Last wednesday, 14th, we went on a field trip to Ewe and I, a local sheep farm where our wonderful host Myrtle does everything from feeding and sheering the sheep to washing, spinning and dying the wool. Then she knits socks with it, and weaves beautiful rugs, amongst other things.
We all got to try our hand at spinning , then we met the adorable sheep who provided the wool we were spinning with.
Myrtle was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge it was fascinating. Did you know that the diet the sheep are on affects the thickness of their wool, apparently turnips make it thicker.
I was also surprised to learn that they shear the sheep in january while it's still cold, the reason being that the lambs have much shorter coats and feel the cold more, if the mom is cold too, she will snuggle with the lambs and breathe on them to keep them warm. If she's snug and warm in her thick wooly coat she doesn't realise the lambs are cold... hey, no-one said sheep were smart.
On Friday December 4th we took part in "1st Friday" at St. Lukes, 222 Washington Ave, Scranton. We had a very successful evening, thankyou Father Pete and Bonita for hosting us!
We were fortunate to sell many pieces, felted wool pins and wallets were all the rage! and our silk batik art cards were also popular with the patrons.
Last wednesday, 14th, we went on a field trip to Ewe and I, a local sheep farm where our wonderful host Myrtle does everything from feeding and sheering the sheep to washing, spinning and dying the wool. Then she knits socks with it, and weaves beautiful rugs, amongst other things.
We all got to try our hand at spinning , then we met the adorable sheep who provided the wool we were spinning with.
Myrtle was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge it was fascinating. Did you know that the diet the sheep are on affects the thickness of their wool, apparently turnips make it thicker.
I was also surprised to learn that they shear the sheep in january while it's still cold, the reason being that the lambs have much shorter coats and feel the cold more, if the mom is cold too, she will snuggle with the lambs and breathe on them to keep them warm. If she's snug and warm in her thick wooly coat she doesn't realise the lambs are cold... hey, no-one said sheep were smart. 
On Oct 8th we took part in the Wilkes-Barre farmers market, selling greetings cards, felted wallets and 2010 planners with silk batik collage covers. Artists Patti Spellman and Erin Docherty demonstrated needle felting. It was a little chilly but we had a great day and sold most of what we took.
_-_Copy_copy.jpg)
.jpg)
