The Spinning Angora

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Mount Shasta, CA
The Spinning Angora

I'm a multi genre crafter (painting, wood work, indie dyer, fiber arts.)

I also raise German Angora rabbits for fiber and yarn and spin fiber for other farmers and shepherds.

09/20/2024

Little old Hershey got a haircut today like the big angoras do. He is getting old old old.

09/20/2024

Are my bunnies lemurians maybe?

There are plenty of legends surrounding the mighty Mount Shasta, including the theory that aliens use it as an underground port for their spaceships.

It’s unclear where this legend started, but it’s not difficult to see why people might believe it.

Lenticular clouds are stationary clouds that hover over a point for long periods of time and typically come in the appearance of a saucer. These clouds are quite frequent over Shasta and their uncanny shape appears to be an alien spaceship.

This has to be where the legends began.

09/20/2024

So many questions for IAGARB now that we are resolved to really really go the Wool Test and Registration route with our new line of Germans. I wanted to do it with our first Germans in 2013 but wildfire hit and that was that. And then we got the viennas and just did yarn. So here we go again with new bunnies.
1. It was answered already yes I can have another person more expert shear the bunny in front of the judge. Which is good because
2. What is the allotted time for shearing the rabbit in front of the judge? See my bunnies and I make a day of it. We turn on Masterpiece Theater or Call the Midwives and begin shearing for a few minutes and then take a break. I might have some cheese and crackers while bunny eats dandelions and papaya. And then we shear some more and we have some salad and chai tea and then my husband holds bunny while I skim over the belly and bottom and clip nails. Then we eat some more goodies and go on about our business.
I'm sure the judge doesn't want to waste time watching us eat.
3. If she fails body type or colored nails or something does the shearing go on anyway and it becomes a Wool Test or is it just over?

So looking forward to the next zoom meeting.

09/20/2024

4 am and I was up reading about the Vienna gene and ivermectin. It's just what rabbit people do. Apparently there is at least anecdotal evidence documented in rabbit groups that rabbits with the Vienna genetics or tge BEW/Dutch do not tolerate Ivomec orally, topically or by injection. It is toxic to them. Which I discovered with Blackberry. Almost lost her and it took almost a month of force feeding and syringe watering and pumpkin and Bulls Blood beets leaves and other delicacies to get her going again and for her to be declared ok after one dose. She's totally herself now. Her brother and sister that don't visually express Vienna so they are co sidered carriers fared much better. They were off feed and lethargic but recovered quickly within 3 days. So now six months down the line and Blackberry is hale and hearty and going towards winter and closed doors and windows and wood heat and humidity- great fur mite factors -I've decided to go with diatomaceous earth only but only if I'm aware of mites. The viennas are moving toward 5 years old now and still producing lovely yarn colors. But I also have Autumn and April both with no Vienna gene and Autumn will probably breed. I could use Ivomec with Autumn as she has no Vienna background known but I won't. Who needs the hassle? Diatomaceous earth it is. Organic is almost always better anyway.
But along the way here is a list of scholarly articles on interactions of rabbits and ivermectin. It seems I could have used more Vitamin C with Blackberry usefully.

09/20/2024

The IAGARB President Andrea Miranda invited me down to Lambstown where she will be having an IAGARB outreach saying I could bring Autumn down and we could do her shearing certification then. That is Oct 5 or 6. Turns out I have stuff happening that weekend and I have to stay in county so I can't go. That would have been a blast though. But there is no reason others from IAGARB can't go and join Andrea at Lambstown
Hit her up and maybe prepare a rabbit for registration?

09/19/2024

Back when we owned the bakery here in town a popular question we got was would we make a cake for a gay wedding? And the answer always was yes of course. I've never understood why it was a question? I was a baker not the marriage police.
And here we are again.
I just wanted to say all kinds of people buy my yarns and my fibers. Recently (2024) I've sold my angora fiber and yarns to childless gay fashion designers in Beverly Hills designing a hat, gay parents in Canada who wanted to knit a baby bunting for their next adopted baby, single women crocheters with no children and don't want any, widowed grandmothers who knit while traveling the world instead of babysitting their grandchildren, drag queens who only want the finest wear as well as many fiber artists who have never declared a sexual preference or an attitude towards children of any kind to me. Why would they? And gasp I will also sell to immigrants and Haitians and not ask for an ID. I never ask people why they buy but I will help them get the color or quantity they need whether I think the project is a good one or not.
Therefore, regretfully, I've drawn a line now and if your fiber business, or construction business, or store displays political views condemning my customers for their life choices that have absolutely NOTHING to do with you, know you will not be getting my business either. I can always find another spinning mill, hair stylist, or deck builder.
You are too absurd.
Thank you.

The Circles of women around us weave invisible nets of love that carry us when we are weak and sing with us when we are strong ...

SARK ✨

Artist Credit : Tarn Ellis

09/19/2024

Regarding the upcoming planning of a registration event:
If you are an IAGARB member or not you may attend a registration event as there are two levels- level one is a Wool Test which evaluates fiber production for a non IAGARB tattooed bunny and then Registration which only happens with members.
Read more about it here.
https://iagarb.com/iagarb-testing-and-registration-2/ #:~:text=There%20are%20two%20levels%20of,may%20be%20registered%20with%20IAGARB.

The purpose of IAGARB testing is to objectively identify angora rabbits with quantitatively superior traits. By including these rabbits in our breeding programs, it is hoped that improvement of the…

09/19/2024

Today we cleaned trays and bunny room and "blew out" a couple rabbits in preparation for a "first shearing on video" for IAGARB. We will blow them out more frequently now to make sure the first shearing is seamless and without time consuming tasks. I'm a very slow shearer anyway so trying to remove one ear mat could be detrimental to the group's patience.
Afterwards I pulled common mallow for all the bunnies as a treat. All of them wolfed it down except Marshmallow. For reasons known only to himself he rejects mallow.

How to identify Mallow, Round Dock, Malva sylvestris

09/19/2024

Tentatively IAGARB is scheduling a Q&A session for members by zoom not this weekend but next in preparation for a West Coast registration event in the early new year! Make sure those memberships are up to date.

09/17/2024

So with my improvisation I had 264g prime, 68 grams seconds, 14 g thirds, and 16 grams dirty mat. So seconds are figured at 75% so 51 grams. So third grade at 25% so 3.5g. And NOW toss dirty stained matt without weighing.
So..
362g Gross weight
264 plus 51 plus 3.5 g is
318.5. G Adjusted Weight.
318.5 x4 is 1274 g in a calendar year.

We made minimum!!!!

We made a start. Registration event questions already.
1. I always begin clipping on the lower back where I can find a place to make a part. Correct?
2. I clip with clippers set at .8?

Today is a play day. I will update as I go.
This is April. I don't breed April because she has conformation issues so we will skip checking for body type but she has fabulous hair. She's today's guinea pig. I'm shearing her today pretending we are at an IAGARB registration event. I hope I do it right. I've never been. Maybe some day we can all have videos or zooms to reference of registration events.
I've blown her out and thats all I've done the past 3 months. Just blown.
So now first I think I weigh her with her clothes on and then shear and weigh again and make sure I put her hair in 3 piles of perfect, seconds and trash? Correct? And then weigh the hair? Do I weigh each pile separately then add it up for my GW and then just weigh perfects for AW?
Ok so starting off as far as we know she has no Vienna background, she has a micron count of 14- high- a CF of 100- and I don't remember density but I guess we will see with the fiber weight huh?

So I tared the basket and weighed her in pounds and kilograms. 5.38 kg or 11.12 pounds. So she is .38 kg overweight. Must be the papaya. She will do anything for papaya and it shows.

09/16/2024

The kids have a sweet new friend. His name Balthazar is 3x bigger than he is.

09/15/2024

World of difference. The heavier skein is handspun 2 ply medium weight 4 Aran angora and the other is millspun 2ply fi*****ng weight angora. I'm going to make the exact same hats out of both and see which I like best. It's ironic the fi*****ng comes from the mill. When I spin Angora I automatically spin fi*****ng and I really had to work hard to do the Aran instead.

09/15/2024

Today's bunny harvest. More pumpkin to cure and more alfalfa/clover to dry. They totally love this alfalfa but I give it on a treat basis on a no pellet day. They devour it than drink tons of water. Tons. So much protein.

09/15/2024

Well...I worked very hard tonight to finish a crocheted hat. And when I was done I held it up and well...a teachable moment:

"Frogging is a term used in crochet and knitting to describe the process of ripping out or undoing work to fix a mistake and start over. The term is thought to come from the sound of "rip it, rip it" being similar to the sound a frog makes, "ribit, ribit".

Frogging can be a tedious and messy process, but it's important to fix mistakes in projects, especially if they're gifts. Even if the recipient can't identify the error, they might notice that something is off.

Another term for undoing work is "tinking", which is "knit" spelled backwards. Tinking involves undoing a row or round of stitches one by one.

09/14/2024

What a fantastic time on Zoom with IAGARB's chat and craft meeting. I learned so much and it was nice to meet everybody from Canada and the U.S. If you have let your IAGARB membership lapse think again. This is great.

To join IAGARB or renew your membership online, just fill out the form below and click submit. Our ID is paypal at iagarb dot com when using Paypal. Membership dues are $20 per year, which runs fro…

09/14/2024

Ok. I'm ready for a few days of rain. And I solved what to do with plants too big for the indoor greenhouse with an old craft fair table and a 1$ (!) tablecloth from Dollar General. I also brought in all my Super Chili peppers and probably tomorrow I'm going to start green hot sauce! The red pepper sauce Kate made the other day from these guys was great. But in the meantime a calm relaxing place to finish another angora beanie.

09/14/2024

What About Our Angora?

Our angora is a natural animal fiber
offers luxury and elegance
is cruelty free
Is sustainable and renewable
takes dyes easily
is hand washable
is extremely warm
is soft on the skin
is easily blended

09/14/2024

Reminder of IAGARB craft and chat at 2 PST.

09/12/2024

09/11/2024

"I have a concept" of selling angora spinning fiber. Black and ivory are sold out but still plenty of white is left. (14 ounces) sold by ounce or half ounce. Free shipping with ounces.

Shop The Spinning Angora by SpinningAngora located in W**d, California.

09/06/2024

Oops. I was one day off for the IAGARB members online craft meeting. It is Saturday the 14 of September not tomorrow. Sorry! Andrea Miranda will email zoom link a couple days prior.

09/06/2024

Dye day. Got enough orange and yellow so I think today will be purple!

09/06/2024

April's fiber is back in stock. I just added in 5 ounces.

This Roving item by SpinningAngora has 4 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from W**d, CA. Listed on Aug 13, 2024

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https://thespinningangora.wixsite.com/thespinningangora

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She's doing pretty good with the clippers. They are quiet Gimars but she can only sit for it ten minutes at a time. After I have the lap towel adjusted and her in the correct position it's more like 8 minutes 2 of which at the end is me trying to encourage her to not jump away so I guess I'm getting six minutes of actual shearing at a time. We have our papaya treats and no noise in the house but still we only got about a third of the way through. Im totally not entertaining restraints. She will learn. They all have. Will pick it up again tomorrow. She's so very young yet.

So this little splay legged baby with the one inch tail gave me back and sides prime of 230 grams. That's not minimum AW but it's no matter. It's beautiful hair and she will never be bred so there we are. She's also my sweetest rabbit. I threw everything else (2nds and 3rds) away as I don't have time right now.

It is spring on Mt. Shasta.

So now I can speak about it. On March 13 I gave the bunnies their usual dosages of Ivermectin. I gave it topically at the base of the neck. 3 of my bunnies carry the Vienna gene but only one actually expresses it. This one. And she went down. DOWN DOWN down. Everyone else was fine. I have heard Ivermectin can cause difficulties for the Vienna bunns but I've never seen it and the others are fine. But this one stopped eating, drinking, pooping completely. Completely. No poop. And cause she wasn't drinking water no pee. So the 14th I shaved all her hair off. That's always my first go to. I started offering fresh veggies- kale, dandelions, spinach, Blackberry leaves. But it's a no go with out water. So I started syringing water with simethicone drops in it. That seemed to help. By the 17th she was starting to eat Timothy hay along with veggies and sipping water from a small bowl. Sat up all night on the 18th and 19th offering syringes of water 3ml at a time. 19th she began to pass very dark goopy poops. On the 20th she began dropping tiny dry perfectly formed do dos along with string of pearls here and there but still no cecotropes. Desperate I added canned organic pumpkin. She hates pumpkin. She is the only one who won't eat it. Well she changed her mind. She likes it now. She is still drinking water from a bowl and not a lot. As of today she is eating veggies except she refuses lettuce, she is eating Parsley, pumpkin, Timothy hay and last night she decided to eat the quarter cup of pellets in her feeder. And she is pooping. Not a lot. But...enough. and forming the smallest cecotropes. She doesn't need surgery. It's been a hellish week and I'm exhausted. And through it all she has been horribly nasty, vicious and aggressive. But that changed yesterday. Now she loves me to pieces. I can do anything I want with her- she is a lovebug. Just that behavior change indicates how bad her condition was. Until she starts drinking water at the level she normally does she will not

I do love living in the mountains. When we moved here 20 years ago to buy and run the bakery here Lee would crawl out of bed at 3am to get to the bakery at 4 to get the bread proofing and the brick ovens fired up. I would get there later to make donuts before opening at 6. And that was a 14 hour day 6 days a week. Looking back it was harder. Lots of power outages so we would be baking hundreds of loaves of bread of several types for restaurants and grocery stores, dozens of donuts, cookies, pies, foccocias all by candle and flashlight. The streets were full of pot holes, the streets around our house would not get plowed-just downtown-and when they did plow it got mounded up in our driveway and we couldn't get out without shoveling. Now we are retired we can just watch the snow fall. And they plow constantly.

These are horse grooming rubber gloves. They are GREAT for maintenance grooming on a molting Satin Angora. No hair pulling and all that comes off is shed hair anyway. Sit down and just pet the bunn.

Hershey always looks awful. Lol. Non German. He's a high bred satin angora but because I am who I am I shear him with clippers when I do the Germans and then he molts and it becomes a total uneven mess. I like to check him constantly for matting but he doesn't get any. But he is my sweetheart. At 8 years old he's the kindest bunny.

Our summer vacation before the fires started. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8No5gfp/

New Shearing From Blackberry.

The Romney fleece is washed and dried and I've begun carding. Its beautiful stuff. What that is is a one ounce batt 22" long and 5" wide rolled up. That's how much carding on a drum carder will open up the wool for spinning.