Friday, December 30, 2022

Here a Sheep, There a Sheep

Here's circling back to my Coast to Coast Walk for a few posts as the year ends! Old Mac Donald was most likely a sheep farmer, from what I could tell. The abundance of sheep on this trip was a constant delight to encounter. On the train, so many sheep on pastures the further north we rode. Sheep in St. Bees on the way to the hotel.

Sheep on the beach and sheep with the best views of the land and sea. The animals seem very engrossed in their non-stop meals, I'm not sure they are noticing. 


I personally noticed that very few sheep had been sheared so far. Our alpacas need to be sheared by early June if you don't want to deal with animal heat stroke, but northern England is indeed much further north than central Indiana and still quite chilly. Shearing usually happens in July up here. It was super windy on top of that plateau and I was glad I had my jacket on to keep from freezing despite the mild day. 

I loved how many sheep breeds we passed. The brown and grey ones below are particularly interesting and adorable. They are Herdwick, and they can survive the fell landscape by only eating forage without other food supplements. The brown animals are lambs or very young sheep while the grey ones are a few years old. They turn from brown-black to grey as they mature. Beatrix Potter had a flock of Herdwicks on her many farms and was instrumental in helping the breed survive.




Sheep enjoyed the landscape around abandoned monasteries...

The barren landscape and lack of trees (partly a side-effect of grazing sheep) makes it necessary to build fences with stones. These stone fences were everywhere, well-maintained, and thick. There were often stone barns and shelters as well. 

Oooops, these aren't sheep; they're alpacas! But since they were the only ones I saw during the entire trip, I decided to give them some room on the blog!

These guys really wanted to get out, or get our attention, or both. Lots of noise from this crew are we passed by!



The other sheep breed that was prolific was Swaledale, where the adult animals have beautiful round horns. The town of Swaledale was also near the walk. Above is a great example of the many stone fences that divide the landscape into pastures. 


Finally, this sheep seems to know that there are no real lions who live in the English mountains or on the moors, so might as well catch a snack on the hotel lawn. The employees were half-heartedly trying to get this sheep to leave, but it was quite happy and persistent. 
I hope you enjoyed looking at a few of the hundreds of sheep that I saw! I decided to spare you the knick knack collections that these animals inspired. There was endless kitsch in every little tourist shop. 


 

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Alpaca Sundries

Let’s be honest: I am posting tonight so I don’t lose my monthly posting streak. But aside from that, it has been a fun month for the alpacas. Mostly great weather has resulted in additional late-season pasture snacks. 

A special visitor stopped by to dispense some grain goodness. The visitor was adamant about fairness as you can see by the cane holding off the greedy one! Moonstar is getting more aggressive in her old age.

We enjoyed the first snow on The Farmer’s birthday. Several inches accumulated and stayed on the ground, meaning that we can start eating baked apples. It’s an old family tradition.

Finally, we’re excited to donate two skeins of yarn to our local youth orchestra for their silent auction on December 11th! Message me for details.


Here’s wishing all of you a joyous holiday season. Lots of concerts for me, followed by some time with family. Till soon!

 

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Shady Grove Crochet

A few years ago, my husband’s colleague inquired about our Shady Grove Alpaca yarn. As she crochets, I really wanted to gift her some yarn to see how it works up. I had no samples and no idea what it would look like. But I procrastinated the gift until I saw her at a fiber fair this past spring. She was so delighted to try it and crocheted up this beautiful cowl.

The pattern is the free Seaside Continuous Scarf by Souma Crochet, and it sure makes the yarn show off! The yarn weight is DK in Bella (Brown) and Moonstar (cream). I might want to learn how to crochet now as I think the look is stunning! 


Thanks for a great partnership! And Happy Crocheting!!


 

Friday, October 14, 2022

Reason to Finish

In Fall 2019, arguably one of the busiest in my life, I ran to the yarn store with the false hope that I would have time to knit three children a sweater for Christmas. I did make a good start, but alas, none of the sweaters made it to the finish line before the holiday. The first vest was finished in June of 2020 and barely fit its recipient. By that time, it was obvious to me that this sweater was also going to be too small for the next intended boy. So I let the WIP molder in the closet.

Fast forward to this past summer, when the same family announced the arrival of yet another boy, Nephew #10. The sweater was finished in two afternoons of excitement! He was born on September 21, and should be getting his sweater today, just in time to dress up as a cosy little pumpkin!


And I am quite aware that I still owe Nephew #9 AND Niece #8 a little sweater. They will be a medium sized sweaters by the time I finish…


The pattern is Story Time Scholar by Lisa Cheney. Here is the ravelry link.

Enjoy Fall and stay toasty!

Friday, September 2, 2022

Orange Creamsicle Hat

After finishing the Artesian shawl and another project in short succession, I was really excited to get another project “on the needles.”


Enter: vacation yarn from Swaledale sheep! I decided to use both of my England yarns knit together. I had just knit a swatch for another project in seed stitch and thought it looked fun for a hat. I cast on an odd number (81) using size 5 needles and off I went.

When I ran out of the orange yarn, I was able to split the white yarn and knit with 1.5 thickness. It worked well. I started five decreases per round and stayed in pattern as best I could. When twelve stitches were left, I finished with the tapestry needle.

My niece was nice enough to model it, but the intended recipient was my sister-in-law. Her favorite color is orange, and she had been extra sweet last year at the holidays. 


Sadly, life shifted back to high energy busy-ness shortly after finishing, and my knitting has been taking a short hiatus in the last month. Hopefully the weather turns cooler soon, and life settles into a routine as well. Happy Back to School to all who are going back this fall!

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Travel Knitting

Picking the right knitting is so important for successful travel. I was delighted to find Romi Hill’s Artesian Shawl about a week before leaving for Europe this summer. 


This particular shawl only uses one skein of sock yarn. I immediately remembered a very interesting skein that has real silver in the fiber. I was almost certain I would never use it. Small project, lots of interest.


This project would have been enough for the whole trip (especially since I did some yarn shopping; see previous post). But of course I also brought a whole sweater’s worth of yarn “just in case!”


There was lots of knitting in public. Knit In Public Day landed on my rest day in Grasmere, England. But as you might imagine, taking selfies while knitting is tricky. So instead I got caught knitting after dinner in the Aquavit on the boat on the Danube.


Most importantly, I found a happy recipient for it. My mother-in-law was admiring the knit-in-progress the entire cruise. So I gave it to her on her birthday!

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Yarn Haul

Vacation yarn souvenirs are some of my favorite items to collect. I had some excellent adventures this summer, but it so happened that I was also able to sneak in an impromptu pilgrimage to a yarn store that I have admired for a few years. Let’s all dreamily stare at the front window of Stephen and Penelope Fine Yarns in Amsterdam!

More importantly, let’s admire the vast and gorgeous yarn selection! I spent several hours on two different days drooling here. Don’t worry, I swallowed the drool!

I eventually chose some skeins from this section of the store. Have I mentioned that I am a fan of orange?

I really like this wooden display holders and think I will try to make a few for the day that I start selling Shady Grove Alpaca yarn at fiber fairs…

Violá! Three coordinating skeins in orange plus a branded project knitting bag to keep them safe. Watch out for those crazy bicycles in Amsterdam!!

Prior to Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to visit England and purchased some Swaledale sheep yarn (white) and some sock yarn dyed in the same neighborhood. More on the sheep of England in an upcoming post.

Final picture of entire yarn collection, including four skeins of sock yarn that I purchased at the request of my parental unit. It’s her favorite, and it came in some lovely colors!

And finally, some fiber whimsy brought to you by local knitting and sewing artists who decorated this bridge in the town of Melk, Austria. More on that trip in a later post as well!







Stay safe and happy knitting! 🧶 

 

Monday, June 13, 2022

And So It Begins

I’m not sure how to tell this story. The Coast to Coast hike is one of the most diverse and mentally engaging hiking experiences so far, and there are many angles to the trip. 

Very close to the hotel is the marker for the beginning. The walk is not nationally recognized, which means there is no one correct path. There is also limited signage as a result. A map is crucial, and I have all the maps digitally available offline on the Gaia app. The satellite shows you exactly where you are and has saved us from making significant mistakes.


Before starting, it is the custom to dip your toe into the Irish Sea and select a small rock to carry to the North Sea. I picked a small white rock with some gray layers.


We have 190 miles to go! Since we’ve had to do a little backtracking already, I’m going wager that we will add a few extra miles to this number.


Ancient cliffs, looking back at the trail and forward on St Bees Head, the first section of the trail.


Many interesting birds live and breed on these cliffs this time of year. Most of the birds in the video are guillemots, but there were also plenty of the endangered herring gulls.




Every lighthouse should come with a set of cows! This is farm country, and livestock is seen everywhere. The next few photos show how many different types of paths the trail uses. Sometimes you walk through a field, on a country lane, through a town next to someone’s amazing gardens, actual hiking trails, logging access roads, a city walking path.










We made it to the top of the first summit, Dent. It was a pleasant climb to get started. We also had a decent view of some other cities, including Sellafield, a nuclear facility. THIS is the scarier article, if you want to go down this rabbit hole.



We met several other Coast to Coast walkers in the last section and enjoyed some good conversation. People are very friendly and there is a sense of community on the trail as our paths cross over time.


This concludes the first day’s views! I thought I would lump several days together, but it seems like this is a good place to stop. Each day ends in civilization, and I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a bed, shower, and yummy dinner waiting for you at end of each long hike!