Sunday, February 24, 2013

Alpaca Update

It's been a while since the alpacas have been featured, so here are some "candids" from this afternoon. Hanging out: Greta, Moonstar, Tenny and Leven. Leven is now 5.5 months old.  

Leven often has one stray piece of hay hanging from his mouth! Looks like a country lad from days gone.  

Getting ready for show season with a nice pose: I am the best. Please look no further... (Ahem... Don't get ahead of yourself there, big guy!)
   

Cassidy is a Momma's girl, always hiding behind Bella. And acting like a bully already too. More food please, or else.
   

Cassidy is really growing up. She is just over 7 months old and looking very big. 

Cassidy gives great kisses and is always curious and comes right up to investigate. She often has her neck hanging way outside of the fencing sniffing something or someone on the other side!  

Dark Star is still looking regal. Loves a good roll in the hay. And dust baths. In spite of the fact that we nearly eliminated dust in his pen. He finds a way to roll in some no matter what.  

Another "ready to show" shot. I don't think there is much hope for his fiber though. We will probably have to shave him before the show.
   

 This scene greeted me when I opened the nesting box this afternoon. Our chickens are busily laying eggs at the rate of 1-2 a day. Heinrich's (the brown one) are HUGE - between 75-80 grams per egg!! Athena's are small and such a pretty color, slightly pink and creamy. Both are delicious! Which reminds me: it's time for dinner!
 

Saturday, February 9, 2013

A Few Lucys

A few months ago, a new friend of mine and I got together for a knitting lesson. She picked up the skill like a natural! We also spent time nosing around ravelry, trying to get her signed up and then searching for patterns. The Lucy Hat popped up and we both kind of melted. She loves accessories like hats and scarves. She was planning on knitting it sometime in the future. I ran to the yarn store the very next day!
I decided that she needed to have the resulting hat. (Her first project was moving along slower than she anticipated.) I finished it a few hours before we had a planned get-together in early January. It just started snowing again right as I finished it, so I popped outside to get a few pictures. (Ravelry notes here.)
(I'm still waiting for her to get me some pictures of her wearing it, so many apologies for my modeling.)
She loved it! And was thrilled that someone outside of her family had made her a hand-made gift! Win! Win! She wore the lovely hat all evening. As I looked at her the entire time, I really wanted a Lucy Hat too. So when I got home, I weighed the remaining yarn and determined that I could make my own, provided I knit a wider brim.
Ravelry notes on the second hat are found here.
Switching the upturned brim from side to side according to the whim of the day.
Today was a beautiful day. It was spinning day at Hoosier Heartland Alpacas. Last month I visited them for the monthly spinning group meeting and had the best time crafting in the alpaca barn with a lot of other spinners and knitters. However, since the weather was amazing and The Farmer is off traveling, I had to stay home and scoop poop instead...
But last month, I got to meet everyone. This is Lucy, the dog. She was helping me knit the Lucy hat in between being petted.
Here are some of their amazing female alpacas enjoying their hay.
And a beautiful male. The set-up at the farm was just perfect! So inspiring to see. Can't wait to go visit again - hopefully next month.
Here's to these, and all the rest of the Lucy's in my life! ;-)