Beginnings, Part I

It's been ages since I blogged, but some dear friends encouraged me to start a new one to chronicle my impending adventures as a shepherdess...wow. After writing that, I now have images, leaping over the fences in my head, of Little Bo Peep and frilly 19th-century costumes - and bonnets.  Nope. I'm not a bonnet-kind of gal.

And I have no intention of losing my three sheep!

In a few months, I will become the owner of three beautiful sheep - two Icelandic ladies and one Icelandic-Columbia cross wether. Their names are Panda-Bear, Black Velvet, and Mikey, and I am hoping to have some good pictures of them shortly. I met them yesterday at Jerry Lee Farm, just north of where I live here on the beautiful Palouse of northern Idaho, and to say it was fate that brought me to them is an understatement.

In recent weeks, I have renewed my interest in the SCA - the Society for Creative Anachronism. I first started playing in the SCA when I lived in Boise - back in 1991 - and it was a huge part of my life for many years. I met my husband through the SCA, and many of my dearest friends and memories are because of my affiliation with that amazing game. But as our family became 4 instead of 2, we took a break from the game to raise our little ones. In 2009 or so, my husband began playing again, but I had other things to keep my mind and time occupied - but now it feels like the right time to start playing again. I want to develop a Norse persona from the 9th century - partly because of the simplicity of the garb, but it's more than that - it's a tribute to my SCA Dad, Sir Kian hrafn af Dyrnesi, and there is simply something calling to me about the textiles of that age. Having recently taken up spinning and weaving, I'm sure that that has something to do with it as well - it's the idea of being able to reach back and get even a glimmer of what life was like back then.

The aspect of the SCA that I have always loved the most is Arts & Sciences, and after reading about the upcoming Kingdom A&S Championships here in our Kingdom of An Tir, I decided that I wanted to come up with an awesome project (or projects) to enter in next year's Championship (March of 2016). After chatting with our local A&S Mistress, I decided that I wanted to acquire an Icelandic fleece to prep, spin, dye, weave, and possibly sew (that last one is going to be a huge challenge because A), I am sew-challenged (get it?  SO challenged??? Yeah, I slay me.), and B) in order to have something to sew, I need to weave more than just tablet or inkle loom weaving. It will entail building a warp-weighted loom, so that's a tale for another day!  I decided on Icelandic because they are such an ancient breed - they've been around for 1100 years and are one of the purest breeds today. In addition, their fleece is AMAZING - the thel (soft undercoat) and the tog (long, coarse, curly outer coat) give you a double-coat that can be spun separately or together, depending on the results you want...and the colors...I could wax rhapsodic on the colors alone!  But where on earth would I find an Icelandic fleece?  Would I have to order one?  HA!

Nope...Jerry Lee Farms, located just about 20 minutes from my front door, raises Icelandic sheep, and after contacting Lee, I discovered that she had more fleece than she knew what to do with and would gladly sell me one!  I made an appointment to meet with her yesterday, and what I expected (to come home with one fleece) was not what occurred!

More later, friends! :)