DIANEFEHLMANFLEECES

FLEECES FROM DIANE (FEHLMAN) McCALIB
MAY 2008

LOOKING AT THE SHEARED COTSWOLD FLOCK

THE FRESHLY SHEARED COTSWOLD SHEEP

THIS IS CHRIS (THE ONE LINDA GOT)

DIANE (FEHLMAN) McCALIB AND DONNA ROLPH

LOOKING AT THE BEAUTIFUL FLEECES -
GRAYS AND WHITES
Note: Donna is wearing a vest she made from Diane's "Suzi".

TWO OF THE GRAY ONES

BEAUTIFUL GRAY COTSWOLD FLEECE

"CHRIS" on the left and "SABRINA" on the right

LOOKING.......

DECIDING.....CHOOSING.......

DIANE AND HER BOTTLE-FED LAMBIE

THE LAMBIES

DIANE'S BOTTLE-FED CUTIE........

SAY...."BAAAAHHH"!

NOW TO WORK ON THE FLEECES!
I WILL TRY TO ADD TO THESE PHOTOS AS I WORK ON "CHRIS" AND "SABRINA"

GRANNIE LINDA

"CHRIS" washed and drying!
The lighter grey on the left will be dyed red (see photos below) for a black and red buffalo plaid sweater!

"SABRINA" washed and drying!
(note: the bit of grey on the front corner is someone else....)

"SABRINA" washed, up close!

Time to chose a color!
She is going to be a hooded pullover and I want a nice feminine color!

Which color??? All of these were done with the dye I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. "Desert Rose" by Country Classics.
The far left is just the dye, a little stronger. The next to the right is the dye in a lesser concentration. The lightest one is the Desert Rose with a little Tan Rit put in to soften the color. The far right is the Desert Rose with a little black. The winner is.....the one with the tan added! Whee!

Here is Sabrina before and after! I had to do about 6 pots full!

On the left is Sabrina before picking,
and on the right she is picked and fluffy!

Now it is Chris's turn!!! Here she is in the pot! Simmer, simmer!
I think I did four pots of Chris. I used a combination of Cushing's "Crimson" and G&K Craft "Scarlet".
I only dyed the lighter grey half of her.

Here she is before and after!

Drying on the floor - before picking. NOTE: The bright red skein in the front is a white yarn dyed in exactly the same dye.
Notice how the grayness of Chris makes it all a very nice deep red!

Now to begin carding! The black Chris is first.
I ran each batt through three times.

Here is a batt of Chris. I roll it up long-wise, then twist it up into a "bun" and put it in a small pillow case with all the other Chris batts. Next fall I will take apart each "bun" and peel off one strip at a time, draft it out, then spin it.

Here is my "carding station".....see the little "buns" in front?

Here is my little "counter". Made of three beads, a bit of wire, and two thumb tacks. It is on the bottom of my over head cupboard, just above the carder. That way I can keep track of how many times I have run the wool through the carder!

ON TO CARDING THE RED HALF OF "CHRIS"

I RAN IT THROUGH THREE TIMES FOR A GOOD BLEND

THE OVER-DYED GREY GIVES ME A NICE DEEP RED!

NOW TO CARD PINKY SABRINA!!!

SABRINA -- RUN THROUGH THE CARDER 3 TIMES.

A BATT - ALL ROLLED UP TO STUFF IN A PILLOW CASE AND AWAIT THE SPINNING PROCESS!

(4/09)FINALLY!!! MY FIRST SKEIN OF SABRINA FOR THE HOODIE PROJECT!!! HOORAY! 2PLY SPUN ON MY ASHFORD TRAVELER.

ALL OF THE SPINNING IS COMPLETE!!! (10-09)
THIS ABOUT A THIRD OF THE SKEINS! READY TO START KNITTING!

MY! THE COLOR LOOKS ORANGIE HERE...BUT NOT SO! IT IS MORE THE COLOR OF THE ABOVE PHOTOS, BUT HERE IS THE BACK IN PROGRESS! (10-09)

WAH-LAH!!!! ALL DONE! (12-09)

GRANNIE LINDA WEARING THE HOODIE! JUST IN TIME AS IT IS SOOOCCCOOLD OUTSIDE!
NOW STAY TUNED FOR PROGRESS ON THE BLACK/RED "CHRIS" FLEECE!

IN THE MEANWHILE.....
HERE ARE SOME OTHER ITEMS MADE FROM DIANE'S FLEECES!
SPUN/KNIT BY Grannie Linda

THIS VEST WAS SPUN AND KNIT USING DIANE'S COTSWOLD LAMB'S WOOL. THE FIBER STAPLE WAS ABOUT 1 TO 1/12 INCHES, SO I CARDED IT AND USED THE LONG DRAW METHOD. IT IS VERY SOFT AND WARM. I DID THE BODY IN ONE PIECE SO THAT I COULD USE A OPEN WORK PATTERN FOR A BOTTOM EDGE. IT IS FROM THE LARK PUBLISHED BOOK, "THE NEW KNITTING STITCH LIBRARY" - LESLEY STANFIELD, #284.

HERE IS A HANDSPUN SHEEP CARDIGAN MADE FROM SUZY FOR DIANE. SUZY IS VARIEGATED AND I SEPARATED THE GRAYS TO MAKE THE VARIOUS COLORS FOR THE SWEATER AND INTARSIA SHEEP.

THIS HANDSPUN, FAIR ISLE VEST WAS KNIT IN THE ROUND, STEEKED, AND CUT. I THEN KNIT ON THE BORDERS. THE WOOL IS MOSTLY SUZY. SHE IS SUCH A LOVELY GRAY! I OVER-DYED HER FOR THE BLUE. THE YELLOW IS SOME WHITE COTSWOLD, DYED, AND THE GREEN IS A BIT OF ALPACA.

THIS HANDSPUN CARDIGAN WAS ALSO KNIT IN THE ROUND, STEEKED, AND CUT. IT IS A HEILO PATTERN; "JUBILEUM".
THE GRAY IS SUZY, THE GREEN IS SUZY OVER-DYED. THE WHITE IS ALSO DIANE'S COTSWOLD. THE DARK BROWN IS A CORRIEDALE NAMED "IRIS" FROM ANOTHER FLEECE GROWER IN SISKIYOU COUNTY.

ANOTHER HANDSPUN CARDIGAN. THIS WAS ONE OF DIANE'S LOVELY WHITE COTSWOLDS NAMED "SARAH". SHE WAS WONDERFUL TO WORK WITH! LONG STAPLE, CLEAN FLEECE, AND A NICE, SOFT, CREAMY WHITE! THE FRONT IS CROCHETED AND THE BACK AND SLEEVES ARE KNIT WITH A CROCHETED BORDER.

THIS ARAN CARDIGAN AND HAT WERE SPUN FROM DIANE'S "SALLY" AND "JAKE". MORE LOVELY COTSWOLD FLEECES!

THIS SET IS HEAVY! THE SWEATER AND HAT WEIGH OVER THREE POUNDS, AND ARE VERY WARM! SPUN IN A WORSTED WEIGHT.
A RIBBON WINNER IN THE SISKIYOU COUNTY FAIR, 2008!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THESE PHOTOS! DIANE IS A GREAT FLEECE GROWER AND PRODUCES FINE QUALITY FLEECES!!

Grannie Linda

EVERYONE NEEDS A HAT! HERE IS ONE I KNIT FOR MY SON FROM SUZY! NICE AND WARM!!!

DECEMBER 2008

HERE IS A SWEATER FOR DIANE'S HUSBAND, BRUCE McCALIB. THE YARN WAS "SUZY" (GREY) AND "STAR" (BLACK). THE YARN WAS MILLED BY LYNN ROY AT THE KLAMATH RIVER ALPACAS FIBER MILL IN SCOTT VALLEY, CALIFORNIA (knit by Grannie Linda).

THE FRONT

HERE IS THE BACK.....BLACK ANGUS BULL.....

AND A HAT TO MATCH!!!