Help in the Pasture

I've been waiting for some rain to soften up the ground so that I can pop out some more burrs in the little boys' pasture. We have had 5 1/2 inches in the last couple of days. My ground is mostly clay so you can imagine how hard it is without moisture. Today seemed the perfect day to finish up. It always surprises me how little time my chores take once I get at them. Finished the entire pasture in less than two hours.
I'm glad that I had my camera in my pocket so that I can share the pictures of my helpers. On the left ↓ is little JR with his best friend, Snickers.


Slammie (Orion) was there to help also ↓

I think that I have become quite the pro at thistle removal. If they are little I can just slide my shovel under, loosen the roots, and pull them out by the roots. Of course, I wear my thickest leather gloves 'cause those babies are sharp. If they have grown tall, I push the top down and hold it with my foot, then take my "sharp" shovel and whack it at ground level.
Here's the hat that I just finished knitting and put in my Etsy Store.

Bye Bye Poop

I just went out on the deck to take pictures of Hedda and the hat that I just finished ↓ and look who's here with their tractor. That's Ben and his dad, Dave, here to haul off my winter's worth of alpaca and horse manure. ♪♫♪ EEE HAW ♫♪♫ I'll bet they just went home to get their skid loader. See, I'm telling all of you that life is good and those worrisome things will get taken care of. Aren't I so fortunate to have friends to help me out? I'm reasonably sure that he won't ever see this post, but Thank You, Ben - again and again - for all the things that you quietly do to make my life so complete.

And here's Hedda on a post of my deck posing for an addition to my Etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23614025. I do enjoy knitting hats and they sell well around Christmas. The fall that I quit smoking, let's see, 3 years ago, I think, every time that I wanted to pick up a cigarette, I would pick up my knitting needles instead. I think I made about 30 hats in September and October.

Custom Alpaca Hat

Sara from northern Illinois liked the pattern on this brown hat and asked me if I could make her one in grays. Of course, says I, frantically trying to remember what I did. I seldom do the same thing twice and don't write it down. Fortunately the hat hadn't sold so I was able to look at it. Super easy - Cast on about 75 on size 4 needles, knit for a while, switch colors and to a size 7 needle. Knit for 5 rows and then 1 row of purl . Repeat until desired height. Do some decreasing then yarn overs every 4 or 5 stitches to make holes for the tie. Knit garter stitch for a couple more inches and bind off. Make an I Cord to match the border.
Unfortunately I didn't have any gray yarn so I spun up a couple ounces from Reggie, a herd sire owned by Sharon Winsauer and the Kuklas in Jackson. That's the handsome guy pictured above. I also spun about an ounce that I added black to as I spun for the trim on the hat.

So, this is what I came up with. I will go list it in my shop now and send Sara a note that it is finished.

It's here if you want to see it in my Etsy shop - just click →. PonyTail/BigHair Hat

Cold Weather is Here

Christina from Texas bought one of my Moebius scarves and in our conversations, she suggested that I design a winter hat that would accomodate lots of hair. This is what I came up with and listed it in my shop - here
Right now I'm finishing up another in a plain stockinette stitch using a natural brown alpaca/merino blend.

Chores this a.m. were a little brisk. The temp on my thermometer was zero but the television news is saying that it's 12 and 14 below zero. The temperature in the barn was 15, which doesn't seem too bad. I left the horses in and rewatered them because their water had frozen. The alpacas all have heated water. I opened the alpaca doors, but they don't seem to want to venture out. I will go back and check everyone about 10, and maybe kick the horses out. I think it's healthier for them to be outside than shut in their box stalls.

Hats, Hats, and more Hats

For some reason I'm on a really, really big hat making kick. I'm averaging one every two days. I don't quite get this side of me. It's a little compulsive - like when I was making the Mobius Scarves. I can't wait to finish one so that I can get started on another. These are my own designs but I'm sure that I picked up the patterns somewhere in my past. Hopefully, I'm not really copying anyone. ♥ ♥ Remember, you can click to enlarge.

Etsy has really screwed up big time. They were adding new servers and somehow hundreds of us could not access Etsy. I wasn't able to get on from Friday afternoon until a couple of hours ago. Our provider, Casair in Stanton, MI, did some finagling for me this afternoon so that I could get in to my shop. Lots of bad feelings, negative energy over there so I'm staying away for a while. I just hope that no one tried to convo or buy from me in that time.

Renee and Magnolia

This delightful little hat is from white Magnolia's fiber that I handdyed and spun. It's created and knitted by Renee from Madison, Wisconsin, (solmama on Ravelry) (graymama on Etsy). I know that I've said it before, but it's so much fun to see where and how our fiber ends up.

Renee's Alpaca Hat

This is the handsome, light fawn Beau who used to stay with my dear, dear friend Marianne who lives down in Nashville, MI. He is now cheerfully being a herd sire, studly guy that he is.... I used his fiber to make the yarn for this hat.

Renee from Madison, Wisconsin knitted this dear little hat this month. Actually I could use it this morning. The wind is just a howling out there and our thermometer reads 32 degrees. Oh, woe is me - the barn critters need their breakfast and poop needs to be moved.

SPRING is coming, Spring IS coming....

Renee bought the 122 yard skein of yarn that I hand dyed in roving form and then spun up. She used US size 8 needles to knit her hat. More of her work can be seen on Ravelry.

☼

I enjoy so much seeing my yarn make the complete circle from the fiber of my alpaca friends to a usable finished product of my fiber friends.

Awesome Crochet Hat

Isn't this just the cutest hat imaginable? Monica from Cortland, Ohio, had always used synthetic wool for her crocheting and wanted to try natural. She purchased this yarn that I spun as one strand of dark fawn, Polaris, our herd sire, and one strand of light fawn, Celeste, our goofball alpaca. Her Etsy shop is OhioCrochetLady. Be sure and take a look at her super crochet creations.

Glittery Alpaca Hat

This is a little, well, not really little, hat that I just finished. I don't really consider myself a knitter. I'm a Spinner and knit when I need a break from my wheel, or we are going somewhere in the car. Since I'm a restless passenger, knitting makes travel tolerable (nice alliteration, Maple)
This hat was mostly left over yarn. When I 2 ply (put two spindles of singles together going the opposite direction), I will frequently have a little of one spindle left over. Even though I weigh two equal piles of roving, it's almost impossible to have them come out perfectly. So as not to waste those yards of singles, I do one of two things. I might Navaho Ply it which is using the 1 single to get a 3 ply yarn, sort of like finger crocheting. Or I might ply it with some glitter thread that I got from ThreadBear in Lansing. (They are really nice. I just called them and they mailed some to me.)
I used those glittery leftovers and knit them along with a brownish handspun yarn that I spun up quite a while ago. If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it to see the glitter.
The pattern on the bottom is that simple, fake cable stitch. I had intended to knit the pattern to the top, but somewhere made a mistake and just did the ribbing so that the mistake wouldn't show. I can't tear out, unknit, tink, or whatever you guys call it. If I can't find a way to keep going, I have to start all over. Well, at least I think I do.

Jocelyn's Green Alpaca Hat

Jocelyn just listed this darling hat in her newly established Etsy shop. I met Jocelyn last year when she was in Germany and she ordered some yarn from me. I think she does something with law (an attorney, maybe?) for the military. She's now back in the States. Jocelyn is one of those cyber friends that folks feel a special connection with - and she loves her dog so she has to be a terrific person.
♥
This hat is from yarn from our white alpaca, Pollux, that I hand dyed. So go visit her shop and keep a close eye on it because she is a beautiful knitter.

Between Christmas and New Year's Day......

This is a custom hat that I just finished for Anna in Texas. She and I have had a great time communicating about its creation. Anna said to make it tall so that we can be sure that it covers her ears. I had my daughter Terre, who has a rather large head try it on and it almost covers her eyes, as well as her ears. Anna wanted it 10 inches tall, but I stopped at 9. I spun the brown and white by holding the two colors next to each other to create this nice blend, and then double stranded it while knitting. The top blending is Luke and Celeste, and the bottom is Sonata.
☼
My daughter bugged me today about updating this blog. Yea! I didn't think that she even read me. And she says the other daughter does also.
☼
Tomorrow is the end of our holiday celebrations. All three of my kids will be here, our son-in-law, and the two granddaughters. Son, Rob, has been here since Wednesday and will be going back to Pennsylvania on Monday. I am so blessed to have them want to come home.

Jocelyn's Green Alpaca Hat

Jocelyn's Hat

Way back in March Jocelyn was living in Germany. She and her husband were there for about 6 years with a year's detour in Iraq. Germany is where I sent her first two or three yarn purchases. She's back in the States now - Alexandria, Virginia. About the end of August Jocelyn purchased this green yarn that I dyed from Pollux's white fiber. I remember feeling odd dyeing it because even though I love green, I avoid it. I don't even have green dyes and made this from yellow and blue.

I am so pleased that Jocelyn sent me this picture to show you. It's really nice, isn't it? Very unique. There is something very satisfying to see how my yarns end up. It's the mini version of seeing your kids graduate from college......