Fiber Friday

Three class participants with nearly-finished hats

Last week I got a good fiber fix, with this commission felting project completed and two hat felting classes!Despite one particular fleece giving us fits (it was slow to felt, and Kay, above, was ready to turn her hat into a place mat at one point!), everyone had great success with their hats, once again. Everyone stopped to see our newborn cria on their way out. Yes, another boy, but a lovely one at that.
I look forward to scheduling more classes in late summer, or if two or more people want to get together and request a class before then, I'm happy to do it! In the meantime, trail riding is beckoning and I'm having trouble finding more studio time. Here are a few nearly-finished projects that I made during classes....

Fiber Friday

I've been squeezing in miscellaneous projects as I can, and am ready to deliver some new spring/summer nuno felted scarves back to Damselfly Gallery in Midway and Truly Bluegrass in Versailles.I was requested to make this hat in solid brown (same size and style) for a Truly Bluegrass customer, so I'm gladly working on that! I have two upcoming hat felting classes scheduled for next week, so if you're interested in those check them out on the calendar, as I still have some spaces.
This little bird (I got the kit from Alicia Paulson) watches over my felting, and I think she looks really cute paired with the needle-felted nest that my internet friend Chrissie gave to me. I wonder when those eggs are going to hatch?

More Trekking, Sales!

It's already been a great weekend, with two groups of people coming for llama trekking and the sale of one of our outstanding young alpaca junior herdsires. My friend Kaylen (from Sheffield Alpacas) and her family came out today to check out some young breeding prospects, and selected SSF Peruvian Mystery (Accoyo America Sinbad x AF Maisy). He is displaying fantastic potential with an extremely dense and well-organized fleece, and should contribute great fleece genetics to their herd!
We had two llama treks this weekend, and both went well! Saturday's trek was a birthday surpise, and I think everyone had a nice time.
Mirian's friend was helping, and she spotted a snake on the trail, the first she had ever seen! It was a colorful (and harmless!) milk snake and it allowed us plenty of time for a good look before I used a stick to gently move it out of the way. (I originally identified it as a king snake, but realized my mistake when I looked it up!)
Our group today had two young children amongst the 6 in their group. It was the first time our llamas have been around small kids, and they were somewhat fascinated by the "little two-leggeds" and did great with them!Keeping with the reptile theme, we did encounter a box turtle today, which fascinated the kids!
Enjoy the photos from our hike(s). We feel very blessed to be able to share our farm and special animals with so many awesome people! We're looking forward to a great day of rest and play tomorrow, and hope all of you have a wonderful holiday, too!

First Llama Trek!

Today was the debut of our llama trekking since starting it back up this year (we previously did trekking here in the late 90's)! We were fortunate to have nice weather after tons of rain this past week, and a great family to get us rolling again!Ed from Cincinnati booked the trek as a surprise for his animal-loving wife Andrea's birthday, and they were joined by their 13-year-old daughter, Natalie. The llamas were a bit frisky at first, but they settled in nicely after a while on the trail.
Ed led Leo, who carried the pack with snacks, water, and cold lemonade and he took to it well after only having had the pack on a few times. He did hum his complaints a few times going up hill, but overall was a good sport (Talking about Leo, Ed never did complain)!
Paul and the kids all helped, which made it extra-special! The trails revealed lots of critter tracks, including turkey, deer and raccoon. We also saw a 7 inch-long, colorful skink in the trail.
Hopefully this was an experience that Ed, Natalie and Andrea will always remember!
Next weekend we have another group coming, and we also have a trek booked as part of a photography workshop in July so hopefully it's catching on again! Enjoy the rest of the photos from today's hike, and book yours soon!

Activities Galore!

I'm really glad we haven't had crias due recently, as there have been so many other things going on lately! We do have 5 girls in the "due barn" now, so hopefully I'll have new babies to report soon. The Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival took up most of my time recently, and you can read more about it here.
Now I'm getting ready for Art in the Park in Versailles on Saturday, May 22nd from 9-5 at Big Spring Park!Check out the new class schedule here at Seldom Scene! There will be a Hat Class on Thursday, June 10th, another Hat Class on Saturday, June the 12th, and a Basic Felting Class on Sunday, June 13th. You can click on each class on the calendar above for details. As long as the weather is comfortable, we'll have the classes at our new barn in the midst of alpaca crias, which should be a lot of fun!

My friend Dianne has scheduled a great Photography Workshop at her beautiful Tanglewood Farm in southern Woodford County, with part of the program taking place here in conjunction with a llama trek. I'm so excited about this weekend workshop in July, and hope you'll consider signing up, too! Everything you need to know is here.

Someone Stop Me!

I just can't seem to stop putting my hands into silky-soft fiber! I'm busy getting ready for the 1st Annual Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival which is this weekend and plan to offer our best in dyed rovings, yarn, and finished products.Although I should be taking the time to get myself better organized, I just can't resist doing more dyeing and making things! I recently took some of our finest fleeces to get processed, and these are some that I'll be offering in both dyed and natural colors. Although I wanted to spin up every lot that I dyed (leaving none to sell!), I did indulge myself in spinning and knitting a sample swatch... ahem... JUST so that others could determine what they'd look like!What? You're not familiar with a fiber festival? I can still remember my first, Fiber Fest in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and it must have been about 15 years ago. I took a spinning class, and dropped off llama and alpaca fiber and wool with Ohio Valley Natural Fibers to be processed into roving. That festival introduced me to the variety and wonder of working with fiber, and I went on to make spinning, knitting, dyeing a hobby and breeding top quality alpacas became my full-time job after a few years.

At the 1st Annual Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival, you'll see over 6o vendors. Some of us will have livestock (come meet Jasper and Midas, two alpacas that are for sale and Phoenix, our friendliest pack llama). There will be several breeds of sheep, and angora goats (which produce mohair), and angora rabbits (which produce angora) and who knows what else! There will be TONS of yarn and spinning wheels and FIBER for sale (including many pounds of roving that I have been dyeing!).In addition, there will be local FOOD and wine available for sale. AND, if that's not enough, the Bluegrass Classic Sheepdog Trial will be taking place, too. All of this is happening at Masterson Station Park in Lexington from 9 to 5 on Saturday, May the 15th and Sunday, May the 16th, there are some fiber arts classes available on the 14th, too.

I am very excited as well as appreciative of the people who stepped up to make this happen- local fiber, local food, fiber animals, a festival atmosphere, and the opportunity to meet others and sell my wares from the farm.... I hope to see you there!

2010 Futurity Sale and Show

It was an eventful weekend for us in Oklahoma City, the first time the ultra-competitive alpaca Futurity and Auction had been held at Heritage Place in 8-10 years (I think!). My good friend Deb of Seven Springs Alpaca Farm and I took our animals together and I drove the motor home with trailer in tow. All went smoothly until we were a bit north of Tulsa, and had a blow-out on the motor home. We felt thankful to maintain control and get to the side of the road safely! Five hours later the appropriate tire had finally been located and changed, and we barely made it in time to check in our animals and get to the annual fundraising banquet for Quechua Benefit.

I worked hard to get the word out on our subsitution animal, Xxxtremely Sweet, one of our herd's best young females, who was Lot #51 out of around 75 in the sale. It wasn't difficult, as she is an eye-catching girl and the armload of blue ribbons and purple banners helped to get attention for her as well. In the end, she was one of the higher selling females at $21,000, purchased by Jim Webb and Sharon Brown of Virginia Alpaca Farm.
I was on cloud nine as the auction began, as I had the shock and honor of being awarded the Craig Wilkins Memorial Sportsmanship trophy! I can't say enough about the strength, friendliness and integrity of the Wilkins family, and very much appreciate them honoring me with their special award that is in memory of their beloved son. Congratulations to them as well for selling the high-selling alpaca at $77,000!
We ended up buying two sale lots, first a 13.8 micron white female, Hummingherd's Amazilla. Our finest foundation female, Dulce de Leche, came from Hummingherd in Idaho and I have always admired the Gedney's emphasis on fine fiber.
We also purchased a stunning dark fawn son of Snowmass Matrix, Snowmass Nebula! Nebula is young and has lots of maturing to do, but what a beautiful and exciting male to add to our stable of Thoroughly Bred Herdsires (co-owned with Stuart and Michele Ray of Catalpa Creek Alpacas).
I got to show Xxxtremely Sweet one last time, and she did not disappoint. She won first in the brown yearling female class, then was awarded Reserve Champion Brown Female! We couldn't have been more happy for Jim Webb and Sharon Brown of Virginia Alpaca Farm, and are glad to have her younger brother, SSF Serendipitous, winning championships for us already.

The weekend was fun once we settled in, and it was so great to reconnect with long-time alpaca friends from all over the country. It's now time for me to concentrate on breeding strategies for the rest of the herd, birthing crias, and getting ready for the Kentucky Fiber Festival. I also had an order for 100 felted soaps, so I've got lots of work ahead of me!