If they shear those sheep, don't they get cold in the winter?

My creation
Originally uploaded by acornbud.

There is no place like home, but visiting friends and family while on vacation is pretty durn close! I had a great time visiting, eating, shopping, sightseeing and did I mention eating?

Fist stop was Wisconsin to visit my sister and her husband in Madison.

The Wisconsin Sheep Breeder Co-op has a fall festival and my sister and I took the beginning spinning class. We were in Denise Curry's Saturday morning class (I don't see us in the picture but I think there are two of the afternoon class, and none of ours, so no sense looking:) We used a PVC, two treadle wheel made by Nels Wiberg. Read his story in the May/June 2006 issue of Sheep Magazine . It was tough trying to pedal and draft at the same time. I got a better feel of how the wool drafts out, but made another curly ball of yarn. I didn't have much time to go around to see the vendors, but I got my niddy noddy and a drop spindle starting kit from a pretty lady in a bonnet at the Mielkes Farm booth. I found some Trekking but only a few colors color so I had to pass. I hovered over some lovely cobweb lace yarn, but again couldn't decide on a color, alas. We went around the and saw the sheep, llama and alpaca. I somehow thought sheep were much smaller then they were in person. Back home I tried out the drop spindle and the yarn looks a bit more like yarn now, but the skein is not growing very fast. If I was responsible for clothing my family for the winter, they'd all freeze. We'd have to sleep with the sheep in the barn! They look pretty warm and cuddlly except for the naked ones that had been shorn. I hope they get to spend winter in a warm barn because the canvas sweaters they had one didn't look too warm. I'll have to go back another year and learn more about these sheep since I'm getting a bit worried about them running around out there without their coats!
I resisted the temptation to take up needle felting, but I saw some very cute critters made by that technique. Hmm and there were classes, too!
My sister is an exercise devotee. I packed my gym clothes in case of rain, but the first day it was was balmy in Madison so we walked around the Pheasant Branch Conservatory That afternoon the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and it was cool and cloudy when we drove to Iowa City to visit my niece and also when we drove to Chicago to see King Tut. I am sorry to say mapquest didn't help us in our drive through the Windy City! Since my other niece was on call we decided to drive back and experienced the gridlock around Ohare Airport. But, we made it back alive!