Once I decided to move ahead my first step was research. I phoned several goat farms in this area, but since I live in South Carolina I was not able to find any that raised Angoras. Instead I contacted Misery Farm, they raise Boer, meat goats. What a find! They were very helpful and most informative. My youngest sister and I visited on several occasions for demonstrations on deworming, hoof trimming, administering medications and feeding as well as general care. I am very grateful to them for sharing this knowledge with us, and even though I continue to learn something new each day; I now feel, thanks to in a large part, the McDonald's at Misery Farm, quite capable of raising healthy and happy goats.

 

Spinning

I looked at many different wheels and chose the Ashford Kiwi for several reasons. It was rated an excellent beginners or student wheel as it does grow with the user. There are many accessories that allow the spinner to do more as he/she advances. Other advantages include its affordability and portability since it so lightweight and compact. The Kiwi comes unfinished so you can stain, paint and decorate it as you wish. I have seen some very interesting decorative expressions, I only wish I was that talented. I stained mine a honey color because I thought it would look more natural.

Unfortunately there are no fiber guilds in my area so much of what I learned about spinning I had to learn from online lists such as Spin-List and Spinfree, both can be found at Onelist. The Nearest guild is the Anderson Fiber Guild which is 2 1/2 hours away. I was able to attend one meeting and observe demonstrations on spinning, plying and using a drop spindle. Carmen and Lynn from "Fiber Friends" provide this quild with wonderful demonstrations as well as all the necessary items for fiber arts including Ashford products. I purchased my Kiwi wheel from them. They were most helpful in getting me set up. If you would like to contact them with any questions or information regarding Ashford products just email them at ctn@carol.net or click on the above "Fiber Friends" link.

Several people told me when learning to spin the first thing you should do is become comfortable with treadling an even rhythm. The Kiwi is a double treadle wheel that allows you to use both feet. I find this more comfortable instead of using one. Learning to draft your fiber and treadle an even rhythm can be a little awkward at first but I was amazed at how fast I got the hang of it. I have heard people say it is like learning to ride a bike. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes very natural.

To my great joy I have found spinning to be very relaxing and meditative. To sit quietly, treadling, mindful of the fiber as it seperates while drafting, then twists nicely, and winds onto the bobbin can be a wonderful exercise in Mindful meditation.

Preparing Fiber

Many people will buy rovings, fiber that has already been washed, carded and perhaps dyed. I prefer to do all this myself. I like the idea of starting the project from the beginning. Though I have not sheared my angora goats yet, I have not had them long enough, I plan to in the spring. I have purchased raw fleece and learned how to wash, card, spin, ply, set the twist, all steps in producing yarn. Again the technique I use to wash fiber came from several suggestions from online spinning lists. I use a small laundrey bag, the kind we women use to wash delicates in the washing machine, and soak in in very hot water and dawn dishwashing liquid. Careful not to swish or aggitate the bag too much to prevent felting. Allowing it to soak for about an hour. I then either put it in my washing machine on the spin cycle to express all water or take it outside and spin it by swinging it in a circular motion above my head or out to my side. I know that sounds funny but my washing machine was broken for a while when I first started spinning and I found this technique to work rather well. I then rinse it by placing it in very hot water, changing the water as many times as necessary until clean, taking care not to allow the water to run over the fleece and adding vinegar to the final rinse.

There are as many ways to clean fiber as there are spinners and I am always trying something different each time I wash. For example adding a few drops of essential oils to the rinse, like lavender or tea tree oil, can repel moths, and makes the fiber smell very nice. I also like to dip my fingers in olive oil when spinning to add some "conditioning" to the fiber.

I have not tried dying fiber yet as I like the idea of all my projects being as natural as possible, but may consider Koolaide dye if I choose to experiment in different colors. I hope to purchase a loom very soon but for now I am enjoying crochet and knitting projects

Our Fiber Animals

After months of research, demonstrations and preparations we finally brought home 3 adorable angora doe kids. We named them "Cloe", "Belle" and "Harmony". These doe kids were offered to us by my new friend Sandy, owner of "Nowhere Branch Angora Goats" who raises beautiful, happy and healthy Angora goats in Marshall, NC. I knew when we picked these little ones up that they where well taken care of and I had no worries of bringing home any sick animals. It makes me so happy to see animals loved and cared for like this, as they should be, in the manner in which they deserve.

Angora Goats are thought to have originated from the Ankara region of Turkey. The fiber they produce, called "mohair" derived from the arabic word meaning "choice" or "select". Mohair is resistant to shrinking and stronger than wool. The younger the goat the softer the fiber. They are docile, very friendly and quite personable. I love to sit with them while they eat and run my hands through their soft beautiful locks, picking vegetable matter here and there and fantasize how wonderful it will be spinning this gift from these special animals.

Thou are fair, my love; behold thou are fair;
thou hast dove's eyes within thy locks,
thy hair is a flock of goats,
that appear from Gilead.
~ecerpt from Song of Solomon~

My husband built a beautiful goat shelter for them. Strong, sound and able to withstand any storm, a shelter any animal would feel safe in. Some advise we received and followed when building was to be sure the door was facing southeast and to place the door to one side of the wall instead of the middle, this affords more room to be used as shelter from any wind, rain etc. We decided on a tin roof instead of wood since we live in the south and felt it would reflect the summer sun and make it cooler. We also made sure it was tall enough to allow a person to walk in without having to bend over, which I find very helpful when cleaning out the old bedding.

Since we kept all the trees up on our land there are no grazing pastures for them, instead I feed them goat feed and Timothy hay. I was a little reluctant to ask my husband to build me a hay feeder since he worked so hard on the shelter so I made makeshift hay stacks out using tomato stands we had for our garden. I just stuck them in the ground, filled them with hay and my girls are able to eat at their level without waisting that much.

To avoid any accidental poisoning I researched and identified poisonous plants on our land. We had to cut down all our choke cherry trees and pulled up the poke weed. We will relocate our peach and plum trees to the front of the property away from their reach, fortunately they are still quite small.

There is so much to learn in caring for any animal and I am learning something new nearly every day as I continue to try to provide a safe and happy home for all my furbabies. Most of all I am happy for the opportunity to share in the lives of God's beautiful and most precious creations.