Knitting Alpacas

It's a Girl!

2008-04-28T19:47:00.005-05:00

We came home today to a new set of little feet in the girl's pasture. She is a very healthy 18.5 pounds and a beautiful luminous maroon. She was 30 days overdue and we were beginning to think she would never get here. The only time her Mom has quit eating this evening is when she's been nursing; she even tried to eat then. I guess delivering a big ol' girl works up a big ol' appetite. I always get so nervous while the little ones are trying to find the milk bar for the first time. They are all over the place suckling on everything but the right thing. But in the end she found the spot and latched on. She nursed for so long that she developed her own style. Who says you can't keep drinking when you're just too tired to stand up? The nap you see in the first picture was taken immediately after she finished her meal.
I just went out to check on them and Mom is still eating and little girl is nursing again.
We put the cria coat on her because the temps have cooled off again and we don't want her to get chilled. The newborns can't regulate their body temp right away so they get to wear a coat at night.
Now we have to come up with a name for her. So far on our farm we have Sabrena (her Mom), Sancha (her Aunt), Miss Rosevelt aka Rose (her Sister), Princess (her cousin), and Tyra (I guess we'll call her God Mother since she seemed to be looking after her when we got home and got very upset when DH picked up the little one to carry her into the barn). DH and I always play the naming game until one just sticks. We'll toss names back and forth until we both go "yeah, that's it". Of course we both usually have a favorite that we try really hard to sell to the other. But, in the end the best name wins.

2008-04-26T19:51:00.004-05:00

Even though I haven't been blogging lately I have been knitting. Cobblestone was finished a while back and has been worn several times. It's an incredibly comfortable sweater. But, being alpaca it does pill and shed. No biggie, I can live with that. It's nothing a good shave won't take care of. I love the fit of this sweater. I'm seriously considering changing the neckline though. I don't find the current neck to be very flattering. The pattern for this was so well written that I didn't really have any issues while working on it. I would like to knit another one in a very pretty color. Something bright and cheerful. After shearing this year I got a very nice white blanket off of Princess. I'm thinking of carding and dying it and spinning it up for another Cobblestone. She had nearly 5 pounds of blanket fiber so I should be able to get a Cobblestone and have loads left over.

I dyed two skiens of Sabrena's light fawn yarn and knit up a cozy scarf. I tried numerous patterns before settling on Stefanie's One Row. This is the second time this pattern has come to the rescue. It's an easy knit-while-watching tv pattern. I learned a valuable lesson dying this. This was dyed with Gaywool dyes using the cold method and letting the yarn sit in the dye bath for 24 hours. The colors didn't come out as vibrant as they do when using the stove top or crock pot. So from now on I know if I want intense color to use heat, for soft color use no heat. Everything I have dyed since has been on the stove top or crock pot. There are three skiens drying now that I dyed today. Two plum that will become a scarf and one dark blue-green that will be a hat. The green started out as a herd blend of dark rose grey, silver grey, dark fawn, and light fawn. I love dying this yarn because it produces a nice heathered yarn and the outcome is always a surprise. It's really hard to predict how a particular color will be taken up by the yarn. I used indigo on one skien and got a nice charcoal color with hints of blue. On the next skiens I used watercrest (a medium intensity rose) and got what I call Rosewood. It reminds me of a weathered mahogany. I have enough of this color for a scarf and am still experimenting with patterns.

Before I leave you tonight I'd like to share a picture of little Coco taken before shearing. Isn't he a little doll??? We showed him at the end of February (which is about when this picture was taken) and he placed 5th. He may have placed a little better if he hadn't been so jumpy with the judge. Can't say that I blame him though. It has to be pretty stressful the first time these little guys go in the show ring and some stranger starts handling the jewels. Don't you just want to reach out and smoosh his cute little face.

First to Last

2007-10-01T18:06:00.001-05:00

It's time for Quiddity's annual Show Me Your Socks Contest. This year she wants to see our first pair and last or most recent pair. Looks like there is some awesome sock yarn to be won. Seen here is the first pair of socks I knit way back when out of the first alpaca yarn that I spun. While these socks were knit way to loose and have holes at the gussets they are still one of my favorites. The socks in progress are my commuter socks. The first one has been finished for quite some time and I finally got around to the second sock recently when I decided to make them my commuter project. The yarn is some superwash merino that I dyed. And of course the pattern is my favorite basic sock with a picot cuff.

Slow and Steady She Goes

2007-09-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

The first sleeve is finished and the second sleeve is on the needles. If you're looking at this picture and thinking to yourself that "damn, this woman's got some long arms" well yes, I do. That would be a 20" long sleeve there. But this is a bit deceptive. While I want a shorter length body than called for in the pattern I haven't decided yet exactly how much shorter. It is now 13.5" and I will add anywhere from another .5" to 1.5". I did a try on but didn't have that all important third arm that I seemed to need to hold everything in place. Hopefully I can recruit DH tomorrow to help me out. This has been the perfect project for watching t.v. The hardest part on the body is keeping track of whether to knit or purl the garter band stitches. The only bad part about this project is the fact that it will be so long before it's cold enough to wear it.

Last week I realized that I was missing out on some prime knitting time during our commute home each evening. And what's the ideal commuter project? Well, a sock of course. It's amazing how many rounds I can knit on a sock in 40 minutes. I keep the sock in the car at all times now so it's always there ready to be worked on. Why did I never think of this before? What this means of course is that I need to get busy dying more sock yarn so that when this pair is finished I can immediately cast on for the next pair.

WIP Count: Cobblestone Sweater, Tailored Cardigan, Commuter Socks, Lace Scarf, and Fingerless Mittens.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.

2007-09-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

I crawled out of bed around 7:00 this morning and made my way to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. As it brewed I stepped out on the front porch to check on the alpacas and was surprised by the cool crisp air. It was about 50 degrees and the air was clear thanks to a good rain yesterday. I grabbed a lap quilt and a cup of coffee and made myself comfy in my favorite rocker on the porch. It was an absolutely glorious morning.

Once I was sufficiently caffienated I headed to the barn to dye the yarn for a pair of Mrs. Beetons. The kidsilk had already been dyed so all I had to do was dye a skein of alpaca to go along with it. I didn't quite get the alpaca as dark as I wanted but it will still be okay. I had wanted the alpaca to be just a shade lighter than the kidsilk but it's more like two shades lighter. The yarn photographed just slightly more blue than the actual color. It's more teal than it appears here. I'm not allowing myself to cast on for these until I have completed one of the sweaters that are now in progress. That should be sufficient incentive to get moving on these two projects because I'm very anxious to cast on. I've wanted to knit a pair of these since the pattern was first published but misplaced the kidsilk after I dyed it. It recently mysteriously reappeared at the bottom of the alpaca basket.

Does anyone have any advice on what colors to combine to create lavender?

Coversations With Kermit

2007-09-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

Or, Swatches Lie. When I swatched for Cobblestone I came up with 20 st/4 inches with size 7US needles. This led me to cast on 194 stitches for a size small. After knitting about 5 inches I thought that it looked a bit larger than it should. I measured it at 41.5 inches. Yikes! That can't be right; it should be 39 inches give or take a couple of tenths. So, I put it on waste yarn for a quick try on. Damn this thing is too big. After double checking the swatch and again getting 20st/4" I realized that yes indeed; swatches lie. But that's not the worst of it. My mind had taken a holiday when I decided that 39" was the measurement to aim for. I had planned this sweater to fall right at the hip bone and I had actually measured for the butt. After remeasuring and recalculating I have now cast on 176 stitches on size 6 needles. I am now back to where I was before frogging and the size looks just right. Well, now that you all know the size of my butt...... I may have to rethink this whole swatch thing. I'm seriously thinking that on my next sweater project to just throw caution to the wind and skip the swatch. Live dangerously. Just cast on with what's called for in the pattern and start knitting.

Cobblestone isn't the only project that has been to the frog pond. Tailored took a quick dip a few days ago too. After knitting about half of the left front I didn't like the way the garter band was drawing up and making the whole thing all puckery. I ripped back and started over doing my best not to strangle the yarn in the garter band area. It looks much better now and as you can see is ready for it's mate.

We went to the fair today so that I could check on my entries. My Swallowtail Shawl got a 3rd place behind a pretty fine gauge blanket and something knit with fun fur. The blanket I understand. It was really pretty and looked like it was knit on size 2 needles and had a lovely textured stitch pattern. But fun fur? Alpaca, lace and nupps rate lower than fun fur? Will the fun fur madness never end? My other entry this year was a flower arrangement that I entered on a whim and it also got a 3rd place. I really didn't expect it to get anything. Two entries and two ribbons; I really can't complain. Especially considering that we got to spend some real quality time with our Grandson and his Mom today.

It was a good day.

Somebody Stop Me

2007-08-31T20:33:00.000-05:00

The lure of Cobblestone became too much to resist. Just the thought of knitting a sweater called Cobblestone with fleece from Cobble Stone was making me giddy. I thought well, I'll just look up my notes from where I originally swatched this yarn. Hmmm, I liked the fabric created with size 7 needles. The gauge was 20 st/4". That means to get a good fit I would need to cast on 194 stitches. A little gentle shaping for the waist to make it more feminine. Make adjustments needed to create a more narrow sleeve cuff. Before I knew what was happening I had cast on. So now I have two sweaters in progress and work a few rows on one then pick up the other and knit a few rows. A sure fire way to stave off project boredom.

To the Frog Pond and Back

2007-08-25T18:29:00.000-05:00

The last time you saw this...

It looked like this. What started life as the Equestrian Blazer has been transformed into the Tailored Cardigan from Drops Design. After knitting the left front of Equestrian three times I had to accept the fact that it just wasn't going to happen. At this point I lost all desire to finish this sweater and started on a search for something different. After getting accepted on Ravelry I found Spiral's version (the link is to her Ravelry page. I apologize if you can't get in to see it but I couldn't find a picture on her blog) of the Tailored Cardigan and knew I had found just what I needed. So far this has been a very easy knit and I haven't had to alter anything. The only thing I'm doing different is to knit 4 rows of garter stitch at the hem. Other than that it is exactly as written. Apologies for the crappy picture. I pinned the back out real quick this afternoon for the picture and didn't really take the time to make it look pretty. To be honest I was in a hurry to cast on for the front. I'm about 12 rows into it now.

Ravelry. I love it. A lot of thought has gone into this site. I love the way you can find a pattern you like and go directly to a page that shows all the different FO's of that particular pattern. You can see how each person adapted the pattern to suit them. There's so much inspiration there. I think they are getting very close to getting the site open to everyone that is on the waiting list.

Alpacas. In July we had two more cria born here on the farm. A beautiful little girl named Aztec Princess (shown here at two hours old)and a boy, Coco. Princess is extremely curious and independent. She's always the first to check out anything going on in the pasture. Coco has great presence and has the most handsome little face. I think he'll go to the show ring next spring. We'll also show Rose and Jaxson again. Rose got a 3rd place ribbon this year and she should do better next time. Her true black fleece is very soft and dense plus she has great conformation. Her personality has really blossomed this summer. Previously she was very timid and shy and wouldn't allow us to get near her. This summer DH has worked very paitently with her and now she will eat out our hand and allow us to walk close to her without freaking out. That will make her experience in the show ring much less stressful for her and me. Some judges are very tolerant of nervous alpacas but some will mark them down if they don't "act right". I had one of each this past spring.

Now, I've got a sweater to knit........

Still Kicking

2007-04-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

No, I have not fallen from the face of the Earth. My section of the planet has just become a very busy place. Work is crazy busy then there's alpacas to tend to in the evenings and chores on the weekends. It seems that blogging just doesn't fit into the schedule very easily. I have been knitting though. I finished the back of the Equestrian blazer and have so far knit the left front twice. I cannot get this thing right. It is currently in time out. I've also been knitting socks but don't have a pair yet.

One of the things that has kept me busy in the evenings was getting all the fleeces ready to send to the mill. DH and I went into overdrive the week before Easter and got them all skirted. We drove up to the farm that is part owner of the mill on Good Friday to drop them all off. We should have yarn within the next two weeks. I'm so excited about this. This will be the first millspun yarn from our herd and I think most of it will be especially nice. The poll that has been in the sidebar all these months was not really put to use. The lady at the mill said each fleece tells her how it wants to be spun. Some wants to be worsted and some wants to be DK or even sport weight. So, right now I don't know what I'll get back. My hope is that most of it wants to be DK or sport since those are my favorite weights for alpaca.

We also have been working to finish the studio/tack room/office in the barn. After a couple of minor accidents involving paint and then a nail gun and Blue Kote (contains dye) things are back on track. There are a few more things to be done but it is basically ready for business. I have an area for dyeing now; no more stinking up the house.

There has also been a very sad event in our lives recently. Our beloved C.C. contracted an illness from a tick and had to be euthanized last week. We were both heartbroken over this. C.C. was a very special kitty and we miss him so much. His sister misses him too. They were very close. This illness is transmitted by a tick that bites a bobcat then in turn bites a domestic cat and transmits a parasite that destroys the blood cells. This is considered 100% fatal. If you are lucky enough the catch it early there is an experimental treatment that is sometimes effective. Emma has since been checked to see if she was exposed and got a clean bill of health. She stays closer to home though so hopefully will never get bit by one of the bad ticks. It turns out that this parasite is endemic to our area of Tennessee. I used to think it was so cool that we had bobcats roaming our property. NOT!

As soon as we get our yarn from the mill I'll make a post of what we have to offer. Any opinions on the best way to get this out there to the market. Etsy? Ebay? Opinions on Paypal?

WIP Revealed

2007-02-17T15:15:00.001-06:00

In the previous post I made reference to a major new knit project. This will be my first attempt at a sweater in 30 years. I'm breaking out of the simple knit mode of socks, mitts, and scarves to make something with real structure. After seriously considering the Shocking Jacket I decided it involved way too much seaming for a sweater newbie. Then I saw the Equestrain Blazer in the Winter 2006 IK and knew that this would be perfect. It has beautiful shaping and I just love it. The yarn I chose is Knit Picks Andean Silk. It is an alpaca, silk, merino blend with a luscious hand. It is soft, squishy and a dream to knit with. And the best part? The yarn didn't cost me anything. If you'll remember I participated in an NFL Fantasy Football League. My team won the league championship! My gift from Vera, the organizer of the league, was a gift certificate to Knit Picks. It was exactly enough to purchase the yarn for this project. And, since I didn't have all the needles needed for this project I pulled out the credit card to purchase the Knit Picks needles in three sizes. I have been wanting to try these since first reading about them and saw this as the perfect time to give them a go. So far I like them. The circulars are surprisingly lightweight with smooth joins and nice pointy tips. While they will never completely replace my beloved bamboos I forsee buying more sizes of them.
I cast on February 11 and this is what I have so far. The pattern calles for size 6 needles. I had to go up to a size 7 to get gauge of 19 st/in. My row gauge is off by 5 rows. Which works out perfectly since I have a long torso and long arms. From what I have read on other blogs I think this means I will have to make adjustments when I get to the sleeve cap. If anyone would like to throw out recommendations on how to handle this I would love to hear them. One thing I have found out is that it's hard to maintain consistent guage over such a large area of st st. To ensure that my sweater doesn't inadvertenly shrink or grow during the knitting I have been checking gauge about every five rows. I have had to adjust my tension a couple of times to maintain the 19 st/in.
I had some concern after knitting the swatch that this yarn would loose its shape after washing. The swatch got a good Eucalan bath and layed out to dry. After it dryed it measured exactly the same as before washing. My occasionally wonky stitches evened out and it looks and feels great.
Now for my kind of eye candy......Alpacas! Tyra, Rose, and Sancha are watching DH coming down the driveway. Don't they just look so serene and beautiful? It wasn't like that a couple of weeks ago. It finally came time to wean the crias from their Moms. We had some very unhappy alpacas on our hands. We struggled with who to pasture together for weeks before DH finally came up with a plan that seems to have worked out great. We put Sabrena and Jaxson (Tyra's cria) in the far pasture where they couldn't see the others. That left Rose (Sabrena's cria) in a pasture with Tyra and Sancha. Sancha's cria, Lincoln, went to live at Auburn University in December. Sancha and Rose have formed a tentative bond that seems to fill the void that they have both felt over the separation. Sabrena and Jaxson are getting along nicely and everyone is settling into their new routines. Jaxson is a little sweetheart. He has a great easy going personality and is going to be a permanent part of our herd. I think he will give us some outstanding cria in the future. Just look at that face. Isn't he adorable? Okay, I know. I'm partial. But, isn't he cute????
Rose is a work in progress. She is very cautious with us and only recently has started allowing us to handle her more easily. She used to tremble when we would handle her but now stands calmly and allows us to pick hay from her fleece and will even let me check her teeth. I have been working with her to get her ready for the show ring. She has to learn to walk easily on a lead and allow people to touch her from head to tail. Each time I put a halter on her she does a little better. I have two more weeks to work with her and Jaxson before their debut in the show ring. Wish them both luck. (The luck is for good behavior. They both have all the qualities of fine alpacas and will do well as long as they behave.)

Let's Knit Some Socks with Susan

2007-02-05T19:57:00.000-06:00

How I love a good mystery. When I read about this project on Susan's blog earlier today I knew I had to join in. Here is my completed cuff in Cascade 220 red, knit on size 4 needles. Of course the color isn't showing up correctly. It is more of a true red than it looks here. I'm anxious to see what the leg pattern will be.

I got so wrapped up in the game last night that I didn't finish the scarf as I had hoped. I have about another 14" to knit.

The package I have been waiting for came in today's mail. It was a pleasant surprise. I'm going to try really hard not to start this project until the scarf is finished. Then I will reveal the pattern and yarn. Like I said, I love a good mystery.

One Row Wonder

2007-02-04T10:15:00.000-06:00

The camera was retrieved from the truck and the battery charged. I had forgotten that the reason the camera was in the truck to begin with was because I was taking pictures of the snow Thursday morning. It was beautiful for about half a day. It started raining about 7:30 that morning and slowly melted all the pretty snow. I guess this was our one snowfall of the winter. I'm ready for spring now. Hey, I'm so glad we don't live in Chicago where our son and his family are. I noticed the high for today is 0. The high! I guess that might explain why he's been appling for jobs in Texas.

All of the cold weather around here, with night time lows in the teens, has prompted warm knitting. As mentioned in the previous post I've been working on a scarf using Stephanie's one row pattern. This is one of those colors that is almost impossible to photograph accurately. Especially with the dismal lighting conditions today. The color is actually more red than it appears. With any luck this will be finished this evening while watching the Super Bowl.

Another way to keep warm is with homemade chili. That's what will be cooking in the kitchen this afternoon. And I do make a pretty mean pot of chili.

Finished Miata

2007-02-03T19:00:00.000-06:00

The Miata socks are done. Actually they've been done for a while but I just now got around to posting. I have given them to their owner and she was very pleased with them. I was worried about the fit since she wasn't around for the final length fitting. But, she said they fit perfect. I was very happy with the way the colors worked out with this yarn. There is no annoying flashing, spiraling or pooling. Specs for this project can be found here.

Believe it or not I do not have another sock project started. I need to dye up some yarn before I can start another pair. To keep my fingers busy until I can get time to dye I have started a scarf. I'm using the Harlot's One Row pattern with Cascade 220. The color is 9438, Tahiti. This yarn has been languishing in the stash for a while waiting for the right project to come along. I tried Grumperina's Shifting Sands scarf, a simple moss stitch scarf, and a couple more that I can't remember right now. But none of those were right for this yarn. Finally I remembered the one row scarf and decided to give it a try. It was perfect. This may be my new favorite scarf pattern. It's easy enough to be a take along project. It's simple but not at all boring. It's reversible and looks stunning. I cast on 30 stitches on size 8 needles and will knit until I run out of yarn. By my calculations this should result in a scarf about 45" long. This would be a perfect time to show you a picture of the scarf in progress but I forgot and left the camera in the truck overnight and the battery is dead. As soon as it finishes charging I'll get a picture.

Yarn for a sweater has been ordered but unfortunately the post office is in no rush to get it to me. It languished in the Atlanta Sortation center for a day and a half. Come on people. Get with the program. It is scheduled for delivery Tuesday. The problem with that is we live so far off the road that our postal carrier will not bring packages to our doorstep. She leaves a card in the mailbox and then we have to go to the post office to get the package. The post office closes at 4:00 and we don't get back into town from work until nearly 4:30. That means that I won't get my yarn until Friday when DH is off work and can run to the post office for me. Aaaaaaaggggghhhh.

Okay, I feel better now.

Go Colts!

Cuteness and An FO

2007-01-15T19:00:00.000-06:00

First up is the Cuteness. Emma and C.C. all sacked out for the night. We got this soft side snugle house for them a couple of years ago at wally world. They liked it so well that we went back to get a second one so they could each have their own. There were none left so they have to share the one. I really don't think they mind sharing though. These two get along great. When it gets really cold I put one of the kitty pies inside for extra warmth. But, thanks to global warming I haven't had to do that this winter.

In the Finished Object catagory the Swallow Tail is blocked and ready to show off. Even though this is a pretty simple lace pattern I had a heck of a time finishing it. The main problem was trying to watch too much tv while also trying to keep track of charts. I would knit a few rows and rip back a few rows. Knit a few more, rip back a few. I probably could have left a couple of the mistakes in and no one would have ever noticed. But, I would know they were there and it would drive me insane. Then there was the whole running out of yarn problem. I ended up having to order another skein and finally finished it. I learned a lot about lace construction while working on this project. I also discovered I enjoy knitting lace. A year ago I couldn't imagine that I would ever have any desire to knit lace. Now I find myself surfing the web for other lace projects to tackle. The next one will probably be a rectangular stole. Something very wispy and elegant.

Project Specs can be found here.

2007-01-06T17:50:00.000-06:00

While I was walking around the pastures today looking for a good subject for the days picture C.C. jumped up onto one of the fence post. He and Emma love to perch up on the posts and survey their domain. Doesn't he look all soft and smooshy sitting there? Actually he is every bit as soft as he looks. In the evening when it's time for them to go into the garage for the night (we don't let them run outside at night because we have coyotes and dog packs the roam around our property) we let him and Emma come in through the house. They love this short time that they get to come in to the humans living quarters. C.C. will plop down on the nearest rug and roll over on his back for a tummy rub. He will lay there for as long as one of us will rub the old tum tum. He is one of the sweetest cats I have ever met but all petting has to be on his terms. He will let you know if he wants to be petted. If he doesn't give the okay, don't touch the fur.

Miata Socks

2007-01-04T18:10:00.000-06:00

These socks have been on the needles for way too long. I started them ages ago for a former co-worker. She gave me a set of china when she was cleaning out her possesions in anticipation of a major life change. She wouldn't allow me to pay her for the china so I decided to knit her a pair of socks. She had admired the ones that I had been wearing to work and agreed that handknit socks would be a good payment for the china. They got put on the back burner when I changed jobs and then got involved with shawl knitting and the holidays. It's high time these are finished and on their way to her. These will be the only project I work on until finished.

Project Specs:

Pattern: generic stocking stitch top down with heel flap

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock

Color: Miata, a lovely combination of red and purple

Needles: Size 1US bamboo dpn

Icelandic

2007-01-03T18:40:00.000-06:00

Hey, I remembered. Here's the promised picture of the 31 year old Icelandic sweater. I can still remember sitting in the laundromat, perched on the washer waiting for a load to finish and knitting this sweater. It's a shame I never really got to enjoy it. I wish I still had the pattern so that I could make another one in a more skin friendly yarn in a size that actually fits me.

A Quick Pattern Question

2007-01-03T12:11:00.000-06:00

I'm about to start a new adventure and I need help in making a decision. I have not knit a sweater in over 30 years and I think it's high time to do so. The only sweater I have ever knit is an Icelandic Lopi sweater that I knit while in Iceland in 1975. If I can remember after I get home today I'll take a picture of it. This sweater was actually my first knitting project and I was so naive that I didn't know that it was too advanced for a beginner. I had no knitting fear back then. Looking back I don't know how in the world I ever did it. And, it only took a week to finish. Of course it was knit with bulky yarn on size 10.5 needles and I didn't work then. I only wore the thing twice because it scratched like crazy and was a tad small. I didn't know about swatching. Ever since picking up the knitting again I have said I'm going to knit a sweater and have never been able to make the commitment to just do it. I'm ready. I've selected a likely candidate. But first I want to see if anyone else has knit this pattern and if so what tips you can give me. It is the Shocking! Jacket from IK Winter 2004. A lovely fitted jacket with princess seams that will be perfect for the office. I plan to leave off the flower motif along the left sleeve. I looked at the IK site and didn't find any pattern corrections. What about it knitters? Have you knit this? What problems did you encounter? I would love to see pictures of your finished jackets. Heavens, I'm getting all goose bumpy just thinking about casting on.

Happy 2007

2007-01-01T15:00:00.000-06:00

To start the year off on the right foot here is an almost FO. I ran out of yarn with only 3 rows left. After ordering another skein of yarn I finished the knitting Saturday night. Here she is in all her unblocked glory. She now measures 38" x 19". Wonder how much it will grow during blocking?

Project Specs:
Pattern: Swallow Tail Shawl, IK Fall '06
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca, 100% alpaca
Color: 308, navy
Needles: aluminum size 7US circs
Mods: instead of working the P5tog for the nups I slipped 2 pw, p3tog, pass slipped stitches over. This prevented much cursing during the nupping stage.

Crazy Aunt Purl recently made a reference to taking a picture a day for a year. While I won't promise that I can actually follow through with such huge commitment I will post a picture that I took today. This picture of DH was taken as we were leaving wally world today. (yeah, we live exciting lives. lol.) If you could read the Sonic sign you would see that it says "Happy New Year". Also notice the flag flying at half-staff in honor of President Ford. Doesn't DH look happy. I can always count on a good grumble anytime the camera is pointed in his direction.

I also took another picture today. This one is of a particular part of our landscape. I enjoy taking pictures of our property from the same vantage points at varous times of the year and have been doing so since we first bought the land. It's interesting to look at the changes that have taken place over time. For this project I thought it would be fun to photograph this particular corner of our house. During the course of the year you will see that some of those sticks are actually a cherry tree, a crepe myrtle, a clematis, a japanese maple and various flowers. You may even get to see the occasional alpaca behind the fence in the background. Something I'm just noticing is that our siding and sidewalk need a good cleaning. Oh, well something else to add to the spring cleaning list. While I plan to take a picture of this corner each week I won't bore you all with each of them. I really don't think there will be enough change from week to week to make each picture blogworthy. Maybe one a month will be enough to see how beautiful this corner can be. (At least I think it's beautiful since it contains some of my favorite landscape plants.)

For all of the football fans out there I would like to share a little joy. My fantasy football team, The Alpacas (really, would the team have been named anything else?), won the league championship. How great is that? I'm am so thrilled to have won. It was a great season. A big shout out to Vera for organizing this league of yarn addicts.

And to top it all off I made THE LIST, the Third Annual JenLa Knit Blog Awards.
Thanks to you both. Not just for putting me on your list, thereby guaranteeing more blog traffic for me, but for keeping us entertained with your straightforward take no prisoners style of blogging. If it hadn't been for you I may never have tried the Henry's Attic sock yarn. I love the stuff.

Seeking Yarn

2006-12-17T19:26:00.000-06:00

Hello Bloggers. Wow it's been ages since I posted last. There just aren't enough hours in the day right now. But, just because I'm not blogging doesn't mean that I'm not knitting. I finshed the socks that I was working on. I love these socks. Love the colors. Love the yarn. Love the way the stripes line up in both socks. Love the way they hug my feet. I have more of the undyed yarn and am thinking of dyeing up some red and grey. As soon as I decide what stripe pattern to do.

I've also been working on the Swallow Tail Shawl from the Fall 2006 IK. It has been quite a struggle. I would spend one night knitting and the next night ripping back. But, I finally made it to the end of the last chart. Time to celebrate! Well, the celebration was very short lived. I don't have enough yarn to finish. I tried ripping out the last two rows of the final chart and finishing from there. That didn't work out either. The bind off row really eats up the yarn. I have no choice but to rip yet again and put the shawl aside while I order another skein of yarn. If anyone out there has a skein of Blue Sky Alpaca, 100% alpaca sportweight, color 308 (navy), lot 9470 please leave a comment or email me (link in the sidebar) and I'll buy it from you or work out a trade from my stash.

Now, I must go watch the Survivor finale. With any luck soon I will be posting pictures of a finished Swallow Tail.

The Temptation Was Too Strong

2006-10-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

I believe I said I wouldn't cast on for these socks yet. I believe I got weak immediately after saying it and this is the result so far. Yes, I still have another sock that is waiting for a mate. I still have a Swallow Tail Shawl that hasn't been touched in days. But, I couldn't resist the pull of the new yarn. These may be my favorite socks so far; I have a deep love of brown and light blue together.

But this isn't all I've been doing since the last post. See the quilt the sock is lying on? That is my first quilt project and is finished except for the binding. I pieced the top a long, long time ago and it has been in a state of neglect waiting to be quilted. I tried to quilt it on my sewing machine but I quickly grew tired of wrestling the darn thing. It once again became the neglected project. That all ended when my MIL gifted me her Little Gracie quilting frame (mine is the original frame and not the new and improved one on the web site.) and her quilters dream sewing machine. This thing makes machine quilting quite easy. Here's a better picture of the quilt. It's far from perfect but I love it anyway. The first attempt at machine quilting before the frame resulted in some bunched backing. I didn't discover this until the entire star had been quilted. I chose not to correct it. There was just no way I was going to rip out all that stitching. The bunching on the back caused a couple areas of background on the front to pucker. The fabrics are leftovers from home sewing projects. Some were curtains, porch cushions, and throw pillows. When the binding is finished I'll display it in my craft room. It will be a constant reminder of what can go wrong if you aren't paying attention. My MIL has given me a quilt top she made recently to be my next project for the frame. It's a queen size quilt and will take more time to complete. Sounds like a good project for a cold, rainy weekend.

Socktober Yarn

2006-10-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to dying the yarn for the fantasy football league that I'm playing in this season. And just in time for Socktoberfest too. The league voted on light blue and brown for our official colors. I have named it Vera's Fantasy in honor of Vera. She came up with the idea of a crafter's fantasy football league and got the whole thing going. I'm really anxious to cast on but I have another sock that is just waiting for toe grafting and I really need to get that done and cast on for it's mate.

Vera's Fantasy is 560 yards of squishy soft light fingering weight superwash merino. It is dyed to create stripes when knit as socks. This hank was intended to be a weekly prize for the league but the brown came out with some unintended pale sections. I really want solid colors in this yarn so the next hank will be the prize. (Keeping my fingers crossed that I don't duplicate whatever mistake I made with this one.) Plus, I accidentally cut the yarn in one spot when I was removing the ties so it now has a knot in it. Bleh.

Socktoberfest Question and Answer

2006-10-03T14:40:00.000-05:00

Lolly has asked Socktoberfest participants to answer a few questions about their sock knitting history. Here's mine.

1. When did you start making socks? I think it was in 2003 (maybe 04) after we bought our first alpaca and I bought and spun my first alpaca roving.

2. Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I am a self taught sock knitter. I followed the directions in the Big Book of Knitting by Katharina Buss.

3. What was your first pair? a pair of footies from that first skein of spindle spun alpaca roving. (pictured above.)

4. How have they "held up" over time? Not very well. I knit at too loose a gauge and the heels are wearing thin. But I still love them and wear them. Lesson learned.

5. What would you have done differently? Probably used a more tightly spun yarn at a tighter gauge.

6. What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? I love Lorna's Laces Shepard sock. It knits up very consistently and makes a nice soft sock. I have recently discovered Kona 2-ply superwash in a light fingering weight. It is heavenly and just may be my new favorite. (Thanks La.) I also liked knitting with Mountain Colors Bearfoot but the mohair content is a tad itchy. But, not so itchy that I won't use it again.

7. Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? I prefer to knit my socks on DPN's. To be perfectly honest I haven't tried the magic loop or 2 circ methods. I just enjoy the process of the DPN's. Since there only a few stitches on each needle I get the feeling that I'm finishing things quickly. It's easy to keep track of the start of a round without the use of a marker. When I have to lay the sock aside the work folds nice and flat.

8. Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) If the socks are for me I do a heel flap. It just seems to fit my feet better. If I could wear a short row heel that would be my preference.

9. How many pairs have you made? 8 completed, 2 on the needles, and 2 in planning.

Thank you Lolly for this fun walk down sock memory lane.

Socktoberfest

2006-10-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

To kick off the 2006 round of Socktoberfest I present a finished pair of Verbena socks. This is the first time I have used a picot cuff and it is now my favorite. It makes such a nice neat edge and is much quicker than 2x2 ribbing. These were started a few weeks ago but I held off finishing them until now so that I could count them for Socktoberfest. Just a tiny bit of cheating on my part. After trying them on I noticed that one sock seemed a tad tighter than the other. Hmm, must have knit tighter on one. Nope. Gauge measures the same on each sock; 10 stitches per inch. Counted stitches on each sock and realized that one is 64 stitches and the other is 68. Checked my notes and I clearly wrote down that the cast on should be 68. Evidently I have a problem counting. The stripes matching up so well is purely accidental. I didn't really pay attention to where in the color sequence the cast on began. I just pulled out a length of yarn and commenced to casting on.

WIP Report: I have cast on for the Swallowtail Shawl (click here for KAL) from the Fall 2006 IK using Blue Sky Alpaca sport weight on size 7US aluminum needles (possibly Susan Bates). I chose these needles for their very pointy points. This pattern features p5tog and nupps. Hopefully these needles will be pointy enough to prevent any foul language when these little gems are encountered. I'm currently on repeat 7 of 14. I'll post a picture when I get a little further along.

Lincoln County Fair

2006-09-22T10:50:00.000-05:00

The Lincoln County Fair is one of "The" events of the year. Livestock have been groomed and diligently trained throughout the previous year. Young handlers have spent countless weeks perfecting their showmanship skills. Bakers have tried and rejected recipe after recipe to come up with the one that will win the coveted blue ribbon. Woodworkers have turned the bowl or vase that will stand out amongst the best the county has to offer. There is every craft you can imagine. On the Friday before opening Saturday the Creative Living building (Formerly known as "The Women's Building". Thank goodness the committee saw the light and changed the name.) is a hive of activity; it seems every resident in the county has brought something to enter. Being a farming town we still have the good old fashioned type fair. One of my favorite events are the harness races. The races span several days with the final race being run on the last Saturday. I always try to see at least one day of races. My Mother tells me that her Grandmother always enjoyed the harness races too and when she was a child would go to the fair with her to see the "buggy races". I think it's grand that this was the 102nd annual fair and that it is still pretty much the same as it's always been. Of course now we have all the rides that they didn't have during that very first fair but the fair committee hasn't lost sight of what it's really all about. After all the motto of Fayetteville is "Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow".

This year's fair was extra special for me for it's the one where I entered some of my own handy work. I've always thought that I would like to enter something since we moved here seven years ago, but never had anything that I thought was special enough. I entered three knitted items; a pair of fingerless mittens knit with handspun yarn from Cobble Stone, the cute little alpaca doll also knit with Cobble Stone, and the merino/silk scarf recently blogged here. They were entered in three separate catogories. I came home with three ribbons. I am ecstatic; I really didn't expect to win anything. The mittens took first place, the scarf second, and the doll third.

Pictured below are some of the highlights of our day at the fair.
Well, I had several pictures but blogger is being a pain in the ass and I can't get any others uploaded. If blogger decides to cooperate later I'll load more pics.

Verbena Revisited

2006-09-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

Before I get into the verbena I'd like to say thank you for all the wonderful comments on the merino/silk scarf. Looks like some of you got weak and ordered some of this yummy fiber for yourself. I'l love to see what you do with it.

Now for the verbena.

The last time you saw this sock it looked like the second picture. It was on it's way to being a very popular jaywalker. It actually made it all the way to the toe before the knitter made a crappy mess of the whole thing. It languished in time out for a couple of months before making the trip to the frog pond. After it recovered we had a long talk and it said it wanted to start a new life with a picot edge and good old standby stocking stitch. The sock was finished last night while watching Peyton and Eli duel on the the football field. By the way, my fantasy team, The Alpacas, is doing pretty good. I have one more player scheduled to hit the field tonight. They probably won't win the week but should finish nearer the top than the bottom.

Hopefully by this time next week the sock will be a pair.

FO

2006-09-07T18:32:00.000-05:00

The scarf is blocked and ready for its debut. This thing is light as a feather. The photos do not do it justice at all. The silk content gives it a sheen that just doesn't show up very well here. I will definately be buying more of the Chasing Rainbows merino/bombyx. If you're a spinner and haven't tried this yet do yourself a favor and get some. But be warned, choosing a color will be almost impossible; they are all gorgeous. Nancy Finn is a genious when it comes to combining colors. I can't believe I let myself be intimidated by the silk for so long. I had read about how difficult it is to spin but, it was lies, all lies. The drafting was effortless and it just glides through the fingers. Watching the changing colors is mesmerizing. Have I convinced you yet? Go, go now.

Football Knitting

2006-09-07T10:28:00.000-05:00

The observant among you will have noticed the fantasy football button in the sidebar. No? Go look. Yes, I have joined a league with other yarny girls. Vera got it all together and I thank her for that. . We are having loads of fun tweaking our teams and getting ready for the kickoff game tonight.I've always loved football and once even tried a fantasy team. But at the time I didn't have a clue what I was doing and joined a league with people I didn't know from Adam. I lost interest very quickly and I'm sure my team lost. This time is different. I'm in a league of all women with a common interest in yarn and am totally caught up in the whole process. I have spent the week researching my players, keeping tabs on injuries, and making trades. By the end of the season I'll be boring my husband to tears with all my NFL knowledge. (He's not a big pro ball fan. He is more into NCAA football.) For anyone that is interested I'll be updating the sidebar weekly to let you know how my team is doing. If there are Peyton Manning fans out there he is my starting quarterback. WooHoooo.

But don't think that just because I'm watching football I won't be knitting. Many socks will be knit this season. I'm working on a pair now that will get a lot of attention this evening while I watch tonights game. I'm even planning to dye some special sock yarn in honor of the league.

Go Alpacas!

Bookish Thursday

2006-08-31T15:27:00.000-05:00

Found a bookish meme at Paul's blog. This is similar to another that I have seen recently. The instructions are to pickup the nearest book, turn to page 123 and find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next three sentences.

From my nearest book. "We cannot control a bodily function unless we are aware of it. Differentiated breathing also awakens various states of consciousness and teaches us about the relationship between breath and mind. It is likely that differentiated breathing is a form of neurological reeducation."

The instructions do not say to reveal what book it is from but I will tell you that mine is from The Way of Qigong, The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing by Kenneth S. Cohen.

Semi-FO

2006-08-29T20:12:00.000-05:00

A while back I purchased two ounces of merino/silk roving dyed by the very talented Nancy Finn in the copper slate colorway. I held on to it forever trying to work up the courage to actually spin it. Finally one day I took a deep breath and sat down at the wheel and started spinning. This stuff is absolutely awesome to spin. I loved it! The luminosity. The colors. The way it glides through the fingers. It's all great. Parts are spun too loosely and parts are poorly plied. But it's still beautiful. I tried several different projects before I found the horseshoe lace washcloth pattern in Knitter's Stash. I adapted the pattern using three repeats across for a narrow scarf. The 270 yards made a 37" scarf before blocking. I haven't blocked it yet so don't know what the finished length will be. The colors are difficult to photograph but the picture here is pretty close. Being a beginning lace knitter I can recommend horseshoe lace as a good lace pattern to start out with.

Project Specs:
Yarn: Chasing Rainbows merino/silk roving spun into a 2-ply fingering weight
Color: Copper Slate
Pattern: adapted from horseshoe lace washcloth by Theresa Gaffey as seen in Knitter's Stash
Needles: size 4US Takumi bambo 16" circular
Enjoyment: very high

Stay tuned for the finished pictures.

I'm Not a Hat Person

2006-08-17T20:25:00.000-05:00

I look like a total dork in a hat but I need something to keep my ears from freezing off my head on winter evenings when I go out to feed and check the alpacas. I usually wear a jacket with a hood but the wind goes right through the hood. When I saw a pattern for a hat with a cabled band I knew I had found a solution. Just knit the band and forget about the crown of the hat. Using some of the leftover Popsicle Alpaca/Merino I cast on 17 stitches on size 10 1/2 dpns. I worked a nine stitch braided cable bordered by 2k, 2p stitches on both sides. I knit until it almost fit around my head and grafted the two ends together. It's perfect. Now my ears will stay toasty warm while doing those evening chores in the barn.

Queen Nefertiti shows off the colorful chunky cables. I was impatient to photograph the headband while I waited for DH to get home and coerced her to pose for me.

Once he got home he took a pic of me wearing it. I love the way it fits and covers my ears just so. This project takes just a few short hours to knit. It would be a great Sunday afternoon quick knit. Or knit one up on Friday night for that Saturday trek through the woods.

More of these will be on my Christmas knitting list. My DIL is about to spend her first winter in Chicago so I know I'll knit one for her. (She doesn't know about the blog so there's no danger of her reading this.)

See the spindle of cotton thread there behind me? It came out of one of the local cotton mills and is about 65 or 70 years old. Our Grandparents (and our parents when they were very young) worked in the mills and I keep this as a symbol of how they struggled to put food on the table for their families. Fiber is in my blood.

MeMeMeMe

2006-08-17T12:38:00.000-05:00

I had planned to post pictures of an FO today but the pictures are at home on my laptop. I forgot to copy them to my flash drive last night. So, instead I will bore you with this meme that has been floating around blogland lately.

I bolded what I have done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Saw the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cd's
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River (I would love to do this. I rafted the Chatooga back in the 80's and loved it. It is the river that the movie Deliverance was filmed on.)
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (every day)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

FO

2006-08-04T13:25:00.000-05:00

Today I actually have an FO to post. Last year after I started making the fingerless mittens a coworker commented that these would be perfect for her sister. She works in the heavy freight division of a well known package delivery company and is frequently in a cold warehouse. I knit these up from my own pattern using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn. I just happened to have the perfect package delivery company color in my stash. My friend plans to give them to her sister on her birthday. I hope she likes them.

When it's too hot to chase mice there's only one thing left to do......

Rambling Rose

2006-08-04T12:06:00.000-05:00

**edited to add pictures**

Since my last post I have thought often that I should write a post but the words just wouldn't come. I'm not so sure that they will flow today but I'm in the mood to give it a go.

So, let the rambling begin.

Our third cria, Miss Rosevelt (Rose), was born the end of June and she is a little doll. She and Jaxson are best buds. I think Lincoln feels left out of the fun sometimes. Here's a short video of one of her running games.

The three moms have been rebred for next year so now we are in the "hope the breeding took" mode. Every five days we will spit test to see if they are pregnant. If pregnant the female will literally spit at the male and run from him. If not pregnant she will cush (lay on her belly with her legs underneath) and allow the male to breed her. We use our less aggresive male for testing; if he gets spit at he will walk away. The other male has a hard time taking no for an answer and will continue to chase. In this heat that is not healthy for the alpacas or the humans that are trying to seperate them. Later we will do progesterone test and possibly ultrasound to verify pregnancy. All this testing helps pass the time while we wait nearly a year for the next group of babies. I love the babies. I'll go out to the pasture in the evening just to watch them play. Very entertaining.

I have several WIP's going right now but don't have pictures of any of them. There are two pair of socks, a lace scarf, a cabled head band, miniture raglan sweaters, and fingerless mittens. The cabled head band is the current project and should be finished in short order. I'm using the leftover merino/alpaca Popsicle hand dyed yarn that I made fingerless mittens out of a while back (pictured here) . I learned a new technique for this project. I needed a provisional cast-on so that the two ends could be grafted together. Instead of using waste yarn I used a circular needle in the same size that I'm knitting with. (video of cast-on here. the circular needle part is at the end.) When it comes time to graft I won't have to fiddle with taking out the waste yarn and putting the stitches on a needle. I'll just slide the circular needle into position and commence to grafting. The challenge will be determining how to graft the cable and purl stitches so they look good. I've only ever grafted plain stocking stitch before. Pictures will be posted when blogger gets in a better mood.

DH has been helping me skirt fleeces in preparation for shipping to the mill. Well he was. We have put this task off until the humidity and heat settle down a bit. There is no joy in handling fleece, no matter how beautiful, when it's a hundred degrees with humidiy over 60%. Yuck. He and I really haven't been doing much of anything recently. He had neck surgery the end of July and still isn't allowed to do much. Evidently it takes a long time for bone to fuse. He already has relief from the numbness and tingling that he was having on the right side of his face and neck and right arm. His arm would go completely dead at night and prevented him from getting a good nights sleep. We have both had colds and mine is still lingering. Then, last week I came down with a nasty stomach flu. When it was all over I had lost five pounds. I would rather have the five pounds than to go through that. Hubby was a great nurse. He took off work early to bring me medicine and gatorade. He kept my glass filled and checked on me every few minutes. Guess I'll keep him.

What Does Your Website Look Like?

2006-06-19T10:38:00.000-05:00

Found this cool link over at Mason Dixon. Go and type in your blog address to see what your site looks like. Mine looks like this:

Pretty neat huh? It's fun to watch the graphic take shape and grow.

We're still waiting on the arrival of Sabrena's cria. I swear she's gonna blow at any time. She is just so big and round. Pictures will be posted as soon as "she" hits the ground.

New Cria on Board

2006-06-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

We left the house briefly today for our Grandson's first birthday party. When we returned this little guy was here to greet us.

He weighs in at 13 pounds and is a very alert and active little guy. After a while Sancha brought Lincoln over to meet his new pasture buddy Jaxson.

Now, if we could only convice Sabrena to have her cria.

Pssst, Pssst...

2006-05-28T18:58:00.000-05:00

Hey, go take a look at the Cria Watch over there in the sidebar.

Why I'm Not Knitting, Part Two

2006-05-25T13:45:00.000-05:00

We will now continue our tale of days without knitting. Our story picks up in the barn. This first view is from the far wall of the studio looking out into the stall. We plan to install a small plexiglass window in the wall so that we can keep an eye on alpaca shenanigans. I still have not decided what to do with the walls in the studio. The sheathing on the animal side is now up and stained. We chose inexpensive luan plywood and stained it a nice cherry. We'll come back later and install a thicker board along the kick line. I don't think they would actually be able to kick a hole in the wall but, just in case we'll put something up that they can't kick through. If you're wondering if an alpaca would ever actually kick the wall the answer is yes. One of the girls kicked it while waiting for shearing. She was probably aiming at one of the other girls and missed. Luckily no hole and no injury to any animal. Back inside the studio the space becomes more defined by the addition of the outer sheathing. That's DH on the ladder working on the blocking. I plan to put display ledges at the 8' level and this blocking will help support them. We hired the pros to build the shell of the barn and pour the concrete floor. DH did all the plumbing and electrical work and he and I together framed the studio walls and hung the sheathing. Finally, at the end of a long day DH heads up the drive to the house for a much needed break. The last picture has nothing to do with barns and alpacas. One day while we were hard at work out here a brief storm passed through the area. I was able to get this shot of the rainfall. The light during this time had a very odd quality. There will be one more installment so don't click to far away.

Why I'm Not Knitting, Part One

2006-05-25T09:57:00.000-05:00

Since there is still no knitting going on at Liberty I thought I would show you what has been keeping me from the needles. With shearing coming up we wanted to get the new barn and pasture ready. This meant everything else took a back seat for a few weeks. (And since blogger won't let me upload all the pics to one post there will be multiple posts to tell the whole story.)

The barn is 24' x 40' and has spaces for stalls, feeding, hay storage, and a studio. The two overhead garage doors will remain open most of the time so that the alpacas can come and go as they please. There are gates across the openings for the times we want to keep them in or out but still allow the breezes to blow through. There is a large fan mounted above the feeding area to keep them cool when inside. The stall is used when we need to confine one or more alps for shots, grooming, and toenail trimming. This also a great area to stage them while they wait their turn on the shearing table. (Shearing was done where you see all the gates and ladder in the third picture.) I always wonder what the ones that are watching their buddies being sheared are thinking. "Oh my god, what are they doing to Cobble Stone? Did you see how they strapped him onto that contraption? Why are they taking all of his fleece off? Oh good, he's coming back. What, why are putting the lead on me? You're not putting me on that thing and taking all my fleece. Whee, that tilt thing is kinda fun. What's that noise? Ooh there goes my fleece! Hey, I can feel the breeze now. I'm so much cooler. Hey guys look at me; I'm cool. Don't be nervous Bailey, it doesn't hurt." (As told by Aztec.) In the fourth picture you can see the door into the studio and the view toward the other two barns (sheds really). If you look closely at the floor you will see a small white blob. That is a floor drain plug. The floor here is slightly recessed with a very gradual slope toward the drain. This serves two purposes. One, when the floor needs to be hosed off the drain is opened so that all the water can be removed. Two, and the one the alpacas appreciate most, we can actually run water into the slope with the plug in place and the alps have a place to take belly baths. They love their belly baths when the temps get high. It helps them cool down. Finally, in the last picture you can see into the studio and a full shot of the stall. The studio will serve multiple purposes. I will have space to skirt fleeces, dye, an area for vet work, and display space for the farm store. It is an 11' x 20' space so good planning is in order to fit in all of these activities. I haven't decided yet what I will cover the walls with. I have some slabs of old barn wood that I wanted to use but I don't have enough to do the entire area. The cabinets that are sitting in the stall will be mounted above the sink for storage of dyes and vet supplies. Stay tuned for part two.

There's a New Sheriff in Town

2006-05-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

Since I have no knitting* to blog about I'll do a bit of randomness. This here is the new sheriff of Liberty. He stands guard at the girls barn keepin' out all them varmints what might want to do harm to a bunch of young females. He takes his job very seriously as you can see from the pair of six shooters. He was recently heard to say "Don't be a messin' with my girls".

He is on loan from our son while he gets settled in the Chicago area. He recently accepted a position at the Brookfield Zoo and we are storing some of his stuff for a while. No need to keep this fella' stuffed in the back of the garage when he can earn his keep.

And, here's one of the girls he's charged with protecting.

This is her favorite place to cush the last few days. It's the prime location in the barn directly in front of the fan.

Since she doesn't seem to be in any rush to deliver the only picture I can show of her cria is this. She is two weeks past her due date. I've been told that they typically carry two weeks over in the spring. Hopefully this means delivery is right around the corner. Think pink.

*The reason there is no knitting to blog about is because I had to rip out the jaywalker. The heel had been turned and most of the gusset shaping was done when I did a try on. It wouldn't go over my heel. aaaargh. I did do a gauge swatch before starting this project and determined that on size 2 needles I would need to cast on 68 stitches instead of 76. It fit the foot perfectly. I didn't take into account that this pattern doesn't have a lot of give. I ripped and cast on 76 stitches and am now back to where I was the last time I posted about it. Live and learn.

I is For...

2006-05-01T19:45:00.000-05:00

IrisOne of my favorite flowers.

And they are blooming like crazy this year.

The iris usually don't bloom until May but they have been going strong now for a good two weeks.
These are a few of my favorites.

Alpaca Yarn Weight

2006-04-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

After this year's shearing all our fleeces from last year and this year will be making the trip to the mill to be spun into yarn. We never sent last years because the quantity was just too small to be cost effective. The minimum charge is for three pounds of fiber. That means if you only have two pounds in one run (a run would be a single color of fleece) you pay for three pounds. But, with the two years combined we would be well over the minimum in each run. The fun part of having my fleeces mill spun is that I get to choose what weight each run is spun to. The not so fun part is the fact that I have to hand skirt each fleece to remove as much vegetable matter as humanly possible. This is mind numbing at best but a critical step to getting the best possible yarn. The fun part for all y'all is that you get to help me decide how to have it spun. I already know that Bailey's fleece will be spun worsted. He has a somewhat coarse fleece and it is best used for felting or some non-skin contact projects. His fleece is white and will be great for fun dyeing projects. Think colorful felted bags or some of those cute dinos that Kathy has been knitting up. For the rest I'm undecided on what to do. Personally I lean toward sport and dk weights for alpaca. But, only a small amount of this yarn will be kept in my personal stash; the rest will be up for sale in our farm store. So what is your personal favorite? I have placed a poll in the sidebar that will remain in place until the day that we have to make our final decision. Since shearing isn't until the end of May and then I have to skirt it all it will be about two months. If you want to see what colors will ultimately be available visit our Alpaca Nation pages to see our girls and boys.

Jaywalker Semi-Progress

2006-04-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

I'm only getting about an hour of knitting time each evening so the progress is not so much. First up we have Benjamin "Cobble Stone" Franklin taking time out from the Declaration of Independence to hold the sock.

This wonderful doll was made by Barb Keyes of Woolies Fiber Works (she doesn't have a web site that I know of). I sent her some of Cobble Stone's baby fleece and she turned it into this beautiful work of art. All I told her was that I wanted him posed as Ben Franklin to represent our farm name of Liberty Alpacas. He is holding a quill (under the sock) and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. I feel very fortunate to have a doll made by her as she only makes a few each year.

Next, in honor of today (April 25) being the one year anniversary of our DS and DIL adopting their children, Alex and Annie, the sock poses with one of the gifts they brought back from Russia.

April 25 was the day the judge signed everything and they officially became parents to two beautiful, delightful childern.

When I explained to DH last night how I was able to dye the yarn to get a specific stripe pattern when knitted up he was very impressed. Thank you Eunny for such good instructions on how to do this and making me look smart to the DH. The stripes are really more distinct than this picture shows. Indoors at night with built-in flash is not the best conditions for photography.

This is such a fun pattern to knit. I can't believe I waited so long to try it. Oh, and I have to tell you what a prompt person Kathy is. I emailed her a question about the pattern and in the blink of an eye she emailed the answer back to me.

Verbena

2006-04-24T12:40:00.000-05:00

That's what I have decided to call the yarn I dyed yesterday. And here's why...

Doesn't it look right at home nestled in the verbena? My other favorite color of verbena is the same as the blue in the yarn. I couldn't wait and cast on last night for a pair of jaywalkers and only got the ribbing done. I should have a progess pic tomorrow with some of the pattern rows. Even though the colors didn't come out as I had envisioned I'm still very happy with this experiment. The Wilton/microwave method is fast enough to satisfy that urge to dye but your pressed for time and just want to get it done.

On other topics. I ditched haloscan commenting. NO comments were getting through. They would show up on the comment management page on haloscans website but then would never show up on the blog. I checked all my settings and the code for my template and everthing looked just as it should. So, for now I'm back to trusty ol' blogger commenting.

Microwave Fun

2006-04-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

After spending the last three days helping DH with the barn project (a subject for a later post) I decided today to have a little fun. Following Eunny's very helpful instructions on how to make self-striping yarn I dyed up a couple skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock for a pair of Jaywalkers. So as not to have to think very hard I used the same stripe sequence that she used in the tutorial. If this works out, next time I'll put a bit more effort into coming up with my own sequence. This yarn started life as Pale Pink. After making probably one of the sadest looking warping boards ever (so sad in fact that it refused to have it's picture made.) I wound both skeins of yarn on and tied off the different color sections. I then tied color coded snips of yarn frequently throughout each section so that I would know what color each should be dyed. I left one section undyed, dyed two sections with Wilton's violet, and the largest section with Wilton's Royal. I placed the sections in their own microwavable bowls including the one without dye. I placed all three bowls into the microwave before pouring the dye mixture in. I'm a bit of a clutz so this was critical. I'd have to leave home if I spilled dye on the kitchen floor and ended up with violet and blue grout. With all three bowls safely in the microwave I carefully poured the dye mixture (with a glug of vinegar) into the respective bowls and plain water in the undyed bowl. The plain water is just to keep the pink yarn from drying out and possibly burning to a crisp. Nuke for two minutes and check. Nuke two more minutes and suprisingly the water is clear. This is the newly dyed yarn in it's Eucalan bath.

And here it is hanging to dry. Before hanging I put it in a laundry bag and ran it through a delicate spin cycle in the washer.

One thing that surprised me about the dye was the fact that the royal separated into blue and violet. The reason this was surprising is because the violet usually does that and it didn't this time. So my royal stripe will be variageted but who knows it may look great once knitted up. I can't wait for it to dry so that I can get to knitting.

Alpaca Lace Scarf

2006-04-21T11:41:00.000-05:00

While trying to come up with a project that would best showcase this hand dyed yarn

I finally settled on this simple lace scarf.

It is just a simple yo lace with no fancy stitches and a garter stitch border. It was the only thing that worked with the color repeats. I tried Branching Out and two different patterns I found in mags (don't remember which ones right now) but the pattern just got lost in the color changes. After some experimenting with yo's I came up with this. I'm happy with the outcome and will use this in the future for other troublesome hand dyes.

The yarn I used is Blue Sky 100% alpaca (purchased here on a trip to Atlanta last year) in the Natural color. The scarf took two 50gr skeins. Dyes used were Gaywool acid dye and were hand painted in a random fashion. If you haven't tried the Blue Sky yet you really must. It is oh so soft and yummy.

Crossing Fingers

2006-04-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

Okay. I think I'm set to go now. Comments to posts (these's only three) prior to Haloscan can only be accessed by clicking on the post page link at the bottom of the post. All efforts to move these comments to Haloscan failed miserably. Rather than spend any more time on this I will leave well enough alone. Thank you for bearing with me on this. Normal blogging will now resume.

Technical Difficulties

2006-04-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

Please bear with me ladies and gents. Haloscan and I are not getting along so well. I'm about to undo everything that has been done in the last couple of days and start over. Regular blogging will resume tomorrow. (If all goes well.)

Day 338

2006-04-19T14:54:00.000-05:00

Sancha, whose picture you see at the top of the sidebar is due to deliver our farms first cria on the 21st. Of course with alpacas the due date is a rough estimate. We calculate 340 days gestation. But, it could be two weeks before or two, three, or even four weeks after. This is also Sancha's first cria so we can't even use her history as a guideline as to when the little rascal will arrive. The past week she has been exhibiting some of the signs that I have read mean that birth day is approaching. These signs can start just a few days before or even two weeks before. So really the only sure fire way to know that she's ready is when you see that little nose peek out. Lately she has been humming a lot when she's grazing in the pasture or in the barn scarfing down her daily ration of feed. She also flicks her tail alot. This is not normal behaviour for her. And I'm stuck here at work wondering if she's giving birth as I type. Wonder if I could talk Stephanie into coming to Tennessee and camping out in the pasture with the girls until all three give birth. I could give her a quick lesson on the differences between a human birth and an alpaca birth and the vets phone number and she should be good to go. Seriously though, I really want to be there for the birth. Not just so that I could give assistance if something should go wrong but I want to see our first cria be born and see it take it's first steps and suckle for the first time. So stay tuned for pictures of Liberty's first cria and think "pink".

Finished Objects

2006-04-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

I have actually been knitting lately. And here are two more pair of socks to show off. I am so addicted to sock knitting. I only hate that the weather is just too darned hot now to wear them. As soon as the temp gets above 65 the sandels come out. It's rare to see me in anything else from March until October.

Pair number one started life as my Olympic Knitting project. They were doomed from the beginning. The yarn/pattern combination would have made a good bullet proof vest. They were reborn as good ol' stocking stitch socks.

The Yarn: Alpaca/Merino worsted weight that I rainbow dyed in shades of blue, plum, and cedar. I call it Evening Shades

The Socks: I love them.

Pair number two came about after I bought this book. I was inspired by the first project listed and the fact that I had the yarn in stash. Again, good ol' stocking stitch was perfect for this yarn.

The Yarn: Cascade 220 Antigua Quattro and black

The Socks:

These socks will make excellent slipper socks for around the house. This is the first pair I have made with contrasting heels and toes. I like it and will definately do it again.

These last two pair of socks were a good break. Both being worsted weight they knit up really quick. I'm undecided on which sock project to tackle next. I have some Lorna's Laces shepard sock that I'm planning to dye for self stripping Jaywalkers and some Gems Opal that will be dyed to suit whatever socks I decide on for a sportweight yarn. The jaywalkers will be a big break out of my stocking stitch shell. I'm not big on fussy when it comes to my socks. I usually let the colors in the yarns be the center of attention. For the Gems I may just dye a nice solid color and do some sort of cable pattern. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good pattern for a sportweight?

A Return

2006-04-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

Well, guess I'm over whatever demons possessed me earlier this month. I really do want to continue blogging but am really trying my damndest to decide which way I want this thing to go. I know I want to concentrate on alpaca fiber. After all, that's what got me into this thing to begin with. Before alpacas I had all but lost all intrest in knitting. You know, I hadn't knit in nearly 30 years. Yikes! But then came that fateful day that I bought an alpaca and the addiction was begun. It's like any addiction really. All it takes is one drink, one roll of the dice, one toke, one alpaca fleece and you're hooked. But I discovered something else along the way. I also like wool. Believe me when I say that I have always been a hater of the wool. It's too scratchy and hot. That was before I attended my first fiber festival and found that there is actually wool out there that is much less scratchy than anything I had ever been exposed to before. I actually enjoy knitting with it and spinning it. Then came merino and silk blends. What a dream to spin. I am officially addicted to all natural fibers. So, how does someone that favors alpaca to other natural fibers and raises alpacas on her own farm justify all the blogging about wool? Well after my little tantrum that resulted in the deletion of my blog I realized that I don't have to justify it. Whether it's alpaca or wool it's all good. It all comes off of wonderful animals that give joy to the people that lovingly raise them and faithfully shear them each year. We all put our hearts and souls into a product that gives joy to others. So on this blog you will see projects made with fiber from my very own alpacas, wool that I buy and spin from festivals, and even yarn that I buy from my LYS or over the internet. I do this knowing that somewhere out there someone else has put their heart and soul into this product so that I and others like me could derive joy from it. I'm back in my happy place now.