did our best to help her out.

 

We have increased our chicken flock and get about 12 eggs a day! Yup, its egg heaven over here. We enjoy watching the chickens, we find them quite entertaining. Occasionally we chase them, but shhhh don't say anything!

 

We are being shorn this weekend!! Yay, we are so ready. But of course its going to be a cold weekend. We dont worry though because Mom will cover us and give us lots of fresh straw to help us stay warm. So there will be a Finn fleece, 2 Wensleydale fleeces, 1 Teeswater fleece and 4 pygora fleeces. Im sure Mom will share some in her Etsy shop. www.pamsfiber.etsy.com

 

So, let us think......Oh yes the Spinners Notebook has been updated with 5 more pages! Its grown nicely with some amazing fiber samples. And we hear that this year there will be a newsletter a few times a year, another update with more supplements and some surprises that we are not allowed to tell you about. And Mom will know because she now has an eye in the sky on us 24/7. A sheep cam watches over us.

 

We also hear that there in going to be a retreat that Mom Ashly from Ashlyannshands  and Virginia from Yellow Farm are going to offer. You will all be updated on that very soon. Its going to be awesome, lots of great fibery things, farm visits, yoga for spinners and more! Stay tuned.

 

We are all glad at Dream Come True Farm that Spring is hear and we hope that you all survived the winter months with ease.

 

And the BIG news for now is that Mom has promised to update our blog on a regular basis again with lots of good fibery stuff, news about us (of course) and share all kinds of goodies with you all.

 

So take a peek at our pictures to see how good we look and know that we have missed you all!

 

Love, all of us at Dream Come True Farm

 

xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making and spinning rolag video tutorials

Making a rolag on a drum carder tutorial

Spinning from a rolag tutorial

Enjoy, xo

Spring update on Dream Come True Farm and Pamsfiber

Helloooooo Everyone!
Its complete and ready to ship!
The big update is the NEWS about my "Spinners Notebook". For those that are unfamiliar its a three ringed binder that is put together here on the farm fro Fiber Artists......a book all about wool with actual fiber samples from the sheep who's shepherds participated. They each wrote clear and informative information on their breeds and send us the actual fiber samples which is fabulous to be able to touch and feel the breeds.  They all offer fleeces and yarn for sale through their farms. Their contact info is supplied in the book. We also had some of who I consider awesome fiber artist who may or may not have farms write some awesome article for the book. The book has been around for over 12 years but now has completely been re-done! An Awesome book and very exciting for me! A must have book for any new fiber artist or a seasoned one that would like to record their experiences with fleece, dyes etc.

 If interested please take a look and learn more about in my Etsy shop where it sells and is pictured

  Also I have  page on Facebook that works as an extension to the Spinners Notebook, Tips, texhniques and more shared daily.  Dream Come True Farm and Pamfiber
Or visit me on FB Pam Blasko

www.pamsfiber.etsy.com

Take a look in my etsy to see all the fun things I have been creating lately. Weaving, making fiber vassals, wall hangings, woven wrist cuffs. Knitted wire wrist cuffs, AWESOME handspun yarns and kits. And so much more.

It's been an awesome busy spring! Shearing, fiber trips, fiber fairs and new chickens!  I'm going to try and just highlight what has been happening so as not have this post be a novel!
So let's see April we had The Wool Wench Suzy Brown visit with Arlene Thayer from Spin Artiste on line publication.  Suzy is an international instructor of art yarns and she did a workshop here on the farm with 25 women!  It was spectacular to say the least.
I was a vendor in CT Sheep And Wool Festival in April as well.
We had our goats and sheep shorn early May. So you know what that means. FIBER, FIBER AND MORE FIBER!
Ashlyann and I went to the spin Artiste Studio in Maryland and took a workshop with Girl With A Hook who is an adorable free form crochet instructor. It was an awesome workshop.
We also attended the MD sheep and Wool Fest. Yup, more FIBER!
And for both April and May we added new chickens to the flock and created a new space for them. We call their space Coop Town USA    I adore all these chickens and could spend hours watching them.  It's actually a bit of an addiction.  Believe it or not chickens are very interesting to watch while they interact with one another.
Mike added onto our back deck. It now wraps around the side of the house and over looks the entire barn yard. It's like heaven. Plans to spend the summer on it spinning and weaving!

Upcoming next week is JazzTurtle spin to weave workshop, 2nd annual workshop here on the farm. Should be an awesome time. New deck to spin and weave on, I'm excited. There may be a space or two still open so if interested contact me dctfyarns@aol.com

So check out my Etsy shop to see ALL the new things I have been creating. I must say Ive been very busy. The creative juices are flowing!

Summer is next week. I hope your gardens are in, your porch furniture is out and ready to enjoy the sunshine. I know I am here in the New England.

Off to be creative.

XO



Sneak Peak at the Spinners Notebook

Already working on a large supplement to be added to the book in the fall!!

Chicken News And Small Batch Dyeing Tips and Techniques From Pamsfiber

Small Batch Fiber Dyeing

Hi everyone, I'm back to share what I did the other morning here on the farm. I spent the entire morning doing some small batch fiber dyeing.  We are having quite the event here on the farm this weekend. I mentioned it in the previous post but it’s worth mentioning again. Suzy Brown aka Wool Wench is coming to the farm to do a workshop on blending fiber, art yarn spinning and plying.  Suzy is from the Netherlands and is teaching on the east coast a few workshops. We were to have some fibers dyed and ready to go!

 So this morning I got out my Goodwill purchased crock pots and did some small batch dyeing to add to a color scheme that is in my mind. How I do my small batch dyeing is what I thought I would share with you today.

 

Tools needed

1. Crock pots that will be used for dyeing only. I found all of mine in Goodwill  for only a few dollars each.

2.  I use Country Classic dyes. They are a one-step dye power. They can purchased on line.

3. water

4. fiber

5. wooden spoon

Step 1.  wet the fiber in a sink with hot water for 20 minutes. This is to allow the dye to be absorbed with ease.

Step 2  Fill your crock pots with hot water and turn them on high

Step 3. Add your dye according the instructions on the jar. 

Step 4. Take out your fiber and add it to the crock pots, making sure it is all covered. You can press it down ever so gently with a wooden spoon. I say gently so the fiber won’t felt.

Step 5. Cover your pots.  In 15 minutes turn the temp to low and set the timer for 30 minutes. DO NOT uncover.

Step 6. When your time is up take one pot at a time and dump it into the sink. Be careful, it will be hot. Then fill the sink up with hot water for a rinse. After about 10 minutes drain the sink and repeat until  sink water is fairly clear. Try not to change the temp of the water by much in-between the rinsing, again so as not to felt the fiber. When the water is fairly clear or completely clear pick up the fiber and gently give it a light squeeze to drain some of the water from the fiber. Transfer it to a screen to dry. A screen will allow air flow from the top and bottom drying the fiber quicker.  If you do not have one you can lay out on a towel in the sun.

Repeat step 6 with each crock pot of fiber.

I use this technique for all my small batch dyeing. I find it really simple and always successful.

Today the fiber I dyed was pygora goat locks, a small handful of Wensleydale sheep  locks and silk hankies that will be used in our new plying technique that we will be learning.  It should be an adventurous day. I’ll blog all about it next week!  This fiber will be blended with an already dyed sheep wool that I had and wanted to work around the color scheme.

                                  

I would also like to mention my new chickens! Lots of new chickens! Earlier in Spring we purchased from a local farmer some silkie chickens who are absolutely gorgeous! Gentle and friendly they have just started giving us eggs. Our quail from last year are still giving us eggs daily as well. Mike came home with 1/2 dozen one week old Leghorn chickens last week! He says these eggs are going to be bigger!! So the silkies are now mine and the leghorns are his! he is building another small coop for his chickens this weekend. And now I'm going to have to listen to "My eggs are bigger then your eggs!" Jeeeez! Oh well, as long as he is happy. He sure keeps me happy with all of my animal adventures!!

Miss Jooojooo
Silkie hen

The General
our roo



Thank you for stopping in. Please be sure to sign on as a follower so as not to miss anything! lots more to come. I have an entire agenda for my blogging this year. Please feel free to comment of ask questions. Ill like to connect with you all


 Spin On!    xoxox