Thanksgiving Sale on Etsy!

In between class, working in the lab, and writing my thesis, I've updated most of my Etsy inventory (most have lower prices!) and added a bunch of new handspun yarn and woven rugs!

In honor of the holiday this week, we're having a Thanksgiving sale!  Use the coupon code FALL20 to get 20% off your purchase from our Etsy store!

And check back daily for the rest of the week for more updated pictures and new knit items!

Check out our store!  There's a gift for everyone!

Fiber Progress!

I've had quite a bit of time to knit recently, and have made good progress on Christmas presents!  I'm not sure I posted pictures of any of the earlier ones, so I'll start way back in August!

This is a beautiful purple (sorry, crappy camera!) lace cowl that I knit from Stonehenge Fiber Mill yarn.  Either sport or worsted weight, can't quite remember.  It sold very quickly at one of the fiber fairs I attended this fall.

Next is a bee shell for a stuffed turtle I made my future nephew.  His parents raise bees, so I just had to make the bee shell!  Christmas present #1!

One of my frequent "stash busting" projects.  A pair of finglerless mitts from some scrap wool/mohair yarn my mom bought to bind the edges of her hooked rug.  They also sold quickly at the Pioneer Fair.

This is the first of my selfish projects...an earband to finish off my trio of winter items for myself!  The yarn is handspun (by me!) merino wool that I got at the Michigan Sheep & Wool Fest last year.  I made fingerless mitts and a cowl last winter and the earband is the last piece!

Another gift...this time a belated birthday present for my fiance.  I had the slippers knit before his birthday, but I had to wait til he visited to felt them so they would fit!  Sewing on the soles took forever but they look awesome and he loves them!

Another selfish project...washable fingerless gloves for myself.  I decided I needed something for future winter barn work, and they've already come in handy at 2 fall llama shows!

Birthday present #2...socks for my sister.  Unfortunately she loves handknit socks, and I hate knitting them!  The yarn is 10% cashmere and absolutely fabulous though, so at least it is fun to knit with!  One sock is done and the other is about halfway there...

And Christmas #2 or birthday #3...slippers for my mom.  I couldn't find the yarn that the pattern called for but decided to hold 2 strands of the Brown Sheep wool/mohair worsted weight together (in place of a bulky weight), and it works great!  I hope they hold up...they aren't felted...

I've also started on a mohair caplet for myself to wear to a friend's winter wedding next month...currently that is my #1 project to finish.  The rest will probably have to wait til I'm done with school!

Speaking of, school is winding down for me, and that means that life is about to get really crazy.  So I'll be taking a month or so hiatus from the blog so I can focus!  I'll try to get a post or two in before Christmas though once I get back home.  And spring next year should be really exciting as I move to NY and work on bringing an old farm up to speed to house my llamas starting in the summer!

NAILE!!

What a great weekend at the North American International Livestock Expo (aka NAILE)!!  I took my two little "guys"...Ralph and Kara.  At just 6 months old Kara is already bigger than Ralph!  (She weighed 163 lbs on Sunday, at 6 months and 1 week old!)

Anyway, the show was a huge success.  I entered both of them in pretty much every class possible.  Friday night Kara had her fleece evaluated for walking fleece, and ended up placing 2nd in Single Coat fleece with crimp, under 24 months!

Kara's baby fleece...can't wait to shear her next spring!

Saturday was quite hectic, running back and forth between 3 show rings...alpaca, performance, and llama halter!  Ralph and I won the Adult Alpaca Showmanship class, and then he got 1st and GRAND CHAMPION in his halter class (non-breeder alpaca) too!  Kara didn't do so hot in halter Saturday, placing 7th out of 11 (I think) in Silky Juvenile Female.  For some reason my sweet little girl doesn't want anyone but me to touch her!  Both Ralph and Kara went through 2 performance classes- obstacle and public relations.  Ralph won both of the alpaca performance classes, and of course Kara didn't place in her respective Novice classes.  But she did pretty well!  Ralph also had his fleece judged for walking fleece, and also got a 2nd in his class- Dark over 24 months.

Ralph and I in Adult Alpaca Showmanship.

Sunday went much better for Kara!  I decided to try Adult Showmanship since she behaved so well Saturday in halter, and we placed 6th out of 10-11.  She did amazing in halter too, placing 3rd out of 8-9 in Medium Wool Juvenile Female!  The judge really liked her!  Ralph continued his winning streak, winning Open Alpaca Pack and essentially getting GRAND CHAMPION Open Alpaca Performance!

Kara and I in Adult Showmanship.

Oh, and my skein of alpaca/silk handspun yarn won the handspun yarn class too!

Overall, it was the perfect way to end the show season this year!  I can't wait to work with Kara some more and take her back into the ring next year!

I'll apologize now for the lack of posts in the coming weeks...school is getting crazy!

Mom and baby...Kara and Bluff were very happy to be reunited after the show!

I was glad I left T at home...Kara and Ralph are so much easier to groom!

Humming Hoosier Classic!

Finally some real news from the farm!  On Oct. 13 I attended the Humming Hoosier Classic llama show in Crawfordsville, IN.  It was a bit of a chilly day, but a fun show none the less.

I took Ralph, T, and Kara to the show.  It was Kara's first time away from home and Bluff, but she did great!

Ralph and Kara chilling out between classes.  Kara is now taller than Ralph at only 5.5 months old!

The first class of the day was Kara's halter class, and she got 2nd in her age division and 4th overall!

My beautiful little girl!

Look at those ears!

Next was T in halter and showmanship.  He won his halter class, and we got 4th in showmanship.  He didn't want to behave for some reason!

T finally standing pretty!

And last was Novice Pack.  The show went really slow, so we had to leave before we got to compete in Obstacle and Public Relations.  None of my animals placed, but they all did really well.  T was really squirrely again, but Ralph was really good and Kara did a lot of obstacles she had never seen before!  Not to mention it was the first time she had a pack on!

Ralph in Novice Pack, getting ready to put the bag of cans on his back.

Overall a great show!  Now there's just 2 more weeks til the last show of the year, the North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville, KY!  That show will be just Ralph and Kara.

Fall Craft Fairs!

Things have been pretty quiet on the llama front now that I'm back at school for my final semester, but I've been keeping busy with craft fairs this fall!

The first one was the annual Shelby County Pioneer Fair back home in Indiana.  I actually sold a ton of stuff that weekend, and had a lot of fun spinning on a big walking wheel!  Don't have any pictures though, mostly because I was dressed in my 1800s costume and didn't want evidence!

I was supposed to do another craft fair the next weekend back in Michigan, but due to forecasted rainy weather (which never happened) I decided not to go.

The following weekend I found yet another craft fair (technically a heritage festival) to go to for a day.  I finally remembered my camera so I have pictures!  The event was held at the Woldumar Nature Center outside of Lansing, MI.  There were several craft vendors, as well as costumed demonstrators, a native flute player, a petting zoo area, wagon rides, and games and activities for kids.  I didn't sell much, but I had a great day spinning in the beautiful fall weather!  I ended up spinning about a pound of the BFL roving that I'm working on for a handspun sweater.

Pioneer cabin on the grounds near the nature center.

Indian dwellings built for the event.

My little "booth" at the heritage festival.

Now that the craft fairs are over for the year (at least for me), all of my handmade items will be working their way back to my Etsy site in the near future.  Just need to get pictures of the new stuff to list!  Start thinking about Christmas gifts early!

Llama Biography #8: Little Cattessa

Well yet another llama that came along before digital cameras...I promise some of the next ones will have more pictures!

Little Cattessa, fondly referred to as Tessa, was the second cria (first planned one) that was born on our farm.  Her mom, SHAG Cattera, was bred shortly after we purchased her, and Tessa was born the next fall (October 2000).  I remember that she was born while mom and I were at the Blue River Pioneer Fair in Shelbyville, and I went running out to the barn in my dress when we got home!

My sister and Tessa winning Grand Champion Junior Performance at the 2002 Hamilton County Fair.

Tessa was the first in a long line of white crias for Cattera.  Her dad was a gorgeous appy male owned by Shagbark Ridge Llamas.  Tessa had a few red spots, but nothing like her dad!

SHAG Cattera, Cattessa's dam.

Since May (Little May Flowers) was "my" cria of the year, my sister took over Tessa.  They made a great team too.  2001 was my sister's first year in 4-H, and Tessa was her show llama.  She ended up being very well-trained and was very tolerant!  My sister really cleaned up at the shows!  She showed Tessa in 2002 as well, and then she was sold to a new farm in Martinsville.

Tessa went on to have a great show career for her new owners as well.

Llama Biography #7: Casa Loma's Rhapsody in the Rain

Well I can't come up with anything interesting or exciting to blog about tonight, so I thought I'd do another llama biography!  This one will be pretty short, as Rhapsody wasn't at our farm very long.

Rhapsody, fall 2000.

Rhapsody came to our farm in spring 2000 with her dam, Alder Crest April Showers.  Rhapsody is a half sister to our first llama, Casa Loma's Little Sheba (same dad).  Unfortunately Rhapsody didn't get her dad's beautiful coloration, nor her mom's!

Alder Crest April Showers, Rhapsody's dam.

Muellama's Lou Chama, Rhapsody's sire.

Rhapsody spent most of her life at our farm as a pasture ornament.  She didn't quite have the personality for performance, so neither my sister nor I used her for 4-H.  We sold her to a friend of the family in 2001 (along with SHAG Lakota), and they had her bred to Gone Platinum, a gorgeous tan male owner by another friend.  A year later, Platinum's Melody was born.  Melody definitely has the coloration of her grandparents, and the brain for personality like her dad.  About a year after Melody was born, all three llamas came back to our farm.  They were soon sold again, this time to a 4-H family in southern Indiana.  All three llamas were used for 4-H, and Melody became quite the star!  Melody is still winning performance classes today with her 4-H handlers!