[Artemisia] Winter projects

[Oogie McGuire]

>What is everyone planning to do for the
>winter?

List below <G>

>  or am I the only one with different emphases in the warm and
>cold months?

Not at all, since I farm many of my regular jobs change with the 
seasons. Right now the sheep are in the winter corrals and coated to 
keep their fleeces clean. We are feeding hay and hauling water. All 
the poultry is now in the freezer and my husband is hunting in the 
evenings to try to fill his deer tag. I got my buck in the earlier 
season and we should be able to pick it up from the processor, frozen 
and wrapped, in another day or 2. We butchered the last of the cull 
sheep so our freezer is overflowing. I still have to deliver a few 
geese and chickens to market customers tomorrow. Wool is skirted and 
up for sale and I'm filling orders and shipping stuff as fast as they 
come in. No one thinks about wool in summer so my big sales time is 
fall and later. I also start the soups, stews and long roasts for 
dinner as now we can have the oven on for a long time so our diet 
changes a lot too. Stored veges instead of fresh and the big variety 
of meats I have in the winter affect what we eat.

>I'm going to work on my spinning this winter, and learn how
>to weave (class starts this Wednesday! woo-hoo!).  And I'll be working
>on a quilt for a wedding present for my brother and his fiancee.

<G> Sounds a lot like my winter plans.

I spin every time we watch TV so I have a backlog of yarn to use. I 
finally finished spinning the warp and weft for my own shepherds 
scarf. It will be the shepherds plaid of black and white checks 
probably done in a twill. I need to clean and repair some heddles on 
my small loom first then  I can measure the warp and get it started. 
The big loom is still warped with my cloak fabric. I wove my 2 yard 
sampler last winter, verified the sett and weave pattern but then 
summer came and the loom sits under a layer of dust! I need to get 
back to it, I've got 8 more yards to weave and then make the cloak. I 
have finished spinning the sewing thread but I still need to ply it.

I'm working on my first ever quilt, a reproduction of a 1930's 
pattern including reproduction fabrics. it will go into the guest 
house, a 1927 Gordon-Van Tine kit house that we are nearly done 
restoring. I'm machine piecing it and it will be filled with a wool 
quilt batt made from our sheep's wool.

I want to knit some more socks, mine made from commercial yarn are 
wearing out and have holes. I plan to make some from my handspun and 
see if they will last better.

I also do scrapbooking in winter and have several projects ready to start.

Genealogy research is also a winter activity so I'll dig out my files 
and pick up where I stopped last year. I'm trying to track my 
maternal grandfather. He died long before I was born and there is 
precious little info so it's been hard. I haven't been able to track 
my maternal grandmother at all. Maybe I'll get a break and can get 
her side started this year too.

I want to make my version of the Moy gown this winter. I've been 
slowly collecting pictures and info and will be making a trip to the 
fabric stores to look for suitable fabric. I've been looking but 
haven't found what I want yet. If I can't find suitable fabric this 
will just go back on the pile till later.

Either that or the peasants gowns from the June picture from Tres 
Riches Heures are my clothing projects for this winter.

I also want to make my husband a belt from Mabel's hide. Mabel was 
his cow and we have her tanned hide back. I think a strip would make 
a nice belt, it's a bit thinner and more supple than most belts so I 
need to find someone to ask about it before cutting it to be sure it 
will work.
-- 
Oogie McGuire - oogiem at desertweyr.com
Weyr Associates - Multimedia and Web Authoring Services & Consulting
Desert Weyr - CMK Arabian horses and Black Welsh Mountain Sheep
http://www.desertweyr.com/ 
Paonia, CO USA