Author: denisemor

Hey, you’re not a sheep!

denisemor 2 October 23, 2011

I think Chone is on to her.

Was really funny. At first he was all testy, stomping his hoof and staring her down.

Then he cooled out a little and came over to sniff her (at least he looked like he was sniffing).

But then sniffing turned to nibbling (I swear he nibbles on everything!), and I had to come to her aid.

Poor girl.

Anyway- look closely at Chone. Can you see it? He’s getting kind of “frosty” looking-

Neat, eh? He isn’t gray-ing out from the roots, but rather his fleece is getting shot through with white fibers. I first noticed when I sheared him last month, but the effect is much more pronounced now. Can’t wait to see what it looks like in the spring.

And speaking of fleece, I made a couple of neat acquisitions this week-
This is Wilma, a beautiful double-coated mioget girl

who I brought home from the Schoonover Farm fall shearing. Mmmmmmm.

And this is an anonymous CVM/Suffolk cross that followed me home from Hidden Meadows Ranch.

I don’t usually go in for the fine-wools, but I thought that the cross was interesting, and might make a really good sock yarn. Will probably take me forever to process it, but I guess I’ll just take it in small bits.

And while I’m not quite done with the back of the Shadow sweater (maybe three more inches?), I think I’m still on pace for finishing it up by Thanksgiving-

and I’m pretty sure that the pieces will fit together when I’m done (fingers crossed).

🙂

Rockin’ in the Pasture

denisemor 6 October 16, 2011

Literally.

Yeah, this week we had a bunch more rock delivered.

I think it’s pea gravel.

So, today we had the tractor out and were truckin’ gravel around to the edges of the pasture where my sweet sheeps tend to wear down paths and expose the bottom edge of the fence. Gotta keep that fenceline tight!

Re-rocked right around the boys’ shed and playground (rockpile), too. Hopefully that will prevent it from getting muddy once the rains start.

Also picked the last of the apples off our big King apple tree today-

It wasn’t a great year for apples here, but we managed to pull in about 7 boxes-
Any that hit the ground got pitched into the pasture, to see if the boys would give them a try.

They are a little slow to try new things, but it appears there has been some nibbling…

We were scheduled to give the guys a pedicure this weekend, but I couldn’t manage to get any more than three of them in the shed at one time, so we eventually gave up and decided to reschedule.

Frank was being a big scared-y sheep. He had everybody all worked up and suspicious.
This is about as close as I got to the crazy bugger all day long

I’m so excited about my quinces! They’re not quite ready yet, but maybe in a couple of weeks-

Did you know grow straight out of the ends of the tree branches?

Neat, eh?

Sweater progress continues apace,

And I even managed to get some spinning done this week!

That’s Frank/Felix on the left, and Spike to the right.

Whew, I’m beat.

Why Knit?

denisemor 7 October 9, 2011

Today I was browsing around in the Ravelry forums (as I am wont to do), and I happened upon a discussion topic about a survey on Gender and Knitting.

A sociology student at Occidental College is doing it as part of her senior thesis on Knitting as gendered activity.

So, I said, what the heck, I’ll go and see what it’s all about.

And it was all pretty straightforward…….. but question number 4 still has me thinking:

“Why do you knit?”

Seems like a very simple question, doesn’t it?

You’d think that, with as much as I knit, that I would have a fairly clear idea of why I do it.

But, after I read the question, I just kind of sat there for a minute, while a flood of possible responses sprang to mind.

I think I answered “To use up all the yarn that I spin.”

But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?

Reasons I Knit:

Because I can.
Because I love making beautiful, warm, soft objects from scratch.
Because I enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques and
appreciate the beauty of creative garment constructions.
Because wool is the most excellent raw material ever, and
knitting is a great way to show off it’s special qualities.
Because sheep are at least as cool as the wool that they grow, and
making things out of my own sheeps’ fleeces is very grounding.

It is really beautiful and simple and true.

And because it is going to be lovely.

Why do you knit?

Moving Right Along

denisemor 1 October 2, 2011

Shadow is shaping up nicely!

Sleeve #1 is blocked

and Sleeve #2 is underway-

Really enjoying this knit. Nice cable pattern that is easy to memorize.
Little nervous about the sewing up part, but I guess I’ll figure that our when I get there.

I’m also doing some planning for the next project- a Chone and Spike Cobblestone

I’ve liked this pattern for a long time, and just had someone express interest in having me make one, so here we go!

Chone

plus Spike

Equals

I just love doing swatches.