Novelty Plying- Wrapping

I will admit, I'm not much of a novelty yarn spinner.  I try from time to time, but I don't think I'm creative enough.  One thing I love to do though is novelty plying.  

My usual go-to is spiral plying.  I was given a huge box of rayon embroidery thread by my mother-in-law, and it is perfect for spiral plying.  With spiral plying, you hold one strand taught (usually the embroidery thread for me), and let the other strand spiral around it.  It is quite fun and very easy, and perfect for extending the yardage of a unique single ply yarn.

Spiral ply yarn (wool single and embroidery thread).

Something more new for me was wrap plying or wrapping.  Wrapping is the opposite of spiral plying...you keep the handspun single taught, and let the embroidery thread loosely wrap around it.  It is easier on a wheel with a flush orifice, but can be done with my Delta orifice as well.  This is a pretty simple wrapped yarn, but you can get very creative with it!

Wool single, spun very loosely and roughly.  I wanted to preserve the texture of the dyed locks. 

This shows how to position the strands while plying.  The wrapping strand should be at a 90* angle to the taught strand.  (My hand isn't actually positioned like this while plying, I had to use my other hand to take the picture!) 

A wider view of the strand positions.

Finished wrapped yarn.  (This picture shows the wrapping strand better.)

A true-color view of the finished yarn.  It is very light and fluffy!

I just finished setting the twist on this yarn tonight, so once it is dry in a few days it will go into my Etsy shop!

Straw Bale Cold Frame

Here in upstate NY, our growing season is really short.  Adding in lots of rain in the spring, it makes it very hard to get the garden tilled very early in the year.  Thus, I realized early on that I would need to start plants in the house before the weather was nice enough to plant.  To make the process easier, I decided I wanted to build a cold frame in which to house the larger seedlings before I could transplant them.

I found a picture on Pinterest of a cold frame made of straw bales and old windows.  This seemed like the best plan for me, as I have tons of hay bales for the llamas and several old windows from the barn.  So a few weeks ago when we had a nice day I got to work.

The cold frame itself is very simple.  Mine is 6 hay bales arranged in a rectangle, with 2 old windows on top.  Originally I was using tiltable windows from the trailer we took down, but it turned out those were too much trouble (they would open on their own), so I switched them out for the simple wood frame ones from the top of the big barn.  Luckily the new ones fit as well.  I placed it on a south-facing slope (a gentle one though) so it would get the most sun.

My cold frame.

Thermometer in the top left corner.

The old windows.

The first day after I erected the cold frame, I checked the temperature when I was leaving for work (about 7:30 am).  Unfortunately, it was only about 8*F higher than the air temperature- not nearly warm enough on nights when it is almost freezing!

Temperature before windows were added (air temp).

Temperature just a few minutes after the windows were added.

So I started researching ways to heat cold frames without electricity, and made some modifications.  I added black landscape fabric to the sides and bottom of the cold frame, and put in a bucket of water.  Both should absorb heat during the day and release it at night.  Next week I'm also going to put a black trash bag in the bottom (for more heat), and some more landscape fabric on top (to shade the plants).  I figure I can also fill the bucket with hot water from the house on really cold nights, which should help increase the temperature.  It is supposed to get really cold again Monday night, but after that I'm going to try putting the onions and broccoli outside.  I need to transplant more tomatoes, and I'm running out of room in the house!

If anyone has suggestions on better ways to design or heat a cold frame (without electricity), I'd love to hear them!

Ag Day at Morrisville College

I love doing public relations stuff with the llamas.  Most kids (and adults for that matter) have never been up close and personal with a llama or alpaca, so it is fun to introduce them.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to do as much PR work with my animals since going to college, but I used to do a lot in high school.

A few weeks ago, a student from Morrisville College contacted me about bringing llamas to their "Ag Day".  Our FFA group used to do this in high school, so I was excited about participating.

Yesterday I was really worried about the rain (it has rained for several days in a row), but I decided to brave it this morning.  Turns out the weather was spotty...it went from nice and sunny to pouring rain, and everything in between.  In the end I didn't get too wet, and even ended up with a sunburn!

I took Kara and Ralph to be my ambassadors.  Ralph wanted nothing to do with anyone...he was much too preoccupied with staring down all of the other animals (especially the turkey!).  Kara was a little angel though!  Once she warmed up, she let all sorts of people pet her, even on the head.  She may have been a bit overwhelmed by the end, as she laid down just out of reach, but she was still really well behaved.  I was so proud!

They were really excited about the green grass!

I really hope I can find some additional PR opportunities for the future, it is very rewarding!

Knitting Pattern #5: Leafing Out Hat

I realized yesterday that I completely forgot to write a garden blog post on Saturday, so to make up for it I'm posting a new free knitting pattern!

This hat was a lot of work...I had an idea of what I wanted (stockinette hat with lace around the edge), but just couldn't find the right lace pattern to make it work.  I ended up changing what I originally wanted to do, and switched to a stockinette hat with a vertical lace motif.  I chose a gorgeous skein of handspun merino/silk/bamboo, and started knitting.  It was the first hat I'd ever designed, and due to the lace motif I had some issues with the decreases at the top.  It ended up having pointy corners, so I scrapped the pattern (not the hat though) and started over.

The second time around I went back to the original plan...stockinette with a lace edge.  I found a really simple but visually appealing lace pattern and modified it for working in the round.  This time I chose a plain tan handspun CVM yarn to knit with.  All in all I really like how the pattern came out!

I make a really bad model...

Leafing Out Hat

Women's Small/Medium

Autumn Hill Llamas DK Weight, 1 skein (or ~120 yards DK weight yarn)

#6 needles (double point or circular)

20 sts and 28 rows = 4" in stockinette

Cast on 102 stitches, join to work in the round.

Knit 1 round.

Work pattern chart.

Knit in stockinette (knit every row) until 5.75" from edge (at longest point).

Begin decreases.

• *k23, k2tog, k11, k2tog, k11, k2tog* twice around
• knit
• *k10, k2tog*
• knit
• *k9, k2tog*
• knit
• *k8, k2tog*
• knit
• *k7, k2tog*
• knit
• *k6, k2tog*
• knit
• *k5, k2tog*
• knit
• *k4, k2tog*
• knit
• *k3, k2tog*
• knit
• *k2, k2tog*
• knit
• *k1, k2tog*
• knit
• *k2tog*

Cut yarn and thread end through the remaining stitches.  Pull tight to close the hole.  Weave in ends.

The pattern hasn't been test knit, so forgive any mistakes you find and please let me know so I can fix them.

**It is now on Ravelry!**

I also have to mention that my baby (Autumn Hill's Karakoram) turns 2 today!  It's hard to believe that she's the last baby we had on the farm...and kind of sad.  Kara has really grown up in the past 2 years, but I'm hoping she grows a little more in height before she's done!

Newborn Kara.

Kara a few weeks ago.

Dealing With Mud

Spring in upstate NY means one thing...mud!  Back in Indiana, we had tons of pasture, so even when things got a little muddy in the spring the llamas couldn't do much damage to the fields.  Here at the new farm however, their pasture is much smaller and they could do a lot of damage by walking around in the mud.

My solution this year is a sacrifice pen.  It is about 30' square, and is just outside their pen in the barn.  I've slowly been covering it with waste hay from their feeders, to cut down on the mud.

They're not happy about their reduced "digs", but it's better in the long run!

The right side of the pen.

The left side of the pen.

It's been almost 2 weeks since I planted grass seed in the pasture, but it has been rather chilly so it doesn't seem to have germinated yet.  The existing grass is starting to grow, so hopefully the new stuff will start soon!

Etsy Shop Updates

I don't have much to write about this week, I'll apologize.  Once it quits raining I'm going to take pictures of my 2 new knitting patterns and get the patterns up here, I promise!

Until then, lots of pretty yarn and batt pictures...

All of these are available in my Etsy shop!

Seedling Progress

The broccoli seedlings were getting too big for their peat pellets...roots were growing out of the bottom, and the leaves were hitting the lights!  I figured I procrastinated enough...time to transplant them!

I put them in 4" square pots, filled with potting soil.  I had to work outside on a very windy day, so the seedlings were a little worse for the wear after I was done.  Luckily they look to have improved since then.