Homestead Journal at Fat Turkey Farm

New Loom!

A new loom came to live with me today.  A local weaver, Connie, gave it to me!  She got herself a new loom and was looking for a home for this one.  Her parents gave this loom to her 30 years ago, and it was her first loom.

It's a 45" wide lightweight 4-harness rising shed loom.  I don't remember the brand name of it, since I didn't write it down when I was at her house today.  I'll ask her again though.  The only thing missing on it is apron bars for both beams which will be easy enough to get.  I also got the matching bench with it.  It's in beautiful shape and I can't wait to get a warp on it.

Bertha went to another weaver who's father is doing the fixing up on her that I never got to.  She was very happy to get a loom and also wants to learn to spin.

Thank you Connie!  I love it!

Finished Weaving

I finally finished weaving what was on my little two harness loom this week.  It came out fairly good I think, although my edges sure need some work!

Here is a close up of it.

It made a pretty nice table runner for my dining room, even though there is no pink in my dining room.  I did rewarp the loom with a linen warp (AARRGG 5 hours of warping!) and am weaving with the left over warp.  The attempt is to make some napkins, but I'm not too sure how they will turn out since the weave looks really loose.  That may be due to the fact that the linen is quite stiff and it might just suprise me when I wash them after it's done and "fill in" more.  I'll have to wait and see. 

Kind of hard to see it in that picture.

In other weaving news, Bertha the big loom is looking for a new home.  I am the recipient of a "new" loom that is in working order.  I was never able to put the time into repairing Bertha.  I need the space in the living room for the new one.  A weaver is coming to look at Bertha today.  The new one is a 4 harness 45" wide loom that will be coming to live here in about 2 weeks.  Best of all, the new loom is FREE!!!  Can't wait to try my hand at some overshot weaving! 

Gotta run!  Bye!

Disaster Photo

Here's the pic of my stash disaster.

All those boxes and bags are full of moth eaten fiber.

I was asked if it could be saved at all, and the answer is no.  The moths eat the fiber and leave little tiny bits and lots of poop.  Most of what is there looks sorta like dryer lint now.  What is left over is only 1/2" at the longest pieces of fiber.  Not worth messing with to spin.

Still makes me want to cry.

Gotta go!  Bye Bye!

Disaster Strikes

Yes, DISASTER!

I went into my hall closet today to see what was in there that would stike my spinning fancy and found.....

DISASTER!

I opened a bag of cleaned Romney and found moths!  I opened a bag of Cheviot and found moths!  I opened a bag of Alpaca and found moths!

Did I say DISASTER?

AARRRGGGGG!!!!

Out come the bags and boxes of fiber and out came the moths!  (Ok, dead moths but eggs were in there too!) I lost Alpaca, Romney, Cheviot, Angora from my now deceased bunnie, Jacob, Cotton, quilt batting, poly stuffing, and several skeins of spun yarns.

I lost atleast 80% of my stash!  80%!!!!!

I have one box of Romney and one box of Rideau-Arcott left.  I lost about 50lbs of fiber!  I did take a pic of all the boxes and bags sitting outside waiting to be burned, but flicker is getting a massage and I can't load it today.

I never even saw those little buggers while they were munching away on my fiber.  Those sneeky little moths must have hid whenever I opened the closet door.  They gave me no indication they were in there having a feast at my expense.

I now have the remaining fiber taking a vacation in the freezer just incase there was someone hiding in there I didn't see today.

Damn moths!

Did I say DISASTER?

Another Catch Up

Hello folks!

Lots of things happening since my last entry that was ever so long ago, my bad!

I finished school!  Yahoo!  All my classes are done, assignments turned in, and requirements met.  I am still working in the school's clinic for the time being until I pass my national test and get my license.  I have been able to build up a client base that keeps me busy every week.  One nice thing with the school's clinic is that I get to see a variety of clients and different issues that present a challange to me to help them.  I do love it!

The kids are doing great.  We all had a pretty good Christmas this year which they enjoyed.  Santa was good this year.  Everyone is healthy and happy, sort of, I do have a cold, but its almost gone now.

Sadly, I have lost quite a few of the birdie girls over the course of the fall and winter.  Some to being egg bound, some to old age.  I'll have to see about adding some new gals to the flock in the spring.  I want to add some meat birds also, since the price of grocery store food is so high now, it will be a cheaper alternative, not to mention healthier for us.  They have started laying again, which is a good thing, considering they went several weeks with only one egg a day.  I got a boy goose for my girl goose and they seem to have hit it off well.  She is laying again, although she isn't broody, so they sit in the fridge waiting to be eaten.

I did get the soy silk spun finally, and have started knitting the sheep shawl with it.  Its slow going due to time constraints for me.  Somehow I have to find more time to knit as its one of the things that helps keep me balanced in life.

I got a dog!  She is a sweet gal, mixed breed that looks like she has some healer and pit bull in her.  She was dumped on someones lawn and a friend of mine took her home, but it was too many at her house, so I got her instead.  She was pretty sick with tapeworms when I got her, but a few doses of wormer and lots of love and good food has her growing like a weed now.  She is about 6 months old now, and is fantastic with the kids, and they adore playing with her too.

I'll see about getting some updated pics of stuff up for you all to look at this weekend.

Gotta run! Bye!