Short Update and Opinions Needed

Well, I've calmed down...  The dog fiasco has become less of a worry, and the llamas are settling in nicely.  They've finally explored the entire pasture, and are working on picking up every burr out there!

Bluff also left for her new home today.  It was a bittersweet moment...I'll definitely miss her, but she's going to a FABULOUS home and I couldn't be happier!  I can't wait to see what she gets to do with her new family!

A much fuzzier Bluff...this picture is about 5 years old!

And now for the opinions I need!  I've finally started my first Rhinebeck project!  I'm making a felted bag, which gets flowers and leaves sewn onto the front (they aren't felted).  I bought yarn from Knit Picks, but ended up not getting enough of the main color for the bag, so I "borrowed" some from my mother-in-law.  I love how the bag looks now (it is a lot more colorful), but my original yarn for the flowers now doesn't work!  So I need something new.  I searched through the yarn stash again today, looking for options...  I need to knit flowers AND a vine with leaves, so the pictures show two colors (green and something else) that I would use.

#1 (blue).  Probably my favorite option.

#2 (white), and #3 (yellow).

#4 (dark pink).

#5 (light pink).

#6 (light blue/grey).

So...which color do you think I should use?  Technically I could use two colors, if you think more color on the bag would look better!  I appreciate the help!

The Llamas Are HERE!!

As I started thinking about writing this blog post last night and early this morning, it was with a feeling of pure excitement...now that feeling has turned to pure terror.  The llama/dog introductions did NOT go well this morning, and I learned that I have a lot of work to do on the fence and barn pen, but hopefully we can come up with a way to keep two of the dogs out of the enclosure.

Going back to the beginning...

After receiving a phone call about two weeks ago that the llamas could be coming SOON, I kicked into high gear for the remainder of the fence building and barn cleaning chores.

It took about 4 days to clean out the barn, which consisted of wetting down the hay in the bottom of the barn, shoveling it out, and then hosing down the remaining organic matter.  I also went through and "disinfected" with a strong solution of PineSol and water.  It is such an improvement!  I only cleaned about 60% of the barn, as the other 40% is still going to be filthy as my in-laws kill chickens this fall, but I plan to clean out the rest after they're done harvesting the last batch.

A dark, but clean barn!

We also finished attaching the fence and hung the gate and cattle panels.  Unfortunately, one of the dogs found a way to get under the fence, so I have more work to do reinforcing the bottom of the fence (with dirt or rocks), and possibly running a strand of electric wire along the bottom.

Finished fence!

I also set up a temporary fence to block off a muddy area that I need to dump dirt on and reseed.

Temporary plastic posts and flag tape.

The other big step was building the pens in the barn.  It took another few days, but we got the cattle panels stapled in place, the new support beam installed, and the wood trim screwed in.  It looks pretty good if I say so myself, but apparently the dogs can get through the manure troughs (which they couldn't before the llamas got here!), so we have more work to do...

Building the pens and gates.

Finished (and filled) pens!

And finally, the llamas got in about 11:30 last night!  Unloading was a little rough, since we had to work our way through the maze of a barn, but they managed to get through unscathed.  They settled in nicely though.

This morning was another story...I went out with Abby first thing in the morning.  The llamas were happily grazing in the pasture.  Abby went wild barking for about a minute, but then quieted down.  We then (a bit hastily I will admit) let the other two dogs out an hour or so later.  The Pyr managed to crawl through the manure trough and get into the barn pen, where I luckily caught him and hauled him out.  The Bull Terrior got under the fence somehow, but for some reason didn't go after the animals.  A few minutes later they were both trying to get through the fence into the pasture, and in all the excitement got into a huge fight.  Everyone is okay, but the fence definitely needs some adjustments!

Enjoying the grass.

Comical Ralph!

Beautiful Kara.  She is huge!

My tack "room".

Hay!  Hopefully the llamas like it...its a bit stemmy but should do the trick.

Fiber, fiber, and more fiber!

With all the nice weather we've been having in upstate NY, we've actually managed to get quite a bit done on the fence, but somehow I managed not to take any pictures!  We're almost done though, so I'll wait and take pictures once it is all done.

In the meantime, I have lots of new fibery pictures to share!

Back in late June/early July, I was spinning like crazy to stock my booth for the Hamilton 4th of July Farmer's Market, but I just got around to taking pictures and listing all the yarns on Etsy this week.  There are some really cool ones available, if I do say so myself!  Get them while they're hot, they won't be in the Etsy store long once I start the farmer's market again in August!

Our very own tan llama roving plied with dyed wool/alpaca.  Subtle but gorgeous!

This is definitely NOT subtle!  A gorgeous thick & thin spiral ply art yarn in beautiful neon colors.

My very first tailspun yarn!  The base yarn is the same dyed wool/alpaca as above, with grey Gotland/Wensleydale locks spun in.

This one might be my favorite...gorgeous jewel-toned alpaca/silk blend.

Another big surprise when I got back from Colorado...I had roving ready at the mill!  They had already processed my natural grey llama/BFL roving while I was gone, and when I went back to work I got to process my own corespun yarn!  I heard that the second batch of roving was going to be processed last Friday, so hopefully I can bring it home on Wednesday, along with a kid mohair fleece I had them wash.

The natural grey BFL/llama roving.  It is gorgeous, really need to spin some myself!

Six pounds of corespun yarn!  It will be made into bags to sell.

I've got a few more fibery things planned for the remaining warm weather this summer/fall.  First and foremost, I need to skirt the few remaining fleeces that I have, so they can get made into roving at the mill.  I have a cool merino/romney fleece that I'm going to have blended with a bit of firestar, and a couple of yearling mohair fleeces that I want to have dyed and blended with a finn/romney fleece (already skirted!).  I also have two fawn alpaca fleeces at home in Indiana that I'm going to have made into roving.

I also have a few suri llama and alpaca fleeces, as well as some gorgeous Gotland/Wensleydale locks, that need to be washed in preparation for lockspinning this winter.  And I have a ton of white scrap wool that I want to solar dye with Kool-Aid to stuff into bird nesting balls.

Solar dying with Kool-Aid last summer.

The results...and yes it smelled like fruit, even after rinsing!

Knitting Pattern #2: Horseshoe Lace Legwarmers

Finally back from my Colorado trip (aka honeymoon!), and thought I would go ahead and publish my second knitting pattern!  This is a simple variation from the first one, just a different lace pattern.  Both are very easy, and work up beautifully.

The black horseshoe lace and grey leaf lace legwarmers.

Horseshoe Lace Legwarmers

Horseshoe lace legwarmers.

Finished Size:  18" long, 5" wide (when folded flat).  Approx. women’s small

Knit Picks Gloss Fingering (Fingering weight), 2 balls

#3 needles - double point
7sts & 10rows = 1"

Cast on 72 sts, join to work in the round

Work *k1 (twisted), p1* rib for 2”
K2tog, knit around

Follow pattern for 14” (or desired length minus 4’)

• Knit
• K1, *yo, k3, sl1, k2tog, psso, k3, yo, k1*
• Knit
• P1, *k1, yo, k2, sl1, k2tog, psso, k2, yo, k1, p1*
• P1, *k9, p1*
• P1, *k2, yo, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1, yo, k2, p1*
• P1, *k9, p1*
• P1, *k3, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k3, p1*

K1, m1, knit around
Work *k1 (twisted), p1* rib for 2”

Bind off loosely

Close-up of the lace pattern.

Legwarmers with boots and leggings.

First Knitting Pattern! Lace Leaf Legwarmers

Over the past year or so, I've been slowly working on designing my own knitting patterns.  So far I have 4...they are all pretty simple, but I have to start somewhere!

The first pattern is the Lace Leaf Legwarmers.  I designed them for my sister, who felted the first pair of legwarmers I made her!  For yarn I chose Knit Picks Capretta, a beautiful cashmere blend.  It knit beautifully and has held up well to wear and tear and washing.

Finished legwarmer.

Finished Size:  18" long, 5" wide (when folded flat).  Approx. women’s small

Knit Picks Capretta (Fingering weight), 2 balls

#3 needles
7sts & 10rows = 1"

Cast on 72 sts, join to work in the round

Work *k1 (twisted), p1* rib for 2”

Follow pattern for 14” (or desired length minus 4’)

• Knit
• *yo, k2, sl1, k2tog, psso, k2, yo, k1*
• Knit
• *k1, yo, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1, yo, k2*
• Knit
• *k2, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k3*
• Knit
• K2tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, k2, sl1, k2tog, psso, *k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, sl1, k2tog, psso*, end last repeat ssk instead of (sl1, k2tog, psso)
• Knit
• K2tog, yo, k3, yo, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, *k1, yo, k3, yo, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso* end last repeat ssk instead of (sl1, k2tog, psso)
• Knit
• K1, *yo, k5, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso* end last repeat s1, k2tog with first stitch of next round, psso

Work *k1 (twisted), p1* rib for 2”

Bind off loosely

Legwarmer worn with jeans and boots.

Close-up of the lace pattern and ribbing.

You can now link to the pattern on Ravelry too!  Enjoy!

Llama Biography #10: Autumn Hill's Catanna

We have actually made some progress on the fence (got 3 more corners put in!), but I don't have any pictures to show for it, so I thought I'd do another llama biography.

In June 2002, exactly 2 weeks after Autumn Hill's Charity was born, SHAG Cattera had her second baby.  Going along with our farm name and "Cat" theme for Cattera's babies, my sister named her Autumn Hill's Catanna.  Catanna was born over 2 weeks late, and was the biggest baby on our farm to date, starting out at 34 pounds!  Catanna is sired by the gorgeous Bauernheim's Showdown, a champion show llama owned by Shagbark Ridge Llamas.

Newborn Catanna.

Catanna was an especially sweet baby, just like Charity.  They were best buds, and it was funny seeing them together, as Charity was 2 weeks older but much smaller than Catanna.

Catanna at 4 months old.

Charity and Catanna even attended their first show together, the North American International Livestock Expo. in Louisville, KY.  Catanna was just old enough to show...she turned 5 months the day of the show!  She did very well for her first time, winning several ribbons with my sister in performance.  Catanna went on to be shown by my sister in 4-H and ALSA shows for a couple of years, and I even showed her occasionally.  She never really liked being shown, but she did respectfully well.

Catanna and my sister at her first show.

Catanna at the 2003 Western Ohio Triple Crown.

2003 Indiana State Fair.

2003 NAILE.

Catanna and I at the 2004 Southwest Ohio Llama Show.  She was Grand in halter!

Catanna and I at the 2004 Great Lakes Regionals.

Catanna was the first llama that my sister taught to kush (lay down on command), so she became the focal point of several pictures that year!

This was a Christmas card one year.

This has won several photo contests.  And yes, she was actually watching the TV!

When Catanna turned 2.5 yrs old, we decided it was time for her to become a mom.  She was bred to the famous Tuna Catcher (then owned by Mark Smith Farms, now deceased), and had the most gorgeous little grey male, which we named Autumn Hill's Khatadyn.  Khatadyn was sold before he was weaned, and went on to become an ALSA Halter Champion!

Khatadyn at 4 months old.

Catanna had a uterine prolapse when Khatadyn was born, so we decided to give her a year off before rebreeding her.  During her "break", I decided she should get back in the show ring.  By this time Catanna had really put on the pounds, so she didn't place as well in halter as she did as a cria.

Catanna and I at the 2006 Ohio State Fair.  She was huge!

After a year, we decided to breed Catanna to our new male, MRLF Ridge Runner.  Shortly after she was bred, the man who bought Khatadyn also purchased Catanna, and she moved to Tennessee to be with her son.  A year later, she delivered an adorable little paint male.  Unfortunately, she had another uterine prolapse, and the owner decided to retire her from breeding.  She still lives on his farm, and has a great home!

Catanna as a yearling.

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)!