Dyer’s Rants

January is probably the most important month in the Scarlet Fleece calendar. It is my slowest sales month-but it is most important in setting the direction and priorities for the business. And it provides times to work on up and coming projects. One project very near and dear to my business….scratch that…to my purpose for being in business…is to develop a product that promotes American farmers, namely shepherds. And also my favorite heritage sheep-Shetlands. And I wanted to work with a mill I have had my eye on since she started it-Central Virginia Fiber Mill.

I was very excited when Mary Kearney started this mill. And she has done it right; buying equipment that is top quality, housing it it a huge built for milling building on her farm. And she has started out milling individual farmer’s clips and has taken the time to learn what her equipment will do and how to process all the different types of fiber that comes into her mill. And now she is ready to create a sustainable long term commercial product. Good timing for me. We have completed our testing and have come up with a lofty 2 ply worsted weight yarn that will be in sold in 150 yard 100 gram skeins in the natural colors as well as dyed in all the Scarlet Fleece colors. We are now in the process of signing up farmers-and the interest looks good. My hope is to have this yarn ready to introduce an the next trade show in June to measure the market interest.

This has been a long time coming. Right now-I can hardly hold back my enthusiasm as I gaze over my growing flock of these beautiful sheep I am lucky enough to raise. Last weekend-I brought back my visiting guest-a lovely gray ram-Morty.

Morty heading back to his home farm.

I can’t wait to see what lambs he has produced come May. I will leave you with pics of my growing 3 lambs from last years breeding season. And check out Scarlet Fleece’s facebook page to get info about another project-designing a colorway and knitting pattern virtually-and you can follow along and even win the knitting kit at the end of the process in June!

Black Dahlia

Pansy

Poppy

Nisa at 6 months old.

Training a guardian is a new challenge and it definitely takes patience, love and understanding of dog culture and it does not hurt to bring a sense of humor. There is no tried and true formula-each dog needs to be dealt with on their own terms-and I will add that the jury is still out on whether or not I know what the heck I am doing.

That being said-Nisa is at the rebellious teen stage. She is getting an understanding as to what I expect from her-but she does question the wisdom of my decisions…well…because she might not agree with me-so we do butt heads. It is my job to be consistent and unwavering. What I am doing now, since I’ve done hours of leash training and she does come when I call her (most of the time) and she does sit (most of the time), we are working on bonding with the sheep. I gave her base camp in the corner of the sheep pasture. It is a corral area with lots of running room on the high point of the pasture where she has clear view of the sheep all the time. In the evening-I get her out and together we walk the perimeter of the large pasture-she gets to smell the smells and so on. And then we encounter the sheep. Most of the time she wants to play-after all she is only 6 months old. But she is a VERY large 6 months old and I work on my commands to let her know I disapprove. Then we take a break and she gets to get out of the pasture and follow me around while I do chores-feeding chickens, bunnies and goats.

Back into the corral for dinner-for her and the sheep. The sheep follow us into the corral because they know it is grain time. Both get fed together and I then work with group dynamics in a smaller area. If Nisa starts running and challenging play-I growl my disapproval. If that does not stop the behavior-I toss a coffee can of rocks in her direction-that works. She is really getting the hang of what is allowed and not allowed.

Working on bonding in the corral.

Walking slowly-at least for now.

Still butting heads with arch rival Missy.

I have really gotten to love this dog and appreciate her attributes. She is loving-a bit rough when she wants to jump and chew your shoes (we are working on that.) And she is starting to slow up her running when she gets close to me-as she can bowl people over. And through working with her-I am feeling more confident that this partnership will work!

Wow…as I look back I am amazed that I am still standing. Here are the bullet points:

1. TNNA-Mid June-had  great show-partnered with Cheryl Beckerich as she was intoducing her line of patterns. We scored a double booth at the end of a great row whoo hoo! I met 2 new sales reps-offered goodies to the current ones to show their shops.

TNNA booth 2011 full view

Side view

Partnering with Cheryl Beckerich

2. Lots and lots of babies added to our farm family. A) Two of our ewes; Daisy and Rosie had 3 more ewes between them. Keeping with the flower theme-they are Dahlia (a single out of Rosie) and Poppy and Pansy (out of Daisy.) Both mothers were exceptionally good ones. All are thriving and so fun to watch playing in the field. I was nervous in that these were our 1st lambs. They have grown so much-here they are as they look now:

Dahla-black ewe born May 8th 2011

Pansy, black ewe born May 20th 2011

Poppy-becoming a real beauty! Born May 20th, 2011

2. part B…After a quick week of fun in the sun at Emerald Isle-we returned to find that April-one of our cashmere goats who escaped last Spring to go slumming-had the result of her travels-2 new bucklings. They are nubian/cashmere crosses. We are calling them Cisco and Poncho. You get a gold star if you can tell me what old TV show these names came from.

Surprise baby goats

2. part C) Baby Bunnies! Lola and Rainy are the proud parents of 2 girly bunnies: Black Pearl and Saphire and 2 bunny boys: Black Berry and Moon Pie. They are growing so fast-now away from mom in big bunny hutches. In short we got 2 blacks, a lilac and a blue!

2 blacks and the blue cuddling together.

3. Ok-this is about another baby-but she deserves a bullet point all on her own. And I am talking about Nisa-our Anatolian Shepherd pup we bought to one day guard our flock. I have a picture of her here-but she is 3 times bigger now as she grows daily on her way to being 100 pounds. I work with her daily-in what I call Guardian Boot camp. We work on general obedience and bonding with her new charges and also the farm and family at large. She is a handful and a true challenge. I am drawing from all my dog knowledge and I’m doing lots of reading and research. A huge project in that this boot camp will last a year and a half until graduation. I’ll keep you posted.

Nisa at 9 weeks

4. Orders, orders and more orders. And dyeing in the excessive heat. I enjoy the views out of my dye barn at all the animals as I drip sweat into the dye pots. I love this time of year because I love dying lots and lots of yarn. We are 20% ahead of last year in orders and I am rocking and rolling as I improve my production times. I am humbled by the shop owners who think enough of Scarlet Fleece to find a spot for it on their shelves-a big SHOUT OUT to you!

5. Looking ahead-we are taking on another project as we will soon become THE USA stockist and distributor for Landscape Dye for Kraft Kolours of Australia. I can finally share with all the dyers out there-the best damn dye on the market-because it is. It is the only dye I use for Scarlet Fleece-and that dye make me look great. It dyes more fiber and more intensely than other dyes out there, it mixes without muddying, (is that a word?) and they have tons of colors to choose from. Anyway…that is coming very soon.

Ok…that is about it….except…I want to say that along with all this, I am stepping up my online presence and marketing, on facebook-yes-I finally joined facebook-and I do post a lot, especially on the Scarlet Fleece page-where I post all my shipments as they head out to the shops-so you can know where Scarlet Fleece yarn is in real time-find me and “like” me! And continuing on Twitter and Ravelry. Alright-better get off my duff and get to dying-be back soon-have a colorful day!

Happy sheep grazing on Spring Pasture

Spring is in full swing here at Sweet Tree Hill Farm. This is always a busy time and this year is no exception. As the sheep are happily grazing on new Spring grass-I think back 3 years when we 1st moved in and was facing over grazed pastures-wondering if these would ever be fit for sheep-and I can say finally-they are. Many livestock owners often neglect to work on their pastures-but just like a healthy productive garden needs rich soil, so does healthy livestock need a thriving pasture with a good selection of not only grasses-but other plants too. The new ewes purchased over the winter (Missy and Gwyneth) have grown markedly and we are expecting lambs out of Rosie and Daisy Dot by month’s end. And just a note-I finally registered the flock and we now have a Shetland Flock #.

One of the Anatolian puppies we looked at lst weekend.

Something I have been researching over past months is the addition of a guard animal. Now that we have a growing flock of registered Shetlands, valued at $300 each and more-and the fact we do live in a very rural area-a guard animal is a looming prospect. I thought about all the possibilities…a donkey, llama, and the several breeds of guard dogs. The donkey and llamas would require special care and they were too large for small sheep. Without just the right choice-they were more likely to result in injured sheep. And the right animal would put quite a dent in the pocketbook. Looking at dogs and talking with breeders and users alike…I considered the Great Pyrenees and found they were the least effective of the breeds. The Maremmas, a good dog-but has its issues-can be rough with kids-although all guard animals need training and a firm hand. The Anatolian seemed the best all around farm dog-once it is introduced to even strangers by the owner-he will be accepting of their presence-and will often remember them on later visits. So we went in search of an exceptional breeder-one who will be a mentor-a source of info and will aid in selecting a specific dog to our needs. And we found her in Harriet Pittman who raises these dogs, as well as border collies, chickens and an incredible herd of colored angoras. She is in Charles City and we paid a visit last weekend. She has a litter of 8 dogs and they were getting socialized to chickens-very good. They all have impeccable conformation the would be willing in a show ring-if that was our interest-but not. We looked at the mother and other of her working dogs and once we were introduced-the barking stopped and they went back to work. Two of the adults was even licking my hubby by the end of the visit. I do want a dog that will not be a torture to visitors. We decided on a female-who would be better to get along with the Rocket Man (my 3 legged boston terrier). So we are good to go in about 3 weeks-we chose the name Nisa-a Turkish name meaning woman remembered. It also has a Celtic origin meaning lamb. The breed originated in Turkey some 6000 years ago. It is still used as a sheep guardian there.

1s

Teenaged chickens in the coop

We have 9 additional chickens we have been raising since late winter-they are now in the coop and I have been really working on getting them used to me. They all eat from my hand and several like to roost on my arm or shoulders and like to be stroked on the head. My fave is Paprika-she has really taken to me and will sit on my arm for quite a while and snuggles in for being stroked on the head. I feel so honored!

And the big thing with Scarlet Fleece is the Needle Arts trade show coming in a month. I am partnering with one of our pattern designers-Cheryl Beckerich-getting a double booth-#1341 and 1440. Many arrangements being made. AND we have had a good Spring with lots of orders and I have been working on new patterns. The new 2011 colorways are now posted on the website. So it is crazy time. Even so-I hope to be posting more in the near future-check back soon. And don’t forget to follow me on twitter for more up to the minute stuff going on @scarletfleece. Have a colorful day!

It has been a crazy busy time on Sweet Tree Hill Farm with shearing sheep, combing cashmere goats, and everybody getting hooves trimmed, vaccinations, wormed and relocated to Spring pastures. And we have baby chick now and lambs on the way! And the dye studio has been busy with more orders than usual for this time of year. And add to that a skeining issue-I have ordered motorized multi-skeining equipment-that has yet to arrive adding to my work load.I needed a break in the action!

And it came with hosting a dye class. VA tech students arrived mid-morning with their teacher-Helene all ready to learn how to dye. It was a wonderful break for me because it was such a pleasure to see the enthusiasm demonstrated by the students. It brought back to me the gift of first discovery as each student learned how to choose colors, mix dye, pour the dyes on hot roving and ooh and aah at the final results. And the day dawned with sunny skies and warmer temps not common for mid-March. So of course we had to eat outside enjoying the pond, the chickens running around and dogs begging for pats on the head.

We began with donning plastic aprons, gloves and face masks to protect us from the acid dyes.

Dressed and ready to go!

And colors were chosen based on food, favorite colors or just on a whim!

And then after the merino wool roving was hot enough, dyes were poured-very carefully!

And after roving had cooked-we washed and rinsed the roving to see the results and hung to dry as we ate lunch!

It was such a pleasure getting to know students who are from all over-from New Jersey and Massachusetts to Peru and Turkey! Such fun and I hope they get inspired to do more with fiber!

example of a Columbia Sheep

Greetings All!,

I know I have not been on the blogging scene of late…I have been a twitter monkey more than anything in that I tend to have short, 140 character thoughts-profound thoughts-but short thoughts-so please follow me-and I do include pictures. My reasoning is that I am still a one man show and time is a diminishing resource. But on that front-I have just purchase some motorized skeining equipment so I hope to blog more. And I do have so much to talk about-on farming, dyeing, and the yarn industry in general.

Oooh farming!!! Now I am on the path to something exciting and something close to my heart. One of the main reasons I knit and perhaps you knit…is to come back to simple values…values this country was founded on-simple-can do-back to the land attitudes. Farming embodies these-and I mean real farming…hands on-getting your fingernails dirty-stepping in poop-work till you drop farming. Farmers are self reliant and I love that-I have respect for that. So much respect that I want to celebrate American farming with Scarlet Fleece. My business is partnering with Von Strom Quilting and Fiber Mill in Ohio to start a line of breed specific yarn from wool grown from well fed American sheep and other fiber animals. Much of what is sold here comes from South America, China, Australia and other countries and are milled elsewhere. Now don’t get me wrong-there are many wonderful products that I use in Scarlet Fleece that are produced from farms abroad. But I want to add to my line using a resource that is much ignored in this country and the yarn industry in general.  As a cashmere grower of several years-it was frustrating to learn that there was very little market development for American fiber. I could not sustain a farm on cashmere sales. And I have spent years trying to figure out how this could be done. Well……I am proud to say that Trinity Lace is the only commercially available yarn that I am aware of that has only American Cashmere. It is a beginning and it has gotten my wheels turning!!! And news to you…Trinity Lace will be available soon not only through your local yarn shop-but it is available online through sites like Earth Faire (www.earthfaire.com) and later this Spring-via the Patternworks catalog.

So what next? Well, Toia-owner of our mill-and I are in the development stages of the 1st of what I hope will be many breed specific yarns. We are starting with Columbia wool. It is a wonderful soft fleece to work with. We will be featuring the actual farms the fiber is grown on-and this info will be featured on the label and on our  website so that you know the story of your yarn-where and by whom it was produced. American farmers raise well fed animals and produce a superior quality of fiber that I want to bring to you to experience. Often our animals have names and are family members-not always…depends on the scale of the farm. But my focus will be on family farms and I want to provide a return to the farmer for their wonderful work and to hopefully support a cherished part of our heritage.

Now I am in the process of coming up with a name of this new direction…right now I am referring to it as the American Fleece Project. Any ideas along this line…feel free to share. And the next fiber…will be Shetland-can’t wait!

And in other news..I am in the throws of coming up with the 2011 colorways…I will tweet about the process-with twitpics and everything. Go to my homepage at scarletfleece.com and scroll down to my twitter box to follow if you like. That is it for now-I hope to blog soon with more…so stay tuned!

Temperatures dropping and snow is a more frequent visitor. My work coat and wool cap are at the ready by the door. Early mornings are frosty as my breath hangs in the air as my boots make crunching noises on the iced over ground. Gloved hands pull open the barn door and the smell of stored hay greets me. I cut cording and lift 3 or four slices-bits of hay sticking to my sleeves. Spreading hay for hungry woolly mouths. Hoe in hand, I slam it on breaking ice to free up water to quench thirst. Chickens follow behind hoping for cracked corn. Their wish will be granted. I take off my glove to spread corn-so as to not get corn dust on my black gloves. My hand is numb with the frigid air. Glove back on quickly. Collecting frozen water bottles that need thawing. Thirsty rabbits are grateful. Scoops of grain fill their hoppers. A little treat of banana chips are offered by hand. Outdoor chores are done-giving a quick glance over the pond to see if any water fowl decided to pay me visit. Heading back to a warm kitchen as I breath in the crisp air. Looking forward to that cup of coffee and a bit of time knitting or weaving with lofty wool-gifts from my sheep, goat or bunny friends that are now munching away on their breakfast.

I took a break from my dyeing activities to learn how to shear sheep. For some reason-I have it in my head that before I die (I mean really die-not dye,) that I should be able to take fiber from growing it, harvesting it, dying it, spinning it, knitting it or weaving it. Now I have done just about all of that-even getting good enough to teach some of it. I have raised cashmere goats, angora rabbits, even cotton. I have spun on wheels, spindles and charkhas. I have taught knitting, even designed and published patterns. I have harvested fiber from the goats and the rabbits. But now that I have started raising sheep-the one task-the one skill set that has eluded me….shearing.

Now I knew my window to learn to shear-and I mean really learn to shear-the way they do it in Australia and New Zealand-was running out. You see-I turn 50 this year and my body-the one I used to run with, do body building with, row with, play soccer with…well let’s just be honest and say that I have never been in worse shape-other than being pregnant.

Ok-onto sheep shearing school in Maryland-where they have been teaching this stuff for decades. I drove up the 4 and a half hours Thursday so I could be ready for 9AM the next day. There were 20 fellow novices and 4-5 teachers on this large sheep farm in Westminster on a cold blustery day. (I say 4-5 because this cool shearer from New Zealand showed up the next day.) Well after a short lecture we headed to the barn where there were 4 stations set up and in one corner-were about 30 sheep-who were soon to feel the cold weather more fully. We got about 2 demo’s then we were thrown off the deep end. We divided into our groups-I was in the left handed group with a long bearded 60 year old guy and a 20 year old hot shot. I was the last to take a sheep-the instructor talked us through as we nervously held equally nervous sheep and tried to shear around the getitals, moving ourselves and the sheep as we worked around the body. Doing this while holding the sheep was like running a 2 mile race. My forearms gave out before my back-much to my surprise-and my wind-let’s say my mouth was as dry as cotton when I finally was able to stand up and let my sheep go. I think my 1st sheep took at least 20 minutes. We broke for lunch and kept at it until late afternoon. Our group’s instructor did not want the left handers any more-so we had a new guy after lunch. I was sooo tired-that I slept the rest of the day. And I got up and did it again-with a break to learn about equipment. I managed to shear 3 more that day-I think I am down to about 12 minutes. One part that is a challenge is learning intimately-the contours of a sheep’s body so that you know when to crank the shears over on a blow (or stroke.) I also learned that Oster shears are not for me-they weigh 4.5 pounds. I like the Premier-weighing only half as much.

While I need to work on my endurance-including muscle endurance-I think I can hack it. I might be able to do about 5 in a day. Maybe. We’ll see-I am scheduled to help a friend with her 10 sheep. My back did hold up-barely. I have muscle soreness, but I did not pull anything. I say that shearing is not for wimps. In fact, I think we should start a movement to make it an Olympic sport. John-the guy from New Zealand, told a story of a shearer in competition who, while shearing, cut a sheep’s mammory gland. He stopped to suture the wound and still finished shearing in just 2 minutes. I’d like to see Michael Phelps pull that one off.

Head Instructor demonstrates

Hi Everyone!

With all this crazy weather-it is a wonder I can get my work done. Kids have missed now 7 days and my sanity is in question. But I am thankful for the dye studio where I can focus on my dyeing and inventing new colorways and colorwashes. Actually-I must confess that many of the inventions are actually from customers and fans of Scarlet Fleece. So without delay-feast your eyes on the following:

Abalone

Bubble Gum & Blue Jeans

Spruce Tips

Tree & Sky

Raven

Eucalyptus

And there you have it. These will be available at your favorite local and online shop soon. Speaking of shops-we have added about 35 shops and online sites to the Scarlet Fleece family. These new shops will be posted very shortly-so check back soon.

I will be heading beak to the dye studio for more dyeing today-but as we are dealing with the inconveniences of winter-take a moment to look around at the beauty of the season!

Our lamp posts at sunrise.

My sheep babies in the snow

Mr Rocket Man battles deep snow

Hi Everyone,

Nice to blog after a long absence from the blogosphere. This is a rare discussion (on my part) on the nature of business and how it applies to a yarn dying business.

One of the reasons for my long silence has been due to …well…lots of work. Thanks to my sales force-my orders started coming in at a pace that resulted in long days in the dying studio and longer delays than I would like (or customers would like) in getting out orders. While this is a wonderful problem to have, especially in these economic times, it is a problem that needs addressing. So the notion of creativity verses innovation.

In my business-I love the fact that I can work the creative side of my brain-I love it love LOVE it! But as I tangle with the trial of figuring out how to streamline my production without loosing the quality-I am forced to deal with the needed requirement in any business-Innovation. In my mind, innovation in the implementation of the creative idea and is the most difficult part of building a business. It will either make or break you. I have been watching the hand dyed yarn industry-and many dyers have flooded the market. While there is a lot of talented dyers out there, there are very few dyers that are good business people. And I very much understand the commitment involved. When faced with orders, family, animals, husband’s schedule, kids, household and farm chores…how do you make it work and how do you you make it work well? If you are going to grow a business-even a yarn business, especially a yarn business-you have to have many skills. You have to devise a brand, logo, and a marketing scheme, create your own ads; you have to set up your books and a means to keep track of your expenses; you have to be computer savvy-a photographer, a web geek; you have to have excellent customer service skills, and you have to have vision-a goal as to where the business is going. Not to mention you have to knit, design patterns, and yes-know  color and how to dye yarn that is color fast and beautiful and consistent. And I am finding the most important skill of all is as a time manager in how to do this all and fit it into your day. Other hats you will wear is a labeler, skeiner, and builder (if you build your own studio-I did all the finishing work-put in the moldings, laid the tile floor, etc) and last but not least-cleaner upper. I am a wiz with the shop vac.

Currently-while I do contract pattern writers and sales reps-I do the work. This year as we find ourselves in 2010-my goal is to reduce production time and increase productivity-so maybe I can have a weekend off here and there. And yes-increase sales.

Following are some some pics of Sweet Tree Hill Farm, a new Cowl pattern to go with the Mushroom cap and some of the holiday knitting I did for family. Happy New Year to all of you-may your dreams take a fast track to reality this year!

The Puffy Ribbed Cowl that is a free download on Ravelry

The barn and dye studio a week before Christmas

Scenes 1 week before Christmas at the farm

The sheep in the snow

Yes...I did knit a bit for Christmas!