AAAACCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!

Who the Hell ordered the DECAF!!!???

Please define: ILLEGAL

Dobbs: A peculiar day for immigration rallies
POSTED: 8:52 a.m. EDT, May 2, 2007

By Lou DobbsCNN
Editor's Note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears weekly on CNN.com.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What a spectacle, what a mess. What a day for thousands and thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters to march through the streets of many of our biggest cities demanding amnesty for illegally entering the country.
Tuesday was given over to illegal aliens and their supporters to demand forgiveness for using fraudulent documents and assisting others in entering this country illegally. What a day for illegal aliens and their supporters to demand not only amnesty but also the end to immigration raids and an end to deportations.
May Day was a peculiar choice for those demonstrations, a day in many countries in which international socialism is celebrated and a reminder of those old Soviet Union military parades.
It was also an unfortunate and ironic choice on the part of the organizers of the demonstrations. May 1 in the United States is actually Law Day, a day first established by President Eisenhower in 1958 and ultimately codified into law in 1961 at the beginning of John F. Kennedy's administration. The purpose of Law Day is to give all Americans an opportunity to reflect on our legal heritage, and by statute, encourages "the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life."
I'll bet you know about the illegal alien amnesty marches, but I don't know of a single news organization, electronic or print that pointed out that May 1 is America's Law Day. The cable news networks gave almost wall-to-wall coverage to the illegal alien demonstrations, but they apparently couldn't find any American celebrating Law Day.
And no one seems to want to take note that we are first a nation of laws, and that without those laws and their enforcement, the foundation of our great republic turns to sand. What a spectacle on Law Day for demonstrators to demand amnesty for those who broke the law to enter our country, many of whom also broke the law with fraudulent documents.
And what a mess when the president of the United States and the U.S. Congress are pandering to a group of people who are not citizens and refuse to demand enforcement of our immigration laws, our criminal laws, and fails to secure our borders and ports.
I couldn't help but wonder as I watched monitors bringing images of the marches and demonstrations from all across the country, who should really be protesting on May Day. What about the millions of legal residents who followed the long, drawn-out process to secure a visa to enter the United States lawfully? Maybe they should be protesting. What about the seven-figure backlog at the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency of people who are following the rules. Should they demonstrate?
What about all of our fellow Americans who are being marginalized by the massive importation of illegal, low-cost and mostly uneducated labor into this country? Perhaps those citizens should take to the streets. And what about the more than 250 million Americans who make up our middle class and those who aspire to it whose wages have stagnated and who are paying for the social, medical and economic costs of illegal immigration? That's a big march.
If yesterday's demonstrators and their supporters in Congress and corporate America are serious about their deep desire for American citizenship, why don't we hear any of them clearly say they're willing to give up dual citizenship? Or that they're willing to learn English and surrender demands of bilingual education? Or declare they embrace English as our official national language? Or demand that illegal employers of illegal aliens pay for the social, educational and medical costs now borne by the taxpayers?
Yesterday was Law Day. I hope that we celebrate Law Day with a great national enthusiasm next May 1. I guarantee you I'll march in that demonstration.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

And the count is on!

getting there..

New meds...new side effects. No, I'm not driving right now but I'm not doing much of anything else either. I'll get used to this in a little time.

Migraine

I'm out for a while folks. I'll be back after a visit to the neurologist.

My own Easter "bunny"

Happy Easter!

Photo Credits: Photo by Dianna of TLC Photography,

Caption by beadntat aka Kristina in Knoxville, TN, USA

...you thought it'd be a bunny didn't ya? Well, all the bunnies are out delivering eggs and baskets and had NO time to pose for silly photos. :)

Happy Easter everyone.

Hancrafter's spin off, Spinning

The long awaited next step in judging. This is the part of the judging process that I actually like much more - spinning.
Basically, each sample needs to be evaluated for it's actual PERFORMANCE in the hands of a spinner. The resulting yarn quality will be evaluated in the final step.
Tools of the trade: The spinning wheel. Now, any wheel can work, but this is my preference. I use an Ashford Elizabeth 2 Saxony style wheel set on single drive with Scotch tension. The reason I like this wheel in particular is that it has so many possible variations. It can be used double drive, single drive with Scotch tension (pictured), or direct drive. I choose SD with Scotch tension for this application because it allows me to fine tune and fine FEEL what is happening in the fiber. It also allows me to very quickly remove the tension completely so that I can wind the skeins.

Other tools: A small niddy noddy to wind the 4-5 yard lengths into a practical skein for evaluation. Pencil and score sheet obviously. The "flicker brush" is ESSENTIAL to this process. 10 points is assigned to 'preparation of fiber'.
Some people have used a mechanical drum carder to prepare the samples for Spin Off. The first problem here is that it takes at least an ounce of fiber to properly card on a drum carder. I don't NEED to actually work that much fiber in order to judge it adequately so anything over a handful processed is wasted. As far as I'm concerned, the person sending the sample deserves the assumption that their fiber is valuable and should not be treated wastefully. I am not going to spin a full ounce of fiber just because I already carded it and it is plain out WRONG to waste that fiber. The second problem is that you simply cannot compare how one fiber drum cards to how another drum cards. The drum is intended to make ALL fiber easier to work. There simply is no judgement to the process. Alpaca is known for needing minimal processing for use and that means flicking.
The last tool in the photo might be my hand but in reality, it's what is ON my hand; namely the bracelet. I find it essential to my process but that is better shown than explained.

Flicking. The flicker - yes, it is a cheap cat slicker brush and it's served me well for the $3.50 I spent on it 4 or 5 years ago - is bounced, not dragged, over the ends of the fiber. This serves to simply open up the fibers. On really long staples like the suri pictured it takes a patient effort to work from the end to the middle of the staple without breaking and losing the fiber. Fiber that is brittle or tender won't stand the process and ends up wasted. How well the fiber opens up and the amount of loss contribute to the score. I give every staple 3 taps per end. More than that and the points start decreasing. Extremely long fiber may well lose points here, but may gain them right back in the spinning and as a fine yarn later.

Drafting is an important part of how the fiber is scored for spinning. The best fiber is one that is not so slippery as to resist twist but no so tacky as to resist drafting. A great fiber lends itself to any type of draft I choose; short draw, long draw, spinning from the fold or novelties like slub or boucle. Huacaya fiber almost always drafts evenly from the cut or tip end but suri often spins well only from the tip. Basically, the more the fiber allows me to do, the better it is and the higher the score.


This is an example of what you do NOT want your fiber to do! This fiber was so covered in a black (?!) substance that my hands were covered after spinning just a small handful. The fiber was very sticky and required a lot of work to keep it reasonably smooth and even. This fleece would require washing before any preparation could be done. It's unpleasant and un-versatile. That equals a very poor impression on the customer and a very poor score for the fiber.


And here is my personal secret to success. After the fiber is spun into a single strand, the tension is released completely and the strand is drawn back out through the orifice. I catch the end of the strand under my bracelet (if I lose that end, I'm skunked!) and then wind the strand around my hand into an Andean bracelet.


Once I reach the far end of the strand, I release the bracelet, meet the near and far ends of the strand (effectively folding the strand in half) and then ply the two ends together into a 2 ply yarn. The strand never leaves the bobbin.







The plied yarn is wound on a Niddy to make one large loop of yarn.



The plied yarn skein can be evaluated for it's performance right off the niddy. Does it balance easily and allow it to lay (lie?) relaxed? Does the fiber resist twist causing slubs and excessive barbing of the fiber?


The next step will be to wash the skeins and then evaluate the finished yarns. The photos of that might take a few days since I can't for the life of me find my battery charger. It's here someplace.

For all you Canadians out there...

Just showing off a little

I attended the Lehigh Valley Rabbit Breeders (LVR&CBA) show in Hamburg PA this past Saturday. We had about 12 inches of snow the day before so I wasn't real keen on taking a whole slew of rabbits, but Thriantas are so easy so I took 2 bucks and a doe. It was a double show and the same doe, CCR's Greitje, took BOB both shows! Even better, she took
RESERVE IN SHOW in Show B! Judge Paul Kyle awarded her the BOB and Judge John Soper awarded her the RIS. Judge RuthAnn Bell awarded her BOB in show A. There were between 1200 and 1500 entries and the show was sanctioned with the ATRBA. Yah!

Not to be outdone back at home, CCR's Nefrure a Red Satin Angora Sr Doe wanted to show that Thriantas aren't the only fireballs around here. Gotta love RED.

Alpaca judging step 2

So today I'm presenting the next stage of my process but the first stage of the actual judging. I do find this step to be a bit tedious but it's so very important! The Handcrafter's Spin Off is intended to represent sending your best alpaca fiber to handspinners for a premium price. Imagine that I, as a handspinner, has requested a 2 ounce sample of your alpaca. I am looking for a source for alpaca fiber and I know that I'll pay premium price for the best. How will the breeder/shepherd respond to my request? Will they grab the first handful or two on the top of whatever bag of fleece and jam it into a bag? Or will they skirt out the finest fiber from the better fleeces, prepare it carefully and present it to me like the premier fiber it is reported to be? This first part of the scoring is all about that presentation and quality. The way this contest is judged, a fiber seller could well use the scores to advertise to spinners the quality of their services and product. I know of one breeder who scored exceptionally well and sold the judged fleece for over $500!!! directly because of the scorecard. You can easily imagine the effect on the stud's breeding schedule.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, I have not chosen the photos because of their quality. I'm simply showing a random example. I've also blanked out entry numbers for the sake of privacy.

The first Judging criteria is First Impression. I look at the packaged sample before ever touching it. Is it presented well? Was time and care taken in selecting and preparing the sample? Is the fiber in good condition; not dirty, matted or messy? Can I easily sort the fiber for spinning? This is one step that can make or break a contest. ALL fiber can be presented well or poorly and that is the FIRST impression you make to your buyer! Mediocre fiber will sell for more if it is presented well and outstanding fiber will sell for less if you look like you couldn't care less how you treat your customer. There is simply no excuse for jamming a random sample in a bag and expecting people to pay top dollar.

An important observation at this point is looking for parasites. If ANY infestation is found, the sample is placed in the freezer for a few days. If I suspect the infestation is active and poses any threat to my own home and fiber stash, I remove that sample from my home and double bag it. You send any spinner a sample with parasites in it and you won't only lose their business, they will make sure that all their friends know not to buy from you! Spinners will not sacrifice or risk their own precious fiber collection no matter how good your alpaca is.

Every sample is weighed. Was the correct amount of fiber sent? If you sent less, did you overcharge me? If more, did you charge me for more than I asked?

Points are also given for staple length with a minimum of 3 inches required. 5-7 locks are chosen from all over the sample. There are no extra points for a particular length of staple, but are the lengths CONSISTENT? It's rare to find all staples exactly the same but they should be very, very close. Points are deducted based on percentage of difference. a 1 inch difference between 3 and 4 inches is much more severe than between 11 and 12 inches. A very important evaluation is for fiber that is sound and has no tender breaks or weak tips. Either of these things can ruin an entire fleece by creating noils and pills in the resulting yarn.

Cleanliness is also very important and allocated 10 points. Now, washing the fiber is absolutely prohibited but there are things a fiber provider can do to minimize dirt. Separating, blowing, stroking and picking out short cuts is all expected. If this is done then the only dirt left will be some dust within the staple structure itself. How do you reduce that? Do not use overhead feeders to keep hay and chaff (this is VM = Vegetative Matter) out of the fleece. Keep pastures green and clean of bushes and trees that shed seed pods. Use hay that does not include seed heads!!!! Keep animals out of pastures that include mud and clay if at all possible. I have actually seen fleeces where the tips were clogged with what appears to be TAR. Whatever?!

Cleanliness is important because ideally, alpaca should be able to be spun without washing first. That will be more clear as I show you the next step of the judging in a few days.

Another criteria is Lack of second cuts. Second cuts happen when the blade goes back over the same area more than once. I have noticed that as the popularity of using Fiscar shears to do the shearing themselves, the incidence of severe second cuts has increased dramatically. The worst of these is mid staple cuts. Let's say you have fiber with a 5 inch staple. If you cut it down the middle, you know have 2 staples of 2.5 inches and that is 100% wasted fiber. At best you have very inconsistent staple length which no spinner wants.

Next is judging the fiber itself. Lack of medullated fibers, lock structure, Uniformity, Fineness, Hand, Luster. These are all traits that have everything to do with the genetics of the animal and less to do with husbandry.

Some specific notes:

Lack of medulatted fiber - these are the especially coarse fibers usually in the center of the lock of fiber. These fiber tend to stick out of the yarn like barbs on a wire fence.

Lock structure - Fleeces that are more dense will tend to keep staples distinct and separate. Locks that are open and loose will be prone to cotting and matting at the base near the skin. This cotting makes the fiber miserable for a spinner to process. On the other hand, a lock that is very tightly twisted together is also very difficult to open up without breaking the strands and creating noils and pills in the yarn.

Uniformity - this includes Lock and Fiber style, color, texture, crimp (huacaya only) and color. If a sample has much variety in any of these features it will diminish the quality of the resulting yarn.

Fineness - slightly obvious. Finer fiber is generally softer.

Hand - even fine fiber can be dry, brittle and fragile. Alpaca should be very soft and Suri should be distinctly silky. Healthy fiber should feel robust and stable.

Luster - I choose to break this scoring into two parts, one before spinning and one after the yarn is complete and washed. The presence of dust (alpacas are dust bathers) can hide the luster that is still present. The luster on the animal is important but the end result is even more important. I try very hard to balance that.

So now I check that all the information is correct, that the cards are filled out and legible.

I add a tag to the package because that is how I identify the skein after it's spun. Incidentally, I learned something about the pens I use. I was just looking for a pen that was resistant to running and bleeding if it gets wet. What I found was that this particular pen is designed to be resistant to solvents. According to the packaging, a current method of fraud is 'washing' checks to remove the written dollar amount and fill in a fraudulent amount. Wow, and I thought that just using ink was enough. Apparently not.

If there was something particularly notable about a sample, such as the presence of kemp fiber, mid-staple cuts, infestation, tender breaks...I will attach a sample and perhaps a brief explanation to the back of the score card. I go on the assumption that the breeder wants to learn about their fiber and would welcome an explanation. I also sometimes will include positive info on the back especially if it's unrelated to the judging. Perhaps something amusing about the sample (certain lock types give me the giggles they are so cute) or a color that really strikes me aesthetically. It's not taken into account in the scoring, but it might mean something to the breeder.

Now the sample locks and tag are placed in the marked small baggie and set aside with the corresponding score card in a small bin for that class. I process ALL the breed (Suri or Huacaya) samples before moving onto the next step of judging. This gives me the chance to forget any prejudices I might have about one sample or another. Trust me; after this process on 100 samples, I do NOT remember that one really awesome fawn sample. I'm lucky to remember my NAME.

So today, onto the next step of the process; combing and spinning the samples into a yarn. Until next time....

That's just funny right there....

Judging Alpaca

Here I am starting another judging assignment for the AOBA. I judge the Handcrafter's Spin Off contest for the national and a couple of state Alpaca shows and I just LOVE this job. I find this to be absolutely one of the best contests to evaluate the quality and marketing of luxury fiber to handspinners. The way this contest is structured a handspinner could really use the results to choose a great fleece to purchase and a great SHEPHERD to work with.
I'm going to try to post periodic updates about the judging process and what goes into this awesome job of mine. Now, I have to be totally honest here; much of this will probably be about my own neurotic ways and opinions, both of which I have in excess. :)
OK, the first step: Receiving the samples.
This is the first step for ME, but by no means the first step in the process. Before the samples arrive at my doorstep, they are received and processed by the supervisor of this particular contest. She receives the sample from the exhibitor, she checks the information for accuracy and completeness. The exhibitor lists the age of the animal in years and months, they list the number of months the sample fiber has been growing and the date of the last shearing. The color classification is checked against the AOBA show standard and they will attempt to eliminate any really flagrant disqualifications such as infestation. The supervisor will then remove ALL identifying material from the sample so that I - the judge - has no way of knowing who sent in the entry. Entry numbers are assigned, and judging forms are filled out and included in the sample entry bag. Then the entries are sorted into classes, packed into boxes and mailed to me.
Now the Postal Lady delivers them to Me!!!
And here is my first obsession. I have very specific tools I need and I have to have just the right stuff.
*Scale to weigh every sample in ounces (2 oz is the requirement)
*Pencil to record ongoing scores on the judging sheet - I have ONE style of mechanical pencil I'll use. The yellow Bic pencil with the cone that turns. I don't like the clicker style. I tore the house apart before I found ONE pencil to my satisfaction and then it was nearly empty. That required a trip to WalMart.
*felt marker to mark plastic bags
*Paper labels and stapler to re-label bags to my satisfaction
*Highlighter and red pen to remind me of things I need to remember about my scoring.
*Coffee - that doesn't really need explanation does it?
*Bins for sorting classes
*Detail judging score outlines. I literally assign specific score numbers to various traits. This is the best way I know to judge OBJECTIVELY when appropriate.
*Clear ruler to measure staple length of every sample entry.

Now, do I sound like I want things to be 'just so'? That would be correct, so what do I see when I open the boxes?

Now, mind you, the show super already did a great job of organizing and sorting these classes, but..... some are in grocery bags, some in white plastic trash type bags, some of the grocery bags are {GASP} not white! Oh! the humanity!!!

So the first thing that *I* do is re-sort and re-organize. I use white grocery bags, I relabel them with the class number and the number of entries in that class. This helps me to organize my time and keep track of what is supposed to be in that bag.

The advantage is that when I put all these bags back into boxes I can easily see what is what just by looking at the top of the box.

This also gives me the opportunity to eyeball all the entries to do a quick once over and look for infestations. I'm sorry, but it does happen. I have lost some valuable fleeces of my own from taking in fiber samples that didn't 'blossom' their cargo until a week or two later. I have also learned not to leave samples sitting around with the ziplok bags unsealed. If a bag zipper breaks, it gets a new bag. Wanna know the most sturdy brand of sealed plastic bags? just ask!

And this is what I end up with. Orderly, easy to work with, easy on the eyes and ready for the next step. Up to now, NO actual evaluation of the samples has taken place. This has been all about me and making my job easier. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CITH!!!

It's the Cat In The Hat's 50th Birthday!

This is really big stuff. The Cat was created 50 years ago on a dare in an effort to bring life and fun to learning to read. Books of the time were just so dry and "un-fun" and reading was at an all time low among young children. Thanks to Dr Seuss (aka Theodor Seuss Geisel) many children found a whole new reason not only learn to read, but to learn to read with enthusiasm. He introduced creativity, suspense, chaos, cadence and imagination to generations of children through his amazing characters and antics.

Now you can say THANK YOU and introduce the gift of reading to underprivileged children through the Cat In The Hat. Visit the birthday website HERE and send a FREE birthday card to Mr. Cat. For every e-card sent, Random House Children's Books will donate one book to First Book (up to 1,000,000 books) of any Seuss Random House Children's Book purchased between January 9, 2007 and May 1, 2007. So go send a free card to the Cat and a book and the gift of reading to a child.

Happy Birthday Mr Cat!!!!

Roasted with thyme please...

{sigh} here I am dining on crow....AGAIN.
So I went to a nice rabbit show this weekend in York PA. Good show! Good judges, lots of nice people and a dear friend won BIS with a really GORGEOUS black New Zealand. Not a variety/breed known for such high quality so that was a real accomplishment! Big Congrats Fred!
Things were going just fine and I was having a nice visit with other friends Eric and Michael. They had their dogs with them. First I saw the darling Papillon running around and I just love those guys. They are one of those breeds that don't realize that they are only 18 inches tall. Then out runs Eric's two prize dogs and I exclaimed "Oh, I just LOVE min-pins!" (which I thought I did) A-hem.... they are Manchesters. Lesson #1 in offending your friends down to the heart: Mistake their high quality show dogs for the WRONG BREED. Works every time. I was MORTIFIED! It's ok, I'm accustomed to humiliation as I have a long-standing relationship with it based on familiarity. ugh.
OK, so my new favorite is MANCHESTER TERRIERS! Honestly, they really do have exactly the look I thought I loved about the min-pins and Eric's were fine examples. Very nice dogs.
So if you'll excuse me, I need some whine (sic) to wash down that crow. :)
Oh, I'm not reporting any show wins because I didn't take so much as the first rabbit along with me. Yeah. Imagine that. I went to a rabbit show just to visit, write for judges and study breeds. I really did have a good time!

Make it? Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!

A personal challenge

But when a long train of abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariably the same
Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security.

...Declaration of Independence

Imagine there's no countries.. It isn't hard to do.. Nothing to kill or die
for. And no religion too.. Imagine all the people.. Living life in
peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer.. But I'm not the only one.. I hope someday you'll
join us.. And the world will be as one

....John Lennon

I had cause this weekend to hear both these texts, completely unrelated, but in close enough proximity to get me to thinking. Both texts were overlaying thoughts that I had about this book

The premise of this philosophy is that we create, through our own beliefs, actions, thoughts and personal energy the life we live. WE can change the direction of our lives by owning and accepting the responsibility for those same energies. It's what every religion has ever taught. Faith. Belief. Prayer. Possitive action. Non resistant protest.

The first quote says to me that "when any authority over us imposes abuses upon people, it is not only the right, but the RESPONSIBILITY of those who are able, to take action".

The second quote tells me that reaching for PEACE is an assertive and goal oriented action. Imagine...IMAGINE. What is it to imagine, if not actively creating a reality?

Our country is currently telling us we are in a war against terrorism. I assert to you that if we accept that we must war against them, then they have already won. They have already dictated what our action will be? Really?

Does this mean that I am anti war? yes. Am I anti Military service, anti service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia... absolutely not. I support our troops more than ever but I choose to pray that they will protect, liberate and open doors of opportunity for the civilians in those areas that they don't even realize are possibilities in their cultures of oppression.

Where will we as a people direct the energy of our actions, beliefs and PRAYERS? Toward fighting, or toward working for PEACE. I will not FEAR - I will practice bravery. I will not HATE - I will practice unconditional love. I will not COMPETE - I will lift up others that I will also rise to their new level. I will not just FORGIVE - I will thank others FOR GIVING me that experience.

What will you do?

Fibery stuff

Remember when I used to post about knitting and spinning and stuff? Yeah, those were the good old days. LOL

Ok, well back a couple of weeks ago I introduced you to a new project of mine, the Sheep Sweater. You might remember that I had a rather unfortunate event with my beloved bunny sweater that involved winged vermin of a nasty variety. Well the sheep sweater is finished and the bunny sweater is all better again and I'm here to introduce you. :)

First, to put Judy's mind to rest, here is the repaired Bunny Sweater. For those who aren't so familiar with this one, the dark is cria (baby) huacaya alpaca and each of the colored stripes is from a special rabbit or alpaca I've owned or worked with. My very first 2 Satin angoras are represented there along with my red SA herd-buck Zahir on the collar. It certainly is a sweater worth repairing to me.

This is the back where the majority of damage was done. I think the re-weaving looks pretty darned good. I couldn't use the exact yarn so there is some color difference but with all that fluff.. Now the alpaca parts match better because I actually did find some leftover yarn. How's that for luck? I have to thank one reader for the excellent idea to full the sweater. I didn't' have to resort to cutting the sweater apart but fulling the entire thing really stabilized it and I think, made it a better sweater. Had I done that in the beginning, it might not have ended up so lonnnnnnnnngggggg. :)

And now the new sweater which I have dubbed the Sheepy Sweater:

I just love this thing. You might notice the different shades of natural white and if you could really see up close you'd see that the textures are quite different too. This was knitted using skeins of yarn spun at demos over the past years. Who knows what breeds of sheep those came from or where or when. Do I care? Not one whit. There is history in that sweater and I love that. I had planned to put more bunny designs and more angora in the yoke but as it progressed, it just didn't' seem right somehow. I really like the bands of color as they are.

Now, that is certainly not to say I didn't include angora. HA! not likely. How is that for an outrageous collar? That is 2 strands of FA yarn held together and just knitted garter stitch. Absolutely NOTHING was done to bring out that fluff either. That is the simple and decadent beauty of French Angora. That particular fiber came from a fantastic doe named Kaboom bred by Nancy Nickols. I never cared for the name 'Kaboom' and renamed her Morghanna...but ya know, the term "Ka-Boom!" sure fits that fiber doesn't it? :)

This is my own charted design though I borrowed the idea from a great sweater I saw at Farm Show. The design is supposed to represent a road next to a fence and the sheep standing behind the fence. Above the sheep is a row of texture work that represents fluffy clouds. OK, so it's stylized, I'm ok with that. The sheep design goes all the way around the back of the sweater and to the other side. I used an angora/alpaca blend handspun for the cuffs to they are soft, soft, soft. I hate scratchy cuffs. {shudder}
So that's my fibery exploits the past couple of weeks. I've also been knitting up some smaller stuff like barn caps and fingerless mitts just to use up more of this demo yarn but they really don't merit photos. They are warm and functional, but not so pretty.
Tomorrow, Photos from the Wool, Skein and Garment contest at the PAngora rabbit show last weekend.

PaSRBA Convention Report

OK, so I've been pretty absent recently, and you all wondered why, right? Most of my local friends know that from December till February I'm so busy I meet myself coming and going. Christmas in December and Farm Show in January. This year was no different. The final jewel to my yearly Triple Crown is the PaSRBA Rabbit Convention the first weekend of February. What a fantastic weekend it was!

The PA Rabbit Breeder's Convention is a HUGE show employing 31+ judges from all over the country to judge over 6 THOUSAND rabbits and 300+ Cavies per DAY in a huge facility encompassing 2 large exhibit halls and 2 smaller exhibit halls plus the kitchen and center hall. The photo at left is a look down the 28 judging tables of the main hall.

I served as Show Superintendant for the Wool Breed showroom. I can say un-equivically that I had NO idea how much decision making, organization, diplomacy and standing firm there was to the job. I have a whole new respect for any person who volunteers for this important position. My first challenge was to arrange the room to make it more functional for the 500+ wool breed entries expected. Now, in the all breed room this means enough space for carriers and people and maybe a few chairs for people who can't stand 8 hours at a time. In the wool room, this means carriers of rabbits, people, grooming tables, blowers, electrical outlets for those blowers, chairs for all the exhibitors and room for tack boxes and grooming equipment. These things are not accessories to wool breed exhibitors; they are essentials. Of course in the wool room I only had 4 judges and 500 or so rabbits and no vendors as opposed to 6000 rabbits, 28 judges and vendors. Brian Bell has my awe as well as my respect!

Once the room was set up and breeders started coming in, most of the work was done, right? Not even close! There were the 100+ entries of Lionhead rabbits to account for. As a non-recognized breed one doesn't expect such high numbers but there they were and they were certainly welcome. The challenge for the LHs wasn't just the numbers but the fact that the vast majority of LH owners have no ARBA show experience. We want to make these folks welcome and that includes introducing them to everything we do from what sort of carriers are appropriate to where and how to set up their areas to how to write for the judges. Saturday was a bit hectic but they caught on quickly and Sunday was much more efficient. Thanks to Tori Whitehause for her tremendous help on Saturday teaching writters. Thank you to everyone for welcoming these new friends to our ARBA family. I'm really sorry I didn't get photos of some of those winning rabbits. Very pretty!

The decisions and organizing judges, rabbits, equipment, problem issues, unexpected challenges never ends. Are the judges moving along on time? Do the judges have realistic entry numbers to judge? Do we have writters for each of the judges? Are the exhibitors getting to their classes on time? Is this a DQ? Is this one fixable? Where are the youth cards and folders!?! Holy cow, what a job. The General Show Super Brian Bell said it best; "It's fun, but it's a sick sort of fun." oh yeah. At one point, I was trying to show my SA's, super'ing the show AND teaching a new person to write for the judge. I joked with Judge Paul Jourgelonis that if I had my judging license he would be completely superfluous. LOL

The quality of the wool breed rabbits in general was AMAZING! For those who may not know, the ARBA wool breeds include the 4 Angora breeds; English, French, Giant and Satin. American Fuzzy Lops, Jersey Wooley and our guest breed the LionHeads. Not only were the Open shows in our room but the Youth wool breeds showed with us also. I always encourage the youth to show alongside the Open folks because I find both bring out the best in the other. To demonstrate the outstanding quality of our youth wool breeds, Saturday's Youth Best In Show was an English Angora and Sunday's Youth BIS was a Fuzzy Lop! Go wool!!!! Now, who out there said wool breeds are too much for youth to handle? HA!!! Go YOUTH wool! (I just wish I had photos of those rabbits)

In addition to serving as wool room Super, I also had to oversee the Thrianta Specialty Show on Saturday and the PAngora Specialty on Sunday. Now, don't get too impressed yet. I may be pres of those two clubs but the vast bulk of the show work falls on the efficient shoulders of the club secretary Ellen Anderson. Wowza what a job she did with that AND managing the housing coops for the entire show. I don't know how she does it, but I KNOW she does a better job than I every could. Now for some photos of some amazing rabbits from those shows.

Congratulations to Meg Whitehouse for winning Best of Breed and BEST IN SHOW at our first D9 Konijn Von Thrianta Specialty show with her Sr Buck CCR's Wiska (WI)

Thanks also to Gary Michaud for an excellent job judging and teaching us about our delightful little redheads. The second photo was taken of the senior doe lineup (12 entries in that class alone!!!!) There were around 25 entries for each show. That's FANTASTIC for this new and rare breed! A-hem...we just happened to have more entries than the mini satins. I'm just saying... ;)

Now for the PAngora Specialty Show. There were wonderful entries and winners in all of the angora shows. That included the Open Show Saturday, the UARC Specialty Show on Saturday (Dru Shephard won BIS with a REW EA that had every spinner's hands just ITCHING) and the Open show on Sunday. But it was the BOB winners that judge Eric Stewart raved about on Sunday at the PAngora Show that I want to share with you. Now, let me say a special thank you to our judge Cathy Patrick who judge the individual breeds and did a WONDERFUL job. Eric stepped in to judge BIS and Wooler class after Cathy spent a very long day with a TON of rabbits to handle. Thanks Eric. He didn't look unhappy to judge these guys BTW. :)

OK, I was trying to get a better photo of the Sable FA and the EA but I got Eric's hindquarter instead. We decided to name him BIS hindquarter. hehehehehehhe Eric was totally impressed by all the BOB winners and actually stepped aside to suggest that anyone with a camera take photos of these outstanding examples of their breeds. I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. the Satin Angora. Kathy has done a wonderful job with that rabbits breeding and care. But I have to profess a serious lust for that Sable French Angora bred and owned by Amy Spang. The color is gorgous and the coat is MAGNIFICENT. The texture and density are to die for.

And the winner is....

Best of Breed / BEST IN SHOW

Satin Angora Colored Sr Doe

Bred and Owned by Kathy Kenworthy of PA

Judged by Cathy Patrick D8 District Director and Eric Stewart D9 District Director