WSWF, New Rams & Fabulous Fibre Month at Seasons on St. Croix Gallery

I am so glad I went to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival this year. I came home with two new rams and breeding plans for this fall.

Thanks to Deb Peterson for lending me the horse trailer I sold her a couple years ago.

I brought three Bluefaced Leicester ram lambs for the Stock Market Exchange. I still have the natural colored ram for sale.

Linda Brion brought me "Boston" this very sweet Teeswater ram lamb. What an interesting face he has!

I also leased a beautiful two year old moorit Shetland ram named "Elvis" from Kelly Bartels, of Okay Acres. Elvis was Reserve Champion ram last year in the MSSBA show at Jefferson. I needed a polled ram to breed the three gulmoget ewes that have returned to my flock this past summer.

Left to right: Minnie, Mystery, Eva

River Oaks Mystery and Minnie have never been bred, so I needed a Shetland ram for their first breeding. I'm sure they will do just fine with their first lambing at age four.
Eva also came back with Minnie & Mystery.  She's a 4 year old 3/4 BFL and 1/4 Shetland with a fabulous fleece. She's never been bred either. I will keep a good eye on her and I'm sure she'll do fine too. She's very friendly.

Earlier in August, Godiva (in the right in the photo above) came home, she was not a good fit in the home I sold her to last summer. She's a bit crafty at getting what she wants and she didn't follow the rotational grazing plan there. She wasn't home long before she figured out how to get loose here. In fact she did it three days in a row. I figured out her exit spot was the chain link fencing right near the windfall apples. It is now staked down good and tight. Godiva is so friendly and she seemed to remember everything here.  I am very happy to have all these Shetland ewes (and their fleeces) back in my flock.

Mystery's raw felted fleece was displayed at the Minnesota State Fair this year and got the attention of a New York Times reporter. A photo of it was included in the September 4th paper edition, here's a link to the online article, the fleece is photo #6 in the slide show:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/garden/your-grandmas-maker-faire.html?ref=garden

So now I am busy making lots more raw felted fleeces, teaching and taking classes. Some of my art work will be on display at the Seasons on St. Croix Gallery in Hudson, WI from Oct. 3 through Nov. 2. I am honored to be included in the Fabulous Fibre Month exhibit along with felt artists Pamela MacGregor, Robbin Firth, Dawn Edwards, Jan Waller, and Elena Rosenberg.  Everyone is invited to attend the First Friday Celebration on Friday, Oct. 3 from 5-9 p.m.
In addition to the exhibit, Robbin Firth of Heartfelt Silks is hosting eight felting classes during October, including a raw felt locks pillow that I will be teaching on October 11. You can find all the details for the classes on her website: http://heartfeltsilks.com/