Today I present a photo dump full of squirrels. These are all taken from my breakfast table, looking out to the back yard over the last couple of months.
Squirrel dump
Samoyed
In May I received a mysterious fiber package. There was a tickle in the back of my brain, a shadow of a memory from the previous summer, when I talked with a woman who said her dog’s fur looked just like the Shetland sheep roving I was using for a spinning demonstration. She said she would send me some dog fur, and I gave her my address. I reached out to confirm, and yes! My mysterious package did contain the results of numerous brushings of her Samoyed dog, Sugar.
Samoyed dogs have a thick double coat that is usually white and naturally dirt repellant with very little smell. The fiber was very clean, and did not have much VM (vegetable matter), so I decided to comb and spin it straight from the bag, without washing or scouring. The staple length of the undercoat wool is about 2-3 inches, but the guard hairs can be much longer, I measured one guard hair at 9 inches long. I did not attempt to de-hair the wool.
The Samoyed wool was very easy to spin, and I was able to get a relatively consistent single. Combing produces more waste than carding, but the results are worth it. The waste fiber goes outside for the birds and squirrels as nesting material.
I chose to chain ply my singles to make a three ply yarn. The Samoyed wool also performed well in plying and I didn’t have any breakage.
I’m going to give the three ply yarn a gentle wash and hang it up to dry!
Throwback Thursday: ribbon bookmarks
Here is a great throwback for Thursday! I used to make so many of these braided bookmarks. This picture is from December of 2014, and I love the way the red and white book marks have a secondary pattern effect.
I make these with 1/4” flat ribbon and usually braid a long length, then iron the long ribbon before applying more ribbon as a band with some white glue and cutting sections a good bookmark length, usually about 8”. The trick to these is that the ribbon is never folded as I braid. The seven-strand plait stays flat and the bias weave of the ribbon lets it lay in smooth curves.
It is a fun braiding project, and inexpensive. Materials needed are: 1/4” satin ribbon, scissors, white glue, parchment paper (to protect the ribbon while ironing), and an iron.
Woodpeckers
Here are some more pictures from the back yard, woodpecker edition. I was surprised to see that we have two different species.
It is neat to watch the woodpeckers hop around the bark of a tree, listening. Even though my feeders target squirrels, we have had an increase in woodpecker sightings since installing the hanging feeders.
Eastern Phoebe
Here is another set of pictures taking from my kitchen with my digital camera. I watched this little Eastern Phoebe beat the katydid against the railing several times, then swallow it whole. Wow.
Critters and Craft 