Mood: bright
Topic: Contest
I forgot to add; e-mail me at Baycolonyfarm @ aol dot com with your answers. :)
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Marcy, the blogless, intent on a conversation and enjoying a Lazy Girl Margarita
Cheryl spinning the beautiful purple fiber from Nicks Meadow.
It was a small gathering (and some people didn't want to appear on the blog), but we had a great time. We were able to chat about lots of things, and it turns out that Cheryl and I share several things in common, which made us both laugh upon discovery. I really enjoyed our conversation about Bloglines and how good some of the blogs are that are out there.
We had some wonderful food (and I'm really hoping that Cheryl posts her recipe on her blog!) and talked spinning for much of the day. Marcy supplied the drink makings and Deanna contributed a delicious fruit salad, which I plan to finish up for my breakfast this morning. ;-)
Marcy got me started on the Flower Basket Shawl, which I've had to rip back 4 times now since yesterday afternoon, but hey, I'll figure out lace sooner or later.
We all took turns spinning on Abigail. Marcy was shocked that I hadn't taken the time to spin on her yet, but I spent a lot of time spinning on her yesterday. She spins nicely, and I think we've figured out a small fluke in her spinning that will be easy to fix. But for a very old wheel, she spins well.
After everyone left, I'd found that my husband had started our woodstove downstairs. I went down to find Smitty warming herself on the back of my chair.
I think she looks rather indignant about being disturbed in her reclining pose, but hey, that's my prerogative. :)
And now, for the contest; The winner will get a skein of the Alluring yarn, which is an 85% German Angora/15% wool blend yarn.
What are these?
This contest will run until Wednesday and from all the correct answers, I'll pick a winner at random and announce their name on Thursday on the blog!
Ready, set, go!
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). ;-)
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.
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?
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
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!
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. There were some great names sent in! :)
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.
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