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We have snow. ick.

But we also have seeds! yay!

It will be a while yet before any of these guys get planted, but these little packets contain hopes of strong stems, lush leaves, and bountiful fruits. All things that lift the spirit on dark winter days.

And we have sweater progress!

I have finally made up the length that I ripped back, plus a little bit I think. Took it off the needles for a quick steam block and try-on, and it appears that I am back on track. So yay for that 🙂

At some point I’m going to have to spin some more Esther singles to finish it up. Guess I should get on that so it doesn’t stall out. Looks like that was a Sophie spin. Thank goodness I kept at least some notes in Ravelry!

News from the pasture is that no-one is currently out on the pasture. I’ve decided that for a while at least, Fiona and Daphne are gong to be hanging out in the shed. This is due to their hooves being in rough shape. Keeping them in the shed, where I can monitor and treat them regularly and keep them dry and free of mud and debris, seemed like it might be the way to go for now.

They are not thrilled, but are being pretty decent about it, and Fiona’s sore foot seems to be showing improvement, so I’m hopeful that this temporary lockdown is helping.

also, decided to give the Pat Coleby sheep mineral recipe another try. I had some pre-mixed from when I gave it a shot years ago. None of my original sheep seemed interested in it, but Daphne and Fiona weren’t here at the time, so it’s new to them.

So now they have two mineral choices. Will be curious to see if either of them find the Pat Coleby mix palatable. Will let you know how it goes-

That’s about all the excitement here.

Have a good week everyone-

Another Country Living Expo is in the books.

A good day, with lots of folks excited about making stuff with wool.

But I think that a full day of classes is a bit much for me anymore. (Remind me of that next year before I overcommit!)

I had a little bit of time after lunch to hit the trade show, and found some lovely handcrafted items that needed to come home with me. First, these cute Made by Michelle zippered bags- one knitting project sized, and one coin purse size

and a handwoven kitchen towel from Hand Crafted by Di

The pattern really caught my eye. And it has such a nice weight and feel. I didn’t ask about the kind of loom it was woven on, but I’m guessing probably more than 4 harness. But maybe I’ll be able to make something like this someday.

Will have to look through this cool book I got from my mom for my birthday and get some ideas for my next weaving project-

And I think that’s about it for now. I got word that my Uprising Seeds order is on it’s way, so perhaps I’ll have that to share by next week!

Take care folks-

It’s been a while, but I finally have a Candelaria update–

You might be thinking,,,, “it doesn’t look like she’s any further along with this than she was 2 months ago”

And you’d be right. Kind of.

The truth is, I had made about 4 inches of progress on the below the armholes, but I knew something was off. The pattern called for casting on 34 stitches under each arm after putting the sleeve stitches on holders, so I did that, thinking- well, it’s supposed to be a loose fitting garment. But then recently I took it of the needles and realized that the body circumference was just way too large. So I had to bite the bullet and rip back to the underarms.

But since that point, about a week ago, I have reknit about and inch and a half, and it is feeling much more reasonable (cast on only 14 stitches under each arm this time). But the going is a little slow since the stitches are small (size 3 needles)

Been pretty chilly here recently, but by cold weather veg are still hanging in there out in the hoophouse-

Peas are even flowering, but I don’t think there are many pollinators available right now. Oh well.

And it’s time to start thinking about seeds for garden ’25!

A new tomato that I’m excited to try is ‘Cou di Bue Albenga‘. Aren’t they gorgeous? (picture ganked from web) Should make for some fabulous cookin’!

This year I think I’m going to shop locally, from Uprising Seeds in Bellingham, and try out a couple other things that are new to me- escarole, and possibly radicchio.

Alrighty. I think that’s about it for now. Have a good week, folks-

–

A couple months ago I picked up about 4 ounces of SpinCycle mill end rovings at a spinning guild meeting- I should have take a picture of the mountain of wool. It was really something. It was all superwash, so I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy working with it, but it turned out to be a lot of fun watching the transitions of the colors. Kind of addictive, so it went rather quickly!

I think that the colors I picked were from the “Something Wicked” and “Poppies” colorways. I had just enough chain plied yarn to make a hat and mitts set

That was fun.

Only two weeks to the WSU Country Living Expo! I think I’ve mostly got my course stuff sorted, but in doing some wool washing research online, I came across a really interesting book, and was able to get ahold of it via interlibrary loan.

Am slowly making my way through it. Lots of technical info, but also interesting stuff on physical properties of wool, dyeing, fabric finishing, and lots of other topics. Makes me wish I remembered more of the chemistry I took in high school. But most all of that has fallen out of my brain.

Alrighty. That’s about all I’ve got for now. Perhaps now that this little colorful distraction has run it’s course, I’ll get back to my Candelaria sweater, which has been patiently waiting in it’s project bag.

More on that next week.