Hard, No Brainer Decisions

That sounds like an oxymoron right? In this case, it is true.

Another fiber friend, who is also an animal fanatic, was interested in some of our alpacas. So, yesterday before the weather turned to rain and the snow to slush, we trailered six alpacas to Beth's farm. Star, Luna, Fiona, Ladybelle, Creme, and Cassidy are all living with Beth in her cozy barn with a litter of potbellied pigs, geese, ducks, bunnies and chickens. She has a nice barn setup and everyone has their own portion of the barn and the alpacas have access to outside.

No Brainer because she obviously will provide them a good home (she was calling them her babies before we left), but hard because I have a great attachment to them. No Brainer because it eases the barn space and leaves that much more food to go around; hard because I will miss Creme's big eyes, Ladybelle's elegant self, Star's bumbling blindness, Luna watching out for her mother Star, Fiona'a inquisitiveness, and Cassidy's funny face. Cassidy was separated from her 18 month cria Poppy which was also hard to do but better for Cassidy because Poppy was still demanding to nurse. A no Brainer because if it doesn't work out at her place for any reason they will come back here.

So what woolies are we left with you ask? A mere 13 alpacas, 2 llamas, 2 Babydoll sheep, and 25 Shetland Sheep. So we are not lacking for fiber here at all! I still feel a but sad though. :(

 

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Winter is Coming.....Knit Faster!

Forty four rounds and fourteen days left to complete Dickson... I'm going to make it I think!

I've discovered I'm a cable knitting fanatic!

Twelvish inches of snow on the ground at the farm. I worked last weekend at the Mackinac Bridge deer check station and while there it snowed twenty inches! And it is only November....(whimper whimper). Many people have much much more so I will try not to whine too much (or will at least keep it to myself).

 

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It's B-aaa-c-k.....

 

When Caol Ila and I had our picture taken last week, it was a cool but gloriously sunny day....

Now we have five or so inches of this crusty, crunchy white stuff. We lost power around seven last night but it came on around five this morning which was pleasant. This years lambs seem a bit confused and dismayed by the snow but are quickly adapting, because what else are they going to do? I, on the other hand, feel like rebelling already and it just started....not a good sign.

So while the weather isn't overly pleasant, spending time indoors will be pleasantly productive. Spinning;

And knitting my first skirt. A saucy little cabled number called "Dickson".

I'm in love with it already! She is being knit up in Shepherd's Wool worsted weight merino on the color way Granite. Completion goal is my birthday. 70 rows to go! I think I can do it because it is complicated enough to make it fun but not so complicated to make it frustrating. :)

 

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Missing Mojo

No, Mojo is not another animal on the farm....no new animal deaths in the past few weeks....the psyche can't take any more! The missing Mojo is mine. I haven't felt overly inspired to do any blogging as of late....not because stuff isn't happening but rather just a busy time both at home and work that has left me rather exhausted.

So playing catch up: I finished my Allegro cardigan in Shepherd's Wool dark plum. I learned a lot whilst making the many mistakes knitting this piece. One is not to assume that knitting instructions are all inclusive. For example, one should not assume when a pattern says to "bind off" that you can bind of any old way you'd like too. My cardigan needed a stretchy bind off....but the instructions did not tell me this and I did not have the knitting experience to know this intuitively. I knit the shawl collar twice before asking for some help from an experienced knitter. I found this frustrating and put the bloody thing away for a month out of disgust and moved on to a new project; a knit along on Yarns at Yinhoo.

I knit a shawl called "Moon Oh Moon" in a little over a month. The yarn I bought from Halcyon Yarn when we were in Maine for Josie's memorial service. It is a fingering merino and hand dyed with Indigo on Swan's Island Maine. The contrasting trim was yarn from Josie's stash. Modeled by my favorite girl!

This was my first lace knitting project and I'm pleased the way it turned out. Finishing this did give me the confidence to finish that bloody sweater! I then moved on to knitting a chevron lace and cable hat in that same plum color to use up the leftover yarn. I learned about lace knitting lifelines in this project and what a pain in the bum it is to un-knit lace and cable patterns. I found out I really like knitting cables, so now I'm working on a pair of cabled mittens in the same yarn. Meantime....I'm working on spinning some yarn I owe to folks for their CSA shares. I'm fitting the knitting into the spare moments and taking that to work for something to do at lunch. I'd love to take some sunny out door photos but...alas, sadly no sun.

The animals are all well. We brought the alpacas home a couple of weeks ago so everyone is all in one spot again which make doing chores much easier. We will be moving the fat Wethers to the front paddock so they don't hog all the food this winter. They were repulsively overweight at shearing this year! The new chicks are just about the size of bantams now so I'm hoping we can get them moved into the coop with the rest of the fowl before the snow flies. I will take some updates pics of them this afternoon. Highs in the mid 30's....whoopee.

We did get some cider pressed this year, just last weekend at Dougette's. It turned out to be quite the party!

The guests of honor

There were some beers consumed along with the cider.

Doug, Gail and Rachel

Filtering the cider (my job).

 

Recognize the table base? Yooper construction.

Lila spent some time carving a sling shot.

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The safety glasses are a fashion statement.

We brought home 7 gallons of cider for the freezer and all of the pomace (spent ground apples) for the woolies who were quite pleased!

Halloween was a non-event...Lila was off at a friends house trick or treating and our usual visit to Dougette's didn't happen so we just went to the community center with the boys to the womens club party and then hit a few houses in town. The power was out when we got home, but came on shortly thereafter. Will and I shared a bottle of hard cider and I fell asleep watching the Big Bang theory after the boys went to bed. I'm such a party girl. ;)

 

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