A Sheepish Day

A couple weeks ago I gathered some city friends at a local sheep farm for a day of hands-on woolen education. Amy already wishes she lived in the country and Holly loves to knit and is experimenting with drop spool spinning, so when I met Melissa and learned that she raised sheep... a light went on in my head. Duh! A perfect, divinely serendipious, oppertunity for some artsy synergy. And besides, it would just be so much FuN!

This is what we learned. Sheep raised for wool do not make for good eating nor milking (not that we tasted mutton during our stay, but our hostess, Melissa, told us some of what she's learned from two years of raising sheep). Black merino is the most desirable wool because of its gorgeous natural color. My friend Holly (pictured with lamb) learned that sheep are as cute in person as they are in pictures. And when you run your fingers through their coat, your hands are made silky smooth from the lanoline.

My friend Amy learned that spinning is not at all as easy as it looks! There's your foot pedaling to keep consistent while one hand holds the wool and the other "drafts" the fibers for spinning. Kind of like patting your head while simultaneously rubbing your stomach! heehee Notice Amy's intense concentration?

Our fabulous, generous hostess Melissa (her dotted apron is pictured) very patiently coached us as we each tried a hand at her spinning wheel with hilarious results.

It's blurry, but you can still tell that my ball of spun wool is still pretty blobby and lumpy- bumpy. Melissa, on the other hand, spins a fine thread that needs to be plied (several strands spun together) before being thick enough for knitting and crocheting (and she does beautiful knitted work). What did I learn? That wool arts are not my bag, but I have a talent for bringing like minded people together. :)