Fall on the Farm

We finally got some rain here in the northwest and the grass is growing. I enjoy the new green, and the alpacas are happy to be out munching! What I find strange is to see them eating the ponderosa needles that have fallen!

BMCA Jenna

Jenna is expecting a cria next July. The father is Brown Sugar, another dark brown suri. Don't have a picture of him yet--he is new to Big Meadow Creek Alpacas.

I've been busy knitting lately. I will have a booth at the Moscow Winter Market at the 1912 Building on November 16 and December 14 with lots of new items, many made with alpaca yarn from my own animals.

In the meantime, I have alpaca socks in stock. Two types, both made in the USA.  OUTDOOR ADVENTURE socks have a nice terry lining and are made from 44% alpaca (the balance from microfiber, nylon and lycra) SUPERWARM socks are thicker, with 45% alpaca (acrylic and nylon for the rest). Both types can be machine washed and dried. Go to the online store at the BMCA website: bigmeadowcreekalpacas.com   or if you are in Troy, stop in at Backyard Treasures.

More later!

Spring comes to the Pacific Northwest!

Yes--although we woke to snow two of the last seven days, spring is definitely here! Snow, sun, crocuses, lambs! Weather changes every two hours!! Yes, that's what spring is here. Yesterday, our Friday spinning/knitting/knoshing group met at a Troy farm to visit the spring lambs! Although this picture only shows white, we enjoyed black, brown, black with white starred foreheads and one little tan baby ram, all running around enjoying sunny weather. Baby animals are all so adorable.



In celebration of spring, I finished my latest pair of entrelac socks in a pastel blend that makes me think of Easter baskets. It's made from Plymouth Zino, a blend of wool and nylon, a single-ply that does have a tendency to split if one isn't careful. You can see them on my Ravelry page.



Spring Visitors

Another sign of spring are the visitors that came off and on this week to enjoy my pond--a pair of Canada goose. This was the first week that the pond was water, not ice, and the pair seemed to enjoy stopping by.

Watching grosbeaks at my feeders, too! One friend saw bluebirds back. Last year was the first year I ever saw bluebirds. I had nesting pairs in my two bluebird houses and I have another house to put up. I'm considering raising mealworms to keep them well fed and loving my place! 

And the alpacas are enjoying the spring sun--instead of moving back and forth from feeders to their shelters, they are spending time sitting in the sun and nibbling at the fresh grass coming up.

Promises of warm days and starting the day outside with a cup of coffee!

Spring and Socks and Hats!

Yes, spring does come to Moscow, Idaho, even if much later than usual! And here's proof positive--my finished Annetrelac socks with the daffodils blooming. Actually, I finished them at least a week ago, but I took time to soak them with conditioner since I sure didn't like the feel of that yarn. They did bloom a bit (like the daffodils!!) and they feel much nicer now. I'm going to keep them for myself and show them off with my summer sandals (yes summer will also come--and usually, quite quickly!). The toes are different colors--one is turquoise and the other purple--I normally work like the devil to get both socks to match exactly, but with this Noro sock yarn, it was impossible! But I think they're pretty cool anyway!

I did start and finish my first Fair Isle sock--alpaca yarn with an Egyptian cotton quilting thread knit into the foot. So very soft. I used only 60 inches, and the Fair Isle tightened up the leg of the sock, so they may not fit me. But I did "pick" the green yarn, holding it in my left hand, and throw the beige with my right. Sometimes, I had to untwist the green, so I have some way to go to perfect my two-color knitting.

The second Fair Isle sock went into hiatus as I worked on this lace Fountain Hat (Interweave Knits.com Spring 2008). Actually, I made two--I used the superwash Merino "Grass" that I purchased from Sundara Yarn (you can Google it on the net). Her overdyed colors are just great. This picture doesn't show the subtle change in the color green. I made a pair of socks using the Hedgerow pattern with Sundara's Cobalt over Mediterranean--a dark blue--that I donated last month to the silent auction at our church (and had two people bidding over them!). This hat will be a nice summery hat. It still needs blocked, so that the lace will open a bit.

I made two baby hats this weekend--sitting at home, feeling rotten, even though the weather had turned beautiful. Our Woolgatherers' group has donated more than 50 hats to the birthing center here in town. Very rewarding--finished quickly and using up all that stash of acrylic!

But I swear, my next project (besides the second Fair Isle sock) must be to finish the alpaca sweater I'm making for myself--So little to go! Since my office is cold all summer, I'll be able to put it to use! I work with many engineering graduate students at the University of Idaho--they always get offered good jobs--often, before they finish their theses. We warn them--finish them before they leave: "You just don't realize how hard it is once you leave school and "have a life" how hard it will be to pick it up and finish it." And we have student testimonies to that. Well, my sweater is just like that unfinished thesis. With the back, sleeves and one side done, I know it's going to take me a good couple of hours just to figure out just where I am on that almost-finished second side! Well, do as I say, not as I do!

It’s Snowing Again!

Not that I need incentive to knit, but the weather sure helps. After one warm weekend, when many of the students on campus ended up with sunburns, it’s turned cold, windy and snowy again. No accumulation, but I sure don’t want to work in the garden again—although there are daffodils blooming out there and I can see my miniature roses coming back to life.

So, on my needles right now (in the snow!) are my Annetrelac socks (one finished and then frogged back to the heel because it’s too fat, and the second one almost ready for toe shaping). I love the way the colors come out on this Noro sock yarn, but would not buy it again. I’m one of “those” who want both socks to match and the Noro, lovely as it is, is not consistent in the single ball that’s large enough for two socks. I did some fudging to get as close as I could, but the two heels are different colors and there’s a greenish color in the leg of one sock that doesn’t show up in the second sock until the foot.

But I also started a pair of Fair Isle socks in alpaca. I’m modifying a pattern from Interweave Press’ book Sock. The pattern is in a sport weight and #5s. The alpaca I’m using is close to lace weight and I’m using #2 circulars, so I’ll need to extend/modify the patterning on the leg. I’m also playing in my mind with using multicolor quilting thread as a strengthener once I get to the heel and foot! That will be a work in progress from sometime.

Last Friday I got a call from my granddaughter (and my son). They live in Knoxville, Tennessee, but Ellie told me about how she caught her first fish! She will be four years old this June—I don’t get to see her enough. I hope that this summer, she will get to visit us out west in Idaho. I know Ellie will love the alpacas and chickens and dogs and the pond at Big Meadow Creek Alpacas.

Maybe she can catch a fish there.Both my children are in the east—my daughter is currently in New Orleans, providing support for the people still recovering from last year’s devastation. I hope to be able to visit her sometime this year.

Is it spring???

Well, of course it’s spring. Spring brings that uncertainty—you never know what the weather is going to be like from one moment to the next—at least here in the Pacific Northwest. Just two weeks ago, it was sunny and warm when I got home from work I was inspired to start the spring cleaning in my yard. I even planted some tulip and daffodil bulbs that I bought right before the ground froze. Filled two big bags with dead foliage to take to the recycling center and discovered the first spring blooms.

Today those blooms are covered in snow—only an inch or so melted down from the original three to four inches that arrived overnight, accompanied by a winds coming from a variety of directions. A friend of mine said the snow at her place looked like white dunes, blown on the Palouse desert”! More wind and snow expected today, keeping many of us from heading north to the spin-in in Coeur d’Alene.

But the snow gave me the background for taking a picture of my finally finished cabled socks. My pal Miss “T” (for Terror) had to check to see what I was doing.

Miss “T” was rescued and given to me when I was recovering from ankle surgery (I have an artificial ankle, not knit!). I think my brother believed that a cute little kitten to pet would help me keep my mouth shut. She’s what’s called “blue and cream,” so the vet called me, and she was named Miss Terror because she would chase my brother’s feet and attack his large dogs. She has become a companion cat—she’s beside me when I sleep, knit, sew, garden (attacking my weeding hands) and at the computer (nudging my hand on the mouse to remind me she needs petting).

I enjoy knitting socks, though I hardly ever knit any for myself. My feet are hard on socks and I don’t usually don’t want to take a chance on beautiful knitted socks for myself. But this pair, I’m keeping. They feel pretty solid—made from a blend of KnitPicks nylon/wool—they should wear well. I was lucky to find a knitter on Ravelry who had some of the same yarn in her stash. Although I had two skeins, I found out that wasn’t enough to finish this pattern (from an Interweave book). The socks sat for a week or two while I was deciding what to do with not enough yarn, and in the meantime, I took the entrelac class (see my March 12 blog).

I have a finished pair of socks from a beautiful (Sundara) dyed Cobalt over Mediterranean superwash Merino in the hedgerow pattern. I was led to both the yarn and pattern through Knitting Daily. The web provides such inspiration for us knitters! Anyway, I can’t decide whether to sell, give, donate or wear these beautiful blue socks. Maybe I’ll wait to decide after I’ve worn these cabled socks for a while. Maybe I’m “walking” softer these days! Time will tell.

And time will turn spring into summer!