I have been wanting to go for three years but this was the first time we were able to attend.
What a blissful day it was!
There was sheep shearing...
...and since so few people actually went, my children got a TON of one on one interaction and opportunities they wouldn't have had there been a huge turnout.
Andrew had to help with the demonstrations (which, btw, goes against his wallflower nature); he did well.
He even got to help shear, which to his farmers heart, was a real thrill.
Corynn did too, as a matter of fact.
I was amazed at how lethargic sheep get during shearing. It almost appeared like they went into a trance!
Then, of course, there was spinning.
May I tell you a little secret?
I have always wanted a spinning wheel.
When we moved into this house, I looked into buying alpacas (youch! are they expensive) and then tried to convince Matt to let me have sheep. Apparently, he doesn't feel the same way about them as I do.
I have even toyed with the idea of getting some angora rabbits for a smaller investment.
So when I was invited to try out spinning firsthand, I was in my glory.
Of course, I had to hand off Judah, hence the empty Moby wrap. (No, I don't make it a habit of wearing empty baby wraps.)
Corynn likes it too.
She had a good teacher.
Clowns make great teachers.
Maybe with the both of us pestering...er....ASKING....?!?!?
OR maybe....he could be convinced firsthand?!
(just in case he wanted to try to build me one, I took lots of pictures. hehehe)
And there was dyeing.
Using natural dyes to color the wool fascinates me.
I took pictures of some of the natural dyes I can try at home.
And there was loads of information, demonstrations and even opportunities to get our hands dirty
We came home with our own dyed wool~
.... a felted wool necklace Corynn made
.... and three bars of felted homemade soap.
...AND....hold on to your hats~ again because of the small turnout, they gave our family a drop spindle and some carded wool for free as well, so we can get started spinning!!!! yay!
Thank you Old Textile Museum!
8 comments:
I am so. jealous. Like way super jealous.
How fun that looks! I have always wanted to learn to spin, was it hard? Was it what you thought it would be like? Can I come over and make natural dyes with you? I wish we had cool stuff like that nearby, that didn't cost an arm and a leg to get into.
Pretty shirt by the way ;0)
what is on your husband's feet? very intriguing (and appealing)
Last fall we did almost the EXACT same thing, Rebecca!!! It was SOOOOOOOO neat!! :) It wasn't a museum though just a farm and their friends and family who sheared, spun, dyed, and knitted/crochet with what they made!!! It was sooo interesting!!! We also read A New Coat for Anna that day which goes right along with the everything. I didn't get the greatest pictures so I never put them up...hmmm, I've been meaning to do a collage or something of all our homeschool field trips last year, but have yet to find a good FREE collage program...that I can figure out! ;) What do you use for your collages? :)
Anyway, I was kinda wondering what in the world you were wearing and then you said the MOBY wrap and I cracked up!! HAHA! :)
Anonymous~ those are probably the BEST Christmas present Matt has ever received. They are several years old and look as wonderful as ever. The mocassins are made of cowhide and the boot part is elk leather I believe, that wraps around his leg. All of it, hand stitched. It has been years so I forget where I got them (online somewhere), but I bet Matt would know. I'll ask him.
Amy~ I use Picasa for everything, including collages. Hey, its free!
I noticed your husband's shoes too. Very unique-eye catching. Your visit to the museum is exactly my kind of trip. Thank you for all the pictures, I enjoyed all the activities.
Shame on you, Rebecca, peaking all our jealousy like this!!!! (How's that for blame shifting?)
I have always, always, always wanted to learn to spin. I think it would be so fantastic to knit an article from yarn I had spun myself!
Thanks for sharing all the wonderful photos.
Tell all I said "hi" and pass out the hugs and kisses for me.
Nanci
I just saw a flyer for this place at the dentist's office. Weird.
These shots are very cool- AWESOME!- in fact. We'll have to pop down to it sometimes, ourselves, even though the likelihood of us getting sheep someday is nil. Pigs and cows...pigs and cows.
Oh, and a barn would be nice.
My computer has been molasses-slow this morning, and it's driving me nuts. I'm off! May God give you a productive day! Five quilts? SIX? :)
I haven't even read through this post yet but did glance through it quickly. I just had to share the title of this book with you so that you can keep your eyes out for it. It's called "Guide to Making Spinning Wheels, Plans and Instructions for Building Saxony, Irish Castle and Accelerator Wheels" and you can read more about it here, http://www.ztwist.com/Making%20Spinning%20Wheels.htm . I'll have to tell you about the 200 year old spinning wheel my in-laws have that I'm going to have restored!!! :D
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