Yarn Along at Summer's End

FO: Octopus from the book Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along

Okay, so maybe it's not really summer's end, but for me, the freedom of days to myself, working in the garden, spinning, knitting, and spending time with my two alpacas is sadly over.  The reality of having to go back to work is here, and I will be forced to be much more strict with time management, as I will have to carefully balance work and farm life.

The garden, early on.  Before my zucchini flopped.

Summer has been quite a busy one, and the busier I was, the faster it went.  The garden I didn't get planted until mid-June began providing us with food about four weeks ago.  While my zucchini plants rotted (totally my faulty for planting them too close), my beans have exploded!  I filled a five gallon bucket the last two mornings.  I was able to barter with my next door neighbors for tomatoes.  This was a good trade, as my husband got a bit too aggressive with pruning our plants and our tomato harvest is minuscule.

A mixture of wild flowers including Calendula, Poppy, Red Clover, and some other Composite.

I also spent much of the summer learning as many of my local plants as possible; figuring out which can be used as foods and/or medicines.  I've made a number of my own tinctures: Yarrow, Motherwort, Plantain, and Calendula.  I hope to take some time and write more about these later as some have curious stories to go along with them.  Lastly,  I've also focused on growing some of my own medicinal herbs: Calendula, Comfrey, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Catnip, California Poppies, to name a few.  It's been amazing to watch these plants grow.

Bracken and Bramble, happy to be among their own kind.

We spent the summer searching for a farm of our own, with no luck, I must add.  So as my summer was coming to an end, we realized that it wasn't going to be feasible to continue to travel each night to the farm where we had been exchanging with a friend alpaca boarding for splitting the chores.  She has sheep and goats and took care of the morning chores; we did the night chores.  Since I will be teaching night classes starting this coming week, we decided to move our two girls to board at another farm where they will be cared for by the owners of the farm.  It was a good move, even if I'm sad that I don't get to interact with them on a daily basis.  They are with other alpacas and seem much happier.  And this makes me happy.

The summer edition of Mary Jane's Farm and my second Octopus

I'm still working on the book "The Snow Child" by Eowyn Ivey (I've actually renewed it from the library twice now).  And while it was a summer goal to actually 'read' it, new textbooks and lecture writing have become its replacement.  I may just end up finding the audiobook and enjoying it during my commutes.  We'll see.  I did pick the latest edition of Mary Jane's Farm magazine recently, however.  I love this magazine, but only purchase it occasionally as I already subscribe to Mother Earth News, Mother Earth Living, and Spin Off.  But this edition was packed full of articles on growing and using medicinal herbs.  I couldn't resist.  

From hand dyed, handspun BFL.  

I finished my hand warmers from the last Yarn Along and have been knitting Octopi (I actually think the plural of octopus is 'octopuses').  These were the reason I learned to knit few years ago, and have just felt learned enough to complete them now.  They are an amigurumi patterns by Hansi Singh in her book "Amigurumi Knits".  You can also find the pattern here on Ravelry.  If you enjoy knitting amigurumi, she has some other fabulous patterns as well.

And guess what?!  It won a first place ribbon at the Butler Farm Show!

The Eggplant and the Orphaned Chicks

'Creature' No. 1: The Eggplant. Actually it's not an eggplant, it's an Aubergine. But it looks more like an eggplant to me; short, plump, and purple. Either way, it is almost complete and with fairly little trouble. I'm happy about that. I learned some new techniques along the way, which I suspect are going to make the tomato (creature no. 2) quick and simple. Before long I'll be out of the garden and into the deep blue sea.

Here are our poor orphaned chicks. Their Bantam 'mom', Ginger decided last week that she would rather rejoin the rest of the flock and start laying eggs again. She wants nothing to do with them and pecks at them if they come near. I was worried at first. They're only about a month old. But they seem to be getting along well for themselves. We keep an eye on them throughout the day and put them in the bucket nest at night. So far, so good. Cute little buggers. Everyone else seems to be doing well too. Our Silkie hen, Delilah, by far wins the 'best brooder award' for this hatching season. Her chicks are now about as big as she is. She still tends to them when they need to be mothered, but they are starting to venture off on their own now. You should see them when we come out with bread. They are starting to be the first ones to feast. Ah, chicken life. What could be better?!

An Amigurumi Adventure

This past winter I taught my self how to knit (with a little help from all the wonderful videos on YouTube), for one reason, and one reason only....the book pictured above. I can't even remember how I stumbled upon this artist on Etsy, but being a fellow 'creature' lover, I was absolutely captivated by her designs. At the time I was an avid crocheter, but none of the crocheted amigurumi patterns came close to the uniqueness of these. So I set out on a journey to begin learning some basic techniques and honing in on my skills as a knitter. A few days ago, I decided to purchase Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh and give it a go. She has cleverly organized the creatures in to related sections; starting with vegetables, then moving on to under water creatures, backyard critters, and finally mythical creatures. There are 20 patterns in all. I can't wait to start! I had to order my needles online as I couldn't find the right size and length at any of the nearby stores. I've decided that I am going to start at the beginning of the book and knit my way to the end! There are a few that I absolutely can't wait to knit, but I won't give away any details. Stay tuned for 'creature' number 1...