Comfort a Friend
Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: Bruce Hornsby and the Range "Every Little Kiss"
Topic: Thoughtful
Right now, I know two wonderful people who are at the beginning process of getting divorced. Their spouses left them for someone else. I'm not here to make a commentary on that, as it's none of my business. But, I have thought about how I want these two people to know that I'm thinking of them.

So I came up with an idea yesterday. Why not knit shawls for these two beautiful women? Something that lets them know that they are loved and that I'm are thinking of them.

So many of us know someone going through a divorce. We don't know how to comfort them. Sometimes people in divorce even loose friends, but the good friends stick around.

So what I'm proposing is that if you know someone going through a divorce, knit them a shawl. I'm calling this "Comfort A Friend". It doesn't have to be "Birch" that you knit, but even a simple triangular or rectangular shawl that they can wrap around their shoulders and feel the warmth of your friendship and caring. And if you have a male friend going through a divorce, you can knit them mittens, a scarf or an afghan.

Everyone that signs up for this will be added to the side of my blog as being part of the Comfort A Friend Knit along. Let me know what you plan to knit, and when you'll be starting. Keep me updated. I'll post your blog link in my most recent entry when you send in an update so people can know where you are on your project. You can e-mail me at Baycolonyfarm at aol dot com .

It's that simple. Comfort a Friend and let them know you care.

And Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm not Irish, but my husband and kids are, so we'll be doing a little celebrating tonight, but no corned beef! :-P

I have two really good little boys
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Paul McCartney and Wings "Band on the Run"
Topic: Rabbits

Since last Spring, my youngest son Nate has been a big helper when taking care of the rabbits. At the age of 4, he is in charge of filling the water bottles at the bunny condo. At least three of the cages are rather high, and he has trouble getting the filled bottles back into the bottle holders, but he doesn't give up. Cal has only started taking an interest in the rabbits, and wanting to help feed. He has to help with the bottles in the barn first, and then I allow him to fill a couple of feed dishes. Both boys get 25 cents per bottle. Nate did enough bottles in three weeks last September that he made over $13.00!

Anyway, I had Nate outside with me, feeding and watering the bunnies. Again, he was working on filling the four bottles at the bunny condo. I can usually fill three bottles to his one, but hey, every little bit helps. So, I walk over to the bunny condo to start feeding the boys, and Nate is standing on the deck, with a sad look on his face. When I asked what was wrong, he started to cry and tell me that Twist had bitten his finger! Even after having his finger bitten, he filled Twist's bottle, and washed off his finger, even though it was bleeding slightly. I think it hurt more than than the shock of being bitten. Now, Twist is a gentle rabbit. But I suspect that Nate's finger looked a bit like a carrot and Twist was hungry. I held Nate and told him that Twist is a good boy and wouldn't hurt him on purpose. And then I was able to convince him to not only pet Twist, but to also fill Twist's food dish with pellets. Nate did both things well, and without complaint. I even had him smiling while he was filling the food dish. I'm one to believe that if you fall off a horse, you get right back up on it and tell it who is in charge!

The Accused:

And the Victim:

All better now (yes, he is holding up his middle finger, but I swear, he has no idea what it means, or that it even means anything). ;-)

And away we go!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles "I Second that Emotion"
Topic: Fiber

Remember this?

It's the shawl I knit last fall from the IAGARB yarn from our co-op. I have another 5 pounds coming to me shortly. So it's time to get dyeing! I'll be using the microwave in the garage for this venture instead of the roaster. If anyone has custom dye orders, please let me know. I'm always willing to dye things to order. :)

Anyway, IAGARB is sponsoring a pattern promotion for the IAGARB yarn. Our goal is to get people to realize that angora yarn is a wonderful fiber to work with, and that no rabbits are harmed or killed in the shearing process for their wool. So, if you have an original pattern, please check out the promotion. And anyone that contributes a pattern to IAGARB and buys their yarn from me, will get a small gift from me (you'll still be entered in the IAGARB contest; but you'll get a small gift from me too).

Now, for the knitting content:
I'm also going to start working on a knitted shawl. I have some Marine Blue Jaggerspun wool/silk blend, and the Fiber Trends Flower Basket Lace Shawl. I'm feeling a real need to get back to fiber work, which is something I was feeling burnt out on all winter long. I know, winter is the best time to be working with wool, but what can I say? I'm hoping that working on one project instead of having multiple WIPs will keep me content like it has Cassie.

Wah-lah!
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Lindsey Buckingham "Trouble"
Topic: Fiber

No, I'm not feeling blue, but have lots of blue surrounding me.

Here are three of the plyed skeins.

I was having some trouble plying the first singles off of the second bobbin as I apparently spun them a bit thinner than the rest of the singles spun on Sunday (a good reason to finish your spinning on the same day!). This resulted in two breaks while plying, thus, the smaller skeins. But, once I got down to the Sunday singles, it has been smooth sailing.

I'm really pleased at how the yarn has come out. I still have 2 half full bobbins left to ply, and I'll finish those up today. I'll also wash these three skeins today too so that I can see the bloom from the angora. :)

Oh, and yes, I use scrap acrylic yarn to tie my skeins with instead of using the same yarn. Why waste perfectly good yarn on ties when you have scrap stuff lying around?

What do you know!
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Modern English "I Melt With You"
Topic: Fiber

Yes, I've been spinning! Yesterday afternoon, I brought out my Joy and spun almost 2 full bobbins of the Winter's Night Sky roving (German Angora/Corriedale blend). It took me almost 5 hours to spin that much, but I'm spinning it really fine, so that I can use it later for a shawl. This is what it looks like on the bobbin:

When I finish working today, I'll spin up the rest of this bobbin, and ply the two together. I can't wait to see what it looks like finished. This is something I've been planning since last October when this lovely roving came back from processing.

Yesterday wound up being a busy day. In the morning, my husband and I finally planted 2 sweet cherry trees and two peach trees. I actually bought them last year and I never got them in the ground. They survived the winter in their pots, and we took advantage of the warmer weather to get them planted in the back of our yard. Cherry trees don't need much pruning, but egads! pruning peach trees makes me feel like you're killing them. With peaches, you have to prune them back to just a few larger branches, and then cut those back severly. Even my husband wondered if they would make it back to fruit bearing. :)

I'll leave you with some pictures I took while out working today. One of the cool things about my main job is that I get to travel around, and I see neat things to photograph.

An old family cemetary over in Deerfield, MA

Sugaring season in Deerfield, by the Connecticut River

Some bunnies don't like their coats....
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations"
Topic: Rabbit Care and Grooming

As you can see.

Gwertz chewed most of it off between last night and today, when I went out to feed and water the rabbits. He was wearing like a superman cape. :) Oh well, the temps are warm until Wednesday and by then, he'll have a week's worth of growth on him.

And then some kitties like Smitty think that old bunny coats smell really good!

And the winner is.....
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Jon Secada "Angel"
Topic: Contest

Jessie in CT!

Jessie came up with Abigail, which suits the wheel very well. Claudia's name of Prudence came in a close second.

So I'll give Jessie a choice of 2 Winter's Night Sky roving bumps (4 ounces of German Angora/Corriedale blend) or a 2 ounce skein of the 85% German Angora/15% Merino yarn.



Abigail

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. There were some great names sent in! :)

Ta-Dah!
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Maroon 5 "She Will Be Loved"
Topic: Rabbit Care and Grooming

I've had several inquiries about how to make the bunny coats, so I've made a tutorial for those that are interested.

First, cut the sleeve off of a large sized sweatshirt.

Then, cut two holes in it near the seam, a couple of inches down from the wrist band.

Last, you'll probably want to cut a straight line down the wristband, just past where the wristband is sewn onto the sleeve. That way, the rabbit won't feel constricted around the neck.

After shearing, you need to get the rabbit into the coat. It's easier said that done, because they really don't want to go in. I've found the by rolling up the back part of the coat allows you to get their front legs into the armholes easier, and their head follows through then.

As you can see, the coat allows for easy movement for the rabbit, but keeps them warm.

Right now, with the temps being down into the teens at night, they really need the coat when they are shorn. Once it gets up to over 40 degrees F at night, then it can come off. I generally keep the coat on until they have 1/2" of fur, which should be about 2 weeks if you've shorn them down the to skin. Given the anticipated temps later this week, I might be able to take the coat off of him within a week.

A word of warning; some rabbits don't mind the coats. Other rabbits hate the coats and will do anything to get out of them. I've had rabbits chew their way out of a coat overnight after a late shearing, and I'll find the coat in a corner of the cage (usually peed upon so that tells you something!) and the rabbits cold but happier. If your rabbit decides it doesn't want to wear a coat, just make sure you give it some straw or hay for them to bed down into when it's colder.

Home for the day
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Boyz II Men "On Bended Knee"
Topic: Contest

"The Question" by Robert Frost

A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.




















I've had some excellent suggestions so far in The Contest, but keep them coming. I'll pick the winner on Thursday. :)

I'm home today, fighting a cold. My younger brother Luke is flying home from CA on Thursday, and my oldest brother Greg is coming home on Friday with his family, so I want to be well enough to spend the weekend with them.

I think I'll spend the day spinning the Winter's Night Sky roving that I saved out for myself. It's a future shawl.

BTW, if anyone is looking for some good light mystery reading, I highly recommend the Phillip R. Craig Vineyard Murder series. I'm on my fourth book, and really enjoying them.

A new contest!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Jennifer Paige "Crush"
Topic: Contest

I promised a new contest so here it is. It isn't the contest I had originally planned, but we'll do that one later this week.

I picked up my Connecticut chair wheel from Cate late this afternoon. Mamacate was kind enough to bring her all the way home from SPA, where Dave from the Merlin Tree had brought her to surprise me, not knowing that I wouldn't be there. But I'm surprised enough! She looked like this when I purchased her in September of '04 and now she looks like this:

Isn't she pretty?

Now, all she needs is a name. That is where you come in! From now until Wednesday, I would like for you to post your name suggestions. Out of the ones that I think suit her, I'll pick one and that person will win a prize from the fiber stash. If you're a knitter, I'll send you yarn, if you're a spinner, I'll send you some roving. And if you don't do either of those things, I have other cool stuff that I can send out. :)

Now, I have other things to share with you all.

Today we took a trip out to Old Sturbridge Village. This is an awesome place for people of ANY age to visit. I've been here several times, as has my husband, but my kids haven't. And they loved it (keep in mind that they are 4 and 7, so like I said, it's for people of any age). Our first stop was at the Rural Industries building, where both boys made a tin candleholders. Next we toured the Firearms and Textile building. While the guys checked out the firearms, I headed straight for the textiles. There, I found these:

I guess I was surprised because I have two wheels that are almost identical. I was also able to view 25 samplers from the 'Busy Hands and Useful Hours': Samplers and Embroidered Textiles display which was excellent! This display runs for most of the year, but don't miss it; it is well worth the trip and admission cost.

Next on our tour, we headed to the Salem Towne House where they had some sheep.

And the Salem Towne House

After that we were on to the Bullard Tavern where we had a light lunch. Then we headed over to the Fenno House, where they keep some livestock from the Heritage Breeds Conservancy, a very worthy organization. Here are a couple pictures of the sheep (look at all that lovely wool!) and a cow. Doesn't it's fur look spinnable?

We left OSV, went to Country Curtains, Crabtree and Evelyn, and then to an overpriced antique store nearby (really people, if you want antiques, do not shop at the ones in touristy areas).

We had a great day, and I have other pictures to share, but I'll share them one by one over the next few days.

So, remember to post your choice of name for my Connecticut Chair wheel in the comments section and we'll go from there!

Good luck! :)