PA Farm Show Sheep to Shawl

Yes, Pennsylvania has a huge indoor farm show in January. Rational for the timing is that it is the season when farmers are less busy and can take time to attend.

For 32 years, one of the most eagerly anticipated events is the Sheep To Shawl. It is highly competitive and the auction afterwards always leaves local folks stunned at the prices paid. Last night was no exception. Shawls ranged from $600 to $2200. for some of the most beautiful works of fiber art I've seen. This year I was not judging, just watching . My biggest problem was not being able to FEEL the fibers and the shawls. The fiber world is the only place I know where everyone needs to touch and no one is offended when a total stranger "feels" what you are wearing.

Six youth teams participated in a fleece to shawl in the morning. I was really impressed with the 6 shawls produced. Pictured are the six shawls on the finished table. The pink one was the winner. It was beatifully done made with Bluefaced Leicester fiber in the warp and sold for $650. All proceeds donated to Breast Cancer Awareness. Second place was a surfing themed shawl with a gorgeous hand paintd warp. Third place took the spinners award.(pictured) They were spinning a Potosi BFL/Shetland fleece, making me really proud. The 6th place team had an Autism theme and donated their $800 to autism awareness. We will be having teams for farm shows for many years to come from the enthusiasm and talent of these young teams.

Eight adult teams spun and wove shawls that were works of art. Potosi fiber was in two of them. BFL in one and Shetland in the other.The BFL getting the spinners award. The winning shawl(pictured) was a Bluebird inspired shawl getting a winning bid of $950.Soo pretty! Second place (Pictured) was shades of Blue using Bluefaced Leicester fiber. It got the spinning and shearing award. Fouth place commanded the $2200. figure bid. It received team choice and fleece (corriedale) award. Their theme was Native American and their costumes and choice of pattern were so suited to the theme.

The eight adult team shawls were all incrdible works of art! Wish I could have taken one home.

Whose Flowers?

Elisabeth left her beautiful bouquet of roses on my kitchen table. Was it because she forgot them OR was it because when she came in with them I pulled them from her hands, arranged them in my favorite vase and set them on my table that she was afraid to claim them? Guess I got carried away with their beauty. Well anyway. this morning those gorgeous roses inspired a tea party. Lillian was delighted to wear her purple formal and heels but complained that my flannel shirt wasn't appropriate. My favorite formal is either at the cleaners or 2 sizes too small. (all right so it's the latter of those two options.) Tea time melded into lunch.... ramen noodles. We decided since we were being festive, we'd use chop sticks.This was new too Lillian but after lots of laughter she caught right on. Judy lurked under the table catching noodles as they fell then cleaned the table with several swipes of her tongue when we weren't looking. Thanks for leaving the bouquet,Elisabeth. They made a dreay day mirthful.
Posted by Potosi Sheep Farm at 10:14 AM

Drill or Die

Dragging a bale of alfalfa through 20 hungry bred ewes last night brought me to my knees... literally. They almost trampled me to death.So this morning I was determined to change things around and take charge of my life. Installing a gate on the forebay seemed like the perfect solution to my woes. Usually, I resort to baling twine and wooden palates for construction but now that I have installed shades with the cordless drill I am confident that the drill is the professional way to go. One half hour and one lost drill bit later, the gate is installed. It looks good and is relatively secure for this lambing season, I hope. Chick power rules! But who knows what the starving masses will do to it as I drag my bales safely on the other side. How can these sweet faces be so cruel to the hand that feeds them?