What am I knitting??

I finished the baby sweater, just have to put the buttons on it, the pattern was from the Book 1: The Knit Stitch by Sally Melville and is called The Baby Albert Coat, I wanted to try the pattern out as they have a pattern for an adult sweater too, it is neat how you knit the bottom first then the back, then the sides by picking up stitches, then pick up stitches for the sleeves and knit them, the only sewing is the top of the sleeve and shoulder. There are instructions to make a bunting with a hood, it is so cute.
Then here is the scarf I started last fall with the very...very...like sewing thread llama yarn, knit with the feather and fan stitch, got so tired of it last fall I tucked it away. Found it a bit ago and decided even if it did me in I would finish it, so I knit...and I knit...and I measured...and I knit...every night I would say this is it!! I am going to cast off tomorrow but then would measure it and decide...well I will knit a bit more. Wanted to knit it to sixty inches...finally it was fifty-four and I could not knit another row...so I cast off, I think by the time it is washed and blocked it will be near the sixty inches. I have tons of this fine yarn so decided I would try crocheting it and it is working so much better, goes a lot faster.
Meanwhile I found a pattern for a vest that you knit and then full ( felt a bit) , there is a formula that you use, you knit up the swatch and then you wash it to full it and then you measure your swatch and figure out the percentage it felted and then multiply the length of the vest by the percentage of felting to get the proper length you need to knit. So I did all the figuring and almost have the back knit, the fulling gives a really nice weight for the vest. The funny thing is it only shrinks in length and not in width. Am excited to see how it turns out, love the fulled swatch.
Today I got my Creative Knitting magazine in the mail and it has some great patterns in it, I love the jacket on the cover!! Will have to decide what to make it out of and get spinning and swatching.
We have been having snow and blowing snow weather the last few days, now today although it was cool out the sun was shining...but the forecast is for some more snow....more snow....I really need warm and sun shine, specially sunshine...I am being to think I am solar powered and really need some sun to charge my battery up. Right now my battery is really run down and I should head for bed.

What Have I Been Doing???

This is what has been keeping me busy lately, unexpected babies and most of them were born when it was at least -25. We had kept a little Boer Buck from last years kids and although he was a baby he got out and bred some of my pygmy girls and one of the dairy girls. RH kept saying it could not be the Boer buck it had to be one of the pygmy wethers that was not neutered properly (he was in denial) even after the first kids were born he claimed they were 100% pygmy...finally after the second twins were born he had to admit they were out of the Boer buck. The pygmies are so small I was so worried we would loose them all, the Boers are four times as big as the pygmies. It was not the train wreak I thought it was going to be, they were o.k. as long as they had twins but one doe who had trouble when she had pygmy kids and we were never going to bred her again only had the one kid and it was too big and we lost the doe and kid. It was a miracle we lost only one. Then the dairy girl has a bad utter and I thought last year was the last year we would bred her, HB was upset as he said she was a pig and was getting too fat etc...etc.., well one morning he went out and she had a beautiful little brown boy, as she only had the one her utter is not that big and baby has no trouble drinking. The baby pygmy/Boer kids have the funny airplane ears, a cross between the pygmies erect ears and the Boer's floppy ears...but they are so cute. Now in a few weeks the Boer girls we did bred will start kidding.
Now the weather!! We had a few warmer days and some of the snow melted and we were more than ready for spring but a couple of nights ago we got another dump of snow with winds and drifting snow and the weatherman says it is not over yet, still more snow on the way but we will not be having the -25 and lower temps anymore. We have had terrible winds, when we had the few nice days Mr Fix-it came out and replaced the shingles on the roof and that night the wind came up...and blew them off again.....now how many times did we tell him they had to be tarred down...when we phoned him to say they had blown off and asked if he tarred them....no he did not!! Well he guarantee's his work....so he will be back when it warms up again and hopefully before the rains start and the roof starts leaking.
I have been knitting but will post about that another day!!

Please let this be spring on the way!!!!!

After I do not know how many days of -25 +or- it is now only -12..the sun is out...the birds are cheeping...Maxx and Grey Kitty are laying in a sunbeam...have not looked and seen what Mr. Gopher is up to, yesterday it was -25 and here he was out sitting in the cold snow on his butt eating something....what I do not know. Now that gopher has been there for a couple of years and this year I have declared war on rodents....but you know...he is kinda a cute little guy...and he has grown on me...no matter what nasty words I have spoken to him...but I can not put up with all his children (or hers...can decide whether it is a she or he)so I have been thinking.....as our powers that be at our Municipal Office already have me on the crazy list...do you think they would have a live catch rodent cage...so I could catch him/her and move him/her somewhere else...mmmmmm....have to think on that.
I had 100gms of fine NZ fine Romney and NZ Possum, it has been around for a couple of years, I think M.J. picked it up for me at a convention, I found it and thought I would spin it up, what horrid stuff, now the Romney looks like it was beautiful, light brown color and is so shiny but this possum stuff....do they put the whole possum in?? I am sure I am finding toenails and it is full of hair. I have one bobbin spun but now I wish I would have felted it into something. What I might do is put the rest through my carder (after picking out the toenails) and see what it looks like and either spin up another bobbin to ply with the other one or....will decide...sure am not enjoying spinning it like it is.
Finished up the baby sweater out of acrylic but did not take pictures yet, not really happy on the yarn, have to decide on buttons, knit a couple pair of socks and have been knitting on the feather and fan scarf I started last year, the yarn I am using is 100% llama and it is like sewing thread, is taking me forever to knit, I think it might be easier to crochet it, have to look at some patterns as I have two cones of it.
And the great news is the mill where I took some llama and alpaca....and I think some pygora...it has been over a year, has my stuff ready to pick up, I just had them wash pick and dehair it for me and then I can add whatever other fibre I want. I always make out a list of what I send but maybe I did not print myself a list off of the computer and it could have been lost in the fix computer thing or it could be floating around in cyber space. Anyway it will be a surprise right? Then I had this great idea...if the fibre I send to this mill takes a year of it sitting around there before they could get at it...why could they not just put my name on a list and two weeks before my name came up...they could call me...and I could get it there...am going to ask her when I talk to her. Can not wait to get it and please let the weather get warmer so I can get out to the garage and sort more fibre...spring!...spring!...we really need spring to arrive and soon!

Rain...Snow..and then Sunshine...all in one morning!!

Finally got the llama fluff spun up, I had added about ten percent merino wool and love how it spun up...just wish there was more of it, only have about 48 gms.
Then I had some alpaca and merino spun up on a bobbin and some merino on another bobbin so decided to ply them together, the alpaca merino had been on the bobbin for a bit so did not have a lot of life to it but after it was plied and washed it came back to life, right now it is a striped yarn so have to decide whether to knit it up like it is or dye it....and you know me...I like color so it will probably be dyed. I have a lot of beautiful roving that has been admired and petted for a long while and I think I am going to spin them up. The local mill just phoned to say my fibre is ready to pick up....it has only been a month since I took it up, it was some coarser alpaca so I had some merino added and they made it into felting batts for me. And today the mill where my llama fibre has been for a year phoned to say they are starting on it tomorrow and it should be ready to go by the weekend, so things are looking up. I just got them to wash, pick and dehair the llama and then I can card whatever other fibre with it.
I had my window open a bit when I went to bed last night and woke up about three o'clock and could hear water dripping...it was poring rain...on the snow, when I got up and looked at the temp this morning it was zero but it is a worry if it gets colder and freezes and we have ice all over, then it was snowing...heavy wet snow...and then by noon the sun came out and we had monster water puddles all over...around the snow banks!! Weird...now they say the weather is getting colder. Thank-goodness the end of the ceramic tileing is in sight as my allergies are so bad I feel I am surviving without a brain these days. Will be glad to see the snow disappear and spring arrive!!

O.K found the picture!! It was not filed where I thought it was, I have to take some time to get my pictures filed properly. The llama roving is so soft and fluffy!!

Snow Day Today

<
We woke up this morning to snow on the ground again, everything white, but it was quiet snow, just slowly coming down and now the sun is trying to come out. Wonder what Mr (Mrs) Gopher is doing? I could not believe it... the other day I looked out the window and here was this fat gopher sitting their munching on some dried grass....does that mean spring is just around the corner?? do not know what he is eating....and no....I am not going to feed him. I better get my plans going on how I am going to protect my garden this spring...is a challenge every year....and I am determined to win.
The ceramic tiling is ongoing, is interesting trying to put down floor tile in a room full of stuff, it is a matter of tiling a space and when it is finished move stuff onto the finished tile and tile another spot...and on you go. My allergies from the dust etc are getting to me so am living on antihistamines so am not too sharp these days....the good thing sharp or not I can still knit, thank-goodness.
The llama and sheep hats were delivered and were a big hit and I have orders for more when I want to make them, I said let me have a bit of a break and I will get at them, so am having a sock knitting time until I get tired of them and then will do some more hats. Our Llama association is thinking of knitting scarves out of llama yarn to sell at the convention this fall so I whipped up a scarf to gauge about how much yarn it would take, I have been knitting a bit on the feather and fan scarf I started last year out of the very fine llama yarn, it is like knitting with sewing thread so is not fast and then found a ball of yarn so I can finish the childs sweater and I did a bit of spinning, I had carded up some llama with a bit of merino wool last year and it has been sitting there being admired, thought it was time I made it into something. Have got half of it spun and working on the next bobbin, it is soo soft. When I started gathering up all the projects I had sitting here and there around the house it was a bit scary, and that is not even thinking about ufo's sitting in drawers and closets. The good news is they are going to start processing the llama and alpaca fibre I sent to the mill a year ago, I had not heard from them so e-mailed to see where I was on the list, I have forgot what exactly I sent to be processed. Now the decision...should I get then to just wash and put it through the dehairer and then I can card it with what I want or should I get it processed into roving or yarn??
Well off to knit on a sock or vacuum.....hmmmm....big decision. For some reason the picture I was going to add is lost in the computer......off to recover it!!

We are cold again!!

Well after a few warm sunny days we are back into the deepfreeze, woke up to fresh snow on the ground this morning. Cats are snuggling together to keep warm, they miss the sunbeam coming through the windows. I finished knitting the third scarf and hat set, will take pictures when I get them blocked, knitting three sets in a row was almost too much, started a little childs sweater and I think I am going to run out of yarn, it is an acrylic yarn, wanted to try out the pattern before I knit it out of something else, thought I had two balls but guess not, will have to pick another one up if I can not find some matching plain in my stash, we will see. The royal blue yarn was delivered to the customer so that is done. Finished writing the article on dyeing for the llama newsletter so can erase that off the list and tonight I started a sock out of some alpaca and wool, have it half finished. Have no socks in stock at all, so have to get busy at them, my carder has been calling me but can not get to my workroom as RH is still putting tile on the floor, pretty soon he will have the area where my workroom is finished and I can get at things again. My geranium's are blooming, have to cut them back and get some slips to root for the spring. My houseplants need potting sooooo bad, a jade plant and a aloe plant have tried to get my attention to their situation by throwing them selves out of their pots. I better give them some attention. Well off to bed....Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone...wishing you lots of yummy chocolate.