Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Pt 3): Piñon Wood Ranch

Our next stop on the fiber farm tour is Piñon Wood Ranch, where our friends Peg and Woody breed Shetland sheep and have a herd of alpacas. They raise all their animals for fiber, which Peg hand spins into luscious yarns. We have some of her pretty beaded alpaca handspun here at Fancy Tiger.

It was shearing day for the alpacas. They were a little nervous but still pretty curious about me and my camera.

This little fawn guy was 9 months old and ready for his first shearing. Here he is before and after.

We visited at the perfect time to see all the new baby Shetland lambs. Wewent into their stall and they climbed all over us, nibbling our shoes and coatsleeves and hair.

There was one little lamb that stole our heart, Diamond Lil. May I introduce the cutest lamb of all time?

Diamond Lil is the youngest of triplets. There wasn't enough milk for all the babies so Lil has to be bottle fed. She loves her human friends and likes to follow them around like a little puppy. She is the cuddliest!

Diamond Lil really loves to frolick.

For more photos of our trip check out our Flickr page!

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Part 1) Buckhorn Gardens

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Part 2) Cute Angora Goats

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Pt 2): Walkabout Ranch

The first fiber farm we visited in Norwood was Walkabout Ranch, where it was shearing day for the Angora goats. Our friends Jeannie and Howard Davis keep the adorable, friendly goats for their soft mohair fiber.

The little guys were very curious. The bravest goat of the herd became friends with Jaime, and shared a goat kiss with her.

The unsheared goats were really interested in what was going on in the barn, where shearing time was happening.

The shearer, Sunny, specializes in shearing small flocks of fiber animals. He is known in Colorado and surrounding states for his care while shearing the animals.

The ranch is also home to Cara, an Anatolian Shepherd who lives with and guards the goats. Cara was separated from her herd while they were getting sheared. She watched and worried while she couldn't be with them.

This is Cara when she got her herd back. She was literally jumping for joy.

Jeannie and Howard also raise buckskin Tennessee Walking horses. When the last goat had been sheared and the clippers had been turned off the horses decided it was safe to come back from the pasture.

They were the sweetest horses I've ever met. I got so much horse nuzzling action, it was out of control. This is Buddy and little Sheila giving me soft horse kisses.

Stay tuned for part 3, our trip to see alpaca and Shetland lambs at Piñon Wood Ranch. It gets even cuter!

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Part 3) Shetland Lambs and Alpaca

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Part 1) Buckhorn Gardens

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Pt 1): Buckhorn Gardens

Jaime and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Norwood, Colorado fiber farms. We had so much fun getting nuzzled by soft goat lips, hugging baby animals, getting cuddled by sweet horses, munching on organic turnips and getting our relaxation on in hot mineral springs and vapor caves. So much fun that it is going to take several posts to share all the fun.

But before I tell you about the fiber farms, first let's start with our visit to Buckhorn Gardens, an organic farm outside of Montrose, Colorado. It was totally amaaazing!

My mom, Suzan, is a part of their CSA and enjoys farm fresh eggs and tasty vegetables grown in their greenhouse. She took us on a tour of the geo-dome greenhouse. We had to taste test a few things, like tiny nasturtuim leaves that taste like pepper, sweet turnips hiding under greens, and some kind of purple leafy green that tastes like wasabi.

We fell completely in love with the greenhouse dome and wish we could build one in our neighborhood. Does anyone in Baker have an empty lot?

We also visited the chickens while we were there. What cuties! They were friendly little chickies and Jaime even cuddled one while we checked out their colorful eggs. Mom picked up a dozen for us to taste test later and we left some money in the jar for the farmers.

After our farm visit we took a trip to Weisbaden Hot Springs in Ouray to relax in the vapor caves and natural hot mineral springs. When you go into the cave there is this little waterfall room which leads to a little old wooden door in the rock. Through the door is the steamy vapor room with a hot springs pool. OMG. I've never been so relaxed. We were too relaxed to snap any photos--I'm not sure we could have in that super steamy environment--but the cave was unbelievable.

Ok, my next post will have furry animals, I promise.

Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Part 2) Cute Angora Goats
Norwood Fiber Farm Trip (Part 3) Shetland Lambs and Alpaca

Better Know A Crafter: I. V. Anderson

This lovely lady came in the other day with a bag she had sewn from some of our Japanese Echino fabric. We love the way she appliqued birds and yellow dots onto her bag, mimicking the fabric's cute pattern. Sweet!

I. V. Anderson

1) Tell us about the project you've made. What pattern and materials did you use?
Purse with applique, modified commercial pattern

2) Tell us something about the person who taught you to do what you do.
My mother continues to inspire me every day, however, many wonderful women have taught and inspired me.

3) What is your favorite animal?
My dog Mattie!

New! Modkid Sewing Patterns!

New and adorable at Fancy Tiger Crafts--Modkids sewing patterns by Patty Young. These patterns include sizes 2T - 7 for fancy little cutiepies!

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Craftastic Weekend Project: Fancy Felt Flower Pin

Here is a super cute, quick project perfect for felt scraps. A fancy felt flower pin! Make one for your best friend and she'll love you forever. Make one for your worst enemy and you'll have a new best friend!

Materials:

Wool felt in three colors
Felting needle
Foam safety cube or needle felting brush
Scissors

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1) Cut five cute hearts out of your petal felt. They should be about 1" high. Cut out a few green slivers about 1-1/2" long for leaves and a 1/2" circle for the flower's center.
2) Overlap all the hearts' points and needle felt them together where they overlap. Be gentle with your pokes so you don't bend or snap your needle.

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3) Place the leaves on the back of your flower and poke with the needle to join.
4) Needlefelt the circle onto the front center of your flower.
5) You can hot glue or sew your flower to a pin back or barrette, or carefully straight pin it onto your lapel like the olden-days!

Cute-tastic!!

More New Books!

We are so excited about tons of new books. Tons! Here is a peak of some of the newest and craftiest and hot-off-the-press craft books.

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These super cute little books were originally published in Japanese. They were just published for the first time in English. Sweet! Now you can get super hot Japanese craft style without having to learn Japanese!

I love knitting socks from the toe up, but finding cute patterns is not so easy. So, I'm really excited about this Socks From The Toe Up by Wendy Johnson. If I can nerd out for just a bit--I mean this is kind of amazing--this book has awesome instructions with diagrams for five different seamless cast-ons, three types of heels and three stretchy bind-offs for comfy fit. She goes over for knitting socks on double points, on two circulars as well as with the magic loop method. PLUS, there are tons of cute sock patterns. Dang. This book is super sweet.

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These quilts are adorable. Super adorable. We are in love with the baby bumper embroidered with woodland creatures. There are tons of modern quilt patterns simple enough for a beginner quilter. I kinda want to make myself one in grown-up size.

This may be the manliest crafting book ever. I mean, there is a chapter titled Axe Craft. Perhaps you'd like to make your lady a log cabin birdhouse with your axe? Or maybe she'd prefer some handcrafted dinnerware hammered from tin cans? No problem.

The sewing patterns in Felt Furnishings are modern and minimal, but oh so warm and cozy. The projects include tons of awesome throw pillows, blankets and lampshades, table linens and house slippers. The sculptural designs really show off the unique properties of working with felt. Wondering where to get felt? We've got loads of pretty colors of felt by the yard in the store and more are arriving this week!

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Well, those are some of the tons of new books. But, seriously, we got tons so come in and check out all the excitement.