Going to SOAR

I'm so excited! I'm heading off to SOAR on Saturday. I've wanted to go ever since I read about it in Spin Off  many years ago. This year I applied for a scholarship and lucky me, I got one!!!! A big thank you to the folks at Spin Off who provided me with this opportunity and the wonderful people who wrote my letters of recommendation, thank you again.

I've been planning this trip for weeks and it seemed like mid-October was years away but now I'm leaving in 4 days. How can it be so soon? I'm writing lists of what to bring. Soon I will be making a pile of spinning stuff and clothing to schlep into my car. It is so hard to decide what to bring. I want to cover all my fiber needs (so I have fewer excuses to shop) but it needs to fit into my car and since I have a friend who is riding with me, I only get half a car to fill. I think I'll take pics of the packing process for my next Post.

I signed up for 3 days of Deb Mentz's ABC's of Color so I'll be bringing my drum carder and all the rest of my fiber blending tools. Oh just remembered, I have to bring Deb's book so I can get her to sign it, onto the list it goes. Then I'm taking Judith McKenzie's Recycled Yarn and I need to bring my wheel, bobbins and a lazy kate.

Did I mention my wheel? I'd been looking at travel wheels for a few years, and the thought of hauling my Lendrum up and down hill at the altitude of Lake Tahoe made me choose to get one. I got a Sabrina Travel Wheel from Carson Cooper at ztwist.com, I was expecting to get his plain cherry wheel but what I got was a far from plain as could be. Here she is, meet "Silk"  She weighs less than 8 lbs and spins so smooth.

I'm totally besotted with her, designing a carry strap for her, buying a bag  for her to travel in. I've been so smitten you'd think she was a designer puppy. No, she is a metal rimmed wheel with beautifully turned parts of maple burl and curly cherry. Here we are, all ready to go

So now that I've resolved all the tools and fiber I'm taking I have to think about the clothes that I'm going to pack. Hmmmm...

My First Post

For those who don't know me, I'm Loyce, the Chocolate Sheep Gal. I love to make felt and teach felt making, I get a kick out of doing torch-work glass and I'm learning to turn wood. I'm married, have been for close to 30 years, the mother of 2 adult daughters, the grandmother of 4, beloved of 3 dogs and a handful of cats, and the bringer of hay and grain  to goats, sheep, mini donkeys and one horse.

I am living my dream from my long term committed relationship to being a working artist living on a small farm. In this blog I want to share what it takes to make this dream work for me. The stuff that goes great, the stuff that is average, some stuff that is boring and the stuff that didn't work at all. I also want to share things I like, my current projects, tips on felt making and art, cool stuff I found and bargains, and my insights into farm life. 

Recently I was asked to submit proposals to teach at a couple of fiber venues and a submission for artwork. These things make me think about what I have done recently and frequently I find it hard to remember To keep track of what I've made, in the beginning of 2012 I began keeping a "Done List". Like a "to Do" List but better. Not a long winded thing, just a list of things as I've finished them. If a project reaches a notable level of completion but still has another set of steps before it's finished I will put it on my list but add a note listing what it needs to be finished. When it's totally finished I either cross off the note or if it was a really big project I'll write it down again as complete. It's very satisfying to see that I've done close to 35 projects that I felt were worth noting down in 10 months. I love the feeling of accomplishment that I get from knowing what I've made.

Here is one of those things that I've done in the past year and a half that has not made it to my list. She would go under the heading of uncompleted projects but I would list her as reaching a notable level. Her name is Ruby and she is 3/4 Chocolate Lab and 1/4 hairy sheep dog. We got her as puppy and have been enjoying her ever since. I'm not her only person, Tim feeds and plays with her, but I'm the one who is home with most days. She is 16 months old now and has grown into one of the most delightful of dogs.

This is Ruby now and my other darling dog Zoe.