Naughty Sheep Fiber

08/23/2024

As I am finishing up my master’s degree I have had some more time for fun fiber things. Last weekend we did a natural dying day with the squad. Special thank you to Rebecca from the Cambridgeshire Weavers guild for hosting us at her house!

I did some of our Wendslydale locks with indigo and madder on the tips and some of my handspun alpaca with an indigo and pomegranate skins mix. You can see pictures of the wet and dry results. Lucky for us we had an experienced natural dyer, Ella, to help inexperienced Non and I through the process.

Currently on the train to go to the Wensleydale county agricultural show which is is Leyburn on Saturday! This is obviously the real reason I went to graduate school in the UK.

02/08/2024

On Wednesdays we wear pink (and knit t**s in the bar for breast cancer awareness)! 🎀

Little impromptu knitting lesson given by me today as part of the events for Pink Week at Darwin College in Cambridge. Three t**s knitted and two mug covers. It is never too late to get back into knitting and people who have a little experience often pick it up really quick again.

01/01/2024

Places I knit in 2023 that got caught on camera:
- my first Cambridge Neuroscience Symposium
- meetings (and now Cambridgeshire Weavers and Spinners guild meetings)
- quantum mechanics class at UW-Madison (and every other class tbh)
- everywhere in Greece (Athens, Crete, Santorini, Mykonos, multiple plane rides and ferries)
- kayaking in Madison
- Music on the Square and numerous farmers markets in Madison
- at work in the lab between recordings
- my first powerlifting meet
- almost every class and seminar of my MPhil at Cambridge
- cruising in the Caribbean (PR, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, St. Marteen)

10/14/2023

Pictures from my trip to Brighton that I think everyone should have to see. I took a train 6 hours round trip to get an antique spinning wheel from a knitting teacher I found on Facebook marketplace and if that doesn’t describe me perfectly I don’t know what does.

Finally getting pictures off of my camera 😂 These last few weeks have a been a whirlwind, my liver is not happy with me but my heart is so full with new people and new experiences ❤️

09/09/2023

Mom might not be here for WI Sheep and Wool but Maxine and her sister just decided to adopt me instead 😂

08/14/2023

You ever just get the urge to sew something to prove that you still remember how to use a sewing machine; me neither 😅

My tote bag from the Neuroscience 2022 conference ripped when I was using it to move so it has been immortalized as a camera lens case with some elbow grease and interfacing. Gotta remember my first conference somehow…

08/14/2023

Wisconsin State Fair appreciation post! Anna “accidentally” made it to the fair for a cream puff and a look at the sheep while she was in Milwaukee on Monday to get her fingerprints taken for her student visa (stay tuned for British sheep come October).

Scroll for some of her favorite fiber arts projects in the exhibit barn and enjoy some cute sheep and a calf named Puddles.

Congrats to all the exhibitors their hard work!

07/24/2023

And just like that the 2023 La Crosse Interstate Fair is finished! It was an exciting week even though we were a lot more hands off this year as a family.

Two of our winter/spring lambs from Willow and Ivy (Hampshire/Suffolk crosses) were sold to a family friend and showed very well in breeding and market classes.

Anna’s knitting did well with three firsts (Sugar Bush Kids sweater, pattern by Marie Amelie Designs; Rats! pattern by Rabbit Hole Knits; and Berry Baby Hats, pattern by Michele Sabatier) and a second (the , pattern by on Instagram).

Anna’s photography also did quite well (5 photos on the board and 1 top 10 selection), including a few of her sheep pictures.

06/12/2023

Anna is signed up for the 2 day beginner weaving course! Are you taking any classes this year?

Good Morning all fiber artists, sheep showmen, and Wonders of Wool lovers!! Entries and Classes are open today to register, click the link to sign up!
https://wisconsinsheepandwoolfestival.com/

06/10/2023

Does it count if the only people who saw me were ducks? 🦆

05/27/2023

I got to ride our new friend Niko’s donkey to Psychro Cave, believed to be the birthplace of Zeus on the island of Crete in Greece!

Donkeys are important work animals in Greece, especially on the islands, for carrying people and supplies around the terrain. They have been important to building what we know as Greece today but their population has been rapidly declining (97% loss) in the last 70 years. Much of this is due to displacement of their positions as working animals as new tech becomes available.

One way to support endangered donkey care and breeding in Greece as a tourist is to pay for donkey rides. To make sure that the donkeys are protected within this work, the Greek government has laws regarding weight limits for riding, as well as rules regarding donkey care for those used for work and agricultural tourism.

As a tourist, you should always follow the guidelines and, if you are interested in this type of activity, assess on a case by case basis. Make sure your donkey looks to be well taken care of and in good health. Don’t use a donkey if you feel that the trail is too steep and/or long. Make sure you are realistic about your size in comparison to the donkey (1/5 of the donkey’s weight is the government standard maximum, for most donkeys this is 220 lb/100 kg or less). Finally, be sure to holistically assess the other ways to get to your destination, be that walking or other modes of transportation.

05/21/2023

Does Momma Mary find the critters, or do the critters find her?

Got to see some great goats and sheep this week in Crete; as well as a little cat the looked like Hamilton. As always the animals follow us on vacation and mom can’t resist them. More Greek goat and sheep photos to come.