The Cascade Iron Welsh Challenge

As part of the Welsh Springer Spaniel 2010 National Specialty (just completed on April 5th), there was a new competition - the "Iron Welsh Challenge". Basically, dogs had to participate in at least 3 of the 6 events offered - tracking, agility, obedience, rally, conformation and field. Points were awarded based on difficulty level and scores appropriate to the event. The top point winner is declared Champion, gets bragging rights - AND - a custom portrait by prominent NW spaniel artist, Karen Lee. the Fetcher Sketcher.

What the heck, I thought, enter in all the events! Maybe we'll pass one or two. Our qualifying rate in Agility has been dismal of late, but Rally is as much of a sure thing as can be with dogs. Clifford and I went outside our comfort zone and trained in Tracking and Obedience, starting Tracking in November, and Obedience in February. We practiced in Agility and Rally, and I conditioned him in the Field. And I entered him in all 6 events, some in multiple classes - had to have backup plans considering our recent record.

By the last event of the National, Clifford was in the Iron Welsh lead. There had been 4 different leaders, and the final outcome was to be decided by the Hunt Test - just as it should be. He could clinch the title just by passing the Junior Hunt Test - not always a given, as he's sometimes out of control and doesn't always bring the bird all the way to me. By the end of the test, he'd passed and became the First ever Iron Welsh Champion!

Clifford was amazing during the National weekend. On Thursday morning, he worked and worked at his track without passing, so was already tired going into the afternoon agility trial. He went out and passed his first agility event - the Open FAST class! Next was Open JWW agility, and despite a bonehead handler move, passed again to earn his OAJ title, a title we've been trying to earn for about a year and a half.

Friday morning, we went into the Novice obedience ring, and he earned his first obedience leg - something I thought would never happen. (Even though on the long sit, the dog next to him got up and got right in his face!)

It was easy from there. Rally Excellent and Advanced were fun; classes we'd been in before and enjoyed. And, he was in a conformation class by himself, so earned 1st place, though his handler (me!) didn't leave enough time to do a decent job of grooming.

At the All-breed agility trial on Saturday, he earned both his Open FAST title (garnering 75 out of 80 possible points!!!), and first 2 MACH points.

For Clifford, the very best event was last. BIRDS! He ran second in the Junior Hunt Test, making great finds, staying in control for one flyaway, and bringing in his second bird after catching it in the air. His water retrieve was no-nonsense and delivered directly to hand. WOWEEEEEEE!

The accomplishment is still sinking in. I met many new friends at the National, got reacquainted with others, and had a great time sharing ideas and talking "spaniel". Clifford's breeder, Adrienne Bancker, flew out from Georgia and got to watch him earn the IWC. Amazing. There will be photos and video. I'll have to share the painting! For now I'm floating amongst the clouds. :-)

Franna - proud kibble provider to Clifford - the Cascade Iron Welsh Champion.

Oh, Uncle!

I should have had the commitment that the Olympic athletes have. Or, should I say, I should have had the commitment to my Oscar vest that the Olympic athletes have to their sports.

My pattern wasn't quite right. The vest is turning out longer than it should be and not wide enough. Not good. I need to rework the pattern, frog, and start over. Oh, well, it'll give me a chance to incorporate some ideas I have for double knitting the pocket more effectively.

I have, however, finished ordering and gathering awards for the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America National specialty, of which I'm the Chairman. I've put together three Quillows made with custom printed fabric that I designed, have 6 banners ready to sew (also from fabric that I designed), and a whole bunch of fleece strips cut (while watching the US hockey team trounce the Finnish team!) and ready to braid up into dog tugs.

So, it is the knitting that got postponed - my version of getting hung up at the top of the snowboard cross hill, while completing the downhill in style.

Cast On!

I got several rows done before I fell asleep in front of the opening ceremonies.

This bit will end up as the right front band. I was just starting the light grey, when I started examining the insides of my eyelids. It will be interesting, as the knitting is oversize and will be heavily fulled to size (as was my gage swatch).

- Franna

Change of Plans

...yes, already.

I found my Shetland yarn (from a ram named Oscar). And with it, ALL my notes and gage swatches for the side to side knit, purple-garter-ridge-striped vest. Well. I even wrote down the needle size, saved the needle with the yarn - and - charted the design!

So, my Olympic event is going to be an ORIGINAL sweater vest using the Oscar yarn. I can still do the Sleeveless Hoodie in some incredible Gotland yarn.

Cast on tonight! The bag is sitting in my recliner. Stay out of the bag, House Pumas!

...better get chores done now, so I won't be late starting :-)
- Franna

Knitting Olympics!

Oh, dear, oh, dear. I've gone and committed to knitting the Sleeveless Hoodie for the Knitting Olympics. I must be nuts with all the other stuff going on.

Well, there it is. I have either a light grey handspun bulky Shetland or the millspun Gotland from my own sheep in a worsted weight. Better decide soon!

Shetland handspun - spun several years ago by my own little fingers on my Ashford Traveler.

I earmarked this yarn for a vest, but haven't been happy with a pattern yet. The purple was going to be vertical stripes. Some sketching is in order. :-)

- Franna

Sleeveless Hoodie

OH, OH, OH!

I just HAVE to knit this vest!
How would it look in Gotland Grey???



...is that a New Year's Resolution?

Pattern courtesy of Interweave's Knitting Daily and Nashua Knits.

Merry Christmas to All

EverRanch sheep once again played supporting roles in the Living Nativity. I find the production very moving. This year, Marissa, Bessie, Electra, Snowflake, Astrid and Chloe played the part of the shepherds' flock.

Happy Birthday, Jesus. Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men.

- Franna

EverRanch Ice Princess

She was special from the day she arrived. Niblet's daughters tend to be extra friendly. As a lamb she'd follow us around and be content to lie by our sides in the pasture or barn. She was first to come up for scritches and a great sheepie ambassador. As a bonus her conformation was excellent and fleece beautiful, lustrous and purled - much more Gotland in character than Finn. She was an excellent mom and I was looking forward to her 2010 lambs.

If you think this sounds like an eulogy... well, it is. This morning I found her head firmly wedged through not just one, but two hog panels, where she appears to have strangled sometime in the night.

Princess, I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you. May you graze in fields of clover, rye and alfalfa with plenty of pumpkins to rustle.

EverRanch at the Kitsap County Fair

This summer I took small strings of sheep to the Island County Fair and the Kitsap County Fair. That was in August. This is October. hmmmmm. Above is the poster spread I put above our pens. ...maybe it'll biggify if you click on it. The Homeland Security poster is one of my favorites.

Above is Town Crier, one of Electra's twin rams from 2009. He was Champion Shetland ram at both Island County and Kitsap County Fairs. Below are the two Shetland ewe lambs from Kitsap County Fair. Moira is on the left, Mindy is on the right. Mindy was Champion Shetland ewe :-) They were great ambassadors for the little sheep.

The two % Gotland ewes below both went to Island and Kitsap County fairs. Daisy was Grand Champion ewe at both Fairs. Her larger size probably did it for her; I like Chloe better.

This guy is a 62% Gotland ram. Beauregard was Champion % Gotland ram at Kitsap County. His fleece is gorgeous!

Fairgoers can be rather unique. This one wasn't too out of place.

I'm almost ready to consider going to another event open to the public. :-)

- Franna

Gotland Gloves and Airplane Knitting

Two weeks ago, Dave and I flew to Denver to judge 3 days of agility trials for the Terry-All Kennel Club. It had been 70 degrees in Denver. That weekend, a big, arctic storm drove in to the Great Plains from Canada, across Montana, Wyoming and into Colorado. Sub-freezing temperatures and snow was predicted for the weekend. Of course.

We both packed for cold weather. Alas, I couldn't find my fingerless gloves, so, at the last minute I threw in a skein of handspun and a circular needle, guessing, at size 9.



This was no ordinary handspun - oh, no! It was a sample I'd taken from a Gotland/Shetland lamb fleece, before sending out the rest of the fleece for commercial spinning (for a friend). The 4 oz raw fleece became 2.8 oz of carded batts (along with a bit of blue mohair and turquoise Shetland for accent :-)

I hoarded the batts for a while, then finally spun them up at various events - Sumner days, Island County Fair.... They made a beautiful skein of yarn. And then it sat. It went to more events and got fondled whenever I could engage folks into talking about Gotlands.

Then... packing day for Denver. Arctic cold. Impending snow storms. Unheated arena. Three days of judging... and AWOL mitts.

I started knitting on the airplane. It was cozy. My (other side) seatmate marveled at how I could knit on and on... and on. "Don't your hands hurt?" he asks. Well, no. At least not yet.

I made up the pattern as I went, guessed at how many stitches, had to redo the thumb once. I wanted the top to snug my hand, but let my fingers spread (for signaling to the scribe during the agility trial), so put a wide ribbed band there. I fit checked often (!) and the yarn felt so smooth and soft against my hand. Yes!

The first glove got finished as we taxied in Denver. The next day it was still in the 50's with ominous black clouds coming in from the North. That evening it started snowing. I finished the second glove that evening in the motel room, using a bobby pin to work in the ends (since I'd forgotten a yarn needle (!) My hands would be warm in the morning!

Well. It was COLD in the morning. In the teens. There was snow on the ground. We cautiously drove to the trial site and walked into the building where ... it was warm. There *were* heaters in the building. Four of them, and they'd been running all night. Dave and I started peeling off layers. My beautiful gloves stayed in my pack along with my handspun, handknit (Shetland) wool hat.

When we flew out the next evening, it was already thawing, and the next day it was back in the 60's.

I'm ready for the cold!

- Franna

Kemp Photos and a Few More

These are some photos I took years ago, and put on the EverRanch website to help folks evaluate their fleeces. The subject of kemp came up on one of the lists I'm on, so I'm posting a few of those photos here.

Kemp in the lock (Scottish Blackface - they're supposed to have some kemp.)

Closer of the base with some kemp fibers pulled out:

And a few other fleece faults:

Note: the dark fibers in this photo are not kemp. Are they "medulated" fibers, perhaps?

Note on the canary stain - this ewe went on to produce fleeces without canary stain. I've heard that once they have this organism, it never goes away. Not true, at least in this case.

- Franna

EverRanch Autumn Color

Here is our little Asian Pear tree. We planted it in 2001 or 2002 and it's given us just a few pears until last year. Last year it outdid itself... then someone stole all the pears just before their peak!

This year, as if trying to make up for our loss last year, it outdid itself again. I thinned quite a bit and still got 2 big boxes of fruit. We shared a few with neighbors and friends, but most went into juice for cider... hard cider :-) This little tree gave us almost 6 gallons of juice, and it is delicious juice, too. Now, it's providing eye candy for the front yard. I'm going to miss that little tree when we move.

Jennifer (DD) and I picked several boxes of crab apples in Mattawa (Eastern Washington) in September, also for cider. We're trading with Donna and Tom for more Asian pears, plus have several hundred pounds of Winter Banana apples for more juice.

Two years ago, we made 2 batches of cider. One an Asian pear, Winter banana apple blend, and one was several apple types plus some crabapples. The pear/apple blend was outstanding; better than any commercial hard cider I've tasted. The apple was okay, but could have used more flavor. So this year, we're making more. More batches, and using more Winter Bananas.

Ask me in the spring how it turned out. :-)

- Franna

Lots of Good and a Little Sad

It's all flying by. I keep waiting for good photos to write up a blog, yet the camera sits neglected and days go by. Well, today there are no photos, just a bit of verbiage.

Goodness! In August, between sheep shows, I made a trip into Oregon to deliver sheep, pick up sheep and pick up two Livestock Guardian Dogs! I got the dogs in anticipation of moving to ERN - where the eagles and coyotes play! They're from Carol Ronan of Ronan's Country Fibers in Selma, Oregon. Waaaaaay down south, and toward the Coast from Grant's Pass. Carol swears by LGD's as flock protectors. An epididymous-ectomized ram lamb accompanied me back. He's our teaser ram for the Gotland AI girls this year. "Lad" is well grown and is a son of our 75% Gotland ram, Bill.

Abby (Anatolian Shepherd) and Maggie (Maremma with some Great Pyrenees and Anatolian mixed in) have settled in fairly well, though they still need to get comfortable with our electric fence. (See why I wanted to wait for photos???)

On my way down, I dropped off Shetland Minx at Marybeth Bullington-Bury's place. Marybeth was showing goats at the county fair, so we didn't get to talk. Minx was happy to get off that trailer! Two of Tammy's ewes accompanied Minx on their way back to Shady Oaks and to Stonehaven, so she didn't get too lonely.

On the way back home, I stopped off at Michelle's Boulderneigh farm to visit and see Blackberry (who I think is an improvement on his sire, and worth using). Michelle fed me really well with homemade tomato soup, fresh zuccini salad, and my Pay it Forward goodies!! OMG!! Michelle made the most delicious mocha bars and delicious, if crunchy, walnut fudge. Michelle, both made it home, but the fudge never made it out of the truck. :-) She also made three oh, so cute, safety pin and seed bead sheep in different colors. Did I say they are cute! Oh, yes. Thank you, Michelle. (I could have inserted more photos....)

Both these ladies put me up at their homes - very nice for someone who doesn't drive well at night, and after getting lost in downtown Salem during rush hour while pulling a horse trailer. (no photo needed for that!)

Back home again, I packed up the show string for Kitsap County Fair. This is another quality local fair. It was well attended and packed with friendly, down home folks. The sheep people were really nice, and anytime I needed help, someone was there to do it. We were the only Gotland sheep showing. Daisy repeated her Champion Gotland ewe award, accompanied by Beauregard as Champion ram. In Shetlands, Town Crier gained the Champion ram, and Mindy - now that she didn't have to compete with sister, Minx, won Champion ewe. (sorry Kendara, we really didn't mean to take over the Shetland show!) Kendara's lambs were rather nice, but quite a bit younger, and the judge was a "bigger is better" kinda guy. The fleece judging went similarly. Bigger was better. Some days are like that. There's no way a Shetland fleece can compete with a Romney in size/weight. Neither do they need as much space, or eat nearly as much feed. So there. ...however, the winning fleece, from a Romney, was well deserving of the win. It was a huge, silvery charcoal grey fleece, very clean, delicious handle. :-)

Unfortunately, at the show, Sherman the Shetland started feeling peaked, so went home early. He perked up at home, but never fully recovered. So sad, he died just a week ago. I guess I'll never know why. He had a dry cough, so was on antibiotics, got vitamins, another dose of wormer, etc, etc. He'd improve and eat for a few days, then regress again. I always feel like I failed them when they die.

Back to better - I applied for a job! It's the CSA coordinator for Greenbank farms on Whidbey Island, a one year long position. So as not to jinx the application, that's all I'm going to say about it for now :-)

It was a tough decision for me, but the sheep won't be going to the Puyallup Fair. Besides Sherman, several other lambs were feeling punky with a bit of cough and snotty noses. After a round of LA200, most are feeling better, but a few are still coughing. These are both fair lambs (still in quarantine) and "home" lambs. Ebby, TC's brother and alternate fair lamb, broke a horn on Saturday, so he wasn't going anywhere, and I sheared the yearling rams so late they still look bad. Not what I think would make a good exhibit. So, the sheep will stay home this year. I'm disappointed and will miss the premium money, but the sheep will be less stressed, and I have plenty of other things to keep me busy!

Coming up! LAI using the New Zealand Gotland semen, OFFF, end of the season at Take Root Farm, shearing, agility, and much more. I'll get some photos to share, too.

- Franna

Island County Sheep Show

ERN is in Island County, so as such, our "home" fair will be the Island County Fair. For the second year, we entered sheep in the Open class show. It is a very small fair, and the Superintendent has flexibility in what classes are offered. Another Gotland breeder, Joanne Martinis, and I, offered to bring two classes worth of % Gotlands. We had a class of white Gotlands and a class of colored (grey) Gotlands. It was a lot of fun. The judge, Linda Pfeiffer, studied the GSBANA standard ahead of time, and did a great job of judging and was informative in reasons for her placements. She understood the different characteristics brought in by the Foundation breeds and the importance of selecting characteristics from both the longwool side and the Northern Shorttail side in our "final" product.

The top awards were split between Joanne and I. My ewes won Grand Champion white - Chamois - and Reserve Ch. white - Rugby - Grand Champion colored - Daisy - and Reserve Champion colored - Chloe. Joanne's rams won Grand Champion white, Reserve Champion white and Grand Champion colored and Reserve Champion colored. (sorry! I missed their names)

The photo below shows Rugby in her winning pose.

...and the white ram lamb class.

I have more news... but it will have to wait for another blog post. :-)

- Franna

EverRanch North

Looking across our friends' driveway, and our NW corner, you see ERN from corner to corner and front to back. Click to biggify. The tip of the shop is peeking up in all its Coastal Plain green goodness at the upper right. Dave just mowed the field in front, taking down thousands of thistles. (Did I say that the "pastures" are in tough shape?). The far corner, just to the right of the center pole is the SE corner of the property - part of the 20 acres we just bought. In all, we have 40 acres here, in our little corner of Heaven, 1/4 mile on a side, 1 mile in perimeter.

:-) :-) :-)

Transformation

Take This:

Plus This:

Sage Green aka "Coastal Plain"

and This:

Off White aka "Greek Villa"

and This:

Grey Accents aka "Gauntlet Grey"

With a lot of This:

This:

This:

This:

And This:

Equals This:

This:

And, Finally, This:

EverRanch North - sitting on a rocky rib near Oak Harbor, Washington, overlooking plains both north and south, whitewashed farm buildings on adjacent parcels, just awaiting our sheep of many colors, including grey, to make it complete.

- Franna

Prelude

The Shepherd gazed across the fields and smiled. She envisioned sheep grazing and moving slowly across the coastal plain. In the distance, buildings reminiscent of a Greek villa clung to the side of a steep slope, catching the rays of the setting sun. A young Gotland lamb stood at her feet, its fleece the color of her grey gauntlets. She reached down to rub under the lamb's chin in the very spot to elicit a tail wag.

Finished Object - Woo Hoo!

Last year I took on a consignment vest. I hate to say, it was to be a Christmas present. Delays came for one thing or another, and the customer said it was okay to miss Christmas. Oops. Not a good thing to tell a procrastinator! Our own Holidays, then barn fixings, lambing, Shepherds' Extravaganza... reasons but not excuses. The design is entirely original, so there were the inevitable rippings and re-knittings. The customer supplied yarn from her own alpacas in three colors. The yarns were slightly different thicknesses, so added another challenge... and on and on.

Well! The vest is finished. Done-done. All the seams are complete, ends woven in, washed and blocked. Earlier this spring, the test fitting went well (very well! for all my worrying and nail biting)

So, without any more ado, here it is:

Design constraints were to use all three colors of the alpaca yarn, and there was a limit to the amount of each available. It was to be "warm" but not too warm, and was for a heavier, shorter woman (hmmmmm. Her measurements were very similar to mine!).

I decided on lace rather than colorwork, since alpaca is a very warm fiber, and diagonal lines to move the eye up and down. Collar and facings would just add bulk and heat, so I left them out. I kept it a bit conventional - no zebra stripes, the customer isn't a wild dresser ;-)

I wanted an easy (for me) to remember lace pattern, so chose this leaf design from... now I don't remember where! Knitty? About.com? Then followed the diagonal lines with a deep vee neck and vest points. The back also drops below the side seam for added "wrap me in it" warmth. I chose to make the back in the medium brown color in stockinette stitch, and the front in the offwhite. The offwhite and lace give a light and airy effect to the front, with good stitch definition. The darkest (coffee brown) was used to outline all the pieces and edges in 3 stitch I cord. The I cord stabilizes all the edges really well. The lower back, though, still wanted to curl (as stockinette is known to do!), so it took some care during blocking to counter the curling effect.

I chose to knit only full "leaves" or half leaves, so had some areas of plain stockinette along the neck and armhole, after trying several pattern options.

The buttonholes are a bit unconventional. I used I cord loops for the buttonholes - two on each side, just to hold the edges together. (The buttons supplied didn't work. They were very pretty and matched well, but were weak and broke with any stress. Soooo, the customer will add the buttons.)

I like the effect, although it is a little awkward to button, alternating sides. I think I'll play with this design effect some more.

This is the largest 100% alpaca piece I've knitted. The internet, again, was valuable for looking up blocking techniques. They said "don't wet block". Hmmmm. The yarn had a residue (from spinning) that was unpleasant to my hands, so I knew I had to wash it. So, I gathered the completed vest, placed it into a lingerie bag, and soaked it in warm water and a bit of Dawn soap. The water became quite cloudy. It took several rinses for the water to be clear. Then, I placed it in very hot water, followed by very cold water to give it a shock. Supposedly that will help the stitches hold their shape.

It seemed to work. After I got the vest all patted out and flattened on the towel, it was close to the proper measurements. It was a challenging and enjoyable project and I hope it is well loved.

- Franna

More Garden

The Garden is at a fairly easily maintained place right now. No real harvest going on, the plants are big enough to out-compete and shade most weeds, and everything (...maybe) has been seeded for fall.

So, garden chores are pulling a few weeds, watering, pruning and waiting for the REWARDS!

I have lived in Western Washington most of my life. I have NEVER seen tomatoes set on and grow like this year. What a treat! At TRF, some of the cherry tomatoes are turning orange - we workers will get to sample them next week - yum!

We've been sampling peas here at EverRanch. Snap peas and shelling peas. This morning they look ready enough to harvest for a meal! (The boards in the background define my paths, and keep me from compacting the soil too much.)

It won't be too long before the beans are ready to eat. They didn't take well, but the plants that germinated and survived have grown well with many, many blossoms.

The corn tassles are showing! And this morning I spied some silk. I can hardly wait! Corn fresh from the garden has to be one of the best treats ever.

Below the corn lies the promise of sugar pumpkins and spaghetti squash to come.

I decided not to use black (or red) plastic mulch this year. Then it's been so hot, I wanted to put something down, at least under the tomatoes. "Junk" fleeces to the rescue! Thanks, Asa, Astrid, Razel, and Snowflake

Besides the feast for the taste buds and stomach, I added some eye candy. Barely visible in the back of the top photo is a row of sunflowers. I never knew they came in so many colors and sizes! We have yellow, red, orange, tall, medium and short ones. They were the left-overs from TRF - one of the bennies of being an employee there. :-)

The flower below is a cosmos, also a leftover from TRF. Sunflowers and Cosmos, among others, are attractive to beneficial insects, so are an asset in the vegetable garden. I think bumblebees qualify as beneficial insects - go pollinate some squash, little bee!

I find myself with an abundance of blog fodder - and even some photos - there might be a new post in the next couple of days. :-)

- Franna