Archives for Foxfire Fiber

NOT READY FOR RHINEBECK

October 14, 2011 | 6 Comments

Yep, you heard me right. This is bad. Due to a major technical/bureaucratic glitch, I did not receive my NYS Sale Tax Certificate of Authority in time to participate in this year’s festival (despite being told on 10/3 that I would have it in time). Since everything I sell in Duchess County NY is subject to NY sales tax, I am sorry to report that I am unable to participate in this year’s festival as a vendor. I learned this yesterday morning. You should have seen the smoke coming out of my ears. So I have a hotel room, a rental
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Autumn Knit Along – Cast On!

September 4, 2011 | 5 Comments

Today is the official Cast-On day for Foxfire Fiber's "Crash Your Stash" Autumn KAL. The rules are easy, and the prizes are great! There's still time to join us. "What will you create from our wool?" Up for grabs are NINE prizes – comprised of both brand new Foxfire yarns (& spinning fiber) and vintage Foxfire Fiber & Designs skeins no longer available to the public. The best part of this KAL is you get to do whatever project you want. We're calling this a KAL but projects may be knit, crotchet, handspun, woven or felted. The only requirement is you use Foxfire Fiber &
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Summer Scenes

August 3, 2011 | 13 Comments

Fall Yarn Shares – Cormo Silk Alpaca yarn, Foxfire Fiber & Designs The photos tell the story of what's happening at the farm. Summer has hit its stride. The garden's growing full tilt, hay's happening . . . During the July heat wave the sheep grazed early morning and evening, returning to the barn to sit out the mid-day sun. The fans are running in the barn 24/7 to keep everyone comfortable.The lambs form a wooly puddle at my feet when I come to the barn in the morning. Our new Shetlands are loving life on the farm.
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The Strolling of the Lambs

June 5, 2011 | 5 Comments

Thanks to our Sheep Shares members and your guests (more than 50 of you!) who traveled from far and wide to share a super-fun day with sheep. For those of you who could not be with us, I'm posting many images of the day (divided into two posts to make loading easier). Enjoy!
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Knit-A-Long News on a rainy day!

May 16, 2011 | 8 Comments

Rainy day lambs Rainy day rams Rainy day retriever I try not to whine about rain. Rain jump starts crops and makes the grass grow. It saves me time in watering new plantings and the new but yet unplanted red bud trees we acquired last week at the nursery. But it makes for soggy sheep and unpleasant sheep tending. Several slipped their coats yesterday; the fabric gets sopping wet and droopy and the whole coat slips to the side. When the leg strap dangles below the hock, a sheep steps out of that strap. Then they step out of the
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It’s a Girl!

March 31, 2011 | 23 Comments

I guess it's true. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Our first arrived late today, a single ewe-lamb born to Chloe, a first time mother. Mike discovered our newcomer when he went to the barn for evening chores. A hefty lamb, she was cleaned up, on her feet and nursing when I arrived. It looks like this little gal may have company before the night is over, so I'm off to get some rest, just in case I'm called to the barn again. Just wanted to quickly share our exciting news! Crackerjack (below) inspects
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The Year of the Apple

March 18, 2011 | 41 Comments

Apples is by far the most popular of our suggested lamb name themes for this year. Thank you, thank you, thank you for voting. It was a lot of fun to watch. We are looking forward to a bushel of new lambs, in less than two weeks from now. I'm thinking of all the fun name possibilties: MacIntosh, Gala, Macoun, Braeburn . . . If you would like to suggest an apple variety to name one of our lambs-to-be, please leave a comment here. My days have gone from busy to busier in a hurry. Immediately after shearing, we've shipped
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Winter’s Waning GiveAway Winner

February 18, 2011 | 5 Comments

Thank you for your comments on last Friday's post. New England is feeling less winter-bound the past few days. It will be weeks before we can see the grass or buds on the trees here, but reading about the signs of spring in other parts is a good balm for the winter soul. Thanks for sharing your thoughts (and for so generously spreading the word, you guys are great). Congrats to Ellen who commented on 2/14/11 at 9:57 am. Ellen, please contact me through my website with your address so I can mail your prize: 4 skeins Foxfire Fiber's Wool
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Winter’s Waning GiveAway

February 11, 2011 | 170 Comments

We've hit the winter doldrums. Freeze, snow, thaw, freeze, snow, thaw, repeat. Ice dams on the barn roof, glacial ice sheets in the barn yard, ginormous mountains of grimy slush everywhere. Winter has worn out its welcome but it's too early to start hunting for signs of spring. Instead I'm looking for signs of winter easing up: the angle of the sun in the sky – a little higher than it was just a week ago; a few extra minutes of daylight for evening chores. Aside from the drama of our weekly storms, there's a sameness to winter farm routine.
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Whoa, Snow!

February 4, 2011 | 9 Comments

Winter is causing an UNREAL amount of trouble. I know we're not alone in this, as this week's back-to-back storms have affected so many. We are simply running out of places to put snow. The sheep are faring well, but they are yarded up and not venturing out into the paddocks. We were in the single frigits this morning, but temperatures here are expected to reach the low 30's today, hopefully enough to break up the crusty snow and give the flock more room to stretch their legs. I'm ordinarily a winter fan, but this year is trying our
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