What a weekend!!!
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: When in Rome "The Promise"
Topic: A bit of everything
No pictures, but lots to tell. :)

I didn't get to the fabric store on Saturday. After working until 4 in a large building with NO AC, and the fact that I was covered in dirt, the last place I wanted to head to was the mall. Instead, I came home and crashed.

BUT ON SUNDAY (da, da da!), it was the Alden & Stephenie class. Wow! Was that awesome! I learned that I had been underplying my yarn for years, and why it was coming out underplied. It seems that there are two stopping places; both between the time you actually put the ply into the yarn and when it winds on to the bobbin. Who knew? That was like an epiphany for me. I also learned some great techniques for spinning yarn faster. Once I get my Merlin Tree wheel set back up, I'll try those out (that wheel just BEGS for production spinning!).

For those that are interested, the following people attended: Caroline, Jenny, Judy, Cindy, Kim, Elaine with her fabulous cherry Canadian wheel that Alden built, Al, Dharia, Cate, Lisa, Rosemary, Claudia, Marcy, Charlene, Jarrett, Heidi, Kate, Shelia, Marianne, Suzanne, and Deanna. I spun in the back, so that I could run for Alden and Stephenie if they should need anything.

I have no pictures of the event. I was aware that Alden does not like pictures to be taken during the classes, so I didn't bring my camera in with me. However, there have been lots of pictures on some of the blogs listed above, and Stephenie took a great class picture which I'm anxious to see.

After class, I invited Alden, Stephenie and Marcy out to dinner. Marcy has know them for a long time, and it was fun to hear the various stories they shared with me. Dinner at Judie's in downtown Amherst was really very good. I had my first chocolate martini (which was delicious!!!), and an incredible pasta dish with scallops. Listening to Stephenie talk about their travels was very interesting. I found out that Stephenie and I share a love of old glass. We talked about the glass factory in Sandwich, MA and the Corning Glass museum in Corning, NY (which I hadn't been to, but enjoyed hearing about!).

We also talked about our love of old textiles and colonial history.

I was sorry to see that they had to leave the next day, but understood that after three days of intensive travel (NJ on Friday, Maine on Saturday and Amherst, MA on Sunday), anyone would need a break!).

I was able to put in my order for my very own Canadian Wheel from Alden. Spinning on Elaine's was a religious experience and one I'm anxious to have again. ;-)

I also wanted to thank Stephenie for her lovely gift. It is a basket made from beautifully colored string. It is very beautiful and I plan to hang it in a place of honor. I also wanted to thank Debra, aka Torchie for her thoughtful and very cool gift of a dragon orifice hook for one of my wheels. Naturally, when I get my Alden wheel (which will be a while, as these are built to fit the spinner!), my dragon will live on that wheel as they will go so well together. :)

Unfortunately, due to some problems on my computer, I'm unable to post pictures right now, but hope to have them up soon.

I did get some fabric for sewing yesterday. I picked out a really cool purple/turquoise blue batik fabric for a dress and a top, and two different blue fabrics for skirts. Once I get a few other things taken care of, I can start sewing!

Sewing? The Alden/Stephenie class and the latest update on VHD
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Creed "With Arms Wide Open"
Topic: Fiber

It seems I've been bitten again by the sewing bug. I had forgotten just how much I loved sewing when I was a teenager. I used to make almost all of my own clothes, and was very proud of my sewing skills. But I lost that love. I'm not sure if it was working on a sewing machine that clogged thread around the bobbin, or the fact that suddenly, patterns were WAY TOO BIG! And I hadn't gained or lost any weight; heck, I was a perfect size 6 then! But working on the felted coat last weekend reminded me just how much I loved the feel of fabric between my fingers, and creating something out of so little. I remembered the ease of sewing a pretty outfit. So this weekend, probably later today, I'm heading over to Joann's's Fabrics to look for skirt and dress patterns. Nothing overly complicated, as I'm still feeling my way back to sewing, but something that looks professional, yet is comfortable and cool. I'll try to do that later today, after work.

And speaking of work, I'm heading over to DH's place of employment to do some edgebanding. "Huh? What the heck is that?" you must be thinking. Well, edgebanding is what is done to melamine pieces that eventually become point-of-purchase displays. DH and I think we can get through a thousand of these pieces before too late today. The only bad thing is that there is NO air conditioning in the building, and it is blazingly hot in there. So maybe I'll do the fabric store thing after I've had a dip in the pool.

And I'm looking forward to meeting so many people at the Alden Amos class tomorrow. The Fiber Arts Center will be open at 9:30 for us to get into and class starts at 10 a.m. Please remember to bring the following items:

a functional spinning wheel, pocket calculator, skein winder (niddy or reel), extra bobbins.

And $15 cash for Alden and Stephenie at the class for the materials fee.

Now onto the more unpleasant task:

the VHD update:

As of 6-10-05, 10AM PST from Pam Alley:

Spoke with Drs. Hollis and Morley of KY today; they and their colleagues
have been doing site visits, phone calls and lots of investigation related
to the swap meet at which the Indiana owner procured his latest purchases.

The swap meet is held on Tuesdays, and is located in Greenville, KY--the
western part of the state, about 50 miles from the Indiana border.

If you know anyone who attends or visits this swap meet with rabbits or to
obtain rabbits, PLEASE contact Dr. Hollis at 503-337-9651, or email me at
RIC@... and I will pass the information on to him.

What they are seeking is news of mortality--losses of rabbits which are not
usual or routine, which might turn out to be due to RVHD. If you or anyone
you know has lost rabbits lately (last two weeks, last month or so), and the
deaths are not obviously attributable to 'normal' causes, PLEASE contact Dr.
Hollis IMMEDIATELY.

The key to discovering this disease lies in good recordkeeping of both sales
and purchases; in early detection by owners; and in good diagnostic work
done on rabbits that die.

To aid in this last, those in and near the state of Indiana may use:
Perdue
Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
http://www.addl.purdue.edu/
West Lafayette, Indiana
Full necropsy $50 + lab tests beyond usual tests done
Out of state origin doubles the fee
Can submit and pay independent of veterinarian but require report to go
through the regular veterinarian.

I'm working on getting the information for Kentucky; please remember that
ALL states have State Veterinarians and USDA/APHIS veterinarians as
well--you can contact your Department of Agriculture and find their numbers
that way, or ask your veterinarian--they should have the contact information
you need.

by Pamela Alley, RVT
6-10-05

A Sad Thing
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: Bananrama "Cruel Summer"
Topic: Rabbits
Unfortunately, this is true. There is a case of RHD in the U.S. in Indiana. There is no need to panic, but rather educate yourselves about this disease if you have rabbits. Keeping a closed barn is a very good idea right now, and not bringing rabbits in and out is very important as the incubation period can be rather long. This means not taking rabbits out to demos, and doing what you can to keep your rabbitry biosecure.

I keep a closed barn. But for now, there will be no new rabbits introduced to the herd.

If you would like to learn more about VHD/RHD, please join Pam Alley's group on Yahoogroups called VHDInfo. The list goes back to 2001, when I originally joined and have been a member of it since (under another e-mail address other than BCF). Please read the achieves, and educate yourselves about this disease. There is no cure and the vaccine is not allowed in the U.S. at this time.

Be smart, practice good hygiene around your rabbits, especially if you are between 4 and 6 hours away from the areas where the disease has been found. Allow no new people to enter your rabbitry and READ WHAT YOU CAN ABOUT THIS DISEASE. Join the VHDInfo list. Check out various government websites. Learn what you can from KNOWLEDGEABLE people (and I'm not pretending to be all knowing on this topic, but I have read quite a bit about VHD/RHD. Instead of me telling you what I know, I prefer for you to learn about it for yourself). You can visit the IN BOAH site and click on press releases for more information. Currently, they have not released any information on that site, but have promised to do so when they have some new information.
Here is the APHIS site which explains a bit about the disease.


----- Original Message -----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 2:51 PM
Subject: Emergency Management Notice : Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (Viral
Hemorrhagic Disease of Rabbits ) in Vanderburgh county, Indiana


On June 7, 2005, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) was confirmed at a private residence in Vanderburgh county, Indiana by the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) on Plum Island, NY. Specimens from these rabbits were positive for RHD antigen on ELISA, electron microscopy, and PCR.
>
A FAD investigation was initiated on June 3, 2005 on a premises that raises rabbits primarily for sale to reptile owners as a food source for snakes. The investigation revealed that many of the 200 rabbits on the premises suddenly died during the past 10 days. Less than a dozen rabbits had recently been purchased from Kentucky and introduced into the herd. An epidemiologic investigation has begun in Kentucky. The remaining rabbits are quarantined and will be euthanized and disposed of in accordance to State regulations. Cleaning and disinfection of the area will follow. The Indiana epidemiological investigation is ongoing.
>
APHIS, Veterinary Services (VS), the Indiana Board of Animal Health, and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture are working together to address this situation. VS will assist the affected State in the euthanasia, cleaning, and disinfection of the premises.
>
VS will continue to investigate reports of suspect RHD as part of its foreign animal disease surveillance program and will continue to diagnose suspect cases at FADDL. The last known positive RHD case in the US occurred in a captive exotic animal facility in Flushing, New York in December 2001.
>
APHIS, Veterinary Services (VS), the Indiana Board of Animal Health are working together to address this situation. VS will assist the affected State in the euthanasia, cleaning and disinfecting of the premises.
>
VS will also investigate reports of suspect RHD as part of its foreign animal disease surveillance program and will continue to diagnose suspect cases at FADDL.
>
Please forward this information to other Federal, State, and industry counterparts as necessary.
>
> -----definitions---------
> Emergency Management Issue is for information with no impact on APHIS Emergency Management Notice is an ongoing incident with potential impact on APHIS Emergency Management Warning is an ongoing incident with almost certain impact on APHIS
>

Posted by baycolonyfarm at 12:22 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, June 9, 2005 11:20 PM EDT

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The Alden Amos class is full!
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: The Spinners "Love Don't Love Nobody"
Topic: Class information

I received the last sign up yesterday for Alden and Stephenie's class. We will be full to capacity for the gallery room.

If I receive any other sign ups, I'll put people on a waiting list.

Drum roll please....
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Smokey Robinson "Cruisin'"
Topic: Class information

The pictures! As promised:

Here we have Cathy Connor from IBIWISI Alpacas modeling her chic red vest with Border Leicester locks around the collar and front panels. Cathy e-mailed me on Monday night to tell me that she took the vest to work on Monday, and her fibery friends loved it!

Next is Sheryl, whom you might recognize from the most recent issue of Spin-Off. Sheryl is felting her fabric.

And here is Diane, an accomplished dyer and coat designer, showing off her red fabric with brown webbing on it. She'll look stunning in the coat when it is finished, and I can't wait to see what she designs!

Here is a picture that we took on Monday. Leslie Samson (third from the left) is demonstrating to (left to right) Karen, Diane and Sheryl the differences in felting needles.

And last, here is a picture of my partially completed coat. It still needs facing and sleeves, which will be made out of of a different type of material, that Karen and I plan to go looking for at Osgoods down in West Springfield.

We had a lot of fun in the class, and I'm looking forward to Leslie coming back in the fall to teach a class that Dharia requested at MAS&W. :)

Spinning Class Info

There are two spaces left in the Alden Amos Workshop. If you are planning on taking it, please let me know ASAP, as I can not save space due to the high demand I'm having for the remaining slots. I've filled 5 of them in the past few days.

Exercise???
Mood:  on fire
Now Playing: Byran Adams "Summer of '69"
Topic: Fiber

Still no pictures. That would require me moving. Seriously. I'm exhausted and sore. Making yardage is PHYSICAL activity, and is requiring me to use muscles that don't see all that much activity (especially in the back!). And besides, I'm afraid that if I bring my camera into the house, I'll forget it here and won't be able to record the rest of what is happening today up at the FAC.

BUT, Cathy from IBIWISI Alpacas almost completed her vest yesterday afternoon. A stunning red, with needlefelting. She had some finish handsewing to do, but it was wearable! I have pictures of it on my camera in the car.

The rest of us worked on completing yardage. Since we are all making coats, we have another day of class today to start cutting and sewing.

I am THRILLED with my yardage. The colors coming out are reminding me of Monet's Waterlilies paintings. And because I'm making a duster coat, it is long enough to take advantage of the gradual colors on it. But because it has these gradual colors, I won't be doing much embellishing. I'm going to be looking for small seed beads to sew onto it.

Pictures will follow after the close of class tonight.

Ready for the Design Team?
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: James Taylor "Up On The Roof"

The first day of the Felted Coat class was yesterday. We are working in teams due to limited space (the room at the FAC is great but on the small side, but it does offer a wall unit AC, which was really appreciated by 2 p.m. yesterday!). We are also working at a faster pace in teams of two, because we are able to make the fabric quicker. I had originally wanted a blue batting, with a light blue silk under it. I think that Karen and I got a little too vigorous with the felting, as the fabric felted, but it didn't felt to the silk. The beauty of what we are doing is that we only have to felt two or three pieces of fabric in order to have enough yardage. So while Leslie figured out why my piece didn't felt property, Karen and I were able to get her second piece done. When class ended, Leslie and I found a nice length of silk, and started making a piece of fabric for me. I decided to change the batting color, which is now a gorgeous seafoam green with blues and purples. This felted much better to the new silk. I'm thrilled with the fabric that we finished with. And while we didn't leave the FAC until close to 9 p.m., I have a jump start on my fabric. Plus, we had a nice dinner of fried yuca and black beans from La Veracruzana, and Workingman's Ale from ABC. :)

Leslie has already left for the FAC as she wants to felt some yardage using other types of silk that we purchased this week. I'm anxious to see how she does with this red silk with gold threads running through it.

I'll have pictures to post later. :)

Remember this?
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Jimmy Buffett "Brown Eyed Girl"
Topic: Fiber

The two balls of roving on opposite ends*? I made this up last year just before MAS&W. It's called Creamsicle. I'm making more of it next week. I just sold the last amount this past weekend, and people love it! They adore the color combinations. Last year Pogo from Friend Folly Farm made the roving for me, but this year, I'm making the batts myself. There shouldn't be that much difference between the two, and I'll try to keep the colors separate like they were before. Last year it was an Icelandic/angora blend (the angora being the dyed wool), but this year I might try it up using some of the other wools I have. I still have Icelandic fleeces to use, so don't worry; I'll make some up using the Icelandic too. :)

*Photo courtesy of Claudia.

Busy week!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Walter Egan "Hot Summer Nights"
Topic: Class Information & Shows

Cummington was fabulous! Leslie sold three of the four Germans she brought down from Canada, and all buyers were extremely happy. Charlene purchased one to expand her breeding program.

I will say it is a lot of work to be vendor chair, but a lot of fun too. I met many new vendors (well, new to me as I don't really get a chance to chat with many sales people at these fairs; either they are really busy or I am!), and look forward to seeing them next year.

The Bobbin Trees and Logs were well received, and my inventory will need restocking for Rhinebeck, my next show. :)

Leslie has been staying here with us this week. She helped me pick out the pattern for my felted coat, which I'll start making tomorrow morning. We have a few people coming to do the vest class only, so they will be working with us on Saturday and Sunday, but the coat people stay through Monday. I've seen the batts that Leslie has in her truck for this class, and I can't seem to make up my mind if I want turquoise blue, dark blue or this really gorgeous seafoam green. I'll probably go with the darker blue, as this coat will be more fall/winter/spring wear than anything else. But the pattern I picked out has a dress, pants and shirt that go with it, so I can make an entire coordinating outfit. The coat is long and designed to be worn over any of the above items. I've got a million ideas floating around in my head about what I'll make. I guess it will just happen.
Leslie and I were trying to get some additional felting time in this week, but that hasn't happened.

Today Charlene is coming up for lunch and promised to bring taco soup. Yummmmm!

MA Sheep and Wool
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: The Rascals "Groovin'"

Yesterday was Day 1 of the MAS&W show. The weather gods have blessed us, as the sun actually came out on Friday and while we got a lot of rain on Friday night (which thankfully didn't happen until DH and I were done moving everything into the stall space), it was gorgeous yesterday!

Leslie arrived from Canada at 3:30 a.m., and slave driver that I am, I allowed her to sleep in till 7:15 when we had to get her up and out of the house to finish booth setup. I'd say we did a pretty good job of setting up the booth in 1/2 hour. Actually, my booth has never looked so good, but Leslie has brought a few things that really jazzed it up, including her 4 1/2' tall felted picture and two dress form (these are too cool!) to show off the coats on.

It was also my first day on as the new head of the vendor committee. Lucky me. ;-) Actually, Marian and I went around and she introduced me to everyone in the cattle and craft barns. We have a new change this year, and most everyone seemed o.k. with the switch. I will say this; a lot of people want to vend in those barns! :)

I also saw lots of bloggers and fiber list people there: Claudia was there wearing her very cool steel top along with Rosemary who was wearing her shirt which says "I'm blogging this" (and she was!). Leah and her very young looking Mom came to the booth to introduce themselves. I saw Jessie from CT, Helen from NETA, Marcy, Jarrett, Deanna, Kim D., Suzanne, Risa (whom I enjoyed talking to very much!) came by with her beautiful little twins, Cate breezed by with family in tow, and many, many others. I just love it when people come up and introduce themselves as "I'm from NETA, SheepThrills, Spin-List, (insert list of your choice)". The internet has done a great thing and really drawn people together. But I'll say blogging has done it even more

Today is Day 2. Leslie and I plan to get up to Cummington a bit earlier, and visit with the other vendors, some of whom she's know for 20+ years, but doesn't get a chance to see.

And doing part of my new vendor chair duties, I'll be going through the barns to make sure people are happy and to see if they need anything.

If you haven't been to Cummington, stop on up today if you are in the area. The show is one of the best I've seen, with some excellent new vendors, and some show favorites who've been coming for years.

Posted by baycolonyfarm at 6:08 AM EDT

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