The weather here in Georgia has been damp and dreary. A perfect time to do some work on dolls and some weaving and spinning and knitting, too.

I've added Andy to my shop at etsy.com. He is as cute as Raggedy Ann and should go off to a new home with her. They are, after all, an inseparable pair. Making dolls is just as much fun as playing with them was as a child. I really love it when they end up with people who love them.




Just finished the bag on this post too. It is made of wool from the first fleece I ever owned.



In California, where I learned to spin, many of the spinners owned flocks of sheep. In the spring the sheep had to be sheared and the call went out for people to help out. You arrived early in the morning at the farm wearing old clothes and dressed for all kind of weather. California can be cold in the morning and very hot by lunch time.

When we arrived, at about 8 a.m., we were given hot mugs of coffee while we waited for the shearing to begin. A truck pulled in and two men got out. The shearers had arrived.

The sheep were herded into a small corral and one by one they were lead off to be sheared. There was a lot of screaming from the sheep...that I didn't expect..and the first fleece appeared on a very large table and the four of us began sorting through the wool. The goal was to keep as much useable fiber as possible but get rid of the nasty stuff. I mean they are animals. They do live outside for a whole year between cuttings and they get dirty. It is cute to see them, throughout the year, romping along on a hillside wearing their coats. The coats are supposed to keep the bulk of their wool coat clean. It does work too.

Anyway, at that first shearing I didn't know what to expect and had agreed to do this at the request of the friend who had taught me to spin. She said it was an amazing process and I'd learn a lot from participating.

We broke at lunch time and were given a very nice lunch by the farmer and his wife and then it was back to work.

We worked from about 8 a.m. until 4. They still had more sheep to shear but it was getting late and the people doing the actual shearing needed a rest. The day was over.

I thanked everyone for the opportunity and headed for my car. The farmer's wife ran after me and said "don't forget to pick out a fleece and take it with you". I was puzzled but my friend said "she'll take Softee's fleece. I was totally taken aback and asked my friend why I wanted Softee. She said it was the softest of the fleeces we had handled all day and I needed a really good fleece as a first effort.

I took it home and with the help of that good friend, cleaned it and carded it and blended it with tussah silk and spun it. It was a 12 lb fleece so I used that yarn in many projects. The bag pictured below is made of the last part of that fleece. The top of the bag is 100% silk and the very first I ever spun. This bag is a keeper.

But if you want to see more of my work that is for sale, check out GinnyOriginals.etsy.com.

Oh, by the way, no sheep were actually hurt in the shearing, they just don't like losing their fur and they let everyone know it. At one point a little sheep was being sheared and his mother, who had been sheared, was outside of the corral. The little sheep started bellowing and his mom almost took the corral down trying to get to him. It was over in just a few minutes and the little guy was reunited with his mom and all was well again.

Have a great week.

waiting to be sheared