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Meet me at the Pit

Friday, May 17, 2013
Way back when I was in high school, kids  used to settle their differences on a one to one at what was called the PIT.  This area reminds me of that as week old kids already are squaring off to see who is King of the PIT.   
Lots of black kids this year, and dreams of grey cashmere they will have.

Finely Felted 100% Cashmere Sheets 30x40 inches

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
NY designer, Jeffrey Monteiro, requested some 100% felted cashmere, so we decided to send some off and have it felted by Going to the Sun Fiber Mill.  Diana felted this on her 48 inch needle FeltLoom.  After seeing this, we will be having more done.  Gorgeous! Oh, the possibilities:-)

Happy Problem

Sunday, February 17, 2013
This nondescript picture may not excite many people out there, but to a fiber producer it is a startling, most exciting experience - SOLD OUT! Startling, since you can't sell anything without inventory.  Exciting, since selling out this early is a very good sign for the upcoming yearly sales. The launch of the two beautiful new patterns by Jen Hagan, The Yarn Underground yarn shop in Moscow, Idaho, and interest from NY designer, Jeffrey Monteiro, emptied my racks.

So now I am spending almost every waking moment washing and drying fleece and working on the dehairing machine, while Reed, Katie, Brian and Will help comb out new fleece from the goats when they can.  

Combing the goats is a slow process since you have to keep recombing after a few weeks to get it all, but in the end, will cut down on processing time.  Combed fiber leaves almost all the guard hair on the goat, so takes a lot fewer passes on the machine to get that all out.  Right now, that is very important since we are totally at the mercy of mills to spin our yarns.  Dehairing, which we do on the machine, is the longest step in the process, so I am really hoping there is a quicker turn around time at the mill.

Yipeee!  Of to a good start in 2013:-)
Some of the racks for the rare, exotic cashmere yarn.

Two new Patterns!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Jen Hagan has created two new patterns for Ravenwood!  Grethryn Hat and Velutina Scarf for men.  I asked her to design a man's scarf so I could present one to Reed for a Christmas present.  Beautiful!  The random pattern resembles bark, hence it is named after a black oak (velutina quercus). Reed LOVES how it keeps his neck toasty warm. He wears it everywhere and shows it off to everyone.  Now, he has something cashmere to wear harvested from our very own goats:-)

The Grethryn Hat is a bicolored hat, done in a wonderful design.  Oh so warm, and cute as can BE!!

Both made in our 3-ply 100% Cashmere Yarn:-)

Patterns are available by download under the Product - Pattern link
Velutina and Grethryn.

Can Do Katie

Saturday, January 19, 2013
Katie is probably going to kill me for posting this picture, but I just had to!  The first combing she and I did together was on such a bitterly cold day we about froze our fingers off.  Today, Katie came prepared!!  She wound up taking her hat off since Reed set up a propane heater in the barn for us, and the temperature was very comfortable down there today.  Will and Brian helped Reed haul hay up to the shed on the hill for the goats there, shoveled snow for us, got boxes down out of the shop loft so I can finally get all my Christmas decoration put away, and then settled into combing goats themselves.  Fun day with some great young people.

I am taking photos of the goats before combing for their files.  That is what the white board is all about.....
Katie, Will and Brian.

Before and After

Wednesday, January 16, 2013
We were lucky with this girl.  She cast almost all of her fiber at once, so she probably will not need another combing.  Combing goats, although extremely time consuming, is also another opportunity to go over the entire goat, check for condition problems that might be hiding under all that fleece, trim hooves if needed, check for parasites, etc.
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Two down and 52 to go.............................

Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Katie and I started combing today.  We pulled two does from the herd that were already starting to show signs of felting cashmere.  Lost quite a bit of cashmere on these two girls this first round due to lumps of felted fiber. That is one disadvantage on the goats with short guard hair.  If the cashmere exceeds the length of the guard hair, it is subject to sunburn, debris and early felting where it may get wet and they lay on it. Hard to find a happy compromise since long guard hair, although it helps protect the cashmere, is harder to dehair and increases production costs.

We are combing this year to save on 3 weeks of heating bills that occur after shearing and shearing costs. Also to make sure we get the full length of the cashmere fiber.  Most of the goats will not show signs of shedding fiber until next month.  Genetics is a big player in how soon the goats start to shed, as well as guard to cashmere length ratio.  I'll be looking at the dams and siblings of these two girls and giving them a good checking over to see if they are also shedding prematurely or showing signs of felt.

The number below the stanchion is the tag number of the goat.  I am adding photos of goats in fleece to my records. the records will also include down weight after processing and histogram analysis. 

The bald spot in the middle on the goat is where a sample was taken for histogram analysis.  This is done annually now, to insure the cashmere is within the legal limit as far as micron diameter. Diet, as well as genetics, can influence this. A goat will typically coarsen it's fiber 1/2 micron each year for the first four years of it's life.  A big jump in diameter usually indicates an adjustment in feeding needs to be made.  Goats do not need as much protein as some other animals and are healthy and happy with good grass hay and good browse.  The only time we add protein like alfalfa hay, or grain, is after the does kid. If it is a severe Winter we also grain.
Katie and #65.