Knitting Pattern #4: Abby Cowl

I finally managed to design another knitting pattern...this time using my very own handspun!

Originally I knit up this pattern using Knit Picks Galileo, but the cowl was too wide and I wanted to re-do it.  I wanted to spin some of the new merino/mohair roving I had just gotten processed at the mill where I work, so I decided to spin some of it into sport-weight yarn for this cowl.

A bad picture, but here is the cowl in progress.

As I was taking pictures of the cowl, I couldn't manage to get a good one using either a mannequin or myself, but my dog Abby made a great model, so I decided to name the pattern after her.

I just didn't like how the cowl looked on the mannequin.  I won't even post the terrible picture of myself wearing it!

Abby Cowl

Abby modeling the cowl.

Finished Size: 9.5" wide (19" around), 6.5" tall.  Should fit a child or woman.

Autumn Hill Llamas Sport Weight, 1 skein (or ~110 yards of any sport weight yarn)
#4 needles - circular or double point
22 sts & 36 rows = 4"

Cast on 102 sts.

Knit edge:

• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row
• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row

Start stitch pattern: (work 2 full repeats of pattern)

1. purl (and all wrong-side rows)
2. k3 *ssk, k5, yo* k1
3. purl
4. k3 *ssk, k4, yo, k1* k1
5. purl
6. k3 *ssk, k3, yo, k2* k1
7. purl
8. k3 *ssk, k2, yo, k3* k1
9. purl
10. k3 *ssk, k1, yo, k4* k1
11. purl
12. k3 *ssk, yo, k5* k1
13. purl
14. k1 *yo, k5, k2tog* k3
15. purl
16. k2 *yo, k4, k2tog, k1* k2
17. purl
18. k3 *yo, k3, k2tog, k2* k1
19. purl
20. k4 *yo, k2, k2tog, k3*
21. purl
22. k5 *yo, k1, k2tog, k4* - end the last repeat as k3 (rather than k4)
23. purl
24. k6 *yo, k2tog, k5* - end the last repeat as k3 (rather than k5)

Repeat the edge:

• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row
• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row

Bind off loosely in purl.

A close-up of the stitch pattern.

I hope you enjoy the pattern, I really like how it came out.  Handspun yarn for this project can be found in my Etsy store, and the pattern is listed on Ravelry.  Please let me know if you find any errors, I'm still a new designer!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow...

Like a good portion of the country, we got hammered with a bunch of new snow last week.  Luckily the temperatures have stayed reasonable, but none of us (the llamas nor myself) are real happy with the snow!

This is the view of the llama pasture after the snow.  There is a tiny green blob in the center...that would be Ralphie in his coat.  It is hard to tell from this picture, but the llamas aren't getting out of the barn much with all the snow.  They will walk out to the hay feeder (and sometimes to the poop pile) but that's about it!

Speaking of poop, here is my poor compost pile!  Unfortunately it didn't get started early enough in the fall to start "cooking" before it got cold, so it is pretty much frozen.  Next year should be better though!

And let me just mention, it is NOT easy getting a full wheel-barrow from the barn all the way to the compost pile!  To give you an idea of scale, this picture was taken right outside the barn door, and the compost pile is behind the two small sheds in the center of the picture.

With all the snow, the llamas are spending a lot of time in the barn.  They will go out occasionally to eat from the outside feeder, and April will sit out there for hours in the snow!  You can see that Ralph went out for a bit, but decided that it was better in the barn!

April and T were being a bit more adventurous that day, and ventured out to eat some of the new hay.

I waited too long to take this picture, but half-way through the snowfall there was an oblong cushing-llama-shaped snowless spot on the concrete here outside the barn...April must've slept outside in the snow all night!  She had about 2" of snow on her back!

This is what the pasture looks like from the inside of the barn.  I did shovel a bit of the concrete pad, to encourage the llamas to get outside.

Sometimes when it is snowy you have to get creative!  My husband didn't want to wait to take feed down to his chickens (we were heading out to ski), so he skied down the hill with the feed bag!  I'm really surprised he didn't wipe out!

Abby is the only one who enjoys the snow no matter what!  She might be starting to get annoyed though, as the snow sticks to her feet and she repeatedly stops to chew on the "snow balls" while we're out on a walk/ski.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like we're going to have any reprieve from the snow/cold in the coming week!  It is even going to get colder on Wednesday, I just really hope it doesn't last long!

From Llama to Lovely Yarn...A Processing Tale

After hemming and hawing about starting to process and spin Kara's fleece, I finally got around to it!  And once I started I just couldn't stop!  Kara's fleece from 2013 was sold in our farm's new CSA (community-supported agriculture) program.  Buyers could choose to receive raw fleece, carded batts, or handspun yarn.  Ralph and T's fleeces were sold raw through this program too, but Kara's was sold as handspun yarn.

Beautiful little Kara.

The story starts back in May when I went home to groom and shear llamas.  Over several days, I carefully brushed Kara out, eventually washing her and then shearing her by hand.  Her fleece was absolutely gorgeous!  The full blog post about shearing Kara is here.

Kara all groomed out, before shearing.

A few weeks later, I got around to carding the raw fiber in preparation for spinning.  It took me a couple of hours to card it all on my small drum carder.  The buyer wanted the colors mixed, so I would just pull random hand-fulls of fiber from the bag and add it to the carder.

Carding Kara's fleece.

Next, the big task...spinning!  The yarn was to be spun as a worsted weight, which is a bit thicker than I have been spinning recently.  My carding preparation wasn't perfect (it is hard when working with 7-8" long fiber!), so the yarn has a bit of texture.  I spun all the singles, and then plied.  I ended up with 4 skeins, totaling about 450 yards (I think!).  I love how the yarn turned out, the color is very tweedy and gorgeous.

Single ply yarn.

Plied yarn.

Last came washing...  Kara was washed before shearing, but I had no idea how much dirt could be left in the fiber!  As I spun, tons of dirt came flying out, so I knew the final yarn would need a lot of washing.  I think I washed the yarn 4 times in hot soapy water, followed by 3 rinses.  It was worth it though, the finished yarn is extremely soft and the color is gorgeous!

Rinsing the yarn.

Drying the yarn.

Beautiful yarn after washing.

My spinning companion (Abby, my Golden Retriever puppy)!

We've Moved!!

Here I promised that I would update more over the past couple of months, and I failed miserably!  Unfortunately, even though I was home on the farm for all of February, it was a pretty nasty month weather-wise, so the llamas and dog didn't get much outside attention.  But, circumstances have changed, and I'm really going to try my best to keep up with this blog!

Because...we've moved!!

Yes, Abby and I finally have moved to our new home in upstate NY.  We're now living on a beautiful old farm, and I can't wait for spring to arrive so I can start doing farm-life things outdoors!

The temporary llama barn.

Abby's not quite sure if she likes her new home or not.  She has been pretty much cooped-up in my bedroom.  There are 2 resident dogs that have to get used to her, and we're going really slow with the introductions.  Hopefully in a few more weeks they will all get along and she can have free-reign of the house.  She does love being able to run around and play fetch on 60 acres though!

One of the 2 resident dogs...a gorgeous Great Pyrenees!

I have lots of great things planned for the farm in the coming year.  First and foremost is to fix up the beautiful bank barn and get fence up so I can move the llamas in June!  I'm also hoping to continue to cultivate my green thumb with some of the flower gardens around the house.  Should be fun!  Of course, the forecast is predicting 4" of new snow tonight, so the idea of working outside seems pretty far off...

The top of the barn is currently home to pigeons, so it needs a lot of work!

The bottom was an old cow milking parlor, and it is in pretty good shape.  Just need to test the paint for lead, clean the surface, fill in the drains, and build a couple pens!

Back of the barn, where the llama pasture will be.  The big metal thing has to get moved too...

Hopefully we don't get this much snow!

Winter Wonderland

Things have FINALLY calmed down (and I am once again in possession of a camera cord to download pics!), so here's a new post!

I have lots of new pictures, but I think for today I'll focus on the snow!  The day after Christmas we got about 8" of snow at home in Indiana, and of course the dogs had a blast playing in it.  We took several walks around the pond and pastures, letting the dogs run and play.  It's really nice having most of our property fenced...now the dogs can run in the areas where there aren't llamas.  Luckily no one decided to take a swim in the pond.

Our pond.

Kaya was almost too short to play in the snow.

Cerro (left) and Abby (right) had a blast!

And of course I had to take pictures of the llamas in the snow.  They weren't quite as amused as the dogs, but I did see Ralph and T eating snow off the fence on several occasions!

Ralph peeking out from behind Kara.  She's now bigger than he is!

The humidity gave T the most gorgeous curls!

A Ralph sandwich...Bluff's in the back and Kara's in front.

Another view of the Ralph sandwich.  See how big Kara is!

Strange looks from both Bluff and Kara, but look at those ears!

I've been knitting and spinning up a storm recently, but I'm not quite done with my favorite project, so I'll make a new post about that all when I'm done!

Abby Update!

It's been awhile since I've talked about Abby!  She's very much enjoying being home with my parents' 4 other dogs.  She was also enjoying having a huge backyard to run around in at night and on the weekends...that is until she started eating/getting stung by bees/wasps and we found out that she's allergic!  On 2 different occasions, we looked out in the yard to see a very swollen Abby...not good!  We rushed her to the emergency vet clinic (~20 minutes away), where they gave her injectable benadryl and steroids to bring down the swelling in her face and throat.  So now Abby doesn't get to go outside in the summer unsupervised...  We've since seen her chase flies around the house, so its pretty easy to understand how she would get stung by bees!

An important note for dog owners...if your dog shows signs of an allergic reaction, you can force feed them liquid benadryl...same dose as you would for a child.  **Disclaimer: I'm not a vet!**

Abby, AFTER the benadryl and steroids!  It looked worse!  Both eyes were completely swelled shut!

I think I've mentioned this in the past, but Abby and I are taking a dog agility class this summer (along with my mom and her Australian Shepherd Kaya).  We've had 3 classes now, and Abby is doing pretty good for the youngest pup in the class!

We've been working on a lot of basics, including agility heeling (the dog should follow the handler, on either side), lining up on either side of the handler, learning to target with their nose and feet, and standing on a perch.  Heeling and lining up isn't much fun to practice, but Abby loves the perch game!  I've taught her to put just her front 2 feet on the foot stool in our living room, and also to sit completely on top of it.  Next step is to get just the back 2 feet on the stool.

"Front Feet!"

We had to start by getting Abby to completely sit on the larger foot stool, then work down to the smaller one.  Now she will completely sit on the small stool.

As far as real obstacles go, we've learned the tunnel, raised plank, a short dogwalk, and a ladder.  During the last class, we even got to do a mock course of 5 obstacles.  They went over the raised plank, over "jump bumps" (practice jumps that are on the ground, not raised), and through tunnels.  Abby did both runs off lead...the first was almost perfect but she got spooked a bit by a new tunnel the second round and it took a second try to get her through it.  But she did great!  Mom is going to borrow a few llama obstacles (the ladder and raised plank) for the dogs to practice in the back yard this summer.  We're also going to buy one of those pop-up laundry baskets (like they sell for college dorms) and cut the bottom out of it to make a tunnel!

The ladder and raised plank that we're going to borrow for the dogs to practice on.

Summer is here!! (And a new cria!)

Well the semester is finally over, so I can get back to my life!  Luckily I get to spend the summer back home on the farm, so I promise there will be lots of llama and fiber-related posts!

First, results from the Hillsdale Hobo show, our 2012 show season opener!  T and Ralph both did very well for hardly being worked with all winter (my fault, I know!).  T was really freaked out in showmanship for some reason, and I forgot a vital part of the showmanship "pattern" (I forgot to smooth down T's wool after the judge pet him), so we didn't place.  The class was competitive though.  I guess we both need some practice before the state fair!  Halter was awesome though.  T won his class (of 4)- Yearling Non-Breeder.  He didn't get Grand or Reserve, but he didn't behave very well either.  He did compete in Get of Sire for his previous owners though, and they placed second in a very competitive class.  Both boys did great in performance (for them!), doing obstacles I never thought they'd do.  And Ralph finally decided the dreaded stuffed moose wouldn't kill him!  Took 4 years!  Oh, and Ralph got his haircut!

Can you say curls?  I can't wait to shear T!

T modeling his 1st place ribbon!

Such a handsome boy.  I'm really getting attached!

Ralph modeling his new haircut.  His head definitely needs work, and I haven't decided if I should try to trim his legs more or not.  Though after how Bluff's shear job turned out this weekend I probably shouldn't bother!

And next, a puppy update.  Abby has been spoiled the past couple of weeks, and we've gone on some cool hikes.  One up in Lansing, and another in Indianapolis.

The first hike was at an old brick factory!

Hiking down the trail. 

Abby modeling her new Easy Walk harness.  She reacts to it a lot better than the Halti or Gentle Leader head halters, and it works almost as well.

I have a feeling this is an old quarry.

Abby was getting rather pooped!

Turtle!  One jumped into the river just before I took the picture.

The trails follow the Grand River in Grand Ledge, MI.

The second walk was at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis.  Kaya (Australian Shepherd) got to join Abby for this one!

My sister and I are planning on taking our two dogs (she has a rescued German Shepherd/Border Collie (?) mix) on a bunch of hikes this summer to get them both socialized.  Abby is definitely over-socialized and needs to calm down around people, while my sister's dog Cerro needs to realize people aren't scary.  Hopefully they can both find a happy medium!

I ended up going home over the weekend, and quickly became knee-deep in llama stuff!  Bluff finally had her cria on the 29th of April, a beautiful little girl my sister delivered and named Autumn Hill's Karakoram (aka Kara).  Apparently Kara's legs were twisted around her head, and my sister calmly figured out the situation and straightened her out.  She's doing great now, and gaining over 1.5 lbs daily thanks to Bluff's amazing milk supply!

Newborn Kara.  She started out at 30 lbs!

Kara at 1 week of age.  Up to 40 lbs already!

Since the cria was delivered and the weather was back in the high 80s, we decided Bluff needed a haircut.  So we carefully groomed her out and gave her a bath Saturday morning, and then started shearing her later that night.  I'm having some clipper problems, so we had to finish up on Sunday.  I knew Bluff would be nervous being in the chute (away from her cria), so we groomed her in the creep feeder with Kara at her side.  We then let Kara loose in the front yard while I washed Bluff, and then they both spent the afternoon in a pen under the barn overhang.  I even sheared 90% of Bluff in the creep feeder, just tied loosely to the fence!  I did eventually have to put her in the chute to finish her belly and legs, but by Sunday Kara nor Bluff were nervous about being separated.  That bodes well for showing them at the state fair in August!

Bluff getting her toenails trimmed before we started grooming.

Gotta love a calm momma llama...Kara was nursing on and off the whole time we were grooming Bluff!  And Bluff was never tied up.

The *before* shot.

The *after* shot- part 1.  She still looks a bit rough here (Saturday night).  She looks better now (I evened her up Sunday), but I still have to finish her back legs.

In fiber news, I finally finished my llama show vest!  It needs buttons and a band in the back to cinch it in a bit, but otherwise I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Hopefully it won't look as frumpy in person!

Close-up of the cable pattern and button band on the front of the vest.  I love the tweedy look of this yarn.

So that's about it for now.  Abby and I are back in Michigan for one last week, then home until late August!  I have lots planned for Kara, T, and Ralph!  And of course tons of state fair projects to work on.  Should be a great summer!