Chipping away at the Eco Vest

Cabley Knitting and Freshly Spun 2-ply Sally

Wouldn’t you know I would run out of yarn when I got to the armholes? Ha! Oh, I knew there wasn’t enough, it’s just I’d finally gotten back into the rhythm of cabling. Knit & Purl & a Prong to the Back & Knit & Knit from the Back & a Prong to the Front & Knit & Knit from the Front & Purl & Knit & on & on & on & on. So, I was sort of bummed when I had to card card card and spin spin spin to match the worsted weight springy Sally yarn.

So, now I need to make a center pull ball and get back to Knit & Purl & a Prong to the Back…

Button Button who’s got the Button?

Mahogany Buttons for Oatmeal Cardi

Alright, I know. Be careful what you wish for…or for what you wish. I wished for sweater weather, rather than sweatful weather. And, I got it!

Today, Oatmeal Cardi was given the chance to go to work, do its job, you know, be worn. But, I still hadn’t figured out the buttons. So, Tom gave me some slices of wood, cherry, mahogany, and maple, and said, “Go to town.” I did. I messed around for awhile, carving ovals, curvy rectangles, and all manner of awful things. Finally, I settled on some scooped corner mahogany squares, edges broken just enough to be smooth, and big enough to stay buttoned.

That’s them. Up there in the picture. Still unfinished, but tomorrow’s another day. They’ll be a dark red, lovely mahogany.

Oatmeal Modelling Raw Buttons

Well, so far, none of the darn photos show the red alpaca in the knit. I think that when the buttons are finish coated, and their color is vibrant, the red in the yarn will pop. A little bit. I hope.

So, that’s all I had time for today. Crazily enough. The twins are getting big and they aren’t napping so much, so Maa and Pa have to be out there spending time with the teeny lumpkins. Oh, I did have time for one more thing…

Glorious!

This is a recipe on which to found an empire. What’s in these muffins? Coconut, oats, tangerine, blueberries, the neighbors’ honey. And this and that, the stuff that unforgettableizes them.

Alrighty?

Time to give ba-bas to the babies.

 

Oatmeal Block

Oatmeal Cardi ~ in A Gulf Coast Native/Alpaca Blend

Good thing I took this picture when I did. The sweater’s still wet, and I readjusted the yoke. But, hey. Here’s the thing. The knitting is done! Tom’s making me some cherry buttons…in his spare time (right). Thank you Amy King for a great pattern!

So…it’s on to the next project…which is the finishing up of the Eco-Vest (Katie Himmelberg).

 

The Stork has Arrivayed

Annie Hogan 8 hrs old

After a Feed – Day 1

Sally with little Rosie

Smitty Running with Annie – 1st Outing

Ready for Vogue

Annie & Pa

Mary Hogan – 5 months old Today!

Well, on the 10th of February, around 2 in the morning, Annie Hogan was born. She was the first of twin Gulf Coast Native ewe lambs born to Sally. Rosie came next, smaller, more fragile. Sally decided to keep Rosie. She left Annie under the barn, and when Maa retrieved her, Sally let us know that she was a one-baby Mama.

So, we brought Annie in the house, fed her colostrum, popped her on a towel on the lap o’ Pa, and went to sleep. For a very short while. It’s been awhile since Sally rejected a lamb…Curly Lumpkin was the first…so we were a little out of practice. Yesterday was divided between setting up a nice safe pen for Annie – in the living room, and picking up those necessities such as diapers and sheep milk replacer.

The weather has been unseasonably hot. But, last night, it rained like heck, and today it’s breezy and cold nights are projected for the next few. So, I knit a lamb sized sweater. After all, these babies don’t have terribly thick fleece. We did convince Sally to go into the hay barn with Rosie, where she spent last night, and most of today. She brought Rosie out for a constitutional mid-day, and then retired to the sweet warmth of the barn. Annie got to wear the sweater for an outing. She’s a wonderful eater. And her energy is high. Pa & I dressed her up, and with Smitty leading the way, we “went for walk!”

Annie popcorned the entire way. Around and around the yard. Meeting chickens – yes, the hennys all came over to inspect her – and roosters and trees and leaves…so many interesting things to sniff! She posed for pictures, paid an uneventful visit to Sally and Rosie, and ran into Cousin Mary and Aunt Holly (who reminded us gently that she already has a child and doesn’t need another). Curly and Bing ran up from the big pasture and met us at the fence. Curly and Annie did a lot of kissy face stuff, but Bing, although courteous, really had better things to do than socialize with his 2-day old sister.

A nice outing, all in all. When we came inside, Annie polished off the remains of her afternoon ba-ba, allowed me to shrug off her sweater and put on a fresh ditey, and then she marched into her crate and plopped down for a nice nap.

Fashion detail: Annie’s sweater was knit from yarn spun from her momma Sally’s and Aunt Holly’s fleeces.

Oatmeal Cardigan

Dove’s Roost Handspun Gulf Coast Native/Alpaca Blend

I love oatmeal. We eat oatmeal and apples every single morning. When I saw Amy King’s Oatmeal Cardigan in Spin-off (Winter 2009), I felt a tug. But, life when on. I spun a truckload of Gulf Coast Native/Alpaca blend for a Celtic Cape. Then I decided not to knit the cape. And I looked at that yarn, and looked at that yarn, and swatched for socks and sweaters and was so not-satisfied. Then, some cell in my brain wiggled, and I remembered the Oatmeal Cardi.

I went through my samples, and there, in my hand, was ever the most perfect gauge swatch. So, I cast on.

The yarn, supple, smooshy, and light, danced on and off the needles. Perfect perfect. When I knit the charts for the pattern, though – what the? Yes, it was late. Three in the morning, I think. But, what was up with the charts? Next day, I reread them and reread them, and there was a big fat booboo. A couple cable symbols were reversed. So, I checked for errata on the Interweave site, and there, in front of my face, was the admission that the symbols had been reversed.

You would think, after months of fiddling with that yarn, that I’d have been a more careful knitter, wouldn’t you? HA! I’ve been a writer for over 30 years, and I’m well aware of the crazy mistakes that can elude the most careful editor, and seemingly work their way into a completed document. But, I was so thrilled to have a pattern, an easy, mindless knit for a gorgeous gorgeous sweater…that I didn’t bother to look for mistakes. Fortunately, I was only 4 rows into the design, so tinking was not a huge deal.

So…word to the wise, no matter what your pattern source, have the sense to check for errata.

Now, let me get the chores done so I can sit down and knit!

A Light Note

Lumpy Bumpy Finnsheep 2-Ply

Here’s a non-GC yarn. I received a bit of a Finn fleece during a fleece study awhile back. Here’s some spinning with the crimp. The yarn has 2 plies, one smooth (from rolags) ply, and one spun tail to tip (from locks). This isn’t a fabulous picture, but the yarn is amazing. Buttery soft, luscious, and I’d love a sweater, a next-to-skin sweater, knit from this. Unfortunately, I have only 4 ounces.

 

First Knit of the Year

A big fat pair of mitts. Note the color scheme. Now, note the color of my glasses. Yeah, how about that. I was halfway through before I realized I was knitting to match my eyewear.

This yarn is a worsted weight singles, corriedale, spindle spun. Twisted rib. Pretty much a plain vanilla 32 stitch fingerless glove. Wanted something long enough to cover my wrists.

Oh, the tan yarn was dyed with black tea. The brown, I can’t even remember. Some bark or other. Multi accent fluff is marigold dyed border leicester/coreopsis dyed GC/grey GCNI.

NaKniMitMo and 112 in 2012. Rah.

Tour de Fleece – Day 10 & Day 11

Alpaga 374

As all you Tour de France junkies know, there are 2 rest days scheduled in every race. This year, the rest days are the 11th and 18th of July. Those of us spinning the Tour de Fleece take the same days off. I used yesterday to organize, reorganize, put away piles of fiber I’d “thought about” spinning, and pulled out others I am going to spin. And like all days off…well…in my world, there’s no such thing. So…by this afternoon, I have a skein to offer. Part of my cape project. Another 5.75 oz…374 yards on the nose. Worsted seems so fast to spin after days of eeny weeny singles!

Listening to Nixon in China (John Adams) 1987 Nonesuch. Whoo hooo!

Tour de Fleece – Day 9

Inching along on the Gulf Coast

Fun with Holly. Pun intended. Yes…this is a progress shot. No more no less. Wool. Film at 11.

Tour de Fleece – Day 8

More GCN Holly Singles

Not much time to spin…Just about an hour tonight. Worked towards filling this bobbin with singles. Tomorrow is another day. Oops…actually, in this case, tomorrow is today!