Candy's Angora Craft Booth

Most of the Angora breeders are interested in fiber things. Candy's Angora items are known to be beautiful and well made. She specialized in fine yarn and fine knitting. She has good sales during this past Christmas season. It's very kind of her to share photos of her booth in a craft show; we can all learn something from it. Her story about the felted hat is especially interesting. Candy says,

"The top three photos are of my booth, showing some of my Angora items.

I don't know who the woman in the last photo. She bought this hat I had for sale. I made the hat from 1 ply of Angora and 1 ply of Suffolk sheep wool that I had spun. I dyed the yarn red. I knitted it very large to felt. I didn't know at the time, that Suffolk doesn't shrink and felt - or very little. And Angora is very variable - some felts easily, and some hardly at all. I washed that hat at least 7 times with very hot water, cold rinse, in the washing machine, longest cycle, and dried it in the dryer. I spent an hour needle felting on it. Still it was big and floppy. I put the pin on the front to hold up the floppy brim. I hoped there would be a perfect person for the hat, and there was! She looked so cute in it, I had to take her picture. "

Allen At Home, Part II

While I was in Senegal last year studying, we had a litter of Italian Maremma puppies. This is baby Milan and her brother (now owned by Trina Carlson) last Fall when they were newborns. Trina purchased Milan's brother to protect their San Jose ranch from Mountain Lions, Coyotes, and other predators to their flock of sheep.

In this picture, puppy Milan, now grown up, watches the newborns with a watchful, loving eye.

At 2,800 feet, Black Mountain stays sunny and above the dense Fresno fog. In this picture, fog rolls up the mountain in the afternoon behind the doe and kid pen.

Mama Angora goat with her two "early" or may be "late" kids.

Kids.... Fall? Yes, we have baby Colored Angora Goats this fall on Black Mountain! Last spring, we had several does that did not breed. When we went to the Estes Park Wool Festival for the National Colored Angora Goat show, we corralled all unbred does and ONE yearling buck in a single pen to make feeding easier for our caretaker. Of course, we had no intention of breeding the does with the buck; it was simply a convenience pen for our trip! Well, five months have passed... and while I was in Japan, Randy sent me an e- mail, "You're never going to believe what I found this morning in the pasture: twins!" We were pleasantly surprised with two healthy twins, a brown boy and red doe. The mom is taking very good care of them, even if she is a little early... or is it late? In this picture the kids find a hole that our Italian Maremmas have dug in the ground. The find shelter and sleep in the hole at night with mom by their side. Our "farm dog" Cali (Boston Terrier) looks at the kids with amazement thinking, "A little early?"

Our barn.

Allen At Home, Part I

Our farm on Black Mountain is at 2,800 feet. Fresno has had dense fog,non-stop for the past two weeks nearly. Yet, because of our elevation, we have enjoyed beautiful sunshine! This picture was taken this morning when I woke up. The fog blankets the entire central valley, with just a few peeks from lower foothills emerging from the fog.

Cami is Cali's daughter. She will be one year old in February. She loves to go to shows. Cody Ambrosino is her best friend at the shows!

Cami encore.

Cali and daughter Cami came to watch me taking pictures with their usual curiosity. They paused for a second to kiss. Bostons are always full of love!

We are used to seeing Allen in shows and in foreign countries and places. Allen is providing some of his home photos and captions. Thanks for sharing.

Puffy On Leash

Puffy lives with Thevee in Washington DC as her companion rabbit. She lives a good life as a pet bunny.

She lives inside most of the time; when she's exercising outdoors, she is on leash. The four pictures were taken recently and the last picture was taken when Puffy was a junior.

Puffy is a chocolate English Angora bred by Betty; she has just celebrated her one-year-old birthday.

Large Needle Knitting

Betty says,

"Some knitters like to use itsy bitsy knitting needles to create fine garments; some like to use large needles for fast knitting. I have been known for using large ones; my favorite knitting needles are size #11 to #15 and even own a pair of #50 though the pair is a little hard to use.

I came across this photo in a magazine from Hong Kong showing an actress on TV trying to recreate the Guinness Record of the largest knitting needles that actually knit. Though I like large needle knitting, these needles are out of my league."

New Bunny Mobile

Mr. Schwartz, the fleet manager at Toyota, gave us a very warm reception and excellent service.

Mr. Schwartz's business card in a dog's mouth.

My two bunny mobiles.

Other than color, my two bunny mobiles look similar.

Bunny carriers are moved from the old Town and Country to the new Sienna.

Betty says,

"New Year brings a new addition to our family. It's not a child, not a rabbit, not a dog, not a cat; it's a new bunny mobile.

My Town and Country van has a license frame stating 'Betty's Bunny Mobile'; and it has been my bunny mobile for 11 years. It is still in great condition, but it's about time to have a new one.

Albert did a thorough research for a new minivan over the Internet for days and we opted for a Toyota Sienna. He sent out e-mails requesting quotes.

Mr. Schwartz at a Toyota dealer in San Jose responded with the best offer.

When we went to the dealership to pick up the Sienna that we ordered, we were pleasantly surprised to realize that Mr. Schwartz and his youngest daughter had played golf with Albert in the past. At high school age, she is a very talented golfer; better watch out, LPGA! We also learned that his older daughter went to San Jose State University on a golf scholarship and graduated with a degree in Economics a few years after I retired from that department.

Even more interesting, we learned that Mr. Schwartz started college with a football scholarship at California State University at Long Beach; this is the campus where I started my full time teaching over 30 years ago. What a small world!"

Happy New Year

Northern California Angora Guild wishes everyone a Happy New Year.