You’re not my mama

I'm making a Clydesdale using a vintage sewing pattern, I've chosen mohair and wool furs and it's stuffed with wool, too. The tail and mane are made with sheep hide offcuts from a tannery on Skye (Skye Skyns). I'm waiting for some glass eyes to arrive.

There's a little polyester for the hoofs and the sewing thread I used is a polycotton blend. Other than that, it's natural fibres (but not vegan).

He's called Carnera after the locally famous Irn Bru horse.

MaricatCrafts - Hand knitted fawn

- This little deer is a hand made plush created by the talented  https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/MaricatCrafts   Please check them out ^.^

Features: Is a soft knitted plush fawn with jointed legs which can be moved around and a fluffy tail. embroidered eyes, is made from Incredibly soft alpaca and mohair yarn.

Size: from tip of tail to nose 50cm long and 34cm high from hoof to top of head. (Large plush)

Date: 2021

sweater weather!

Scorpio Races fluff below the cut, please beware

Thisby women have a long history of battling the elements with handicrafts. Though not as famous as Fair Isle sweaters, Harris tweed, or even Irish mohair, Thisby wool is known for being so durable it can be worn for years and passed down through families; from jumpers to scarves and hats without the dyes fading or the threads fraying.

Even if Puck had the skill for the spindle and knitting needles, there was no one to teach her after her mother passed. The Maud women ran a crash course in pottery painting for the Connolly youngsters when it became clear that they needed the cash, but the sisters didn’t have time for the feminine arts (unless you counted flirting). They had sight enough for two out of three, and patience enough only for one.

But needs must. Tradition demanded tiny booties and hats and blankets, as baby Kendrick was well on its way already.

Puck rests her work on her belly, which has a healthy swell to it. The biggest hardship of pregnancy so far has been giving up riding, but trying to cast on is a close second. Her fingers are still strong and calloused from Dove's reins, but knitting is less about strength and more about witchcraft it seems.

Finn had found her a knitting primer in Fathom & Sons years back and given it to her as a joke, because Puck knitting was like seeing a barn cat walk on hind legs. Less funny now that she’s actually trying to make a go of it, however.

Her patience runs out. She’s made stitches so tight she can barely get the needles out of the loops, so she decides to get some air.

Corr and Dove are happy to see her as she approaches the paddock Sean fashioned on the old Kendrick farm.

Dove nudges her shoulder with her nose and Puck feels a deep pang. “Sorry, I miss our rides too.”

Her horse snorts back, Corr clucks. Then the baby kicks and Puck feels ganged up on.

“I know, I said I’m sorry!”

Dove is placated by Puck’s hands stroking her withers, but Corr has other ideas and makes to sniff at her coat pockets.

“I don’t have any scraps to spare, I’m afraid.”

Corr thumps a hoof on the ground and turns to smell the sea, always nearby on misty days. It’s not quite mid-October but the capaill uisce have already been spotted in the currents, hunting.

Dove rests her nose on Puck’s belly, seemingly to investigate.

“The doctor says it’ll be a while before I can ride again even after the baby comes, because my womb may wander. Which sounds like utter nonsense to me.”

The horses don’t disagree, but then again they don’t have the power of words either way.

Puck feels the baby again— a flip near Dove’s nose. This child already loves horses and it hasn’t even been born yet.

Dove accepts a cheek pat in lieu of a mount, but Corr gives her a look.

“Next time I’ll bring something for you, I promise.”

“You already have.”

Puck whirls around, nearly stepping on a deposit left by Dove. “You dirty sneak!"

Sean Kendrick has a gift for approaching quietly and scaring the daylights out of his wife. He must have walked Dove and Corr’s yearling to the far barn already, quieted by the foggy weather. Sure enough, Sunrise’s tail is twitching at the water trough.

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Oh, you would never,” Puck smiles.

He hugs her and rests his hand where everything is happening-- where their future is percolating.

“How is our family today?”

“Annoyed, mostly. Malvern kicked me off duty, and Holly agreed. Just because I can’t ride, doesn’t mean I can’t still be useful. Apparently it’s unseemly for a woman in the family way to be seen mucking out stalls. I’ve also given up on knitting, and this one won’t stop kicking.”

Sean kisses her cheek, thinking. Always thinking.

His eyes twinkle. “You can muck out the stalls here as long as you like. We can wipe down the baby with fresh hay when she’s born, just like with the foals.”

Puck mocks disgust, but can’t keep up the ruse and laughs. Sean making a joke needs to be cherished and savored always. “What makes you so sure she’s a girl?”

“Just a notion.”

They walk back to the gate of the paddock, holding hands.

“Peg Gratton’s pendant says it’s a boy.”

“She finally cornered you?”

“We were out of Corr’s meat, and I needed a walk. I had to sit down to catch my breath--”

Sean’s hackles raise. “What do you mean, catch your breath?”

“Calm yourself, we’re fine. It’s just quite a walk up the hill from Malvern’s yard, you know. And I’m no longer fighting fit.”

He answers by sliding a protective arm around her shoulder, as if he might carry her across the threshold, or anywhere else she needs to go.

“You worry too much.”

He blinks at her like Finn's trusting cat Puffin. “I just love you, that’s all."

After three years married, surely she should be used to it. But her throat still bobbles at his earnestness, his troth to her for the race and at the church:  that he would always be at her side.

“I love you, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

He looks like he’s formulating a reply when they hear a distant honk. Finn’s dusty truck is pulling up the drive, a gift from George Holly a few Novembers back when Finn fixed it for him.

Sean waves and turns back to the paddock to put Dove and Corr through their paces, probably also to give the siblings privacy.

Finn climbs out of the front seat, an old box in his hands.

“Puck!”

"Hello! You can join us for supper if you don’t mind cooking.”

He’s a scurry of excitement, barely listening. "I was in the cellar, trying to find some twine to fix a window sash and I found this.”

A flurry of dust is disturbed by him pushing the box’s lid aside to reveal— impossibly—tiny homespun wool garments, baby and toddler-sized and dyed a simple gray.

“Oh, Finn!"

He smiles, proud of himself. “I found it in a crate of Fathom & Sons catalogs and fabric scraps."

Puck is completely overcome— she has no memory of baby Finn, because she too was small. But of course these would have been saved. Only Gabe would have known these existed, and he’s not here to testify.

She can’t help herself, she begins to cry. Curse these weaker pregnancy moments.

Finn looks panicked, at sea in any kind of display of emotion. “Oh dear! What’s wrong?”

Through tears, Puck says. “Nothing’s wrong, everything’s perfect.”

Finn visibly relaxes as Puck picks up the tiniest bootie, somehow preserved in the cellar for all of those years. Thisby wool knitted by her ancestors, and saved by her mother in hope for the future with all of the sacrifice that entails.

Sean looks over to them from across the yard, and she has everything she needs to move forward.

Raising Mohair Goat Breeds for Fiber

More than 12 years ago, I mentioned that I wanted to raise goats for fiber and was greeted with blank stares. You must mean sheep, I was told, because sheep grow wool. Sheep were not what I wanted. I had been researching mohair goat breeds with beautiful fiber that could be cleaned, combed, and spun into soft, delicious yarn.

I desired the Pygora breed to start our fiber farm.

At the time, our farm did not have space for sheep. I don’t have anything against sheep as wool-yielding animals but I thought they would need lots of grazing area. Goats are known for being better with rough browse and not-so-great pasture. I contacted a well-respected breeder in Oregon and the rest is history.

Over the course of our fiber goat experience, people insist we are raising sheep and not goats. When Pygoras are in full fleece, they look like wooly sheep. The fiber is soft and blends beautifully with other wool.

Dairy Goats are Delightful!

Download this FREE guide for tips and tricks from our goat experts. Start your goat adventure today! YES! I want this Free Report »  

Mohair Goat Breeds

The Angora is perhaps the most common fiber-producing goat. Surprisingly, fiber called Angora is only from Angora rabbits; fiber from the Angora goat is called mohair. Angora goats originated in Turkey and are productive fiber growers, yielding from 8 to 16 pounds of lustrous mohair each year. Large but not the largest, they range from 75 pounds for does to 150 pounds for bucks. Angoras have long locks of fiber cascading down each side.

Other mohair goat breeds have been developed in recent years; the Pygora and Nigora are becoming more widely seen. Pygoras are bred from an Angora and a Pygmy goat while the Nigora is a cross of Angora and Nigerian Dwarf goat breeds. Both result from careful breeding practices, ensuring the best qualities of each parent breed came forth.

Katherine Jorgenson first bred Pygora goats in the early 1980s in the Pacific Northwest. She sought to achieve the quality of Angora mohair with the coloring of registered Pygmy goats. The trademarked term Pygora fiber can only be used for fiber derived from registered Pygora goats. Breed standard spells out what makes a registered Pygora.

Pygora fleece, very soft and fine, is classified into three categories. Type A is most Angora-like, with ringlets and sheen. Type B is a soft mix between Type A and Type C. Most cashmere in quality, Type C has no ringlets and more of a soft, halo appearance on the goat. In addition to white, the fiber can be black, brown, tan, gray, and caramel.

The American Nigora Breeders Association states that the Nigora breed includes fiber-producing dairy goats of any size. The goals of goats admitted to this association, is to provide milk and fiber to families seeking to be more self-sustaining. Dairy production meets dietary needs while goats produce cashgora-grade fleece that can be marketed to fiber artists. In addition to pairing Angora and Nigerian Dwarf breeds, other breeding pairs are acceptable Nigoras, including the mini Swiss dairy goat. Breed standards specify: The goats must fall between 19 and 29 inches tall and be of good temperament. They should show no signs of fainting, indicating crosses with Myotonic goats. Other qualifying characteristics pertain to ear size and shape and to lack of fleece.

Goat Fiber Characteristics

Mohair is graded using micron counts. The soft, fine grade normally found in kid mohair is sought-after by fiber artists. A kid’s first shearing often yields less than that of an adult.

Cashgora or Type B fleece beautifully mixes characteristics of true Angora fiber and cashmere from Type C goats. Cashmere-grade fiber should be 19 microns or less.

Cashmere is a qualification of goat fiber and not a true breed of goat. In fact, cashmere-producing goats can change from year to year between Types B and C. Commercial cashmere operations often include various mohair goat breeds that grow a cashmere-grade downy undercoat, such as Spanish Boer. The low amount produced per animal makes cashmere expensive: goats normally produce ounces year. Contrast that with pounds of fiber and yards of yarn, from Angora goats, or wool from sheep.

Mohair can have guard hairs mixed in, but Type A mohair has the least amount of guard hair. These hairs have to be removed from any classification in order to get a good fiber product. Picking them out is often done by hand because, though machines can de-hair fleece, mohair fiber is often too fine for the machine.

What You Can Do with Goat Fiber

Like sheep wool, goat fiber can be used alone or blended with wool or Angora rabbit fiber. Roving is made from cleaned fiber then spun into yarn. Mohair can also be used in wet or needle felting projects or can be woven.

Ace, Janet’s Pygora buck.

Caring for Mohair Goat Breeds

Goats of all types require food, fresh water, forage or hay, and proper vitamin and mineral supplements. Grain must be low in copper content, as copper is toxic to all fiber-producing animals. We researched and found a grain formula, with very low copper, that can be used for a mixed herd of sheep and goats. Research grain formulas and mineral supplements before buying for your fiber-producing goats. Purchasing minerals designated safe for sheep has been our farm’s method.

Housing creates a bigger concern for fiber-producing goats; they will chill quicker than other goat breeds. This is particularly true for Angora and Type A Pygora goats.

As with raising goats of any kind, proper care, including vaccines and routine health checkups, is recommended. A good parasite prevention program will help keep your flock healthy and thriving. While goats are normally easy to raise, mohair goat breeds require more maintenance. Good observation, catching problems early, leads to the best outcomes when caring for goats. Hoof care is necessary for all goats. You might find that fiber-producing goats require hoof trims more often than other breeds.

These goats require twice-yearly shearing for fiber and the goats’ best interests. Angoras, and those fiber breed goats that are Type A or heavy Angora, cannot shed their coats. If they are not sheared or clipped, fiber can felt to the body and become worthless. Type B and C fiber goats will shed fully or partially. The downside is that they will rub on fences and anything else, ruining your fiber harvest. It’s best to keep a close eye on coats and plan to sheer twice yearly. With Type C goats, some people prefer to comb the fiber off as it begins to release.

Our fiber flock grew to include sheep from four breeds. Blending wool with Pygora fiber gives us a farm-blend yarn with incredible softness and sheen. I am glad I chose to start our fiber farm with goats. Their smaller size and curious disposition was easier to handle. Sheep are more suspicious creatures by nature and require different handling techniques. Goats may be just what you are looking for if you are interested in starting a small fiber production business.

The Pygora™, a fleece producing goat, was originally created by crossing a registered American Angora Goat Breeders Association (AAGBA) goat with a registered National Pygmy Goat Association (NPGA) goat. This first cross is considered a first generation (F1) cross and is so marked as an F1 on its registration papers. The second generation is considered the true Pygora. The Pygora can be bred to other Pygoras or back to an NPGA or AAGBA animal but the ratio is not to exceed 75% of either parent breed (pygmy or Angora). All Pygora goats must have fleece as described in the Breed Standard of PBA. — Pygora Goat Breeders Association website.

 Do you keep any mohair goat breeds? How is this different from raising goats for other purposes? Let us know!

Originally published in the November/December 2017 issue of Goat Journal.

Raising Mohair Goat Breeds for Fiber was originally posted by All About Chickens

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Slainbabyyc - NYC Based Rapper, Designer, Producer etc. @slainbabyyc #slainbabyyc @notyourcityyc #notyourcityyc

Slainbabyny - NYC Based Rapper, Designer, Producer etc. @slainbabyny #slainbabyny @notyourcityyc #notyourcityyc

Notyourcityyc - NYC Clothing and Lifestyle Brand @notyourcityyc #notyourcityyc

You’re gonna have to catch me to shear me!!! They don’t call me Racer for nothing. Baaahaaabaaa

What’s in the bag you ask?

My kid of course!!!

Yum yum

Incredible eyelashes

Babies aren’t even a month old

Oh, I meant to do that.

Let your locks fly free

Three girls in three colors. Mohair on the hoof.

I was getting my haircut when Poppy decided to have her baby. Now look at me!!!