Yarn Along

This is the first time I've participated in the Yarn Along, but one of my goals this summer (I've taken the summer off!) was to actually read a book; not just listen to it as an audiobook, as I so often do, but actually read it.  I even went so far as to (finally) get a library card to my local library just so I could borrow this book.

I saw this book recommended by SpiderWomanKnits in one of her Instagram photos.  I've only just begun reading, but from the cover's description, it is about a childless couple who moved from Pennsylvania to the wilds of Alaska.  Longing for a child of their own, they build a girl out of snow only to find that she magically turns into a "real" girl.  Here's the actual synopsis from the inside cover of the book:

I'm really looking forward to this book as there seem to be many parallels with my own life.

As for what I'm knitting: I'm working on a set of knitter's mittens or fingerless gloves.  But I'm knitting two at a time on the same needles and from the same center pull ball.

I've never done this before, but I always find that (since I'm usually making up the pattern as I go along) I forget what I've done on the first one, so the second is slightly different.

I figure that if I knit them at the same time, the pattern will be exactly the same.  I'm using some of my hand dyed, hand spun BFL that I had stashed away for such an occasion.

The summer has been pretty darn rainy so far.  On one hand, all the rain has been really good for my late planted garden (I didn't get it in until almost mid-June!).  My beans, squash, and zucchini are getting ready to bloom already!  On the other hand, everything is so incredibly wet and muddy.  I can say though, that when it's raining, I don't feel guilty about staying inside, reading a book, spinning, or sewing.  Those are things that are difficult for me to do when it's nice outside.  We had a pretty big storm this morning and then again this evening.  They were calling for flash flooding, and as you can see below, we got it.

Fortunately we live on top of the hill!  

In Comes the New Year

Whether we like it or not, the new year has crept in (for me) almost unnoticed.  I think the older I get, the faster each year passes.  Does anyone else remember how time used to pass slower when we were kids?  Summer breaks went on for ever, Christmas's and Birthday's couldn't come quick enough.  Perhaps that's just part of the magic of being children.

So with the advent of the new year, most people are busy making their new year's resolutions.  I will admit, I've never been one for new year's resolutions.  I think you should be able to make resolutions any time of the year, not just January first.  However, I do like to reflect on where the journey has led me, and where I hope to travel in the up and coming.

This past year we saw the birth of our very first alpaca cria, Bramble (aka "string bean").  She is strong, healthy, and independent.  Don't let the fact that I call her a string bean mean she's "lanky," she's a sturdy little thing - just all legs and neck!  If you're curious about what an alpaca birth is like check out this link to our YouTube site. 

The following month we did our own very first breeding while working out at the farm we board our girls at.  It was a success, and we can expect Bracken to deliver another cria next fall.  We are  very excited to see what this year's breeding will produce.  The funniest thing about breeding, is that it is quite literally a herd 'affair'.  All the unbred (and ready to breed) females cush next to the breeding pair.  The little up and coming herd sires 'practice' on all the cushing mamas.  Don't worry, they're not old enough to be successful yet!  Bramble wouldn't keep her nose out of the face of the breeding herdsire, nor would the other little females.  This is all a part of it.  It's a learning experience, so to speak, for the young ones.

I also vended at my first ever fair, the Johnny Appleseed festival in my hometown.  I was delighted and amazed by how well it went and can't wait to do it again.  Perhaps this has given me the confidence to participate in a few other events.  On top of this, I reopened my Etsy site, which has also done well.  It is sort of surreal to know that you've sent your crafts all over the country.  That my baskets and yarn are being enjoyed by someone other than myself.  I started making basket out of necessity.  I needed some place to put all the yarn I was spinning; something 'pretty' and colorful.  But once I started making them, I just  couldn't stop!  They are just so much fun to watch come together.  And while I'm a huge proponent of baskets, I realized that a girl could really only have so many.  So I reluctantly (at first) decided to offer them to others, though I wan't sure how I could bear to sell them.  The reluctance has since passed, and has been replaced with the joy of knowing that someone too will smile at my creations.  My advice to anyone who has always wanted to be share their creations with others - just do it!  Get out there!  You may be completely surprised by the support and encouragement from others.  I know I was!

Here are some of the other highlights of the year:

We hiked...

...gardened...

...canned...

...spun at festivals...

...grew pumpkins...

...learned to dye fiber...

...attended the Mother Earth News Fair...

...supported my sister's purchase of three meat
rabbits at the Mother Earth News Fair...

...found that we had quite the demand for our eggs...

...learned (or began to learn) to cook in cast iron...

...learned to play the banjo...

...learned to weave...

...and taught my sister and nieces how to weave...

...developed a love for blue cochin chickens...

...and ended the year with family (and pets!).

Unseasonable Weather

Gorgeous landscape on our way to Hell's Hollow

We live in a place were it can be sunny and 70 with a cool mountain breeze one minute, and the next has turned into a blizzard so windy you feel like, if you close your eyes for even a second, you'll open them up and be in Oz.  The weather sure can change fast around here.

This past weekend was gorgeous!  Beautiful blue skies with wispy white clouds, 65 degrees or better, cool breeze.  It was the perfect weekend to be outside.  We took advantage of this on Sunday, knowing that we're not likely to have too many more of these.  After breakfast we decided to go for a walk.  It was my husband's idea, to my surprise, and me and Kenai were all for it.  His first thought was just to take a walk to the back pasture, which is only about a quarter of a mile from the house.  I suggested we head down the the nearby park.  I had an ulterior motive of course, to gather some more osage oranges that were lying all over the ground down there.  I gave my sister my last few the day before.  It's a nice little walk down there, right next to the stream.  And most of the time it's pretty quiet there with a nice paved trail that I would guess is about a mile around.  We were graced with a special fly by from my favorite bird, the Belted Kingfisher as we meandered along the stream.  But once we had gathered the osages and made it back to the car, it just felt like it would be a shame to head back home.  So we decided to take a little hike up to Hell's Hollow near McConnell's Mill.  It too is actually a short hike, but it ends at a gorgeous waterfall and an old time furnace.  I couldn't help but take some pictures along the way to capture the wonder.

Fungi and Bryophytes are my favorite!  I love their crazy life cycles!

Look!  Sporophytes!!!  And when I touched them, spores went everywhere!  

Isn't nature beautiful?!

The weather has since settled into something, err..., more seasonable.  The temps have dropped, and we even had snow the other night.  Not a lot, but I hear that more is on it's way.  We've really been blessed with 'unseasonable' weather for the last month.  So I'm sure it's about time Old Man Winter to lace his icy fingers around this farm.  Bring it on, I say.  I don't mind.  Winter gives me the excuse to sit at my spinning wheel and spin, knit up a storm, and create to my heart's desire.  But for now, I've some fuzzy bunnies out there that need attending to.  They'll be receiving their last plucking before spring.  I do look forward to spinning some of that angora up!

Anachronism

I've often felt like I am a living anachronism.  Out of place in time.  That I should have lived some time ago, when life was simpler.  You worked hard for what you had, and still had little.  Yet those few things you did have were cherished beyond today's worldly comprehension.  My whole life I have been drawn to skills of the past such as sewing, gardening, and animal husbandry.  I remember as a little girl, tagging along to my mother's garden club meetings, and hours spent with her and my grandmothers teaching me how to sew and knit and crochet.  These used to be skills that every little girl learned as she grew up.  I raised quite a menagerie of critters too, from hamsters and ferrets, to chinchillas and lizards!

Today, most I my time is spent spinning, knitting, and sewing.  We have lived down here near Pittsburgh for two years now and have accomplished quite a lot.  We raise our own chickens for meat and eggs, have two alpacas, 5 angora rabbits and a big enough garden to provide some of our own produce.  This is small in comparison to most farms, but this one has BIG dreams.  We still rent you see.  We have been fortunate though, to be located far enough north of the city as to seriously live in farm country.  The house we rent sits on a working diary farm.  But still it's not our own.  Don't get me wrong, we feel blessed for what we have, but are so desperately hoping that we will find our own property soon enough so that our our farm can grow.  We've reached our capacity where we're at without getting ourselves evicted.  But our alpacas have to be boarded on another farm and there are sheep, pigs, and other livestock calling to us.  More like bellowing.  I have such a desire to become more of a farmer that it aches.  I sit at work dreaming about furry creatures, spinning wool, canning vegetables, and yes, mucking out stalls.  While most other girls are reading magazines about fashion and gossip, this girl scours the pages of her Grit and Mother Earth News trying to devise new schemes for building a cold frame, raising meat rabbits, and composting.  I collect buckets, mason jars, chicken wire, and books on homesteading.  I visit other homesteader's blogs trying to glean from their experiences and long for the experience to hold day old piglets in my arms.  Barn boots are not just the latest fashion statement, they are a necessity.

I realize that for most this may sound unusual.  Especially in this day and age.  But this is who I am.  In a day and age of uncertainty, of rumors of economic collapse and instability, this girl wants to be prepared for anything.  And even if these things weren't a possibility, I would still want to be doing exactly what I'm doing.  Farming.  Gaining skills from a lost generation.  And one day, perhaps helping others to learn these skills as well.  There are joys to be found in these simpler ways, and I intend to find discover them!

All In A Day

ella's first art batt!

Yesterday was quite the busy one.  I was blessed with the company of my sister and two nieces for the whole day.  The older of the two was working on a wrapped clothesline basket to enter into their county fair later this month, and wanted to use my sewing machine to complete it.  She worked hard all day and turned out a beautiful project.  I'm hoping to see a ribbon on it come judging time.

Sewing baskets wasn't the only tasks performed and completed.  My younger niece (and sister) carded, spun, and plied a wonderful art yarn.  We also made two new hoops for my nieces, which were used on and off all day, and made origami omega stars.  It was quite the busy and productive day!

Come evening, I had them happily on their way back north and my husband and I headed up to the Farm Show.  Let me tell you, farm shows have a whole new meaning once you enter into the world of farming yourself.  Even if your farm just  consists of chickens, angora rabbits, and alpacas.  The first place we always head for is the Poultry tent, perusing through the menagerie of different breeds and admiring their plumage, color, and size.  Also of interest were of course the sheep barns and the rabbit tent.  Meat rabbits are seriously on our list, and visiting the rabbit tent allowed us to get a good idea of the breeds out there raised for that purpose.

By the end of the evening I was exhausted and ready to go home, put my feet up, and work on some knitting before heading to bed.  It was a good exhaustion though.  I love that sense of accomplishment and the sleep that comes after a good day's work.

All Spun Up!

It didn't take long to get my festival fiber all spun up.  I was on it that evening when I got home, and finished the next day.  As a matter of fact, most of the fiber that I bought at the festival is spun up.  I love to spin bright colored fiber.  It is so peaceful for me to treadle on my spinning wheel and watch the colors blend together like they do.  I have a ton of spun up yarn.  Most is from and dyed roving that I bought on Etsy, but I've recently started dying my own fiber.  While there will always be something fiber-related to learn, this seems to complete my ability to process my own fiber from start to finish.  Now if I can ever seem to part with any of it or knit it into an actual garment.  Right now all my skeins are in one of my huge handmade baskets.  My husband asks me all the time when I'm going to do some with the yarn and my response is always the same, "But I just like to look at it."  Seriously.  I love to fish through the basket admiring the kaleidoscope of colors and textures.

By the way, this basket really is huge.  It's 12 inches high and 15 inches in diameter.  And as you can see, it's filled to the top.  My goal is to eventually knit it into my own technicolor dream-sweater.  But I haven't mastered the art of sweater-making just yet.  Coming soon...

Some Days You Win, Some Days You Lose...

And the past two days, I've lost. Fanny, our only Jersey Giant finally past. Sadly, with a little help. It was a tough decision, but se was literally down to feathers, skin, and bones. It was so sad. I felt so bad watching her get worse each day. We tried hard for the past week, but it just got to be too much for her and I felt guilty watching her suffer. She was a good ole hen and will be sorely missed.

A new hen has now replaced her on the front porch sick chicken ward. One of our new Blue Cochins has come down with the same thing that our other chickens had last November: bubbley eyes (literally, bubbles coming from the eyes) and snot. Anyone have any ideas?? We searched high and low for info last year, and never really came up with a definitive answer. It went through all of our chickens. All recovered but one old hen. So we're hoping that this will pass with her too and that none of our others will come down with it again.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, I come out to the rabbit hutch yesterday morning to find a dead male bunny. They boys and girls were separated about three weeks ago. I had 3 boys and two girls. Apparently, boys of 3 months old come into their male hormones and will fight (really? 3 months?). I feel so bad. This was all my fault. Nothing that I have read, or any info that has come through other rabbit owners expressed that this would happen SO early. So, I am banking this as yet 'another' lesson learned. Next time I will be smarter. Of the two males that were left yesterday, one found a new home. Everyone else is fine. Onward...

Second sunny day in a row and the temperature has been in the 30s during the day and teens at night. Could someone please send spring? I'm not sure I'm ever going to thaw. I've been trying to get all my bunnies plucked, but I don't want to pluck them when the nights are in the teens. I spun a bit of angora last weekend (hopefully I will finish a skein this weekend), and boy is it ever nice. All I can say, if you are a spinner and want to start to raise your own fiber animals, angora rabbits are a good place to start.

We're Expecting!

Okay, so maybe not it the way you think "expecting". Meet Bracken! The newest addition to our 'farmily'. She comes from one of the many beautiful animals at Highland Alpaca. And she is expecting her second cria in September of 2011. The gestation for an alpaca is about 11.5 months. Her first cria, Blayberry, is a gorgeous bay black. We can't wait to see what this cria will bring. Her herdsire, Enzo, is pictured below. He's such a handsome boy. It's really going to be hard waiting another 9 months to see who pops out.

Life on the farm hasn't been dull. It never is. Each weekend is always packed full of something. Last weekend I plucked both of my angora rabbits. I'm getting much better at it. Poor Mr. Buns no longer loses ALL of his fiber. And I've finally figured out how to keep all the fibers going in the same direction; just in case I want to sell some of my angora in the future. It's a learning experience. And if you expect to go into it knowing how to do everything perfectly, you'll be sadly disappointed. It's certainly not rocket science, but it does take a little practice.

In my 'spare' time, I've been working on knitting a shawl that I saw posted on another blog that I enjoy (it is also available as a free download here on Ravelry). I've been using the alpaca fleece below to spin and knit it from. It's the fleece I picked up at a fiber festival in Ohio this summer and is absolutely wonderful to work with. I'm hoping to have it finished by Thanksgiving so I can wear it. I'm down to the last set of rows before I start the border. I will need to spin up some more fiber for it though, so it is taking a bit longer than I had hoped. I'll post pictures once it's done.

It's been hard to believe that winter is upon us as we've had a late Indian Summer. This weekend has been beautiful (except for today's rain) and the temperatures unseasonably warm. I have a feeling that this isn't going to last too much longer. I'm okay with that. I don't mind that changing seasons. Sure winter can hang on longer than we like some years, but it's a nice time to rest, slow down, and focus on the things that really matter.

Open Barn Day at Highland Alpaca

(picture from Highland Alpaca website)

DON'T FORGET: Open Barn Day at Highland Alpaca this coming Saturday from 11am - 4pm!! I'll be there spinning, so come on out!

A Very Eventful Week(end)!

So much has happened or been accomplished over the past week and weekend it's hard to know where to start! I'll try the 'beginning' with all my little captions:

A NEW BAG

I absolutely love to sew! And I love the fact that I always have so many projects going at once. Sure, sure, it can get hectic, especially when it seems like I never get one project accomplished before I am starting the next. But on those occasions when I do actually finish what I set out to do...well it's just pure bliss! Above is one of my creations from this past week. I found this Debbie Mumm fabric on sale a few weeks ago and couldn't pass it up. The pattern was actually for a simple bag (which would consist of only the outside layer that can be seen. I thought it was far to beautiful for that so I added the inside fabric and quilted them together with bamboo/cotton batting. I threw this together pretty much in one evening. Other than a few minor problems (one of the straps got sewn on twisted...you'd never know) it turned out fabulous! I have some more of the same panels to make a couple more. Simple, fun, and very colorful! I have collected a bunch more of her fabric since I first bought this and I'm hoping to make an Earth Day themed dress before the event next month!

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Some friends of my husband's (I've yet to meet them) sent me some amazing huacaya alpaca fiber (the brown fiber) to spin! I love how God puts such thoughtful people into our paths. I was blown away to think that someone I've never met would send me a gift. You better believe I had that spun as soon as I could get my paws on it. What a dream it was to spin! I'm going to ply it with some Suri alpaca fiber a bought a couple months ago. Oh, and that wasn't the only fiber I received! Another alpaca owner sent me (via my husband) some her her alpaca fiber to card and spin (the white fiber)! Talk about fiber overload! Guess its time to be looking for an affordable drum carder. I still have a whole Lincoln sheep fleece and some llama fiber to wash and card (these were also given to me). My most sincerest thanks go out to all of those people who help make my dreams a reality. What more can I say, I'm blessed!

COW IN THE BACKYARD

We got home late on Friday night. It was dark by the time we pulled up to the house. It had been another gorgeous day! I went about the nightly chores of covering up the buns and closing the coop when low and behold I came face to face with a cow in my backyard! If I haven't already told you, we live on a diary farm; not our cows, our landlord's. I suppose this isn't the strangest thing I've encountered before, but she sure did make my heart jump. We chased her through the fields and back through the yard before we finally got her corralled back into the pasture with the rest of her lot. Oh the adventures of farm life! I absolutely love it!!

CHICKS

This week I will be chick-sitting for a friend. I'm really excited because some of those chicks will find a new home on my farm! And these aren't just any old chicks...two are supposed to lay chocolate-colored eggs and two are supposed to lay green eggs (called Easter Eggers)! I got to see them only a couple days out of the egg and already they were peeping up a storm and waddling all over their cage. Amazing! And the funniest thing is they all seem to have these narcoleptic moments where they just lay down and fall asleep. It's a hard knock life being a chick, I guess. They'll be coming to stay on Tuesday, so stay tuned: more to come!

G'night!

Long Day

Well I didn't expect to wake up to what I did this morning...Snow! I'm not sure why it surprised me. It is after all winter. I guess the couple sunny days we had tricked my brain into thinking that spring was really on its way. Thoughts of where to put my garden, what to plant, and whether or not to use raised beds or just plow the ground have have been hard on the brain lately. It was barely morning when I headed out to feed the critters. Oh how I long for those longer days, when the sun comes up early and hangs out until after nine at night. Good thing about feeding early...the chickens aren't up yet! That may seem trivial, but they've been stampeding out of the coop most mornings as of lately (for as much as chickens stampede). That door opens and there's no stopping them; wings flapping and all. You'd do well to just get out of the way on mornings like those.

The pup could care less about being out in the snow as you can see. I think he's the only one that truly loves the snow, even with his short haircut. With that last thaw we had, it was getting too hard to keep this Old English Sheepdog clean! So out came the clippers and away went the hair. This may sound silly, but I keep his hair in hopes to spin it one day. I can just see it now:

Nice lady at the market: "My that's a lovely sweater you're wearing!"
Me: "Thank you ma'am."
Nice lady: "Did you make it?"
Me: "Yes ma'am. Spun and knitted it myself."
Nice lady: "Such talent! But some poor sheep must be cold right now."
Me: "No ma'am. I'm wearing my dog."

I might be considered......heaven forbid......"weird". I prefer...."unique". =)

Wool and Sunshine

I woke up this morning to the sunshine illuminating my bedroom. Even though I'm still trying to get over this cold, and even though I'm still coughing like an asthmatic ready to pass out, nothing could extinguish the joy I had as I walked outside! It's a rare site to behold here, folks! And certainly nothing to be taken advantage of in these parts. Apparently the chickens thought so too, because the all but plowed me over as I opened their door to give them fresh water. It was a stampede of 11 chickes; if chickens even can stampede. I was glad to see them want to get out, flap their wings and forage the farmyard. They've preferred to stay close to or inside their coop for a few weeks now. A little sunshine will do us all a lot of good.

So above is the newest addition to my fiber arts life! I'm so excited! I've been dreaming of a spinning wheel since I started spinning last winter! Don't get me wrong, I got pretty darn good and fast at spinning on a drop spindle. But nothing compares to this! It's like a luxury! Now she might not been all that much to look at, but she's mine, and for all I can tell, spins like a dream. I've been spinning up a storm since I got her over Christmas break. I'll make sure to post some pictures of the results.

In the Icy Grasp of Winter

Well, Old Man Winter has definitely wrapped his icy fingers around the landscape here on the farm. It's barely gotten into the teens these past few days. We ran all our errands on Friday, bought groceries for enough meals to get us well through the weekend then hunkered down at home for the rest of it. I don't mind the snow, really. But what I do miss is the sunshine. We got a little break from all the snow showers yesterday when I snapped this picture looking out across the fields and pasture. Sure was nice to see the sunset and the blue sky. The lack of cloudy insulation made the night especially cold though, but I'll trade it for the view! Talk around here is that it's supposed to warm up over the next few days.....I think that only means upper 20s! It's nights like these I'm certainly glad I'm not a chicken! They seem to be fairing the weather okay though. Well....all but Rose; we lost her last week. I think she was older than I realized.

Tomorrow I start back to work officially. Where did the break go? I've gotten a lot accomplished however. I purchased a second hand spinning wheel and have been spinning up a storm, and I just learned how to knit this past week (compliments of YouTube)! I didn't get to do much sewing, but I'm hoping to finish up a bag for my laptop this evening. And on that note, I will bid you goodnight and wish you warmth and good rest.

What have I been up to?

As winter hangs on, I find myself with a severe case of 'cabin fever'. I'm desperately ready to get outside and start to garden! I have all sorts of plans for this year (hopefully some of those will actually come to fruition). It never hurts to dream big, and that's what I'm doing. As the ground is beginning to thaw, you can smell spring in the air. Though it is only 55 degrees out today (really a far cry from the -10 wind chill we had a few days ago) I've opened the windows to allow some of the stagnant air out of the barn and the cool 'spring' breezes in. So what have I been up to? I'm always looking for new hobbies, crafting ideas and the such. Usually I have about 5 things going at once, and this winter has been no exception. Along with launching my Etsy site (mountainmud.etsy.com - this has been an endeavor in itself since I'm teaching full time this semester), I've become addicted to spinning! Fibers, that is, mostly wool. I love it! Looking for ways to wind down, relax? Needing therapy? This is it! I've been spinning for about a month now, and I just can't stop! I've been spinning with a homemade drop spindle, made from a 10 inch paint brush handle, small tea cup hook, and two CDs, and a turkish drop spindle purchased from a the new aquaintance that got me started with spinning. Such an easy DIY project, and dyed and carded wool is easy to find through Etsy! Perhaps someday I will afford an actual spinning wheel, but for now, I'm really enjoying the simplicity of a drop spindle. See my before and after pictures above!