raggz fiber art: 5/18/14

this has been quite a couple of weeks. i just got back from kentucky, where i was taking a felt coat class as well as a fiber class on the feltLOOM. i had such a wonderful trip. the class was amazing, kentucky was beautiful, and i got to see all kinds of horse, sheep, and cattle farms. i am not going to post any photos of my jacket until its done. some of you know about the thoroughbred horse farms but let me tell you - the barns alone look like beautiful brick homes! some of these farms are thousands of acres. rolling green fields as far as the eye can see.

Lanette, from Lan Mark farm, is the inventor of the FeltLOOM, which some of you had seen at the Pgh Knit and Crochet festival. she and her husband, don, were wonderful hosts. they have a 330 acre farm and raise cattle, various breeds of sheep, donkeys, and an alpaca. they have SEVEN month-old lambs which are being bottle fed. don had a contraption where all seven bottles are together and all seven of them were drinking at the same time. unfortunately my phone had died and i couldn't get a photo. six of them were snow white and one was black. i'm sorry i couldn't share the photo with you but it is an image that will be etched into my memory for a long time, i'm sure.

back home, the sheep were sheared yesterday and the washing of the fleeces begins. in past years, i literally put the huge fleeces in ditches on the farm but now that i will be getting a feltLOOM this summer, i will be able to use my fleece for rugs so all eight of them will need to be washed. not a LOT of work but a lot of time soaking them in hot soapy water, rinsing, and soaking over and over til the water runs clear. they all look so skinny and i feel bad that the weather dipped down with them being almost naked.

NEW STUFF

today tom and i took a ride to the waynesburg sheep and wool festival. its a small show but very quaint and unassuming. i secured two new lines to carry at the shop: river ridge fiber works - beautiful handspun, hand dyed yarns from a talented textile artist, melody weed located in lusby, maryland;

and Michelle's Assortment from aurora, ohio - decorative shawl pins and brooches for shawls, hair, scarves, cowls, cardigans.

make sure to stop and see these new items at the shop as the photos do not do them justice. also while in waynesburg, i found a couple of farms who carry the beautiful curls needed for the felted sheep class, coming up later in june.

clarice is still living in the house and is making regular appearances at the shop on fridays. i will surely miss her when she has to move up to the barn, which will be in the next couple of weeks.

sheila giving clarice a hug

CLASS UPDATE

our embellished sweater class wrapped up this

week. nancy premoshis is a great teacher and the girls are moving along with their beautiful sweaters. sorry to the afternoon class - i forgot to take a photo since i was in the class and happily embellishing for a couple of hours. will post pictures as they are finished.

we are hoping nancy will teach more classes in the future, so stay tuned!

UPCOMING CLASSES

EZ PEEZIE pin cushions -tuesdays may 20 and 27 from 10 - 12 at the shop (two spaces available)

TUNISIAN CROCHET - wednesday may 21 from 10-12 OR 1-3 at the shop. *

FELT FLOWERS - both a.m. and p.m. (classes are full)**

*overflow allowed us to put on two classes that day, making spaces available at this time

**if anyone else is interested, i can put an additional class on the schedule.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

thursday 5/22 purlin girls meet at the bean at noon

saturdays 5/24 and 5/31 craftique fiber art group meets at craftique 10-12

tuesday 5/27 knitters anonymous - shop open 1-6

wednesday 5/28 close knit girls meet at panera murrysville 6-8

fridays 5/23 and 5/30 shop open 10-6

for those of you who wet felt, i have just received a small shipment of ball brausers. ($25 each) these are wonderful tools for your wet felted projects. get yours while they last because they are not easy to find.

cat not included

i was remiss last month in not announcing our april door prize winner: kay farabaugh!

FUNDRAISER REMINDER

only two short weeks left for the silent auction fundraiser for sylvia elliott's grandson to raise money for his trip to boston then italy for the world ultimate frisbee tournament. items include but not limited to:

yarn, books, roving, a drop spindle kit, knitting mouse, raggz gift certificate, and much much more. please check it out, as we would like to help scott pay his way to this tournament that he has trained so hard for. please support our efforts!

funny quotes at the shop last week: (i did NOT make these up)

"why is there a banana in my sleeve?"

"MOM! YOU SHAVED YOUR HEAD!!"

"what makes the clay female?" (the subject was fimo)

"my mother was a ho, my grandmother was a ho, and her mother was a ho."

credits go to cathy rosensteel for the banana quote, thea mc curry for the shaved head and ho comment - (hough is the last name officially), and kay farabaugh was questioning how clay could be female.