Basket Making

Our friend Susan gave Lila and I a lesson in making baskets a few weeks back.  Susan and I will be teaching a class together in the winter using the "Woolworks" curriculum that Harrisville Designs publishes.  One change we are making to the curriculum is to replace rigid heddle weaving with basket weaving, since Susan is a maestro at baskets.  So, clearly I needed to learn how in order to help out eh?

I had fully intended to take photographs from the very beginning of this process, but was so enraptured with the actual soaking of the reed and weaving that I forgot.

I looked up from my own basket to see that Lila was more than half way up the sides so grabbed the camera quick to catch at least part of the process.

Susan is giving Lila some words of encouragement.  She didn't need many and took to it like a natural.  Lila decided on a "plain" market basket, and I opted for one stripe of dyed reed in mine- my basket is on the table in the background.

Here is Lila's basket- completely woven and she is at the staining stage.  She opted for a dark walnut color which surprised me a bit but it turned out beautifully.

She had a great time slopping on the stain...it took days to dry!  It now resides in her bedroom and is currently full of Audio books on CD.  Mine was stained a dark oak and has wool in it (of course!).  What an awesome skill to learn....thanks again Suze!

A blip in the Nest Box

Someone had an hiccup in the nest box! 

It was about the size of a Robin's egg.  It did have a yolk in it...I fried it for Will's breakfast.

Ewe-per Fiber Fair- Finale

By all accounts the first annual Ewe-per Fiber Fair was a success!

People could get there because Judith and her husband Jim made signs.

The Chamber of Commerce was happy to advertise for us.

And I fixed the sign at the school.  Twice, because someone at the school took it down (two days before the event!)

Here are some of the vendors and their wares:

Woolderness from Hessel, MI

Winter Sky Wool Co., from Naguanee, MI

(I love the display!)

Hand turned wooden Yarn Bowls by Jim Engle of Lakefield Township

Triple R Ranch- Chatham, MI

Spinners End Farm, Curtis MI



Handwoven split reed baskets by Susan and handwoven shawls by Jane

Handwoven Rag Rugs by Carol- Engadine, MI

Lavender Cottage Quilt shop- Curtis, MI

Here are some photos from the Demonstrations:

Kool-Aid Dyeing

Wet felting around a plastic egg

Locker hooking a rug

Knitting!

Spinning!

Weaving on a table loom

Weaving on a triangle loom

Drop spindling

  I did a demonstration of spinning from a rabbit but no one took photos!   Too bad because Bigwig behaved so nicely on my lap and he is such a handsome fellow.

We probably had 100-125 people drop by and most people were very interested in the demonstrations and learning events, especially the children.  Not bad for a first year fair with little advertising exposure and we hope to reach a broader audience next year...we'll start planning MUCH earlier for next year.

Bunny update

Peanut is under the delusion that she is pregnant.  She has not been bred!  She was the runt of last years Dalilah litter and she has one droopy ear.  She is lovely otherwise but I didn't want to breed her and pass that along so she just has to pretend!

Here are all the babies...running around and bouncing off the walls and their mother.  The picture is fuzzy because I was slapping at mosquitos.

I love the orangey color of the chocolate tort.

The Blue tort's coat is getting paler.  It will be interesting to see how the point color develop on these two.

And Dalilah's lookalike.  Dalilah herself is looking kinda rough in the background!  She is healthy but harried.

Torts!

Not the dessert kind or the legal kind.

The whole nest box at Five Days Old- losing the "piggy" look as the sister's in law call it!

See how different these two look?  I thought perhaps the lighter one was a cream, but I think it might be a diluted tort.  The puir wee thing had a bug bite on its ear.

And, though the darker kit looks like a fawn, genetically it cannot be since neither parent carries the Agouti (A) gene.  So, it too, is a tort.

Here is the lighter fellow.  I can see shading on its flanks, belly, feet and other points.  I think, based on comparison with its lilac sibling that it is a lilac...pearl?  Maybe chocolate?- Update:  Probable Blue Tort!

Here is the brighter orangeish kit.  I also see shading in the same areas as the first kit.  It doesn't seem as obvious though for some reason.  Same pale color so perhaps a lilac tort again?  Could be chocolate? Update: Chocolate Tort!

Here is the cutie Vienna marked black at five days old.

And Sammy holding the chubby all black kit.

Yesterday the kits turned 14 days old and they have their eyes open and have started a wobbly bouncing walk that is great fun to watch!  We had them out on the bed for their first free romp.

Every time I picked up the Lilac it fell asleep in my hand.

Same thing happened with the tort.

Getting these two together was like herding cats!  No one wanted to pose.  I guess I thought my thumbs were in the way!

Top view color comparison- now that their coats are getting longer it doesn't seem quite so strikingly different.

Ready to back with Mum.  Soon they won't be wanting to stay in the nest box proper and will be out harassing their mother!

Thanks to Annette and Lisa for their help interpreting colors!