Wool Is Wonderful

Back Again...

2011-12-13T03:24:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged for a very long time! I need to change things a bit, but am glad to still have my old posts handy.
I have been knitting more lately after taking a break for a couple years. There were many life changes and I had to get back into it. :)

3 and a half years later.....

2011-05-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile. My other website blog disappeared in 2007 and I just didn't feel up to writing.
Lots has happened, guess I need to clean up that sidebar. The main change is my husband and I dedicating our lives to serving God. Further updates yet to come. :)

Time To Dust This Off...

2008-01-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I blogged. Last summer my .com supported knitting blog died and I didn't have the energy to start over. Things are a little more in order now and I'm getting knitting fever again. :)
Hopefully I'll have pics of Wips soon and have more going on ravelry.
Take care all!

I'm Moving!

2006-04-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

All good things must come to an end right?
Ok so it's not really ending as I moved the archives to my new blog. :-)
I'll be posting here from now on.
I still need to fix up my sidebar and get my webrings updated, tweak the template, and back up all my pictures before they go *poof*.
The link gives away the fact that I have my own domain now,(Woohoo!) but I still need to spruce that up too. I haven't programmed any pages myself yet, just used a very limited wysiwyg editor. The sheep haven't been very cooperative in their recent photo sessions either. Oh well, it'll be pinker and more liz-ish & sheep-ish soon.

Anyway, please stop by! :-)

Day 5 And I'm Still Alive!

2006-04-20T00:25:00.000-07:00

Meaning I could about die from the cuteness! :-)
Sunny & Klaus have been enjoying romping around the pasture and nibbling on the grass. I was too paranoid about the milk, I talked to Steve and he let me know that the lambs were likely getting their share. It's nice to get sleep again!

This morning Sunny pushed Klaus into the feed trough, she's already picking on her little brother.

One Day Old Pics :-)

2006-04-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Klaus is very sweet. His wool is not as crimpy as his big sister's.
It's almost like very soft thick kitty fur. He's not getting as much milk as Sunny so he gets a bottle every 4 hours. Fricka's very short and her milk bag hangs in such a way that her teats kind of point into her legs. It's awkward for the lambs to get a hold of her properly.

Sunny is very aggressive with her mom's teats and seems to be getting enough milk. I let her take the last few sips off of her little brother's bottle though so she doesn't feel left out. Her little spotted ears are so cute. I can't wait to see how their wool coloring turns out, if it will lighten much as they age.
I'm incredibly tired! It's like having another couple of babies around. They don't need me as much of course but I worry nearly like I do for a child.
We're going to go to Easter dinner tomorrow as usual and I'll probably be freaking out the whole time. :-)

It's a Girl...And a Boy!!!!!!

2006-04-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

This is little Sunny, born a little after 7 p.m. tonight.

This is little Klaus, second born and looks alot like his daddy.

Sunny and Klaus a few hours old.

Could they be any cuter? :-)

I need to figure some stuff out.

2006-04-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

I've decided not to renew my picture hosting account. Since I obviously love pictures, I might not be blogging as much. I'll still be here, just have to rework things a little and figure out if I'm going to use a different host. Sorry about little red xs where my normally poorly taken pictures would be. :-)
If I'm still host-less when the lambs come I'll email pics to anyone who wants a peek!
I might decide to go with my own domain, I'm not sure though. I might wait until I actually have wool to share.
Fricka is doing well, even though she's about to burst! I'm so glad it's not me waddling around pregnant. I seriously need to mark rams at breeding time so I have some clue as to when lambing will begin! The rate I'm going no one will believe me when the lamb does come. :-)

F is for....Flash Your Stash!!!

2006-04-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

This is about 95% of my yarn, quickly and inartistically piled for this pic.
Anne and I were busy today admiring the stash at Yellow Dog Knitting!

This is such a cool little shop, located in beautiful Eau Claire, WI.

We were greeted by happy faces and were soon overwhelmed by the fibery goodness at hand.

I was practically bouncing it was so exciting.
Did I mention this was my first visit to a real yarn shop? :-)

I would love to be able to attend some of the many classes they offer.
These girls knew the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Here's a teaser flash of what we bought peeking out of the bags.
I picked up a few things for Callisto's birthday as well as my Knitty SP so most of the goods are top secret!
Wool truly is wonderful, but I think the shop itself is why I had such a great time today. Yellow Dog Knitting has such a warm, comfortable atmosphere. It was the most fun I've ever had shopping!!

E Is For ER

2006-04-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

Late, I know, but here's my "E" pic. I love my ER DVDs.
Enoch would have been first choice but he's been naughty lately, jumping out of pens and such.

Saoirse's Kaftan

2006-03-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

I finally finished it!
This was knit with some cool pink cotton that my pal Sarah sent last fall. The pattern is from the Debbie Bliss Special Knits book. Saoirse didn't like it at first but once we got outside she decided it was wearable. :-)

Thank You SP!

2006-03-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

No lambs yet but I just got a nice spring surprise.
The latest package from my pal arrived with four balls of gorgeous yarn, chocolate tea, Cadbury eggs, gel pens, a glitter notebook, and pretty butterfly stickers.
I cast on for a little poncho already with one of the balls of Sirdar Super Nova. The colors are really cool and I love that it's machine washable. The girls have been wearing their knitted items alot. I've been having to wash them often. :-)

Snow Kitty!

2006-03-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

Since the snow's melting so fast we decided to go with a quick classic.
Sapphire and I built a kitty like this in 2000. It went faster this time, a few hours of building over two days.

While we were building a few neighbors came by on a ride.

I love the spring weather! :-)

No Lambs Yet!

2006-03-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

Plenty of snow though. The girls call this their Army Fort. I don't like snowball throwing but don't mind them building the forts. I've been meaning to build something cool with them, like the giant turtle of '02. I think we'll have enough white stuff to work something out.
Did I mention no lambs yet? Aaaarrggh. I shouldn't be frustrated, I should just mellow out and let the ewes do their thing. I don't like not knowing when the babies are coming!!
I was asked what I'll knit first with the wool from our first shearing. Being the weirdo that I am I spun up 230 yards of Fricka's wool to knit a little jumper for her baby.

I was worried about getting this done before lambing time so I started sewing the right rear leg on before the body was dry from blocking. Bad Idea.
It won't go back into shape. Instead of re-stitching the leg on or some other intelligent repair method I'm going to leave it be. I doubt Fricka or her baby will complain about the wonkiness. It's silly for me to stress out over it. The little darling is going to be romping and rolling in the jumper, muddying it up. She won't need it as Shetlands have excellent mothering ability and Fricka will have that baby fed and warm in no time.
I read most of All Flesh is Grass today and the author shared this traditional folktale that hit home:

Once upon a time, an ambitious young man decided that he wanted to make money raising sheep even though he didn't know much about them. Being a practical man, he asked the sheep. After all, who would know better than a sheep how sheep should be raised. "Simple, really," the old leader ewe of the flock told him. "All we need is a bite of grass, a sip of water, and a pinch of salt." As long as the new shepherd followed the sheep's advice, things went well for him. He even made a little money. But if the sheep were content, the man was not. He asked them again: "Are you sure you don't want something more, a barn perhaps to sleep in, better kinds of grass, some grain, a little protection against wolves?" To which the sheep assured him again that all they needed was a bite of grass, a sip of water, and a pinch of salt. But their master would not listen. He drove himself into a frenzy of debt and stress to provide his sheep with all the things that he was sure they needed, meanwhile complaining that sheep were costing him money. The sheep responded only by reminding him once more that all they needed was a bite of grass, a sip of water, and a pinch of salt. At long last, broke and tired, the man understood: he himself had been the cause of his problems, not the sheep. "Sheep don't need much, it is true," he admitted. "Most of what I've done is for me."

False Alarm! (But thank goodness!)

2006-03-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

Well, apparently I got excited a little too soon. According to all of my sheep info Fricka should have had a baby by now. She's at about day 151 of a 145-147 day gestation period and looks like she could give birth any second.
I would be bummed out but we just had a ferocious storm. The snow total (2 feet) wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the wind. The plows couldn't get out for a day, the power kept going out, and the drifts were massive. I had the sheep in the barn and found them dealing with 10 inch high drifts. This was in a closed barn. There are gaps a few inches high between the bottom boards and tons of snow blew in. It covered the entire corner pen, half of the second pen, and a large section of the ground on the North side. Fricka would have had a hard time finding a comfortable spot for her lamb.
On top of that, everyone except my husband has been sick. I've been so fatigued and have found it hard to do the barn work. So it's probably a good thing the lambs are waiting a few extra days to make their debut.
Is it spring yet?? :-)

I might be sleeping in the barn tonight!

2006-03-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

Fair Warning: The following may contain TMI for some.
That being said, Fricka's baby is coming!!
Yesterday she showed no signs of impending labor. This morning I noticed the distinct triangular hollow in front of her hips that indicates the lamb has dropped. She ate about half her normal amount of grain and has been nibbling at her sides. The last time I checked on her, about 15 minutes ago, her backside looked a tiny bit more swollen. She has a small amount of mucous leaking. She still appears comfortable even though I think I'm seeing contractions. She's on her feet and interacting with the other sheep.
I'm so excited!!!!
Back to the barn...

2006 Shetland

2006-03-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

I got 5 different colors from the 3 sheep. :-)
From left to right we have:
Enoch - Most of his fleece is pretty vm laden and matted this year. His good stuff has a nice crimp and spins up to a gorgeous black.
Freya - First is her long wool which covers most of her body. This is a lovely golden brown mixed with taupe and has a nice luster. Next is her much darker fine wool from her neck and close to her belly.
Fricka - First her long wool, very dark brown with some light fibers. Next is her fine wool. It's very dark and came from along her spine, her neck, and near her belly.

The yarns are all hand carded and spindle spun, only one rolag of each different wool type. The pic shows the actual yarn size.
These will never be knit, I'm going to save them in my sheep records.
I love having yarn from my own animals! :-)

Almost Done!

2006-02-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

I have nearly all of the wool washed. This is 25% of Freya's wool on the right with the Blueface Leicester & black lambswool.
The little cutie is Callisto knitting her first scarf from some of my early thick handspun.

The wheel from Sue is a Saxony type that needs replacement parts and much care/clean-up. Callisto has been spinning the wheel and pretending she's riding in a wagon. I'm a little bummed that I couldn't monkey around and try to spin something right away. Dean says that he'll fix it up for me soon, sweet man. I have to start somewhere, right? :-)

D Is For Diary.

2006-02-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is one of the few items I would be mindful enough to rescue in the event of a fire.
For one full year my husband's grandfather, William Seth Lincoln, recorded his daily life. The year was 1971 and my husband would not be born for 2 years.
William was born Sept. 16 1884 and passed away shortly after my husband was born. He is believed to be a direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln's Uncle Mordecai.
In 1971 William and his wife Nora were living in this house, with my husband's father and his family in a smaller house across the driveway. (What we now call the Little House.)
William wrote of everyday occurrences too numerous to mention; as well as 2 moon landings, corresponding with ex-president Truman, and the pain and shock of finding his wife passed away 6 days after her 80th birthday.
He wrote every day that year, whether it was a grief stricken day or a day of joy. I am so glad to have this tangible record of his life here 35 years ago; not typed or on a computer disk but written by his own hand in the same space I am writing this post. I sleep in the house he built, work his land, admire his trees, and watch his great-grandchildren play in the same fields as his children.
Part of his entry for this day; Feb. 28, 1971.
"Light wind, 10 degrees, nearly clear with a very high and light overcast. Bright and clear 10 a.m. 22 degrees."
I took these pics this morning at 10 a.m.

It's hard to accurately convey with a blog post what having this diary means to our family. I hope that William is proud of us and approves of our decision to dwell here and care for his land. He's one of the first people I look forward to speaking with in Heaven.

I Have Wonderful Neighbors!

2006-02-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

I just got a call from my neighbor, Sue. She and her husband were at an auction and spied a spinning wheel with lots of extras thrown in the lot.
They bought it for me and are bringing everything over tonight!

I'm so excited and it's perfect timing as I have Fricka's fleece all washed up and drying. I've never spun on a wheel before, let alone try to figure out all the little doodads and set it up. Thank goodness for the internet!

Shearing Day!

2006-02-26T20:42:00.000-08:00

Don't we look cute with our new haircuts?
Today was pretty interesting.
Steve started with trimming Fricka's hooves.

She was very calm when he began shearing.

Here she is about halfway done.

Almost done. Doesn't she look tiny?

Freya's experience was nearly identical, although her hooves were in better shape.
Enoch was last, he had lots of attitude and put up an impressive fight. He looks pretty mellow here getting his nails done.

I didn't get a pic of his 8 pound fleece inside yet but here are the girls'.
Freya's - about 5 pounds.

Fricka's - about 3 pounds.

Close up of Fricka's curls.

I was gifted with some Navajo Churro, Bluface Leicester, and incredible black lambswool fleeces that I can't remember the breed of. Those will be very fun to work with.
Here's the Blueface, I've never seen such crimp.

Steve said the sheep look to be in perfect health and to keep doing what we're doing. On the lambing front Fricka is further along than Freya and looks as though she'll lamb in march. I got to feel her baby (yes, I call it a baby and not a lamb!) and can't believe she has a little one in her own tiny body. She must have been easier for Enoch to catch than Freya at breeding time. I'll have to watch and wait and see when Freya will likely lamb. I talked to Dean about using a breeding harness next year and he thinks I'm nuts, that we should just let them do their thing. I really want to know though who gets pregnant when.
I gave Steve the Olympic Mittens for his wife and they were very well received. I decided to leave them as is and not to decorate the tops of cuffs. I'm glad I finished my KO project in time and am a little sad that the Olympics are over. I hope to make it to Vancouver in 2010.
Enough babbling, here's one more pic of my shivery girls.

Cocktail Mermaid Bag

2006-02-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

While waiting for my Olympic yarns to dry I finished up this little bag.
It's knit from the Cocktail Monkey Bag pattern @ Knitty.com. The supplies were gifted to me by my first secret pal Sadie.
I have a small stash of cute quilt fabric so had lots to choose from for the lining. I have more pink than anything but this minty green cried out to me.

The mermaids looked kind of funny hanging below the trim so I tucked each of their arms into a bind-off stitch. They help keep the handles upright, I like that. :-)

This was fun to complete once I got past the rough hemp knitting. Anna wants her own with blue trim, I need to give my fingers a rest first.

Mitten Progress

2006-02-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

I ran into a few problems during the knitting phase. I spun up all I had of the Shaela Shetland fleece and came up about an ounce short. I looked through my other wool and though I had another similarly colored fleece it is of the primitive coat type, having the soft undercoat and guard hairs. I tried working with that and spinning it up and didn't have any fun. I decided to spin an entirely different yarn. I looked at my Jacob wool but it didn't seem right anymore & the white Columbia from Schrocks' would get dirty too easily. I settled on a 60/40 wool/mohair blend I've had for ages. It's hand-dyed in a colorway called Blue Lagoon. To make the mitts match I ripped out the cuff of mitten #1 to have enough yarn to complete mitten #2. It was tricky to get all the right stitches on a holder first as the yarn is thick & thin and slightly slubby.
I spliced in the Blue Lagoon yarn and knit down 20 rows on each mitten. I ended up with these ginormous specimens, nearly 18 inches tall.

After about 18 minutes of felting they look like this.

Much smaller, much less muppet like.
I'm going to have to shave the insides, the bottoms have a cool furry thing going on. I like it on the outside but when I put my hand in feeling the hair creeps me out.

Reminds me of fish. Fish aren't fuzzy though so I need to come up with something else. I had wanted to put a cool design on the hands in duplicate stitch. I tried but it looked pretty bad with the variety in stitch texture. When they're dry I may embroider the design. The Olympics aren't over yet so I still have tinkering time but I'd really like to have these done for when Steve comes to shear on Sunday morning.

Olympic Yarn

2006-02-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the first hank of yarn for my Knitting Olympics project.
Now for a slew of adjectives: it's 2.5 ounces of hand-carded spindle-spun heavy worsted 2-ply woolen natural shaela shetland. I used my homemade mini cd spindle and it worked well.
I cast on for Spinderella's Felted Mittens using size 11s and mitten the 1st looks good so far.

Knitting With Beads is Cool!

2006-02-15T11:25:00.000-08:00

I received an amazing package on Valentine's Day from my SP.
In the box I found all of the supplies to knit MaryElla. This is my first beaded knitting project. I like working with the little beads and teeny size 0000 needles. I'm glad to have begun the knitting, I spent hours last night just stringing the beads onto the cotton! I hope this is how the beginning is supposed to look.

My girls were very excited to see the Barbie Fairytopia Valentines as well as the heart shaped lollipops that seem to have disappeared. They were sweet enough to share some with the other little girls over for 4H last night. I hid the truffles but the baby found them & conned me out of one. :-)
That lovely wool roving is begging to be spun! I've been pawing at it frequently.

My favorite item by far is the beautiful wool headband she knit.
The colors are amazing, it's very warm, and it's perfect to wear when I'm working outside. She's a thoughtful gal, my pal. :-)