Field trip to Sheeples!

I organized a field trip this past Saturday to a local farm-based yarn manufacturer called Sheeples Fine Fibres.
It was an awesome day!
Baby lambs (one only hours old!!), sheep, fibre and roving, yarn and spinning...

We started the day playing with the new lambs while waiting for the rest of the crew to get there (that would have been us...sorry, we were really really early, so we stopped for coffee, which then made us a little late. oops).
Then it was off to the farm for a tour and to meet all of the sheep!
First it was the young boys (up to a year old, if I remember right):



Then it was the older males (1-3 years, I think):



Finally, the moms and babies!





After playing with the lambs again, we headed to the workshop for a lesson on yarn-making. Kim, our hostess, and Joe, her husband, told us all about the yarn-making process, from shearing through to spinning (mill or handspun). We got to touch fleece fresh from the animal (holy lanolin, batman!), and got to compare washed fleece from a few different kinds of sheep. It's amazing what a difference in textures there are, even from one sheep to another of the same breed!

Once we learned all there was to know about the process, it was time for lunch, and what a lunch it was!! Thanks Kim!!!!!

After lunch, it was spinning time!! (Forgive me if I get the terminology wrong - I wasn't taking notes...)
We all got started learning how to draft the roving - getting it prepared and to the right thickness for spinning.
Once it was drafted, then we took our drop spindles and started spinning. First with a partner, so that we either just twisted the spindle, or we just spun the fibre. Then it was time to try it solo. I think I did alright, considering that it was my first try, we were using all sorts of different fibres, and that the spindles apparently weren't properly balanced, so they weren't spinning as well as they could.
Here's the yarn that I made, some on my own, and some with my partner, Holly:



And the swatch that I knit out of the yarn!



All in all, it was a great day, although the tics were in high form, and I had the creepy crawlies all night and all the next day. I think I'm over them now, finally. :)

Here's a slideshow of all of my photos from the day: