Blog

Spent a little time at the drum carder today blending up some fresh batts to take to the Alger Sunday Market tomorrow.

Seeing as how the seasons have shifted, I went with some deeper, more shadowy shades.

It’s always interesting to see how the colors interact and play against each other.

And sometimes I can’t tell if I really like a combination until it makes a second pass through the carder and I peel it off

These purple/violet/blue/grey ones I think look particularly yummy, but the photos don’t really do them justice.

Hopefully the clouds will get themselves thoroughly wrung out overnight and the sun will come out tomorrow, but I’ll be out there rain or shine with the woolies!

Last of the garden tomatoes

Just harvested squash yesterday-

Jarrahdale

Delicata

And a volunteer pumpkin hiding near the compost pile

Dug the last of the potatoes as well, but they aren’t as photogenic 🙂

Zinnias hanging in there-

But the Black Night Scabiosa that I thought I might try dyeing with are long gone to seed. At least I got a batch of marigolds cooked this summer. Maybe the Scabiosa will self seed and come back next year to give me another shot at it.

Last but not least we’ve got the warm taupey grey shades of Octavia fleece, fast on it’s way to becoming a vest

It’s kind of slow going, but I am really enjoying working this pattern again. And I’m pleased that the yarn seemed to be a good match for it. It’s nice having a substantial project on the needles.

Alrighty folks- that’s all I’ve got.

Last Alger Sunday market of the regular season is next weekend. Hope to see you there!

It’s funny how mostly people speak of “fruits of our labors”, with fruits always being the result.

I suspect that if more folks had fruit trees they would more commonly say “labors of our fruits”.

This time of year when the trees are are finishing their work, it’s time for us to get down to the business of laboring over the fruit harvest. But we’re happy to have it!

Apples have started to drop, so I picked some today. But then I ran out of bins and boxes to put them in.

Pears have been picked over the last week, and have reached peak ripeness, after which they don’t last long. The Man has been busy drying

and also making Spicy Pear Butter

Also making progress on the Shepherd’s new vest.

Harvested a little fall fleece from Fiona the other day- just around the neck and shoulders. I’m excited to see that her fleece appears to be improving with age (that seems to be a theme with the two Icelandic girls) but it wasn’t as long as I expected (more of the bulk turned out to be the girl herself!).

More floof, less scritch. Nice.

Featuring a couple special requests today- one completed, and the other still underway.

Completed- one skein of dog 50/50 fur & wool blend yarn.

Was pretty pleased with how it turned out- very light and springy thanks to the Jacob wool in the mix. And check out the fuzz factor on the swatch!

and the in-progress is The Shepherd’s next vest-

7 inches in, and one full cable panel repeat down. Really like how it’s shaping up!

Tentative goal is to have it done by early October. It’s not a quick knit, with the front and back cabling, but feel like I’m getting into a rhythm now, so hopefully it will flow along at a reasonable pace.

Have a great week everyone- and if you’re in the area, hope to see you at the Alger Market Fun(d) Raiser next Saturday (yes, it’s usually a Sunday Market, but this event is Saturday instead)!