Fabulous Hand Raised NZ Fibers!!!!

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Janet, a fiber friend of mine, spent some time as a shepherdess in New Zealand and raised some lovely Corriedale and Romney sheep. She is selling part of her stash...and oh, my is it lovely stuff! I got to see photos of her sheep "frolicking in the field" and fell in love with the awesome NZ landscape. Wow....talk about and idyllic view! As for her sheep - they looked VERY happy! Such a lovely farm. All the sheep were coated, so there is virtually no vegetation! It is awesome........(I wish I had some pictures to share, but she only had snapshots with her...no electonic photos.)

Of course, even though I have enough fiber to keep me spinning for years, and years, I just couldn't resist purchasing some of Janet's luscious wool. It's absolutely gorgeous and virtually devoid of VM! The decision was hard, but I decided on two natural colors of pure Corriedale as well as some from a Corriedale/Romney ewe that was over-dyed in red. It's actually more of a berry or magenta red - absolutely awesome!


I can't wait to start spinning this wool! The medium brown should spin up into a nice rich brown. I think the lighter wool, which has some light and some dark tones to it, will spin up into a luscious heathered yarn.

Oh...and now for the eerie part. Since I purchased 3 bags of wool, I wrote "Three Bags Full" in the memo section of my check. We got a chuckle about that. When DH arrived home last evening, he walked by me singing....."Three bags full....". Oh, my was I weirded out! I asked him why he sang that....and he said, he just "felt like" it - how weird is that? The fibers were no where in sight...and he had no idea that I'd purchases any!!! He's evidently picking up on my "fiber thoughts"! I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone right now....eerie!

On the knitting front, I've completed a number of small projects. There are a couple that I can now "display" as the recipient now has them. There are a couple of additional ones that I can't yet divulge, otherwise, I'll ruin the surprise!

This snowflake ornament is quite pretty, but it just would NOT stiffen up for proper display. I wetted it and pinned it out. After drying, it was floppy as could be. I then starched it to death on one side, let it dry, and repeated the same on the second side - again, pinned it out and let it dry. Once again, still quite floppy - not as bad as originally, but pretty bad.


I made this scarf for a friend in the UK that looooooves pink! (Sorry for the dark photo ...the white wall made it too bright with the flash, so I had to take this without the flash) It's a combination of 2 yarns - hot pink Ulteppe Garn (100% wool) and Trendsetter Super Kid Seta Print(a variegated yarn in pinks and purples that's 70% mohair and 30% silk). It can be worn as a boa or looped around the neck for a more "ruffled" look.


This closeup of the scarf shows more of the proper coloring. You can also see some of the halo from the mohair, as well as the slight color changes in the various pinks and purples of the mohair strand. I'm tempted to make another one so I have one for myself! (Love pinks and purples!!!)