and one of the babies just after nursing…

Nothing like a happy baby!

I am so excited to meet Emma’s owner, Sandra! She and my family are members of the Sweetwater Camera Club. Slobo scheduled a photo field trip for the club to her and her husband’s farm and I got to tag along and see what her sheep and the farm look like.

Sandra and her husband raise babydoll sheep on their Sweetwater Creek Ranch farm. Babydoll’s are an old-world breed, miniature Southdown sheep, and they are absolutely adorable. Her goal is to increase the population of this rare breed. I am excited at the chance to shadow her so that I can learn more about caring for these sheep and get to know my future wool providers.

With all of the flooding in our counties the past month, unfortunately, her pasture is still a wetland. You can see some of the water in the picture of Emma above. She relayed the panic they felt the night of the heaviest flooding a few weeks ago. Her husband woke her up at midnight to let her know the creek had flooded it’s banks and was quickly engulfing the pasture. She said the water eventually rose to the roof of their barn (They have about a 10 ft tall barn). They were able to rescue most of the sheep, but sadly one was lost in the rising water. The sheep had to be kept in her basement until the water receded from the barn. She is now having to give them round the clock feed until the water can drain from the once lush pasture.

While, I was there, Sandra and I talked about fleeces. She has tried to wash the raw fleeces herself but ran into so many problems from allergies to felting, that she decided to use a fiber mill. With the $300 price tag for processing, it was not worth messing with it (as she says, I don’t knit, spin, or weave – so why do it?). However, being a knitter, spinner, and weaver – I’m jumping at the chance to give it a try! In the spring, when the sheep shearer makes her rounds to the farms, I will be able to purchase the fleeces from her seven sheep at a very good price. From what I have read, the fleeces work into a yarn with the equivalent softness of cashmere and with a gorgeus variety of color. It will be a wonderful opportunity to process, spin, and weave wool that is from sheep which I get to befriend! Yes, I am in sheep nirvana…………………

P.S. I’ve finally woven off the warp from the loom I built, making 4 dishtowels and 2 dishcloths. While the towels were gifted the moment they came off the loom – I do have one cloth that I’ll post a picture about along with plans for building a loom of your own. Coming soon….

The pattern is basketweave from Creative Kniiting’s fall edition. I’ll be making the hat soon. After which, doc is waiting for his scarf and hat in blues. The hat will be like J1 apple cheek’s hat only in the same yarn as the scarves. Complete with Pom-pom!

It seems everytime I knit something, two more projects get added to the list. After purchasing the yarn for doc’s, Slobo found yarn he wanted socks made from. It’s an incredibly soft bamboo. A second trip rewarded me with black silk for a special lace shawl project and 3 more balls of yarn for another pair of socks for Slobo. Funny, everytime we buy yarn, Slobo gets sock yarn and I’ve yet to knit him his first pair of socks…. wonder if he’s bribing? Wonder how long I can keep getting shawl yarn? Hmm…. those socks just may take a bit longer than I thought!

I was in the middle of knitting the scarf when my December issue of Creative Knitting came in the mail. The scarf is just straight knitting with Wool Ease and some leftover blue wool. The hat is the basket weave pattern with a 2/2 rib knit edge and pom-pom on top. The pattern is from the magazine. Since doing the hat, I fell in love with the basket weave pattern and am now making the other two hats and scarves from it.

My sister’s sweater is finally finished! WooHOOoooooooo
You can view more pics by clicking the Gallery button above, then click on Poohs Sweater Gallery.

I really enjoyed working this pattern. It is my first knitted garment (other than hats and socks and such!) It took 5 months of working on it (off and on) but it was well worth it. It’s really warm and comfortable, tho a bit itchier than I thought it would be. I tried a glycerine and creme rinse, which seemed to help a little, but still a bit itchy. Maybe there wasn’t enough glycerine in the rinse water.

Even tho it was finished the day after Valentine’s Day, it was close enough!

I picked up a new magazine that promises to teach me how to knit a comfortable sleeve cap based on measurements. Basking in the afterglow, I’ve felt the need to knit a dishcloth but alas I must get some sewing done. I’m making a flannel robe and some ‘colorful’ flannel bottoms for my Mom to wear when she goes in the hospital next week. Have to get that done soooooon.

Other than the sewing and occasional dishcloth, I’ve bought enough Lion Brand washable wool to knit a sweater vest for Mom. Think I’ll work on that while I’m at her house for her six week recovery time. Have to keep a close watch on Pooh tho, she likes to play with yarn – knotting it all up. Maybe I can speed up my snail-paced knitting and finish the vest in time for her to have a new garment for returning to work in.

Here’s to a creative spring full of new beginnings for everyone!

My sister’s sweater is just about done. Needless to say, it will be a Valentine’s day sweater. Who knew it took so long to knit a sweater? lol.

This is the first sweater I’ve knitted and the first time I was able to buy all the yarn needed up front! That was exciting in and of itself!
I’ve become a big fan of Creative Knitting magazine in the process. This sweater is from the Sept. 2007 issue and has been a great deal of fun to knit. It has just enough variation in the pattern (cables and lace) to keep it from becoming monotonous. I will be putting a separating zipper on this sweater, rather than the buttons, just for ease of use for Pooh Bear. If she thinks her sweaters aren’t closed properly, she will walk around hunched over all day for fear of it opening! Don’t want a hunch backed sis!!!

btw… I found the magnetic board at Target’s clearance for 2.00 and the sliding rule from Walmart’s clearance section for 1.00. These have been priceless in working this pattern! I noticed they have more left, so anyone that needs one, I HIGHLY recommend especially that magnified and magnetized sliding rule!!!

Slobo made turkey broth from the Thanksgiving turkey. I canned 8 quarts of it. We’ve already used half of it, so he made broth again from the Christmas Turkey. This time I added the salt and meat (he chopped it up and made the broth). Last night, we got 7 quarts and 9 pints from that Tom Turkey! Not Too Shabby!

Now, I’ve got 4 lbs. of blackeyed peas soaking in the fridge along with a thawing Ham Bone from Thanksgiving and some yummy fattening Salt Pork! Those are going to be so good. I’m hoping there is some ham in the freezer too, to have as the main course for tonight. If not, there will be a quick run to the store! In lieu of collard greens, we will have spinach and brussel sprouts for me!

This is what is left of the cookies from something like 15 dozen that we made (and gave away! lol) I made fontegmon, sanbackles, ginger snaps and J2 made absolutely wonderful homemade caramels dipped in belgian chocolate! That boy needs to become a chef and make the world a happier place! He did a wonderful job!!! The fontegmon required 16 egg yolks, so I froze the egg whites and will use them to make an Angel Food Cake (or two) tonight. We bought some strawberries that I’ll make a glaze from with slices on top. YUM! Diabetes, heart disease, can go out with the old a day late, then I’ll be good!

My dear MIL gave me a cookbook that belonged to our boys’ great-great grandmother from Canada. It’s the Woman’s Guide To Cooking. The front cover and title pages are missing, so I can’t tell you when, where, who published it, but it has a section talking about the frugality necessary now that the War is beginning, and I believe they are talking about WWII. What a wonderful book it is!!!! I stayed up until 4 am reading it. NO Kidding! It has more information in the beginning chapter about food than any other book I’ve ever picked up!!! For example, there was a test for pectin in fruit, using epsom salts! I had not run across that. It also explains exactly what fats, sugars, milks, etc. do in cooking – making it possible to understand them inside and out so that you can create your own wonderful recipes. Information that is sadly lacking in the cookbooks beyond that time period!

Well off to can and cook up some blackeyed peas! I hope that everyone has a Happy and Safe New Years!

Yes, being a slow knitter, I’ve started working on Christmas presents. My sister’s shapely tee is coming along at about 8″ of length on the front. I decided to frog the brown alpaca yarn and just make the white one. The alpaca was driving my allergies crazy, so I’ll save that for fall, when I’m not so allergic, wear gloves and a mask, and crochet it – I can crochet alot faster than knit.

In the meantime, I have three brothers that are just crazy about golf. One in particular loves anything Irish, so I’m going to make him some golf club cozies out of bright green yarn with a shamrock on the end for good luck.

My SIL will have to get the clubs to go with it. haha. Sis, if you are watching, here’s a link I just got for a place that seems to have it all. Callaway golf

These will be camisoles for my sister. One is a wool from The Hunger Site.com. Slobo bought me some of this last year. When you go to their site, be sure to click the free food button.

The yarn on top, camel color, is a fingering weight yarn made from alpaca. It drives my allergies nuts, but it’s too pretty and soft to resist. I’ve crocheted an ipod cover for Slobo with it and have lots more yarn left over. It crochets beautifully!

The other yarn is just some plain white 6 strand cotton. DK weight. The pattern I am using is Shapely Tank Top

I decided to try my hand at making a top. I like the shaping of the garment, just not the wild colors. Hopefully, the plain colors won’t be too plain! If they are – I see dye in our future.

I love this site and Silver, wherever you are, Thank You!