I had a lovely time in Taos, and didn’t come back with more wool than I took – that was good! I did find a pair of patterns for knitted dragons, so I bought two types of roving to make a knitted dragen like our logo. My test sample looks pretty good, so I’ll continue to spin it. Hopefully, I’ll manage to get the dragon knitted this winter.
Several people helped me figure out the double-knitting for the Monmouth cap, including Patricia, Suzanne, and Erika. I finished rev 2 while I was there. It came out much better than I expected – much closer to the original. As soon as I finish weaving in the ends and fulling it a bit, I’ll post pictures. I’m still not happy with the increases at the top after comparing it to the original. I need increases to set up for double-knitting, too, but I’m getting there slowly.
Erika showed me the first couple stitches for naalbinding. I can see it as being a really great way to make very flexible, yet warm, mittens and hats for winter. It may also work for socks. The ones she had were very nice, but they looked rather difficult to make. Now I have to spin some appropriate singles yarn for that technique.
When I got back, I had to start sewing sheep coats again. I have about a dozen to go, then we can pull the rest of the ladies off pasture. I should finish those this week, then I can finally clean up the mess it’s left in the living room.
I need to get the ram lambs sorted and evaluated, too, but it’s not likely to happen this week. They’re looking good though! It’ll be difficult to pick out the top dozen or so to keep as potential breeding animals.
Skirting of fleeces continues. I have about seven more to get up on our website. I still have quite a few to skirt. I hope to finish that this month as well.