My Cormo top and Wensleydale roving is back from the mill.  I have it listed on my online farm shop in 4 oz increments.  It is all just beautiful and it spins up so nice.  The black silver blend of Wensleydale roving is one of my favorites to spin.  The silver gives the yarn a beautiful variation of color.

DIY Treadle Tracker

Keeping track of a long treadle sequence can be a challenge sometimes, especially if you have to stop in the middle.  Once I stop in the middle of a sequence, I usually forget where I left off.  I saw someone else suggest using beads to keep track of treadling, so I decided to make my own treadle tracker.

I searched for beads with numbers on them, but I could not find any.  I bought white plastic beads and marked them with a Sharpie marker.  String the beads onto a piece of yarn in the sequence of your treadling.  Use a yarn that will keep the beads from moving on their own.  You want the beads to stay in place until you move them.

Attach the yarn to the beater.  On my beater, I was able to loop the yarn over each end.  Each time you beat, you will push a bead over with your finger.  I don’t always use the beads each time I beat if the treadle sequence is easy to remember.  I do move the beads when I am interrupted, so I know where I left off!

Move a Bead Each Time You Move the Beater

Art Roving Hackle

It’s HERE!  My much anticipated Art Roving Hackle from Blue Mountain Handcrafts is here.  I have been wanting one of these hackles for quite some time now.  It is a breeze to use.  I have been having lots of fun combining fleeces and fibers and coming up with some awesome rovings.

Roving

The above roving is a blend of Cormo, Coopworth Lamb, Wensleydale lamb, Silk, bamboo rayon, and Angelina.

There was very little waste after I dized off the roving.

The diz I used is one I recently purchased from Seven Yaks on Etsy.  It has several diz hole sizes to choose from.

Handspun Singles

Look for some Cormo blended rovings in my Etsy and online farm shop soon!

New Stuff in the Shop!

There are some new locks (Wensleydale, Kid Mohair, Coopworth Lamb, Shetland) and top in the shop!  Most of the stuff has been stocked in my online farm shop, but I have also listed a few things on my Etsy.  I have not used Etsy much at all (only once about a year ago) and I decided to stock it also.  I do stock different items in each shop.  So be sure to check both of them if you are looking for more of a certain item.  Each shop will also feature one-of-a-kind items too.  I will combine shipping for purchases made in both shops at the same time.  My online farm shop will continue to be the main shop with the majority of stock.

Little "j" loves Brianna.

Fall is here and it has been very busy here on the farm.  I took a few of the Wensleydale ewes to be bred with UK semen.  I will ultrasound them in a couple of weeks to see if they settled.  If not, they will be bred with my high percentage Wensleydale ram.

The weekend I am picking up another Cormo ram and a ewe to incorporate into my Cormo breeding program.  These new sheep have great genetics and fleeces and will be a great addition to the flock.

Tailspun Wensleydale Locks

I spun up 4 ounces of Wensleydale locks the other day.  The yarn turned out great.  This yarn is going to be the perfect edging on a hat!

Tailspun Wensleydale Locks

Angelina Sparkle in Wisteria

Over the next few days, I will be adding some new stuff to the shop.  I will now be stocking Angelina sparkle.  Angelina is a super soft polyester fiber.  It can easily be added to batts during carding or spun into fluff as you are spinning.

I also have some more dyed Cormo locks and some farm wool batts.  I hope to have all this stuff added to the shop by this weekend!