Learning to Dye Yarn

One of the perks of being a TARC club member is access to all our webinars...not bad for $5 a year.  I have gotten a lot of great information from these little informal webinars.  My favorite so far was the interactive webinar Dyeing with Dana.  It was so much fun!  

I gathered all the supplies and dyed my yarn along with Dana from Gray Haven Farms.  We had a great time! I chose Berry Punch and Lemon Lime Flavor Aid.  I'm very pleased with the color.  Dana showed us how to dye our yarn, dry it, and then card it using slicker brushes.  

Once my wool dried, I couldn't resist trying my drop spindle again and spun the yarn.  I made a 100% English Angora 2-ply yarn. Yay!

This was my first real attempt at making my own yarn so it's pretty lumpy (art yarn-ish) but I had a blast creating something myself from animals I raise. Best of all, it wasn't hard at all. 

 I only made a small amount of yarn so I searched the Web for a tiny project and found a cute, little bracelet.  I'm going to try to make it.

Once I'm done, I'll post a picture.  This was such a fun project. I can't wait to try more colors.    

TARC Webinar was fun...and a success!

Technology is wonderful! I'm so excited about being able to communicate with folks around our state (and beyond). I really enjoyed our first webinar and, to be honest, I wasn't sure how everything would go off.  I knew we were working hard, but sometimes you just don't know if things will pan out the way you envisioned.  

We had 9 attendees from all over Texas and Louisiana who were engaged, asking questions, and learning. Sasha put on an excellent presentation with help from her bunny models, Candy and FooFoo.  There was time to discuss things that we never get a chance to discuss at a show, or even when just visitng. The whole thing went without any major glitches and I'm sure that everyone got something out of it (including me).   Our attendees asked excellent questions and even gave some good, supportive advice too.  I have to say that our first webinar was a success!

The Texas Angora Rabbit Club hopes to expand our webinars as part of our plan to educate others in our state about our favorite rabbits...Angoras.  

Angora 101 Webinar July 14th

www.texasangorarabbitclub.weebly.com

The Texas Angora Rabbit Club's webinar entitled Angora 101 is set for this Saturday, July 14th from 9:00am to 10:30am. Everyone has been working hard to make it a success. Our presenter will be Sasha, our current TARC President.  Sasha shows English and Satin Angora rabbits here in Texas and nationally.  She was very instrumental in helping me get started showing rabbits.  I always learn something when she's around.  

The webinar is designed to help people who do not have an Angora rabbit yet, but would like to learn more about them...and also those might already have an Angora rabbit, but are new to Angoras.  They do have a few slots left, so it is still possible to to sign up.  The webinar is free to TARC members.  There is a $5 fee for non-members.  It's only $5 to join TARC so just join and get any of the future TARC webinars for free. Click here to register. 

June Has Been Busy Month

Florida rabbit

I've been bad about posting this month, but I've been here in spirit.  It has been so interesting keeping up with everyone. The world keeps on turning! 

Our extended family vacation to Florida was big fun! It was great to see our Ohio family. My hubby teased me that rabbits turn up wherever we go...as we took a walk one morning and were stalked by a wild rabbit.  It followed us around for most of our walk.  I didn't mind, but I think DH was looking forward to a "rabbit free" week haha. I brought along some of Little Sun's wool so I could practice spinning on my drop spindle.  I don't know what I was thinking, though.  I  got very little done....I kept ending up at the pool.  Fun in the Florida sun always wins out!

The rest of the month has been a hodge podge of rabbit related activities, including local rabbit club meetings and a fun visit with our good friend, Ricardo.  I've been working steady on our club's first webinar series.  It's a simple webinar on basic Angora rabbit care.  At least it seems like a simple webinar....12 page research paper, short powerpoint presentation, and 3 page handout later.  Maybe it wasn't so simple after all.  I do have to admit that I really enjoyed the process. I hope it helps the new members of our club learn more about Angora rabbits. 

Unfortunately, I had to miss two shows that I had been excited about...the MidAmerica Angora Club Show in Wichita, Kansas and the ETRBA Show in Longview, TX.  I heard that both shows were great, but our family vacation happened to hit both weekends.  Congratulations to all the folks that came out for those shows.  

I heard the Angora results for Longview were as follows:

Show A

English Angora BOB -  Jinnifer B.

English Angora BOS -  Jinnifer B.

Satin Angora BOB - Sasha M.

Show B

English Angora BOB - Sasha M.

English Angora BOS - Jinnifer B.

Satin Anogra BOB - Dana F.

There were a lot of Angora folks at the Longview show.  I was excited to hear about the good turnout. 

Texas Angora Rabbit Club Web Site Is Up!

www.texasangorarabbitclub.weebly.com

I am so excited to announce that our Texas Angora Rabbit Club Web site is up and running!  It's a simple little Web site, but it allows us to get information out and accept memberships much easier.  

While it might seem like things have been quiet, we've been very busy preparing the club's foundation.  Our Vice President Ricardo has been very busy working on a very nice newsletter that is available to TARC members. He has worked very hard and it shows. 

DH, Treasurer John, President Sasha and I have been working on a webinar to help club members learn more about Angora rabbits.  Our first webinar is called Angora 101.  It will be a different kind of way to reach out to our members (and others) that are scattered all over our big state.  I'm so excited to see how it goes.  

John and I have had hectic schedules these last couple of months.  Part of our job was to set up a bank account for the club.  John and Sasha came all the way over to my side of the state and we were able to set things up that will allow us to function as a club.  Woo hoo!

We have lots to do still, though.  I have to finish up the junior director slots.  We've got an amazing young man who will be wonderful at that position.  He's just waiting on us. We've just got to get his position placed into our bylaws correctly.   

Anyhow, I am very hyped about our club right now.  It's fun to hang out with group of people who really love their Angora rabbits...just like me.   

TRBA State Show Weekend

ARBA Exec. Director Eric Stewart judging BIS on Saturday.

Oh my!  I am completely exhausted from this weekend’s festivities in Belton, but boy did I have fun! There were approximately 24 Angoras entered so that gave us an excellent representation again.  Of course, all my good Angora friends were there.  We even made a few new ones as Dana sold one of her Satin Angora does to a nice central Texas family.  They have an English Angora as well... so, of course, we have to encourage them to bring her to the show table as well. We also had an excellent judge from Oregon (fiber mecca of the U.S.).  She was able to give tips to some of our local judges. Those gentlemen were so receptive and I learned a lot from just listening to her.  Thank you for always looking to learn and teaching me in the process.

Here are the results for Angora folks:

Friday’s Show (Judge Josh Humphries):

English Angora BOB: Kelly F. (Defiance’s leg #2 at 4 months...lucky girl!)

English Angora BOS: Sasha M.

Satin Angora BOB: Dana F.

Satin Angora BOS: Dana F.

Saturday’s Show (Judge Eunita Boatman):

English Angora BOB: Sasha M.

English Angora BOS: Sasha M.

French Angora BOB: Michael and Linda F.

French Angora BOS: Michael and Linda F.

Satin Angora BOB: Dana F.

Satin Angora BOS: Dana F.

Sunday’s Show(Judge Loyd Morgan Jr.):

English Angora BOB: Sasha M.

English Angora BOS: Kelly F. (Cimmerian!)

Satin Angora BOB: Dana F.

Satin Angora BOS: Dana F.

Good friends..what rabbit shows are all about.

Anyhow, it was a long weekend, but I had a blast.  We also had our first Texas Angora Rabbit Club meeting which was a big success.  My favorite part was getting to actually see some the rabbit friends I’ve gotten to know via blogs and Facebook.  I felt like I’ve known them forever, but Saturday was the first time we met. Our new officers/directors are in place and we have started making plans (more on that later) …which I am super excited about.  We’ve managed to gather a great group of folks! I will be our club secretary and hope to do a good job promoting the Angora breeds in our state. 

TRBA State Show Deadline Extended!

Texas Rabbit Breeders Association

In case you haven't heard, the Texas Rabbit Breeders Association State Show deadline has been extended to March 12th!  So if you're like me and was all talk, no action...there is still time to send in your entry forms.  I completely forgot (although I continually reminded others) to mail in my entries and had to email TRBA on Monday begging for mercy.

Yes! We have a logo.  Thanks, Sasha!

I can't wait to see every one at the show!  Our first Texas Angora Rabbit Club meeting is show weekend (Saturday, March 31st @ 12:30pm).  Ricardo Gonzalez (Road to Angora), Sasha McPherson (Sasha's Haven), Dana Faber (Gray Haven Farms) and I have been working behind the scenes making sure our first meeting is a success.  I love my Angoras, but I have to say that Constitution & By-Laws are the most yucky things EVER lol! We'll have the C&BLs and meeting agenda posted on Facebook around mid-March...also, resumes for officers and director positions.  


If you are around for the State Show, please stop by our TARC booth and say Hi!

Victoria Livestock Show WrapUp...and a Sneak Preview

Judge Ken has the honors for Show A...

Ricardo and I cooping our rabbits

I have a fabulous time at this weekend's Victoria Livestock Show.  I was sooo excited to see the Angora breeds well represented.  That was the most I had seen at a Texas open show. There were at least 5 exhibitors with 13 (8 EA, 5 SA)...count 'em 13 beautiful Angora rabbits.

As far as EA folks, I got to see Danielle and her girls again.  Their REW girl, Chrissy, was looking beautiful as always.  Danielle's girls had a precious little chocolate junior buck as well.  

Sasha came with her stellar REW, Indy...who won his junior class at the ARBA 2011 Convention in...you guessed it, Indy :)  She had some a couple of her beautiful does, chocolate Stormy and lilac Bunny Foo Foo. 

Ricardo came down with his wonderful REW girl as well.  He shared some wonderful advice about breeding for convention that completely (and happily) changed my upcoming plans...so thanks, Ricardo!

Dana also brought some gorgeous Satin Angoras that...when they weren't trying to sell themselves right out from under her...showed quality breeding.  Of course, she brought my "bunny crush" obsession, Romeo,and some outstanding juniors.

Beautiful Angoras... as far as the eye can see.

I bought Cimmerian (although not in full coat) and my hubby's junior lilac pearl doe, Defiance. Mr. Biggles came along for the ride.  I brought him so Sasha could put her hands on him.  I want to start a broken EA line with Mr. B as the herd buck.  As suspected, Mr. Biggles is worthy of such a task.  I've just got to find the right doe.

Sasha gave us a pencil drafting lesson.  We all sat on the floor in Danielle's area and watched Sasha turn Chrissy's white fluff into beautiful angora yarn.  I can't wait to try what she taught us...maybe that Hershey scarf wouldn't seem like such a far off project :)

Ricardo passed on some of his grooming knowledge while we watched him trim up a bunny.  I got another grooming tool idea from Sasha and Dana reminded me of a fantastic anti-static Angora tip learned at Convention.  DH was kind enough to go to the store and pick some up for us for Show B.   Yay, for no fly-away haired bunnies!

Here's the show results:

Show A

English Angora BOB - Sasha M.  REW Buck

English Angora BOS - Danielle N. REW Doe

Satin Angora BOB - Dana F. Red Buck

Satin Angora BOS - Dana F. Tortoiseshell Doe

Show B

English Angora BOB - Ricardo G.  REW Doe

English Angora BOS - Sasha M. REW Buck

Satin Angora BOB - Dana F. Red Buck

Satin Angora BOS - Dana F. Tortoiseshell Doe

We made a nice crowd at the judging table.

Great job, everyone!  It was so nice to see so many fine animals representing our breeds. On a side note, I was so pleased that Defiance won her class in Show A.  I am excited to see how she develops when she's old enough to compete with the big girls.  Cimmerian got BOV in Show A. Sasha's lilac doe won BOV in Show B, but there was no beating the REWs today...very fine rabbits :)

Anyhow, I had sooo much fun!   BUT the most exciting news was the organization of an new club.  We've decided to share our Angora fun with the world (or at least Texas...which for Texans, IS the world) and form the...

 Texas Angora Rabbit Club!!

...an Angora club for all Texas Angora fans...show, fiber, or companion animals!  It's an exciting time for us Angora folks.  I'll have more details in another post, but I couldn't completely keep a lid on it.  If you are interested in staying up to date in our development process, please contact me at: thekelflaproject (at) gmail.com. We'll will put you on the email list for TARC so you can be kept up to date about information such as our organizational meeting, educational workshops, etc. Of course, I'll be posting info here as well. Shortly, we'll have our TARC blog where you can follow as well.  But beware......Angoras are addicting ;)

Oh, yes.  I definitely have some work to do for my show polls.  Completely my fault.  I waited super late to post it due to my own silly illness.  Many thanks to those who took the time to answer it :) I'll get on the ball for the next one!