Comments Off on Holidays
Tagged house, Knitting, manic rambling
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| Mirri Collection, Ambah O'Brien |
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| easy knitted bangle (free pattern!), Ambah O'Brien |
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| Mirri Cowl, Ambah O'Brien |
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| Maroo Mitts, Ambah O'Brien |
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| Magine Shawl, Ambah O'Brien |
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| Dreamy Valentine, Ambah O'Brien |
Sheep week may be over for most people, but we still have no shortage of ovine happenings around here!
LambCam is still up and running and is more or less a permanent fixture, at least through lambing.
And speaking of lambing, Susan and I convinced our friend Tanya to join us on an adventure to pick up a ram yesterday!
His name is Francis, and he is a gorgeous Border Leicester we are borrowing from the best darn shearer around, Emily the Amazing!
Our colored sheep are Border Leicester like him, but we are also breeding him to the Cormo ladies and the Cormo/Southdown ladies. I can’t wait to see what the babies will look like!
He’s a little stand-offish with us bi-peds, but I can’t blame him, considering we’re the ones who stuck a halter on his face and put him in the back of a truck for a four-hour drive home yesterday.
He’s definitely not crazy about the dogs, and head-butted Cini pretty hard when he got too close.
He’s smitten with the ladies, though. There’s been plenty of sniffing and nuzzling. I haven’t seen him actually accomplish the deed, but not for lack of trying!
The real obstacle to Francis getting an ewe loving is really Samantha. You know, the dairy goat. She’s having a bit of confusion about this interloper. She’s been swinging back and forth between ramming him, biting his wool, knocking him off any lady he tries to breed (and then trying to breed them herself), and snorgling up to him like she just can’t get enough of him.
The poor, hormone-addled, confused girl.
Keep an eye on the LambCam, and with any luck, we’ll have lambs by May!
Comments Off on Whole Lotta Lovin’ Goin’ On!
Tagged Farm, Pets, Uncategorized
It looks like this year in Massachusetts we’ll have a white Christmas. Of course at the farm, all the snow will be melted, as it’s going to be nearly 80 degrees this weekend! (Too bad we’re not doing our spring/summer photo shoot this weekend, hmm?) But back to a white Christmas. All this white must have seeped into my brain, because when I started to look for things to show you for today’s Yarned by You, I was drawn to white knits. So, here’s a look at our white yarn and what’s been knit with it recently!
First is this Winter Solstice Wrap, a free pattern that Snaplo knit in Sabine. This looks super comfy and cozy and perfect for these chilly days in my office!
I’ve been a fan of these drapey front cardigans (although I’m afraid that it might not work with my body type), but they’re all knit in laceweight yarns and it seems like it would take me YEARS to finish one based on my current knitting rate of no knitting / day. But, this one is made from Moonshine, a worsted-weight yarn. BobbyCB made it as a shop sample for Hank, which is in Cincinnati, Ohio, so if you’re from that area, you can visit it in person.
This infinity scarf looks so snug and I know that it’s soft, being knit out of Herriot. It’s called New Caanan and was knit by knitswithdoxies.
Sherib29 knit these adorable fingerless mitts out of Herriot. They’re called Poulsbo Mitts and were designed by our friend (and yarn shop owner) Sarah Parker.
There are many great knits in Coastal Knits, and one of them is the Rocky Coast Cardigan. chiaochun knit this one using Herriot. I bet it’s like wearing a hug all day long. Definitely my kind of cardigan!
MissMatty knit this Reversible Cable-Rib Shawl using Findley. This is her first laceweight project AND her first cabled project. Didn’t it come out so beautifully? This is so elegant and would look great over a dress or bunched up and worn as a scarf.
This cowl-necked pullover was knit by perrinandcompany using Sabine. The pattern is The Purl Soho Sweater. Comfy, cozy, and relaxed.
violetdalhlia knit this shale baby blanket. Old Shale is such a classic pattern, you can’t go wrong knitting a baby blanket using that pattern! And using Herriot is sure to guarantee an heirloom blanket that would comfort any baby.
This stole is knit out of Findley. Although nupps are not usually my thing, in a simple stole like Sweet Embrace, they look great. CapeCodeKnitWit did a beautiful job!
That wraps up this week’s Yarned by You! What are you working on? I should have some kind of Christmas knitting on my needles, but I just haven’t felt motivated. What am I waiting for! Christmas is only 6 days away!
Comments Off on Yarned By You: Snow White Gallery
Tagged Yarned by You
First, the facts:
Needles: Dyak Heavy Metals
Company: Dyak
Type: Interchangeable needles made from stainless steel
Sizes: US 0/2.00 mm, US 1/2.25 mm, US 1.5/2.50 mm, US 2/2.75 mm, US 2.5/3.00 mm, US 3/3.25 mm in either 3.5″ length tips or 5″ length tips
Cables: 16 inch, 21 inch and 39 inch for the 3.5″ tips; 17 inch, 29 inch and 36 inch for the 5″ tips
The In-Depth Look:
Like many knitters, I love using interchangeable needles, and I have since Denise came out with the first decent set I ever used. I’ve upgraded several times since then, and have been happy with several of the sets I’ve tried, most recently the needles from Dyak, makers of the Darn Pretty Wood needles with the seemingly endless wait-time. (Worth it though. I bought a set last year and even though it took ages, I adore them.)
But, sadly, there were never any sets that went below a US 4 or 5 size needle. I personally tend to knit on the smaller end of the needle scale, so I was excited when I saw that Dyak had US 3 in their Northern Light set, but I had little hope that a set of even smaller needles would arrive any time soon. Not because manufacturers weren’t willing, but because of the logistics–creating a needle that would work but with a connector small enough for a size 0? That’s only 2mm to play with–not an easy feat for a screw that would be screwed and unscrewed countless times by eager knitter fingers.
So, imagine my delight when I saw the announcement several months ago of Tom Dyak’s new “Heavy Metal” needles that go all the way down to a US size 0 needle, my preferred tip for socks.
They’re named Heavy Metals because, unlike most metal needles, these are solid steel–not hollow. Their cables come with special, small connectors to fit their tiny diameters (so cables from the other Dyak sets aren’t compatible), but they swivel, so your cable will never twist and tangle. And, as always, they come with a handmade case.
But how good are the connectors, you’re wondering? Well, very good. It’s just a simple screw-in tip, but when connected to the smallest size, it’s seamless–no gaps to snag the yarn, and a straight join, no nasty, abrupt angle or curve to interfere with your stitches.
Honestly, I wish I’d been able to buy these months ago. I know other people are excited, too. I mentioned these on Facebook and two of my friends immediately turned around and bought a set–because, size 0 interchangeables?
Well, it is the time of year for miracles.
A good time was had by all at the farm this weekend.
In other news, Amy, Tanya and I drove to Northern Maryland yesterday to pick up our rent-a-stud, Francis.
We should be seeing the fruits of his labors in about five months…
Comments Off on This Week in Pictures
Tagged Features, In Pictures
- by Joan -
Comments Off on Christmas Lights In Flight …
Tagged christmas, lights, Photographs
Our something good is that Susan, Amy, and Tanya are going to pick up the rented ram today! Do you know what this means? It means spring lambs!
Spring lambs that will look this this
I can hardly wait! This will be my first lambing season at the farm. The closest I’ve been to seeing a Ewe give birth was on the LambCam and being just 24 hours late to Gonzo and Camilla’s birth. And that was the trip on which Susan and I both met Amy, so it was a pretty awesome trip!
Tell me, what’s good with you on this Tuesday?
Comments Off on Tell Me Something Good Tuesday
Tagged breeding
If you missed it earlier today, here’s part one of the giveaway winners. And now, we’re on to part two. First up are the pattern winners! A mess of pattern winners. Here we go!
Lady Chadwick Cap designed by Quirky Bird Knits:
The Rosana Shawl by Cassie Castillo:
Hope Grows Scarf by Stacey Pope:
Hope Grows Cowl by Stacey Pope:
The Fallen Lady Stole by Amy Kaspar:
Cardiff Bay Ponytail Hat by Beth Ann Beck:
On the Front Porch Swing by Linda Day Morehouse:
Elvenflyt by Sierra Anderson (four winners):
The Brazos Valley Shawl by Jenna Swanson:
Winter Branches also by Jenna Swanson:
Turn Around by Susan Barstein:
Cranberry Crush Cowl by Kay Hopkins:
Lombard Lace Pullover by Jamie A Besel:
The Marissa Shawl by Helen Rose:
Chadwick Scarf by Lynnette Connors:
This issue of Hook & Needles featuring a scarf in Herriot designed by Lynnette as well:
Next up not one, but two Sirka counters from Grellow & Gray. The first counter also comes with…
a hank of Sabine in #19 Biscuit and the Sabine 2013 pattern booklet:
The second winner will win a Sirka counter and…
a ball of Tenzing in #6 Mystic Purple with the 8 leaflets from The Karakorman collection:
That brings us to the grand prize winner. And I’m just so exhausted that I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to tell you who won. No? Outrage? Indignation? Okay, okay! I’ll tell you. But I’m not listing all the prizes. There are just TOO many of them. You’ll have to take a look at the Grand Prize post for a refresher. The package is worth over $700!
Got it?
Because every daily entry counted as a bonus entry, I carefully checked the number of all the post comments, put them in date order and used the random number generator to select a winner. There were 3,010 entries!
Okay, the grand prize winner is……
Number 630! Which means comment #630 in the Grand Prize post. I never would have expected it to be that low of a number, which I guess is why we use a random number generator instead of choosing a “random” number from our brains, right? Anyway, comment number 630 is:
Which is not a very exciting comment. Let’s see what Grandmatutu had to say about her favorite holiday memory, though:
Much more interesting! Congratulations, Mary!!
For all our winners, please email lauria AT fiberfarm DOT com. Please include what you won in the subject line to make it easy for me, and include your email address, your ravelry name, and your mailing address. You have one week to email me, after which I will choose a different winner.
A special thank you to our extremely generous donors, all of our wonderful independent designers, Grellow & Gray, and Knitting Fever, Inc, in addition to the rest of the sponsors throughout the giveaway! I hope you’ve enjoyed this giveaway and have learned about some great new products and companies! There are still 9 days until Christmas, so get hopping on your shopping or crafting! (That includes me!)
Comments Off on Giveaway Winners, Part 4!
Tagged winner(s)
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