Sunday, May 13, 2012
Shearing Day
After 13 months of growing their fiber, it was shearing day for the alpacas today. Instead of traveling to another farm like last year, a young shearing team came to us. They set up their athletic mat in the barn, strategically placing chains, ropes and pulleys around some of the posts. Then the animal's feet were secured and it was lain on its side.
A classic game of "locate the head" ensues. Moonstar starts the action.
Moonstar was not a fan of the procedure. She made a high-pitched crying sound throughout. I felt terrible, but The Farmer had a grain treat waiting for her.
First cut into the "blanket." One reason Moonstar was not too happy: her fleece is so long and thick and a little matted. The man shearing really needed to pull the fiber apart to get started. I'm sure it felt like rough combing through tangled hair.
Unbelievable mass of fiber. Her total weight loss via hair cut was 7.7 pounds!
Greta takes a turn.
Bella cannot stop spitting so she had to have a towel on her mouth. Several men had a lot of green stuff on them... The shearing team also trims the toenails and makes sure the teeth are the correct length. Bella needed a little teeth trimming, which she took with a surprising amount of understanding.
The final result: Far Side Cartoon #2
Good news about Dark Star's fleece! He has been taking dirt baths and getting a lot of straw in his fiber. It looked like it had gotten weak and broken. However, such was not the case. Everything was perfectly normal and he just needs a little hosing off and getting the hay picked out before showing. Hooray!
And now, we have 18 pounds of fresh fiber to process... On top of the 12 pounds of fiber from last year. Who's coming to help??
Saturday, March 31, 2012
2012 Garden Journal #3
This was my view from the driveway last Tuesday! Glorious bulbs, plum and crab apple tree in full bloom.
Busy Bee on plum blossoms
I have done almost nothing except admire Spring's progress in the last two weeks. My one major development was putting up some stakes and putting some bird netting other it to protect this garden from the giant rabbits. This is last week's growth.
This is how much the peas and mesclun grew in a week: (Time to do some thinning...
Progress of apple blossoms over the last week:
Today the daffodils are already finished, BUT do you see the abundance of salad greens that re-seeded themselves? Some of the seeds waited for spring after all. I am excited for upcoming salads!
The gooseberry shrubs are blooming, and surrounded by beautiful yellow flowers. I will have to look up the name of that plant... We had a frost scare on Monday night. I covered the peas with floating row cover, but not completely, and one of the gooseberry shrubs with some plastic. Either the protection worked well, or it did not get cold enough to do damage. I left too early in the morning to assess frost on the ground. I'm sure we will have more of these adventures in the coming weeks.
Joining up with Ginny again today! Thanks Ginny!
Busy Bee on plum blossoms
I have done almost nothing except admire Spring's progress in the last two weeks. My one major development was putting up some stakes and putting some bird netting other it to protect this garden from the giant rabbits. This is last week's growth.
This is how much the peas and mesclun grew in a week: (Time to do some thinning...
Progress of apple blossoms over the last week:
Today the daffodils are already finished, BUT do you see the abundance of salad greens that re-seeded themselves? Some of the seeds waited for spring after all. I am excited for upcoming salads!
The gooseberry shrubs are blooming, and surrounded by beautiful yellow flowers. I will have to look up the name of that plant... We had a frost scare on Monday night. I covered the peas with floating row cover, but not completely, and one of the gooseberry shrubs with some plastic. Either the protection worked well, or it did not get cold enough to do damage. I left too early in the morning to assess frost on the ground. I'm sure we will have more of these adventures in the coming weeks.
Joining up with Ginny again today! Thanks Ginny!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wayfarer Scarves
"Sit awhile wayfarer,
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,
But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes I will certainly kiss you with my goodbye kiss and open the gate for your egress hence."
From Leaves of Grass: Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman is a genius. I could not have chosen better words for the friend I made these scarves for. We were roommates long ago. Even before then we shared a love for great home baked bread (consumed late at night), visiting, and long walks (known also as Hiking). Now she shares these scarves, these "sweet clothes," with her new husband.
The happy couple got married on my birthday last year. I started the scarves late, finished even later, and FINALLY, here is the concluding blog post. WHEW!! Introducing the completed matching Wayfarer Scarf set.
The other genius in this story is Jared Flood, the author of this charming Wayfarer pattern. I always learn something new when I try one of his patterns, and this scarf was no different. How about those long columns of slipped stitches as they wander left and right down the scarf? Beautiful results and enough variation to hold one's interest over many feet of otherwise monotonous knitting is such a bonus.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the sweet generosity of a friend whom I haven't met thus far, but none the less donated a massive amount of beautifully hand spun yarn to my stash. Thanks, A.C.!
The Details: #1, Brown
Pattern: Wayfarer Scarf by BrooklynTweed
Yarn: Handspun yarn by A. C. from a Romney sheep named Helga
Colorway: Brown, natural
Needles: Size 8
Started: July 6, 2011
Finished: August 5, 2011
Notes: Great plane and camping knitting. Many inches knitted in the Pacific Northwest while enjoying the temperate rain forest.
The Details: #2, Gray
Pattern: Wayfarer Scarf by BrooklynTweed
Yarn: Handspun yarn by A. C. from a Copworth sheep named Norman
Colorway: Gray, natural
Needles: Size 8
Started: September 9, 2011
Finished: January 2, 2012
Of course I couldn't resist packing them up in a little hand sewn, reversible, re-usable gift bag.
Here's a toast to "Happily Ever After!" Cheers!
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,
But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes I will certainly kiss you with my goodbye kiss and open the gate for your egress hence."
From Leaves of Grass: Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman is a genius. I could not have chosen better words for the friend I made these scarves for. We were roommates long ago. Even before then we shared a love for great home baked bread (consumed late at night), visiting, and long walks (known also as Hiking). Now she shares these scarves, these "sweet clothes," with her new husband.
The happy couple got married on my birthday last year. I started the scarves late, finished even later, and FINALLY, here is the concluding blog post. WHEW!! Introducing the completed matching Wayfarer Scarf set.
The other genius in this story is Jared Flood, the author of this charming Wayfarer pattern. I always learn something new when I try one of his patterns, and this scarf was no different. How about those long columns of slipped stitches as they wander left and right down the scarf? Beautiful results and enough variation to hold one's interest over many feet of otherwise monotonous knitting is such a bonus.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the sweet generosity of a friend whom I haven't met thus far, but none the less donated a massive amount of beautifully hand spun yarn to my stash. Thanks, A.C.!
The Details: #1, Brown
Pattern: Wayfarer Scarf by BrooklynTweed
Yarn: Handspun yarn by A. C. from a Romney sheep named Helga
Colorway: Brown, natural
Needles: Size 8
Started: July 6, 2011
Finished: August 5, 2011
Notes: Great plane and camping knitting. Many inches knitted in the Pacific Northwest while enjoying the temperate rain forest.
The Details: #2, Gray
Pattern: Wayfarer Scarf by BrooklynTweed
Yarn: Handspun yarn by A. C. from a Copworth sheep named Norman
Colorway: Gray, natural
Needles: Size 8
Started: September 9, 2011
Finished: January 2, 2012
Of course I couldn't resist packing them up in a little hand sewn, reversible, re-usable gift bag.
Here's a toast to "Happily Ever After!" Cheers!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
2012 Garden Journal #2
Signs of life are surging through my garden and yard. It looks like parts of the lawn already needs mowing. The gooseberries (below) are starting to show leaf, as are plum and apple trees.
Pretty bulbs are sprouting in all the usual spots. I also noticed lots of little seed sprouts in this bed. I am hoping for lettuce that re-seeded itself, but I fear that the marigolds also re-seeded themselves. Some lettuce came up last Fall after the rains, so those seeds may be gone already.
Here are some notes, observations, and photos from a few other days I spent in the yard.
3/7 Radishes appeared; Raked leaves around apple tree and put in raised bed
3/10 - Hauled old hay/straw from barn to garden. Contemplating potato patch, or more serious composting.
3/11 - planted peas and mesclun mix in raised bed that also has strawberry plants. Saw giant (pregnant??) rabbit and fear that without protection, this product will not survive to maturity.
3/15 - harvested the rest of the mache (it was beginning to shoot) and turnips; Mesclun mix is sprouting!
3/17 - no gardening done today, but the peas are also showing signs of life
Joining up with Ginny today.
Pretty bulbs are sprouting in all the usual spots. I also noticed lots of little seed sprouts in this bed. I am hoping for lettuce that re-seeded itself, but I fear that the marigolds also re-seeded themselves. Some lettuce came up last Fall after the rains, so those seeds may be gone already.
Here are some notes, observations, and photos from a few other days I spent in the yard.
3/7 Radishes appeared; Raked leaves around apple tree and put in raised bed
3/10 - Hauled old hay/straw from barn to garden. Contemplating potato patch, or more serious composting.
3/11 - planted peas and mesclun mix in raised bed that also has strawberry plants. Saw giant (pregnant??) rabbit and fear that without protection, this product will not survive to maturity.
3/15 - harvested the rest of the mache (it was beginning to shoot) and turnips; Mesclun mix is sprouting!
3/17 - no gardening done today, but the peas are also showing signs of life
Joining up with Ginny today.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sweater Surgery
Last summer, a friend of mine asked me to fix some of her sweaters that some pesky moths had gotten into. This was a much more challenging project than I anticipated initially.
A very fun sweater made with bulky wool from South America.
I used a lot of duplicate stitch to strengthen the stitches to the left and right of the holes, thus hopefully preventing unraveling. In larger holes I used chain stitch crochet to replace the missing stitches and followed up with some additional duplicate stitch to make it look like knitting again, with varying degrees of success. After washing the sweaters, I found many more weak spots that weren't quite a hole, but that needed reinforcing. Unfortunately, I also found a few more mothy creatures. Yuck! A second wash was necessary.
Made in Iceland with that legendary Icelandic wool. I was so lucky to have matching yarn in my stash, though it was of inferior quality and not at all Icelandic. It blended nicely though!
As we approach summer, here are a few tips that I learned to preserve fine knitting and prevent or limit pests from eating your entire fine line of knits:
1.) Wash sweaters before storing for the summer. Bugs are more likely to be attracted by the dirt than the actual wool, surprising as that may sound.
2.) SOAK or Eucalan wash are my favorite washing products because they don't require any manipulating, which is hard on fine knits. Just fill a small tub with water, add the washing agent, let the garment soak for 45 minutes, drain, and either spin out in a top loading washer or roll garment between towels and squeeze out excess water. Block to dry on a drying rack or sofa/bed/floor on a layer of towels. In a pinch I use Woolite as a handwash, but then you have to rinse the garment several times to get all the suds out.
3.) Store clean knits in a sealed container with some sort of cedar product distributed generously in it. Refresh the cedar with a cedar spray or by sanding the wood lightly to restore the scent every year. I suggest several smaller containers to limit a potential invasion.
4.) Check the clothes one last time before putting them away, noting if they have any holes or weaknesses on a piece of paper stored with the item. When getting the knits out again, compare the notes and check for bugs again.
Enjoy these last days of sweater weather. It is getting nice and warm here, and I am starting to think about washing the woollies and putting them away soon. Awwww...
A very fun sweater made with bulky wool from South America.
I used a lot of duplicate stitch to strengthen the stitches to the left and right of the holes, thus hopefully preventing unraveling. In larger holes I used chain stitch crochet to replace the missing stitches and followed up with some additional duplicate stitch to make it look like knitting again, with varying degrees of success. After washing the sweaters, I found many more weak spots that weren't quite a hole, but that needed reinforcing. Unfortunately, I also found a few more mothy creatures. Yuck! A second wash was necessary.
Made in Iceland with that legendary Icelandic wool. I was so lucky to have matching yarn in my stash, though it was of inferior quality and not at all Icelandic. It blended nicely though!
As we approach summer, here are a few tips that I learned to preserve fine knitting and prevent or limit pests from eating your entire fine line of knits:
1.) Wash sweaters before storing for the summer. Bugs are more likely to be attracted by the dirt than the actual wool, surprising as that may sound.
2.) SOAK or Eucalan wash are my favorite washing products because they don't require any manipulating, which is hard on fine knits. Just fill a small tub with water, add the washing agent, let the garment soak for 45 minutes, drain, and either spin out in a top loading washer or roll garment between towels and squeeze out excess water. Block to dry on a drying rack or sofa/bed/floor on a layer of towels. In a pinch I use Woolite as a handwash, but then you have to rinse the garment several times to get all the suds out.
3.) Store clean knits in a sealed container with some sort of cedar product distributed generously in it. Refresh the cedar with a cedar spray or by sanding the wood lightly to restore the scent every year. I suggest several smaller containers to limit a potential invasion.
4.) Check the clothes one last time before putting them away, noting if they have any holes or weaknesses on a piece of paper stored with the item. When getting the knits out again, compare the notes and check for bugs again.
Enjoy these last days of sweater weather. It is getting nice and warm here, and I am starting to think about washing the woollies and putting them away soon. Awwww...
Saturday, March 3, 2012
2012 Garden Journal #1
There is no better way to keep yourself accountable for amazing garden results if there are potentially many viewers of your adventures. Bringing all of my work to one spot will make looking up what I did so much easier. I am the champion of writing items on small scraps of paper that always get lost or misplaced. Thanks to Ginny for making a linking list for like-minded individuals to share their labors!
This is my "beginning" shot. I have landscaping cloth on several garden beds to keep the feral cats from using it as a toilet. I weighed it down with old milk bottles that still contain (frozen) water from the rain barrel.
I haven't really stopped gardening as I am experimenting with a very primitive cold frame. The plastic on the top got a rip from some ice, so I just covered it up with floating row cover material. The rapid growth of the plants inside is telling me that enough light is indeed entering the cold frame. All the towels around the frame are covering some huge gaps in the plywood. Like I said primitive, but highly effective. Rainwater-filled cat litter containers are holding the plastic and row cover material in place so that the wind doesn't loosen them up.
A view inside the frame. The spinach regrows enough for me to harvest 1-2 dinner salads per week. I pick away leaves from the outside of each plant, allowing the inner leaves to re-grow. Behind the spinach is mache, the world's most delicious green, followed by turnips and carrots, which are both slowing adding bulk to their roots. I planted some radish seeds last Sunday, 2/26, in an empty spot as an experiment when (or if) they might show up.
My bulbs share a bed with some lettuce plants that have existed since last fall with no protection. The lettuce has survived, but has not grown any since fall.
Here is this weekend's harvest! I better go prepare that salad I was planning with dinner.
Best wishes for a productive growing season!
This is my "beginning" shot. I have landscaping cloth on several garden beds to keep the feral cats from using it as a toilet. I weighed it down with old milk bottles that still contain (frozen) water from the rain barrel.
I haven't really stopped gardening as I am experimenting with a very primitive cold frame. The plastic on the top got a rip from some ice, so I just covered it up with floating row cover material. The rapid growth of the plants inside is telling me that enough light is indeed entering the cold frame. All the towels around the frame are covering some huge gaps in the plywood. Like I said primitive, but highly effective. Rainwater-filled cat litter containers are holding the plastic and row cover material in place so that the wind doesn't loosen them up.
A view inside the frame. The spinach regrows enough for me to harvest 1-2 dinner salads per week. I pick away leaves from the outside of each plant, allowing the inner leaves to re-grow. Behind the spinach is mache, the world's most delicious green, followed by turnips and carrots, which are both slowing adding bulk to their roots. I planted some radish seeds last Sunday, 2/26, in an empty spot as an experiment when (or if) they might show up.
My bulbs share a bed with some lettuce plants that have existed since last fall with no protection. The lettuce has survived, but has not grown any since fall.
Here is this weekend's harvest! I better go prepare that salad I was planning with dinner.
Best wishes for a productive growing season!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Finished Sweater, Finished Book
Hello there Wednesday Yarn Along Day! Check out the rest of the action at Small Things today.
I finally finished my godson's Christmas sweater AND managed to get it in the mail to him. Pictures and reviews of the lad were extremely favorable! According to his mom, he is wearing it with everything, including sweatpants!
The Details:
Pattern: Hogwarts Sweater from "Charmed Knits"
Size: Child's Large
Yarn: Encore worsted (my favorite go-to yarn for children)
Colorway: Bluejeans for sweater, Butternut for letter "B"
Needles: Size 8 circulars and DPNs
Started: December 9, 2011
Finished: January 15, 2012 (Very bad Auntie...)
Modifications: I knit the front and back at the same time in the round and then knit back and forth on the front or back when I got to the armholes. I also started the sleeves on the finished top. I just do not like to do any seaming.
I stitched the "B" on the finished sweater. In retrospect, it would been easier to knit it in using the intarsia method. However, I designed the letter myself, and was making modifications as I was stitching, so everything turned out as it should in the end.
I finally finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Relin. Of course I was awed by Greg Mortenson's monumental achievements building schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, but I found his insights of the region during the post 9/11 era priceless. I wish this book were required reading for all of my middle school students. To look at another culture and see how the people yearn for even basic knowledge to help them lead better lives would help them understand that they have it so good here. Even though many of my students live near the poverty line themselves, they have much much more than a rural Pakistani child. They have a free, mandatory education, not to mention supplies, books, running water, roads, busing, and a free and reduced lunch program. We are so lucky.
Till next time!
I finally finished my godson's Christmas sweater AND managed to get it in the mail to him. Pictures and reviews of the lad were extremely favorable! According to his mom, he is wearing it with everything, including sweatpants!
The Details:
Pattern: Hogwarts Sweater from "Charmed Knits"
Size: Child's Large
Yarn: Encore worsted (my favorite go-to yarn for children)
Colorway: Bluejeans for sweater, Butternut for letter "B"
Needles: Size 8 circulars and DPNs
Started: December 9, 2011
Finished: January 15, 2012 (Very bad Auntie...)
Modifications: I knit the front and back at the same time in the round and then knit back and forth on the front or back when I got to the armholes. I also started the sleeves on the finished top. I just do not like to do any seaming.
I stitched the "B" on the finished sweater. In retrospect, it would been easier to knit it in using the intarsia method. However, I designed the letter myself, and was making modifications as I was stitching, so everything turned out as it should in the end.
I finally finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Relin. Of course I was awed by Greg Mortenson's monumental achievements building schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, but I found his insights of the region during the post 9/11 era priceless. I wish this book were required reading for all of my middle school students. To look at another culture and see how the people yearn for even basic knowledge to help them lead better lives would help them understand that they have it so good here. Even though many of my students live near the poverty line themselves, they have much much more than a rural Pakistani child. They have a free, mandatory education, not to mention supplies, books, running water, roads, busing, and a free and reduced lunch program. We are so lucky.
Till next time!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)