Gradated Socks and learning to Plow snow

I started some gradated socks on Sunday night while watching Downton Abbey and finished the first one on Tuesday while watching the State of the Union address. I just went with K1,P1 ribbing for the cuff on 40 sts, I wanted the color changes to be the focus. Now I've started the second one and can't wait to get it done so I can wear these! With two strands of yarn, the thickness is just right.

I used some Socka yarn that I found in a thrift shop for just $1 a skein.  It's 53% cotton, 32% superwash wool, and 15% polyamid. I should have enough yarn in the 6 skeins for 4 pairs of socks.
 Last summer I dyed the skeins different colors and now I'm using two strands at a time.  I'm knitting an inch with each color combination.  It's a LOT of joins, but I'm getting better at them. I'm splitting the cut ends of the yarn like a Y and then putting them together so the ends of the Y are parallel with the stem of the other Y.  Then I wet them and roll/rub them together and keep on knitting.  So far, so good, I hope it holds up well in the socks.  I'm doing the joins on the top of the foot/front of the leg where there won't be as much wear and tear.

 

On Sunday, the last day of the Vasaloppet Art show, we had  quite a bit of snow.  So Monday morning I decided it was a good time to learn how to plow myself out. It was a bit embarrassing when I got the Mule stuck and the neighbors were heading into school (late start because of all the snow) as I was shoveling away, but I got it out. I know I didn't do a very good job; I didn't have the blade low enough so there was still a layer of snow in the driveway.  Well, last night we got another 3 inches and this morning I got the Mule out again and tried to clean it all up. I can see already that I should have pushed that snow WAY back the first time around. Because now I don't have room to push any more snow into the edges. Next year I will do a much better job.


Tonight is Spinning/Knitting at the Crystal Bar and Grill. What a way to spend Valentine's Day night. :-)  Last week I got all the way in there before I realized it was the wrong week. Guess I was a little anxious to get out. :-)

Art Show and Gallery

Today is the opening of the Kanabec County Art Association's annual Vasaloppet Art Show. I've entered a raw felted fleece from River Oaks Mystery, a birdhouse pod, a covered vessel, and the piece shown below, "Let There be Light".

 

Last week I set up a display at the Artist's Guild Gallery in Stillwater, MN.

I've taken my things out of the Anoka Fiber Arts Co-Op for now. It is changing locations from Anoka to Coon Rapids and I just have too many irons in the fire these days. If you want to buy yarn or fiber, please contact me directly.  I will be putting some things in the Made of Mora Shop here in Mora. And I will be doing booths at Shepherds Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival in Lake Elmo this May as well as the Cambridge Fiber Fair in October of this year.

All is well on the sheep front. I love this time of year when the sheep are comfy and cool.

My ducks are in need of a drake. It's that time of year already. If anyone out there knows where I can get a Saxony drake (or Silver Appleyard or Pekin drake), please let me know.

Well, lots to do today before I go in to work at the art show.

Setting up a Yurt at school this morning.

I got to help Minnesota artist Mary Johnson and her son set up a yurt at Fairview Elementary school this morning. What a fun and exciting learning experience for me!

Here are some photos of the process. Sorry I didn't start taking photos right away. I was taking notes until Mary got me involved in the actual set up.

The first step was to screw the four black pieces of the door frame together.
Then the lattice side was stretched out and curved into a circle which was fitted into slots on each side of the door frame.
Above you can see Mary talking to the students about how the next step is to attach two ropes around the sides and snug them up with loops in the door frame. You can also see the 16 roof slats laying on the floor.

Here is a close up showing how the slats will fit into the metal hoop at the center of the roof. They will use the zip ties to secure the slats to the hoop.

Sorry for the blurry photos (taken with my brand new smartphone), but below you can see the roof slats and the ropes are installed.

Above you see the first covering attached to one side of the yurt. Mary and her son are about to attach the second covering. She used a fabric-covered tarp and took advantage of the rivets in the tarp for attaching the sides to the lattice framework (with zip ties again).  Notice the cute windows she incorporated into the sides.

Here Mary adjusts the roof piece.  It has a seam on one side which is also secured with zip ties. When the roof went on, someone exclaimed, "It looks like a cupcake!"  Mary has more embellishments to hang around the top, but she will be taking it down and setting it up again this afternoon at the high school.

Here some young visitors get a tour of the yurt.

Mary and the students who have been sketching the yurt pose for a photo.  Job well done! 

Thanks to Judy Broekemeier for inviting me to come and see how the yurt is set up. One of these days we hope to use wool, water, and kid power to create a felt covering for it.  And special thanks to Mary for coming up with the idea of creating a yurt  for tonight's collaborative performance of music, dance and recycled wearable art. Of course, thanks go to the East Central Regional Arts Council and the people of Minnesota for the grant funds that helped to make this project happen.

Oh-oh, on my way home from school, my road was like a skating rink. The radio has just announced that school is letting out early today and the performance tonight has been cancelled. I hope they will reschedule it.

Lattice Scarf Class

I finally got some felting done today!

This was done in preparation for my lattice scarf class on Sunday, Jan. 13 at Creative Souls in Anoka.  I think there are still two spaces left.


Last weekend I worked on a raw felted suri alpaca fleece, but it didn't turn out as I had envisioned, so I pulled off the locks and carded them up. I'm anxious to try some other things with it. I was surprised at how lustrous this white suri alpaca fiber is. It would blend so nicely with my Bluefaced Leicester fiber.

I have decided that in 2013 I must put my felting on the front burner instead of letting other things take up all my time. Granted, there was a lot on my plate this past year, but hopefully things will settle down now and I can create a schedule that will keep me in the studio at least a couple days each week. I could get a lot done with 2 whole days a week in the studio.

I got a deer last week. Actually, I was driving home from doing my Census work and witnessed a deer get hit by car. I just couldn't drive by seeing it laying the middle of road struggling to get up.  It reminded me so much of my sheep, I had to stop and help. The guy who hit it didn't have a gun to put it out of its misery, so I called the police after we pulled it off the road. The poor thing was so beautiful and there was very little visible damage. Eventually it calmed down and I was hoping it would pop back up and run off into the woods.  But it died just minutes before the State Patrol arrived.  

I've really missed having venison in the freezer, so I jumped at the chance to get this one for meat. I called my neighbor to help me dress it out when I got it home (he did all the work - thank goodness!), then I brought it to the processor a couple days later. It was a 2012 fawn, and I was pretty disappointed when I saw the two little boxes the butcher pulled out of the freezer after I forked over $70...

I left the coffee container in the photo for size comparison, but then that bad kitty jumped up on the counter. Anyway, I was happy to find those two little boxes held 24 pounds of venison -- two nice roasts, 3 pounds of chops and 15.5 pounds of burger. Not bad at all. :-)

Merry Christmas!

I couldn't let the day go by without wishing you all a merry Christmas.

To make it a little merrier, here's a link to a recipe for homemade kahlua.  Thanks to Lisa at Lil'fish studios for sharing this link last summer. I've been making kahlua ever since.  I do worry about the people in the liquor store think when I keep buying quarts of 151 proof Everclear. :-)

And my Lady Slipper is in full bloom, it opened up completely on Dec. 21, the winter solstice.  A sign of good things to come this year!

Trying to Keep up with it all

Sorry to have been so negligent about posting on the blog again.
So much has happened since I last posted:
* The one year anniversary of Stan's passing on October 17th (thanks to all who remembered me)
* Removal of the big willow that was damaged in the June thunderstorm (thanks Alex, Doob and Mike for cutting it down)

* My neighbor's church group, from Trio Community Church, installed new windows in my house on October 27th (Those people were amazing! Not only did they put in the new windows, they raked the yard, cleaned out my barn and fixed the chain link fences that were damaged in that June storm.)

*  Sold some of my favorite Shetland ewes to a new shepherdess, including good old Hattie (thanks for giving them all a good home Alissa!)
*  Put the Finn ram in with the girls and noticed that the burdizzoed ram lambs are just as horny as he is, oh-oh;
*  Taught a nunofelt scarf class at Creative Souls in Anoka (thanks Dawn!),

*  Wrote a grant application and spent Thanksgiving with the family.

This is not to mention flat tires on the truck, hay procurement, vehicle maintenance and a dramatic fall one morning which sent the sheep running for cover. It's amazing how many things go through your mind as you watch the scenery change from the wall to the roof of the pole building -- including the fact that floor is dirt and covered with hay.  :-) That incident reminds me carry my cell phone when I do chores.

I am trying to hold it all together but I really need to do more felting. There are so many ideas in my head that need to come out in felt!  Lord knows I have plenty of fiber. Last week I boxed up 54 pounds of fiber to be sent out for processing into yarn, combed top and roving.

Oh and I hired a chimney cleaner so I can have fires in the wood stove again. Love that!

The ducks are laying like crazy, anyone need duck eggs for baking?  I've got 'em!

My three beautiful ducks (two Saxony and one Blue Swedish) lay an egg daily.  My four pullets from the May hatch have just started laying.  The older hens are laying off and on too. So happy to have chicken eggs again.  I just can't eat duck eggs straight. I use them for baking mostly.  I love duck egg shells for decorating too.  If only I had time to do more wax-resist egg decorating!

Okay, it's time for me to hop in the shower and then feed the critters.  Another day of Census work is calling and I want to do it while the weather is nice.

Leaving you with a photo of my Lady Slipper Orchid which is going to bloom soon. Notice the window changes in these photos.

 

I love my new windows!  My dad and my neighbor Tim finished up the inside trim this past week. So nice! Now I need to get some curtains and shades put up.

Cambridge Fiber Fair and a New Finn Ram lamb

Last minute preparations for my booth at the Cambridge Fiber Fair tomorrow.

There was a nice write up in the local paper about the fair and a couple of us fiber producers who will be there. Click here to view the article.

I'm having a blast going through my stash.  I'm finding fibers I haven't seen in ages and they are giving me lots of ideas for new projects.  I decided to drumcard some hand-dyed roving from Bramble Hetty's 2006 fleece into these colorful fluffy batts.

Finn ram lamb meets horned Shetland ram lamb.

Life has been busy again this month. I traded my sweet little moorit gulmoget polled Shetland ram lamb to Gail V. in exchange for a Finn ram lamb. He's a beautiful color and has the tiniest little tail!

I will probably put him in with 2-3 ewes this fall.  I know I didn't really want to breed any sheep this fall, but the thought of a luscious Bluefaced Leicester/Finn fleece is very tempting.  Luna didn't lamb in 2012 so she's the one BFL I'll put in with Mr. Finn.  And good old River Oaks Hattie will go in with him too. She always gives me the nicest lambs even though she's not much to look at herself.

I had a school bus full of Swedish visitors and Mora High School art students visit on Oct. 1st.  I had hoped to do a FeltUnited project with them, working on a fire themed rug, but time got away from us.  It always goes so fast when you're talking fiber!

They made cell phone pouches around sponges.  It's a quick and useful project. 

Deck table full of supplies after the school bus left.

I'll be making cell phone pouch kits to sell at the Fiber Fair using those dyed Shetland batts.

I think I'll bring this lovely mum that my neighbor brought over (along with squash, fennel, turnips and a pumpkin) to the Fiber Fair as a booth decoration.  Lots to do before tomorrow! 

Lastly, I am excited that Debbie Hermanson will be at the Cambridge Fiber Fair to demonstrate her needle felting machine. I got to try some of my fibers in it a couple weeks ago.  It's unbelievable how quickly one can create nuno prefelts with that machine.  I hope to work with Debbie in my future projects.