Buff Orpington Chicks, Daisy and the Dyeing that didn't quite!

Last night was a bit chilly for us and after I'd fed the hens I found the Buff Orpington mum keeping her chicks warm under her wings. The chicks are now quite big and I think they can probably fend for themselves, but it seems that mum still enjoys babying them sometimes!

Here is Daisys wool, all washed and hanked up nicely. It now weighs 550g so it lost 100g in the washing. Is that about 18%? If so, that's about right. Now it just needs labelling, a few moth balls put in the bag and its ready for Leda to pick up in a week or two.

And here's a picture of my black dyeing that went wrong. Its turned into a lovely shimmery grey - we used to have a cat a very similar colour. When I've carded up the alpaca I'll put it through with some nepps and see how it goes as a practice. Meantime, Joan has some black acid dye for me to try again with. Second time lucky we hope!

Clematis and Daisy

Yesterday our clematis looked absolutely glorious, so I took a photo. My late mother chose it but sadly didn't live to see it bloom - everytime it tried to grow a little lamb would come and nibble the top off! This year there were no bottle fed lambs in this part of the garden, so it made up for lost time. My mum would have loved it! I hope she is enjoying it, wherever she is now.

Last night I finished spinning up Daisy. 650g greasy weight in total. 1 hank of Peruvian plied, 3 hanks of 2-ply - one slightly thicker than the other two, and 1 hank of single seconds which should appeal to the hair-shirt market! I washed it all today - 1 hour steeping in a bucket of hand-hot water with 100ml Hebridean Soap Company liquid soap (lemon & eucalyptus), a quick spin in the cylinder spin-drier, then 15 minutes soak in hand-hot water with 1 capful of Merino wool Wash (available from Skyeskins, Isle of Skye). Then another spin and a whirl round in the garden to loosen up the hanks before hanging them in the bathroom to dry. It has come out very creamy and lovely. Though it does have a bit of kempiness associated with the blackface part of Daisy's genetic inheritance, it still has a whole lot of cheviotness in the yarn which is a delight.
Leda will be here at the end of the month to collect it, so I hope she will be pleased with it.

This afternoon, after a quick dash across the bridge to Calana Crafts to collect some black dye powder, I dyed up some falkland roving. Sadly, though I followed the instructions it was not a huge success, though it is a gorgeous dark grey colour. Will have to consult with Joan as to where I went wrong. Never mind though, nothing is wasted here......

Where to start?

Today is dull and windy - rain in the air, occasionally falling to the ground. Otherwise, not very Augusty. The wind is blowing directly in the door of the loomshed which means I have to keep it closed or else everything takes flight. However, enough of the griping, on with the show....

Remember the little blonde naked neck from the last but one hatch? Well, its a grey marbled effect now and very elegant in all respects. It has been re-christened Meryl so if it turns out to be a cockerel the name will still fit. Though still very small it is getting on nicely and is out and about during the day with its hatch mate and its mum.


Humbug was out briefly in the run yesterday when the sun was shining but today is firmly tucked beneath its mums wing in the warm.

The alpaca samples arrived yesterday and I couldn't resist spinning them up. Excellent - am really going to enjoy this project. Trying to borrow a little niddy-noddy so I can hank them up and wash them. Guess I really ought to buy one for myself.

Finished a hank of Daisy yesterday. Nice and chunky but really needs carding to get a more regular effect, so this morning I have the drum carder out and am busy carding up Daisy. Separating the not-so-good from the good sections so the not-so-goods can also be spun and dyed and the white left white if that's what is required.

Here's a batt that's gone through the carder once. Will probably put it through 2 or 3 times to get a good blend going.

Last evening when I took the dogs out for their final walk before bed there were a bunch of our Hebridean sheep on the side of the road sniggering at me - they know I'm on my own this week and are determined to show me up by breaking out of their field at every opportunity! I sent Bramble after them to put them down the croft away from the houses, and this morning I couldn't see them. It would be far too much to hope that they have gone back in the field by themselves - they are probably down at our neighbours pig enclosure doing leg-knitting with her electric fencing again!

New warp, new chick and spinning up Daisy

Here are two pictures of my new warp, which I finally sorted out - this one shows the spacing reed which is between the heck and the tensioning rollers and I've turned it 180 degrees so the blue is on the right and the brown is on the left. This section will then match up with the previous one where the blue was on the left and the brown was on the right. I'm hoping that it is going to work when I come to tie in..... watch this space!


And here is a shot of two sections side by side showing the effect of turning the reed.


Here is the first official picture of our new naked neck chick - the one that had the near-death experience on Sunday. It hasn't actually ventured outside yet, but this morning I caught it having breakfast in bed! What could be better than snuggling up inside a lovely soft warm bed being fed cornflakes by a very attentive mother? When Humbug emerges into the open I will get a better picture. Mum is very protective just now - I can hear her growling at the other hens and the dogs as they go past.


And finally, I've just started spinning up Daisy - the abandoned lamb from Bunavoneader who we acquired in early spring when her foster mum and dad moved to the mainland. We sheared Daisy a few weeks ago and now I hear that the fleece needs to be spun up ready by the end of the month when foster mum and dad will be coming for an inspection visit!

So I've decided to spin a slim single straight from the raw fleece without any preparation and Peruvian ply it up to a chunkier three ply which I hope will be a good aran weight with a bit of texture in it. Not sure whether it is needing to be dyed - hope so because my landscape dyes from the Netherlands will be arriving soon, and I can't wait to get dipping!

Overcast and dull today. Moderately midgie but by no means unbearable. Quiet roads so hope to get plenty warping and weaving done before the day is over.

Lamb is growing up...

Today it is sunny and warm. We decided to move the bottle-fed lamb from her pen in the garden to a proper small field. For company she has Daisy who knows all about being an orphan. So far the lamb is settling in well. Enjoying trying its new teeth out on the fresh grass.

We started planting potatoes today - lots of digging, fertiliser, chickens everywhere rushing for worms and insects that had been turned up. Hope we're not too early - still the chance of frost, or even a cold snap with some snow before summer finally arrives. Yesterday we saw a group of twenty two swans - Bewicks I imagine - heading north and flying very high. The first largish group we have seen for a couple of years, so that is reassuring. There has been so little in the news about bird 'flu just lately that we wonder if there is really nothing to report or if it has been hushed up to avoid the sort of panic it caused last time.

Changing the subject - have ordered a new row counter for my Berridge circular sock knitter. I am almost ready to start - just need a few round heavy pebbles to use as weights and then I'll be able to give it a go.

Weather, paper boats and Daisy the sheep

After a busy end of week spent organising the school library at Leverburgh, S. Harris with a colleague, I arrived home last night to find that my husband had been busy with the camera.

The sea was very rough and grey and glowering yesterday so here's a picture of the bay near to where we live.

Even though we are a couple of hundred yards away from the seashore and can't see the sea at all from the house, we are still aware of it because of the noise the waves make breaking onto the rocks, especially when the weather is stormy. Some people think that there is no noise here because we are remote from centres of population, but nature can be incredibly noisy at all times of the day and night.

Good news - my paper boat which I made from paper printed with our new Harris Tweed pattern and named "An Clo Mor" docked safely at Durness and is now part of the Caithness Horizons exhibition-in-progress. For more info see http://joannebkaarpaperboats.blogspot.com/ Friday 30th January entry - my boat is number 17. It's not too late to contribute to the exhibition to commemorate the voyage of the Westland to New Zealand. Just click on the above link.

Update on Daisy the sheep - she is doing well. Lots of new friends and new places to explore.

This is Daisy having her tea......

New Years Greetings!

Happy New Year to All

International Year of Natural Fibres 2009

We start 2009 with a beautiful sunrise. The photo shows the sun shining on the mountains of Harris - the view from our kitchen window at about 9.30 this morning. The little fluffy cloud in the centre is sitting on top of the highest peak in the Western Isles - called the Clisham. We get a very good view of it from the croft when its not obscured by rain or cloud.

Then a lovely new year surprise - in the hen house were TWO beautiful eggs. Yes, another hen has started laying. You can't see it in the picture below very clearly but its a greeny-bluey colour which means its from one of our Araucanas - three of them hatched last year. It's very small so that is probably the first egg the hen has ever laid. Maybe they'll all get the idea now!

Daisy the lamb we got from Leda yesterday (see www.bytheloch.blogspot.com for full tear-jerking details), was ready for her breakfast this morning. She has made a little friend - out of shot just now, half of a set of Hebridean twins and they are hanging out together on the hillside in a relaxed and laid back way. Daisy is quite vocal, as you'd expect from a pet lamb, but seems settled and is eating well.

These are a few of the others who come in for a quick snack morning and evening.

The main part of the morning was taken up with hanking and washing my Carloway mix yarn which I will put in the Etsy shop as soon as its dry and aired. It's so tweedy and soft and bouncy. Would really like to keep it all for myself, but with all these mouths and beaks to feed, we must keep an eye on the bottom line.......

This afternoon we're off to walk along the path from Urgha towards Rheinigidale - the path has had some extensive upgrading during the summer so we will be enjoying the sunshine and views and hoping its not going to be too crowded today. Probably won't be able to get photos as my camera batteries went dead earlier and they are on the charger.

Then paperwork this evening - end of the calendar year assessment of animal numbers, performance and whether the croft is still solvent (at any rate it's pretty wet in places!).