I’ve started writing for my local spinning guild’s monthly newsletter. Here is the first article I wrote. If you are looking for articles from the months after October 2009, scroll to the bottom of this page and you’ll find the links.
The Ewe’s News (October)
How many times have you heard (or said it yourself) “There’s just not enough time in a day!” I know I’ve said it. We’re all so busy these days that it can be hard to find the time to enjoy our spinning and knitting (and weaving and dying and…), much less get on the net to do a little research to find new patterns, innovative dye sources, fiber sources, or anything else that has to do with our hobbies. So I thought I’d share a few of the cool things that I’ve found out there in hopes that I can introduce someone to something new and exciting, save someone some time, or enable someone in their favorite hobby.
The first thing I’d like to introduce you all to (or remind you, as the case may be) is ….. a fiber community! I’m sure you’ve all heard of Ravelry, but there is a lot to Ravelry and it’s hard to be aware of what all is available there if you don’t have the time to take a closer look than just checking for messages or local postings. For those who might not know, Ravelry is a social networking site (i.e. community) for pretty much anyone who has anything to do with fiber. Yes, there are knitters and crocheters, but there are also designers, weavers, indie dyers, LYS owners, and the list goes on. There’s even a group called Yarn Farmers where some of the topics have to do with identifying animal diseases, birthing season and the joys that brings, dogs that might be appropriate as herd or guard dogs, and just general chat about what it means to grow your own fiber. There’s a group for almost everything and I hope to highlight a few every once in a while.
Today’s second find has to do with living the life of a fiber farmer, sort of. Have you ever dreamt about owning your own sheep, but never had the space or the inclination to clean up after one? Well, here’s the solution….adopt a sheep! There are several programs out there to adopt sheep, alpacas, and goats. All you have to do is type “adopt a sheep” into Google and several programs will come up. Here’s is one such program that I was introduced via a podcast (a topic for another day). The farm is Little Meadows Farm and they’re located in North Carolina. They have both sheep and goats. You can choose to adopt an animal for a year. You pay an amount of money to the farm upfront to help them take care of their livestock for the year. The program includes pictures and information about each sheep you adopt, quarterly notes regarding your sheep and general goings on at the farm, and, come shearing time, a fleece. I believe the price for adopting a sheep depends on the whether the fleece will be a hogget fleece ($80) or an adult fleece ($60). If you’re interested in the goats at the farm ($50 for the year per goat), the program is generally the same, except that instead of receiving fiber, you’ll receive 12 bars of goat milk soap! There are pictures of the animals on their website, the names of the animals available for adoption, and a link to contact the farm if you’re interested.
So, that’s it for this time. I hope to be back next month with a few more fiber finds!
Ravelry can be found at https://www.ravelry.com and if you don’t have a membership, you simply apply for one (instructions are on the ravelry.com page) and you should get a response almost immediately.
The Little Meadows farm can be found at http://www.littlemeadowsfarm.net. There is a link at the top of their home page for the Adopt a Sheep and Adopt a Goat programs.
This page has the following sub pages.
