Pygora Kids Update

Lots of information about the kids and their parents has been added to the Pygora Goats for Sale Page.  There's still more to add: I want to say more about my herd in general, and to add helpful information about Pygora fiber and what the individual micron counts mean.

I always miss the best photo opportunities, but here's a keeper from this morning:

Kids and Tina 04-10-13

Pygora Babies

The babies started arriving 22 March.  Tina had a set of twins on that day, and Tulip delivered 23 March.  I had planned for kids to arrive late April/early May but my buck had different plans and his persistence paid off!  So far, it's all boys!  They have been disbudded already; neutering will be postponed.

Tina's Kids

It's likely that any kids that Lily produces will arrive on my schedule: late April/early May.  More details will appear on the Pygora Goats for Sale Page.

Tulip and Kids

Rock Climbing 101 for Baby Goats

A little iMovie knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Summer, Swiftly...

It's just not been a summer for blogging.  I envy those who blog regularly, with beautiful and well-written posts.  I take photos and they languish.

But that doesn't mean the summer has been unblogworthy.  Here's a feeble attempt to catch up:

Natural Dyes Workshop with Sara Goodman

In mid July I spent three days with Sara Goodman, learning about using natural dye extracts for dyeing fiber.  This was one of the seminars offered through NEWS: New England Weavers Seminar.  I've kept quiet about it on this blog but using natural materials for dyeing has been on my mind this year.  When it comes to natural dyes I'm most interested in sustainability and focusing on materials that can be gathered locally.  This workshop involved using dye extracts from far away places... but I'm still glad I participated.

Samples from Sara Goodman's Natural Dye Workshop

Here are some of my projects from that workshop:
At twelve o'clock are some skeins of the first yarn that I had commercially-spun years ago; one dyed with walnut extract and one with a mixture of extracts.  Perhaps a shawl.

At three o'clock  is a skein of my sock yarn, originally dyed with a local plant material, then overdyed in the indigo vat that we learned all about.  I tried to allow some of the original color show through the indigo.

Center: dye samples on a silk strip.

At six to eight: a small pre-felt dyed in a mix of extracts.

The remainder: some of my lambswool yarn painted with a variety of colors for warp, along with a skein of the same yarn for weft.  Both were over-dyed in the indigo vat.  Enough for two scarves.

Would you like to see how yarn dyed in an indigo vat changes color as it is lifted out and exposed to oxygen?  Follow this link.

And here are my Pygora girls, up to no good.  Notice that when I called Tina's name at the beginning of the clip, she answered.

Finally, yarn destined for Meadow Muffins, dyed with alder cones, and two intensities of walnut.  Gathered from trees that are in or next to the pastures that my sheep graze.  Cafe au lait?

Meadow Muffin yarn, dyed with locally-gathered dye materials

Socks from Sojourner Design Yarn

My local customer who enjoys knitting with Meadow Muffins yarn has been at it again!  This time she used a more subtle combination of hues.  Just in case you haven't seen them, here's the shot of her first pair of socks with this yarn.

I'm hoping to see more work from this gal!  Also, notice the backgrounds.  The first socks were finished early last summer and laid out on lovely green grass.  The new socks ... done in December and resting on pristine Northampton snow.

Speaking of snow, here's a view of my sheep pressing in around the winter haylage feeder this morning as the snow was falling.

I've refreshed the Home Page of my website with a couple of photos taken this morning.  In fact, you'll find a number of changes and additions (such as the Prefelt page) there.  Here's one of the photos I added to that page:

I've added a few listings for carded wool to my Zibbet Shop... now I just need to figure out how to make all those Meadow Muffin hues available online!

The Fiber Fest of New England is coming!

Border Leicester Cross Roving

And I need to apply myself diligently in preparing for it.  Please consider coming; more information about the event can be found here.  My booth is #255-W.  Here's how to locate it easily: after entering the Mallory building through the front door and proceeding straight to the larger space in that building, you will be walking along the widest, central aisle.  The Food Court will be immediately to your right.  My booth is along the third aisle to your right after going by the Food Court; it is a corner booth, the fifth one in from the center aisle.

This is will be my largest venue so far and I'm giving lots of thought to what I'll bring and how I'll display it.  Although there's plenty to do between now and 6 November, I can't wait!

The photo above is a new roving that I'll have at The Fiber Fest of New England.  I had actually dyed the colorway way back in May but hadn't gotten around to combining my colors.  It's another example of my Mary Alice series: four coordinating strands in each bundle.  The spinner may choose to blend them all together during the spinning process, or they may be spun separately or combined in any way the spinner chooses.  I like choices.

This roving will be sold in four ounce bundles with a total of two pounds available.  If you like it and are coming to the event, plan to stop by early if you want enough for a sweater.  I do have quite a bit of the muted brass hue left over and I'll have that available too.


Time for more photos of my Pygora goats!

Here are my three little girls: Tina, Tulip, and Lilly from left to right, anxiously awaiting their daily treat of cracked corn.  I am so fond of these goats, so glad I took a chance and added a new species here.

Tulip and Lilly diving into the corn.  Tina, the smallest, is a little shy and usually positions herself behind the other two.  Please note the yardstick behind Tulip; this gives you some idea of their size.

Here's Tina!

New Fiber... On The Hoof!

My new herd sire... hard to believe this cute little guy will soon be a stinky billy goat!

 They’re here!

A truck and livestock trailer that had travelled a long long way rolled into my driveway today and we scooped up four little fiber babies. They are Pygora goats, six months in age, from Hawks Mountain Farm in Oregon. Pygora goats are a breed that combines the fiber length of Angora goats with the downy undercoat, stature, and temperment of Pygmy goats.

The doelings.  Don't you love those ears?

Pygora goats can have fiber ranging from soft kid-like mohair ringlets to cashmere; each goat ideally produces one type of fiber along this continuum. The fiber from Pygora goats remains soft as the goat ages. More information about the breed and fiber can be found here and here.

I have started my little Pygora herd with three doelings and one buckling. My intention is to have an easy-keeping herd of yard care experts traveling between our house and that of our neighbor (thus, the portable goat house), and to breed these goats when they are old enough.

Conferring about the new digs

Why did I purchase THESE Pygora goats and incur the cost of shipping them all the way across the U.S.?  Especially when it's so important to support local agriculture?  The easy answer is that there are few Pygora goats locally so I knew I would need to go some distance to buy.


But there's more to it...Hawks Mountain Ranch is another farm that has certified status in the USDA Voluntary Scrapie program. As long as I maintain my own certified status, any future kids sold here will be certified free of Scrapie as they leave the farm.   I've known about Lisa from Hawks Mountain Ranch for years and have been aware of her dedication the breed.  I wanted to support that dedication and have the best genetics possible for this little herd.

Oh what a fleece.

More to follow!  Please feel free to comment by clicking on the  comment link below.

Lawn Ornaments