Dyed Braids, Slipper Class, and Raw Felted Fleeces

Yesterday I dyed 15  braids of my Bluefaced Leicester/Tencel blend roving. I love that blend, it's so soft and makes a very nice lustrous felt. The braids sell well at the Anoka Fiber Works shop too. I will bring all the braids down there tomorrow when I teach my felted slippers class. The class is full, I will post photos of the finished slippers as soon as I can. This should be an interesting class because several of the participants are bringing their own wool.  Should be lots of variety!

Sharrie asked for a photo of the piece I entered in the Textile Center member show.  Here it is - sorry it's not the best photo, took it quickly before sending it off with my son to be delivered to the Textile Center.  It's a shaela gulmoget lamb fleece from River Oaks Mystery.

I took a photo of a raw felted Bluefaced Leicester fleece I made almost three years ago. It's from Ward Harwell. He was a beautiful ram that I had to sell in 2011, but I kept his purebred Bluefaced Leicester daughters and they are the heart of my flock now. They are all excellent, attentive mothers.
I don't use this felted fleece as a rug, it's much too precious to walk on! It's actually a couch throw that I can snuggle up under when I get a bit chilly. I'm so glad to still have this fleece, Harwell was a beautiful ram.  I will be teaching a raw felted fleece class at the Midwest Felting Symposium this year. I'm pretty sure the dates will be Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 & 2. Students can bring their favorite sheep's fleece or purchase a fleece to felt. I hope some of my Shetland breeder friends will have some clean raw fleeces that the students could purchase. Shetland fleeces are great for this project because they are small enough to be manageable when wet and they come in such a wonderful variety of colors and patterns.

One last shot of the sunrise this morning - it was below zero when I did my chores. I'm so glad the sheep don't mind the cold a bit.