Nationals...

Hello everyone! Or should I say, "Howdy ya'll"? I am very pleased to announce that there is only two more days before traveling to the great state of Texas! "Why am I going?" you might ask yourself. ARBA nationals! ARBA stands for the American Rabbit Breeders Association.  ARBA is a huge show that is held in the fall of every year.  I have been a part of this wonderful journey since 2008 and so far I have visited the following states: Minnesota, Indiana, Kansas, Last year it was here in Harrisburg, and now Texas.  We have usually over 22,500 animals at the convention.  Wow, that is a lot of rabbits!  There are 48 different breeds of rabbits and each breed has there own standard.  There are also 13 different breeds of cavies.  You might be thinking to yourself, "What are cavies now?" but the answer is simple.  They are guinea pigs, but in the rabbit world, we call them cavies. 

Now for the really exciting part... What rabbits I am taking?  Well, when you are preparing for this big of a show, you must choose your rabbits wisely.  I am taking a total of nine rabbits and I am excited for each one.  Keep in mind that I have those big, fluffy rabbits that love to chew their coats when in stress, so do the math.  A 25 hour drive + A big, fluffy angora + A small cage = A chewed coat.  How do you stop that?  Simple, just put them in a bigger pen.  It still is very stressful for you and the rabbit because you spent eight months to grow this coat on this rabbit for this show; you don't want to lose it now! 

I am also going to participate in the royalty contest and the educational display.  I had to pre-enter the educational projects and the applications and let me just say that they are very lengthy.  I am in the Duchess category and a lot of girls are usually in that category as well.  What I entered for the education display was a pair of fingerless mittens (the pair I made the pattern for) and a woven scarf.  What I did was warped the loom for two scarfs and then wove them both in one day!  It was very good practice for Farm Show(you will be reading a blog on that soon...) One of the scarfs I am keeping and I am donating the other scarf to the NARBC. NARBC stands for the National Angora Rabbit Breeders Club.  Hope they like it!

I will be writing a blog as soon as I get home to update you on our adventure...

My English Angora jr. doe is ready!

My French Angora buck...



My Satin Angora doe...

 

The scarfs that I am entering and donating... (I am keeping the blue one)

 

Make It With Wool....

 Hello everyone!  I am very excited to report about this past Saturday.  I went to a very fun event called The Make It With Wool Contest.  To be a part of this contest, you must make a garment that has a minimum percentage of wool or wool blend (minimum of 60% wool or specialty fiber is required) for each fashion fabric or yarn used. Specialty wool fibers include mohair, cashmere, alpaca, camel, and llama in the garment or garments.  

For my outfit, I knit a sweater with cables that is held together in the front with a button that I made out of modeling clay.  I also knit a hat out of the same yarn that I used for the sweater with except I hand dyed that yarn.  I used more of this hand-dyed yarn to weave fabric which I used to construct a pair of shorts and then lined the shorts with satin.  The best part is, the fact that all of the yarn was made in our fiber mill and it all came off of my very own Leicester Longwool sheep named Boo!  After my brother and I sheared Boo, I skirted his fleece, and then washed it.  I made roving out of it and my sister Ashley and my mom helped to finish it into yarn on the spinning frame.  The yarn I used to weave the fabric and the yarn I used to knit my hat was hand dyed with a lighter shade of purple and a mint green.  I had a great time at the contest!  I was in the junior category with other girls who had beautiful garments!  I didn't know what to expect.  After the fashion show, they announced the winners and little did I know, I WON!  Now, I get the opportunity to represent Pennsylvania and go to nationals!  Guess where... Nevada!  I am more than excited now.

Boo was excited to hear to news that his fleece is going to Nevada!

Waiting to hear the winners....

My outfit....

All of the winners and runner-ups... Congrats everyone!

We Are Up and Running!!!!

Hello everyone!  I know it is a little delayed, but we had the Grand Opening!  It was a great success!  We even had a welcoming committee consisting of: Eclipse and Meteor.  Every time someone came up the driveway, Eclipse and Meteor were on it!  We did learn that Eclipse likes kids (probably because he is one himself) and Meteor does not. It made for a good story... 

That wasn't all, we had a lot going on. Tyler, Papa, and my dad were stirring the soup in the kettle, mom was here there and everywhere and enjoying every minute of it, Nana, Deb, and Linda were in the shop, Ashley and Megan were in charge of the fiber mill tours, Cami and I were with the welcoming committee and doing Rabbit tours, and Uncle Randy kept all of us company when needed.  We had a pretty great Blue Mountain Farms group, if I must say so myself. We even wore T-shirts, Blue Mountain Farms T-shirts and we all looked great!  It was a beautiful fall day and we couldn't have ask for any more of it.  If you are ever around us make a trip up here; Eclipse and I would love to show you around!

Great Group!

Tyler, Papa, and Randy with the soup...



Our snack table! It was delicious!

Cami an I with the welcoming committee! No Hands!

The Fiber Mill...



See, I told you Eclipse likes kids....