Latest News

Hi All,

I had put A Sheep's Tail on Etsy.com earlier this year and then had some health problems and had a death in the family and kinda lost interest in the blog and the store.

Well, things are better now. Snippett, a feist pup, came to live with us to help me get over the loss of Vinnie - the last lab I delivered here, and things are getting better. So, I went too Etsy.com to check out the site and found out the site was closed and someone else was using the name "A Sheep's Tail" - needless I was upset. I emailed Etsy.com and asked them what to do but haven't heard a thing from them. In the mean time I have been making quilts (with Snippett's help, of course).

I decided to start a new Etsy.com store but NOT us A Sheep's Tail as the name(but will be using it on line later).

So, now, look for the name " Dreamweaver Quilts". This is my new store on Etsy.com, and I hope to have it up and running after the holidays.

Hope to see you all at the grand opening of Dreamweaver Quilts. I will put notices up before it opens.

Thanks for staying with us.

We're still around

Hi All.

It's Chloe here to tell you what's been going on. MOM put us on Facebook a little over 1 month ago. It's different in that we (Travis for Duegar Kennels; Me for Chloe's Sewing Room and to help MOM on A Sheep's Tail) have to remember to post daily so everyone can see what's going on.

To make matters worse, MOM has been sick the entire month of February from having a severe dizzy attack which made her not able to do much but go from the bed to the couch (with me) to the bachroom and back. ALSO, MOM took a real nasty fall off the deck (it's about 3 feet high) onto her back and now is having problems with numbness and weakness in her left leg. And, naturally, when you need a doctor you can't get in to see one (SHE finally gets to see the doctor NEXT Monday 3/12).

Gracie is also helping me with MOM's blog, A Sheep's Tail. Gracie likes to get online and just chat up a storm.

So, the next time you stop here and it looks like we haven't been doing anything, just skip on over to Facebook and check out our pages - A Sheep's Tail, Chloe's Sewing Room, and Duegar Kennels - to see what's up.

Chloe.

Well, we are on Facebook now. And, I can hardly wait to show you what I've been doing.

I will be posting some of the things that are for sale on here during the next few days and I think I'm going to start with some rovings. A roving is wool that has been made into a thick "rope" from a wool processing company, that can be spun into yarn. I have some from Shetland sheep ( several different colors), Border Leicester sheep (very nice shiny black), Perendale sheep (I have a small amount of this in a light brown "tweed" like pattern), along with some bright sparkly white kid mohair. I also have some yarns spun from some of these I will post, too.

I have a few scarves and a shawl or two to be posted.

So, I better get busy and get these done.  

This N That

Hi All,

Just a few things as an update:

I am spinning some white Shetland roving into a sport-weight 2-ply yarn. I did a few (maybe 4) skeins late last year to see if I liked it enough to make more and I do like the way it turned out.

I have put the Shetland roving into 4-oz balls, that way I don't have to get the entire box of roving out and  fight with the hounds as to who is going to work with it (you'd be surprised which hound likes to get into the roving and who doesn't want to touch it) and it's easier to pick up and put away in small batches than the entire big box. If I remember right, I have about 10-15 balls of white roving, an enitre unopened box of Shetland white roving, 1/2 of a box of dark moorit roving, 2 boxes of black Border Leicester roving, 2 boxes of a marled-type brown Perendale roving, and 2 1/2 -3 boxes of silver Border Leicester roving that needs to be spun and made into skeins. This is what I'll be doing this winter along with spinning some previously hand-dyed rovings. After I get this done (if my hands haven't fallen off) I will dye some of the white Shetland, and over dye some of the silver Border Leicester. (All of this roving came from my sheep before they were killed in the summer of 2009).

It seems like its been forever since I last spun some roving into yarn but the muscles in my hands/arms remembered it very well and it is coming along nicely. I will post pictures of the yarn as soon as possible.

In other areas, Chloe has talked me into helping her make (read: I sew what she thinks up) things for her blog. I told her I'd help make some quilts to begin with along with a sweater and snood for her and Gracie. They were satisfied until they thought about it and wanted it started in the middle of Christmas. We then had a discussion, and I won, so I will be starting the quilts this week and finish Chloe's sweater and snood and then do Gracie's. I told Travis he could have a quilt but he wanted to pick out the fabric, something about the girls not knowing what he liked, so that will be coming a little later, also.

Well, better close for now and start working on things before the girls decide I'm not doing it fast enough and come in to help (sometimes they are not as "helpful" as they think).

Until later,

Benita 

Hi All,

I've been downloading some clip art to use as a business card and on the website and have not been able to find them today.

I did find this one (<-) and thought I'd try it out. I like it because it's colorful and shows quite a bit of things I'm interested in - knitting, sewing, and quilting, so I may use this one.

I have been busy trying to finish up some of my UFO's (unfinished objects) and spent quite a bit of time yesterday afternoon blocking a shawl I made out of Noro Taikyo (sp?) and got all of it blocked but for 1 corner which I will finish today. I love the colors and it will go with anything. I have started another triangular shawl out of a 4 ply yarn that has 3 plies of a chocolate brown and 1 ply of white wool spun together, so far it looks really nice. I hope to post some pictures of these on the website and maybe on Facebook, if my camera decides to play nice (tempermental thing that it is).

Am waiting for it to cool down enough so I can work in the spare bedroom to finish making it my office/knitting/quilting/sewing room. I don't have a window A/C in there so right now it's closed off from the rest of the house which means it's more than likely very "warm". If I can't get in there until fall, then I will try to get more UFO's done.

Am seriously thinking about ordering some BFL (blue-faced Leicester) yarn from Wool2Dye4 and doing some dying or I might spin some more of my Shetland roving and dye it. Decisions, decisions.

Well, better go for now. Have some errands to run in town.
Til later.

Have you ever wondered why we like to knit? It's almost as if it's imperative that we handle the yarn and needles on a daily basis or we have withdrawal symptoms.

I was looking in Interweave Knits magazine last night searching for a sweater pattern and came across an article written by Vicki Square, the author of the Knitter's Companion, and it's like it hit home. Below is her article I found in the winter of 2008 issue of Interweave Knits and decided to put it here.
"WHY DO WE KNIT?

Why do we knit? Well, of course, we knit for fun! We knit because it is rewarding. We knit to enjoy the process. We knit to see the product of our hands. Good reasons all, yet they merely skim the shallow surface of the incredible depth that describes every knitter's life.

We are a diverse human population, to be sure. We come in a lovely selection of sizes, shapes, and colors. We also come in an expansive age range and feature a wide spectrum of skill levels, from pre-knitters (have you invited your friends to learn?) to a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. Consider all the following reasons why we knit, and you'll see our common bond. We knit to learn. We all want to pass Go and collect $200, but we have to get in the game first. Basic rules are simple: cast on, knit, purl, bind off. Remember what a thrill it was with the first success? Each new project opens the opportunity to learn something new and experience that thrill again. Knitters are intelligent lifelong learners.

We knit to relax. Once we have learned a set of skills, we practice them until they come naturally. Learn, practice, relax, repeat. I love to have a project at hand that requires little concentration so that I can absolutely "settle in" and enjoy. Every knitter has a favorite place: one of mine is on my back desk in nice weather enjoying the view. We also have a willingness to try a new place with new faces. Knitters are a personable lot, meeting and making new friends. As long as our knitting is in hand, we're good to go.

We knit to think. It can be alone time, knitting. We all need time to reflect on happenings, conversations, and relationships. We need to meditate on life's truths. We may pray, for ourselves and for one another. It is a time to simply think things through. Schedules, appointments, activities, to-do lists, places to go, and things to accomplish all conspire to steal some measure of personal peace. Knitting helps us to get it back, and it realigns priorities so we can choose the important over the simply urgent.

We knit to soothe. Life is messy, as anyone on this planet can attest, with paved and rocky paths full of twists and turns, hills and valleys. If everything in your life is spectacularly smooth, bask in it! Inevitably, around the bend will be a speed bump, or a road block, or a bridge out. Small somethings can be handled with nary a rise in blood pressure. Large and tragic somethings can be so painful we don't know how we'll live through them. But we knit on. And we are somehow comforted in the soothing repetition of inserting the needle into each stitch, catching the yarn for a new stitch, back and forth, row after row. Knitting's quiet rhythm quiets the soul. We recognize that knitting can very well be a rudder that helps to navigate through life's storms.

We knit for companionship. Don't we love to gather together for long hours of knitting, visiting, knitting, eating, knitting, drinking lattes, tea, maybe fruit smoothies, and did I say knitting? Once done more out of necessity, today we knit mostly for pure pleasure. We experience the joy of seeing others succeed, reach goals, and celebrate victories. Sharing knitting time together is, in essence, sharing life.

We knit to give. Knitters are famous for spending hours and hours, perhaps over weeks and months, working on a gift for a special someone. Love and kindness go into each stitch that makes the whole. There is a deep well of generosity in every knitter I know.

We knit for mercy. I'm telling you, knitters know how to step up to the plate and get it done. They will swing for the fence every time because they are serious about meeting needs. Local groups, national goups, international groups- globally, knitters care for the plight of those in need. Cancer patients, new babies, natural disaster victims, the homeless, the grieving: needs are significant, and knitters meet that imperative. Like the invisible filament that strengthens the yarn it is paired with, knitters bring strength into their environments and their relationships.
We knit to create. In everyone of us is an artist, wanting to personalize our knitted creations. Expression can be as simple as changing colors for a given pattern, or it can be as involved as creating our own designs.

Today's knitting crowd is an all-inclusive club whose only prerequisite is to knit- or want to knit. Join us! We knit because we can. We knit for fun and for function, our reasons meshing together, just as in our knitting. The bottom line: We knit because we absolutely love it. We love it, we're passionate about it, and we are compelled to do it, just as we are compelled to breathe."

This is one of the cowls I designed this past weekend.

It's 10x24 inches in size and was knit on size 6 needles. It's a very easy pattern - it has "tumbling blocks" knit as the design. This design consists of simply knit and purl stitches - nothing fancy.

It is an easy pattern, so someone who is brand new to knitting could make this without any problem.

It is available for $20.00, which includes the pattern and enough yarn to make the cowl. The yarn is superwash sock yarn so the cowl can be put thru the washer and dryer when it gets dirty and will not shrink.

The next cowl, at the left, was designed and knit by me late last week. It is 10x22 inches and has a raised texture to the fabric. It is aslo easy enough for a beginner knitter to make.

This cowl comes in a kit with the yarn and pattern instructions for $20.00.

Let me know what colors you are looking for because I have a large stash of sock yarns and should beable to find what you want.