Llama Biography #20: Autumn Hill's Catastrophie

Unlike her name suggests, Autumn Hill's Catastrophie (aka Taz) was anything but a disaster...in fact she was one of the most gorgeous and sweet llamas to ever be born on our farm.

Autumn Hill's Catastrophie at the 2007 Ohio State Fair.

About 6 months after Randallama's Cherokee joined our farm, we decided to breed our best three females to him.  The first was Little May Flowers, who delivered the beautiful Autumn Hill's Trillium the next fall.  The second was SHAG Cattera, the dam to Autumn Hill's Catastrophie.  And last but not least was May's own dam, Alder Crest April Showers, who delivered Autumn Hill's Inali.

SHAG Cattera, Taz's dam.

Randallama's Cherokee, Taz's sire.

Taz and her two half siblings, Trillium (L) and Inali (R).

Almost a week after Trilly was born, I came home from school to find the most gorgeous spotted baby with Cattera.  All I could think as I was walking across the pasture to see the cria was "let it be a girl, let it be a girl!", and it was!  Taz was gorgeous from the start, and quite a big baby.  She had a lot of fun playing with her two half siblings and the other cria we had born that fall.  Babies are always so much more fun in groups!

Newborn Taz with Cattera.

Taz (behind the tree!) with her cria friends.

Taz grew up to be a gorgeous girl, and sweet as can be.  And did I mention huge?  She was absolutely enormous!

Such a sweet girl!

Unfortunately Taz was never a huge fan of the show ring.  She went to her first show (the Western Ohio Triple Crown) with her two half siblings, and managed a respectable placing in a huge Medium Wool Juvenile Female class (Trilly beat her though).  I continued to show her on and off for the next few years, but she really never enjoyed it.  Her fleece did amazing in the shorn and walking fleece classes though, winning several firsts and champions.

Taz at her first show.

Taz winning Reserve Grand walking fleece.

When Taz got older, we knew she had to become part of our breeding program, so we sold her sire Cherokee and bought an unrelated male, MRLF Ridge Runner.  Taz was bred to Ridge in the fall of 2007, and delivered her first cria, Autumn Hill's McKinley the next year.  Taz was a great mom and Mac was adorable!  She was bred back to Ridge again that year, and had Autumn Hill's Annapurna the year after.  Once again a truly stunning cria!

Taz and her first cria, Autumn Hill's McKinley.

Taz and her second cria, Autumn Hill's Annapurna.

After Annie was weaned it was decided that Taz needed to find a new home where she could be better utilized as a breeding female (I was once again downsizing the herd).  My mom about killed me, but Taz found a great home on the East coast and has since delivered a stunning reverse appy daughter!

Snow, and Cold, and I Don't Want to Go Outside!!

I used to love winter, I really did...then I moved to upstate NY and moved my 5 llamas (ok, 4 llamas and 1 alpaca) there as well and my love of winter went down the drain.

Our first big snowfall of the year.

I thought I knew what winter in upstate NY was all about; after all, I spent 4 years here during college.  Note to self: walking from a dorm to class and back is much different than driving 1 hour every day plus doing chores and taking care of livestock!

The llamas don't mind the snow too much.  As long as I lure them outside with hay!

Now, as much as I hate to say it, I don't like winter nearly as much.  I don't have time to play in it like I used to (I've only gone XC skiing twice this winter, and haven't gone downhill skiing at all!), and I'm just sick of it!

XC skiing with Abby last winter.

I'm slowly but surely figuring out some ways to make winter more bearable though, at least where the lamas are concerned.  I no longer feel bad about locking them inside at night, because they stay warmer and I worry less.  The two oldies also wear coats (with wool sweaters underneath) 24-7.  I've added a "litter box" to the barn to make cleanup easier.  And I've installed a plastic strip door (think walk-in freezer) to the barn door to keep the cold and wind out.  I still hate dragging poop down to the garden through 12" of snow though!

April in her coat.

So, what are your thoughts on winter?  Have they changed since you were a kid? ;)

I'm Back!

Well, after a very long winter hiatus (due to the holidays, vacation, and lack of a computer), I'm back in the blogging world!

Due to the craziness of the holidays and starting a new job, I haven't really accomplished much in terms of llamas or fiber...  I did get a bunch of new knit items that my mom made listed on Etsy tonight...check them out!

A crochet scarf I made over Christmas vacation...up on Etsy now!

The exciting news from the past week or two is that I'm going to be growing my llama herd this year!  I found a fabulous new home for Mr. T, and in exchange Kara gets a date with a gorgeous part Argentine male next spring.  I'm also looking at purchasing a bred guard llama and a show female (possibly bred as well), so I could be doubling my herd in a couple of years!  Very excited to have some new blood in the herd, and especially babies!

Lamas in the snow.

I'm going to try and be better about posting for the rest of the winter, even though there isn't a whole lot going on.  I do have a ton of knitting patterns to publish though, so if you've been waiting you may just get lucky!

Winter Garden Prep

Obviously I haven't been doing any gardening recently, but I have been preparing for next year!

Despite previous work by my in-laws, the soil in the garden is terrible!  Full of clay and rocks.  Last year we added quite a bit of compost before tilling, and I wanted to add a bunch more this winter.

I also had some moldy hay that I decided to lay down.

Instead of dumping the llama poop in one compost pile all winter and then moving it in the spring, I've decided just to dump the poop on top of the garden all winter!

I also hauled a huge load of leaves from the front yard to a new garden spot.  Leaves break down into great compost!

I also ordered a bunch of seeds, some compostable pots, and a floating row cover for next year!  Now I just need a few soaker hoses and I'm set for spring!

Rhinebeck!

I'm officially the worst blogger in the world!  I promise I'm going to start posting once a week...

Anyway, I figured it was time to share some pictures from Rhinebeck!  (aka the NY Sheep and Wool Festival)

It was a gorgeous (but cold) day at the fiber festival.

Lots and lots of people as usual!

I only took a couple of pictures of my stuff on display, and I can only show one of them as the other is of a gift that has not yet been given!

I walked all over the yarn display looking for my yarn, only to find it with the first place winners!  Boy was I shocked!

I took lots of pictures once I got all my stuff back though!

A superfine merino/cashmere/mulberry silk blend entered in the blended category.

Colorwork wool mittens entered in the special item (mittens & gloves) category.

Suri alpaca/llama entered in the exotic category.

A handspun camel/silk cabled lace cowl entered in the small item handspun yarn category.  I also entered a pair of socks in the commercial yarn category but they didn't place!  Apparently I have tension issues...

The winning skein...100% BFL in the 2 ply natural wool category.

100% merino in the 2 ply dyed category.

All in all I didn't do too bad!  I also had a shetland yarn entry that didn't place, but it was definitely the worst of my skeins.  Now to plan for next year!  And of course to get all of these gorgeous pieces up on Etsy!

Apologies

Well, the long-awaited post is here...as an apology.  The past few weeks have been horrendously busy, and thus no blog posts!  And unfortunately, things are just going to get worse...

In good news, I got a job (yay!!!), but that means that my blogging time (and time for doing things worth blogging about) is going to decrease tremendously.

My plan is to write at least 1 post a week, and I'll be abandoning the nice "schedule" of posts that I was following.  That's not completely a bad thing though, as I wouldn't have much gardening to talk about anyway!

I hate change as much as the next person, so again I apologize for neglecting this blog (and continuing to do so for the foreseeable future), but hopefully this change will be a good one!

It is Khatadyn's birthday this week, so I thought I'd share his picture.

Knitting Pattern #8: Seed Stitch Buttoned Earband

Well I don't know what has gotten into me lately, but I keep forgetting about the blog!  (Okay, I've had a few weeks with good excuses...I was prepping for an interview last night!)

Anyway, not much is happening fiber-wise around the farm (I did go to a fiber fest last weekend as a vendor, but I forgot my camera!), so here's yet another knitting pattern!  I'll do another ear band...

This ear band works best with the worsted/aran weight spiral plied handspun yarn from my Etsy shop.

Seed Stitch Buttoned Earband

Women’s Small/Medium (easily adjusted for other sizes)

Aran weight yarn (Worsted may also work): 50-60 yards

#8 needles

2 buttons

Gauge: 12 sts & 18 rows = 4” in stockinette

Cast on 13 stitches

*k, p*6x, k

Repeat for 1.5”

k, p, k to last 2 stitches, p, k

k, p, k, p to last 3 sts, k, p, k

Repeat last 2 rows for 17”

*k, p*6x, k1

Repeat 5 more times (6 times total)

k, p, k, k2tog, yo, p, k, p, yo, ssk, k, p, k

*k, p*6x, k

Repeat 3 more times (4 times total)

Bind off

Weave in ends and attach buttons

Enjoy!

Now available on Ravelry!!