TIDAL WAVE a lace wrap

I released a new pattern!

 

TIDAL WAVE

a lace wrap

 

 

 

 

 

My lovely friend Ryan came over to model my new pattern for me.

Since the wrap is made of 100% alpaca yarn I thought the alpacas should be included in the photo shoot.

I designed the scarf using a pattern made up of knits, purls, yarn overs and a few purl togethers.

I wanted a lace pattern that wasn't a very open lace. I wanted it to be able to hang over my shoulders and cover me up at times.  I didn't want it to be too transparent, but I'm sure if you wanted to make this on larger needles it would give you a much more open lace feel.

Ono was very interested in the photo shoot, but didn't think getting too close to the model

was a very good idea.

 

 

The babies might not have wanted to get too close, but the big girls were very interested and made sure to check out both Ryan and the wrap.

 

Ryan with her herd of alpacas hee hee

Finally one of the kids came around and wanted to find out more about the model.

Do you see how comfy the wrap looks just draped over her shoulders? That is how I like to wear it.

 

Arrow wasn't shy about getting his picture taken.

 

 

 We went over to see Maggie. She is always up to have her picture taken.

 

 

Ryan is also a photographer and a picture she took of Maggie was used for the cover of

our local paper. It was such a fun picture I thought I had to get a picture of the two of

them together.

 

 

So whether you want to wear the Tidal Wave as a wrap, scarf, bundled around your neck or even over your lap it is warm and comfy and I really enjoyed knitting it.

 

The yarn I used was Shibui baby alpaca dk.

The color I used was Mineral.  I had made a shawl with this same color a while back and it is my most worn hand knit. It goes with everything. Which I love.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's yarn choices for this knit!

 

Pattern here- Tidal Wave

Yarn here- Chelsea Yarns

joining Ginny's Yarn Along

To the Alpacas

I am pretty sure this will be my last yarn along for 2013! I wish I had more fun things to share, but some of my projects are gifts and I have to keep them quiet for now.

 

Also I haven't had much time to knit because December is for the alpacas.  My parents open their farm and farm store during the weekends in the month of December. They sell lots of wonderful alpaca items in their showroom like hand knits, yarn, socks, coats, sweaters, toys and everything alpaca related. The sales for the items help support the herd.  I help them out as much as I can.  The only down side of all the time in the store is less time for my knitting. But this is the last weekend the farm is open and I can get back on track with some fun large projects I have planned for 2014.

 

I made a few Ganomy hats. They are an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern and so easy to knit.

The one below still needs a pom-pom, but I am afraid I might gift it before I get any finished pictures of it so here it is pre-pompom. I used Cascade Eco Duo yarn.

 

 

I also made one out of some prime alpaca I had in my stash. I really love how it turned out.

Tiny modeled it for me, but it is better for a two year old. On a two year old it slouches in the

back and in my opinion much cuter.

 

I love how the shape covers ears so well.

 

In 2014 I am planning on doing a lot more spinning.

I am making a simple bennie hat out of some handspun merino yarn I made. I Navajo plied it and I'm finding the Navajo plying a little tricky on my traditional wheel since I have to spin it to get it started, but I'm sure with some practice I'll have it all worked out. I've been doing a lot of spinning lately so I'll have lots to practice with soon.

 

 

And since so much of my time these days has been dedicated to the alpacas I thought I'd share some pictures I took of them today while I was doing chores at the farm.

 

Bo with a milk mustache.

 

 

Ono has decided it is okay if I take his picture with my cell phone. He isn't too sure

about my big camera yet. Usually he runs behind his momma.

We had to give some of the alpacas shots today. I get to hold them as my mom gives them there

meds. I always enjoy getting my hands on them. They are so incredibly soft. My mom's hand was in Mr. Bates' fleece and I had to snap a quick picture of his awesome gray fleece.  That is going to be some pretty yarn.

 

Speaking of Mr. Bates only 2-1/2 weeks until Downton Abbey!!!!

Yeah it's cold here at the Jersey Shore.

 

For reading I just finished the audiobook "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I really liked it.

 I hear there is going to be a movie made and I can't wait to see it.

 

I hope everyone on the Yarn Along has a wonderful Christmas! I hope Santa brings you lots of yarn I'll see you next year!

 

~Andee

 

Joining with Ginny's Yarn Along

 

Links-

Ganomy Hat- white, gray, black

Ganomy Hat- brown and tan

Handspun Merino Hat

Arrow Acres Farm

Navajo Plying on YouTube

Jersey Shore Saturday Afternoon

The alpacas were a little upset that I didn't include them in the last post of the farm with all the pretty Fall colors. So I went back later that day and took some more pictures. They clearly didn't want to pose for nice pretty Fall pictures. But I took pictures anyway.

 

See them over there on the left?

This is the old barn. The alpacas don't go in there. It is storage for farm equipment, hay and tons of memories.  Back when my Uncle Mayo was alive his work shop was in there. He made lots of wonderful things. I have a little rocking chair in my living room that he made that I used as a child and now my kids use. Yup it was made right in there.

The barn is on the list of things to get fixed up.  But for now it works great at keeping the farm equipment dry and works as a great backdrop for photographing hand knits and family portraits.

 

The Apple Tree herd.

 You gotta love Ox. He did want his picture taken. Also I have to give him a congrats for his fiber earning 2nd place at the NJAC spin off last weekend. His fleece is my favorite to spin (well at least out of the fleeces I've spun so far).

 

Kal gave me the I-kinda-want-you to take my picture pose, but then went back to eating grass.

 

I was trying to get a picture of Blue, but Awan and Kigo thought it was a better idea to block him out of the shot.

There's my Blue.

Smoke couldn't figure out what I was trying to do. I was getting down low to get the tree behind him.  He wasn't sure what to make of me laying on the ground. So instead I got a puzzled alpaca and a pretty backdrop.

I feel like the girls get left out of the pictures so I went over to visit them.

 

Wdamo reminded me why the girls are usually left out of the photo shoots.

Hee Hee. They are too funny.  The sign of a pregnant girl is her ears back and they tend to be in bad moods.  Sound right?  Wdamo (above) was bred to Smoke Ring back in the Spring.  So she will be expecting one of his first crias next Spring! Very exciting.

 

Francesca on the other hand was bred this Fall to Smoke Ring.

See her ears back! That is a good sign. She was bred a few weeks ago (or so I don't know the weeks seem to blur on the farm, but don't fret my mom has the dates all written down).  If you aren't familiar with alpaca breeding stuff here is how it goes. We get the female in a pen and then we bring the male into the pen. If the girl spits, runs, kicks, says she has a headache, you know the drill. We take the girl out of the pen. She is not receptive and we try again another day. 

 

For example breeding of Annaschae & Francesca. 

So it was a typical morning of doing chores (aka picking up alpaca poop, feeding, cleaning water, etc), but my mom wanted to breed Annaschea to Smoke Ring.  Anna is a BEAST. She came from a large farm where they don't always halter train all their alpacas.  She was not halter trained. So anytime we need to halter her oh dear brace yourself she is a BEAST.  She is also one of my favorite alpacas. I can honestly tell you she has such a huge part of my heart. I have the softest spot for her. In my mind it isn't her fault she is a beast, it is just how she grew up. If she grew up on our farm she would probably still be a beast, but a more controllable beast. But she is a happy alpaca she wasn't mistreated in anyway from where she came from. It was just a larger farm. She wasn't pampered and given carrots like the rest of the spoiled alpacas on my parents farm.  But in her defense she makes a great member of the herd. I know if a predator ever came near any of the alpacas she would do everything in her power to protect everyone in the herd. It is a good quality to have and I appreciate her for that.



 

So breeding day was here and we decided to bring Smoke Ring to her instead of her to him.  We had her in the pen. We haltered Smoke Ring (who is halter trained and so gentle) and started walking to her field. The path we were taking was between the alpaca field and my parents back yard. There is a shoot with fence on each side. On the right were alpacas on the left was Harper. My parent's 100 lb chocolate lab who came charging the fence. Oh dear! Smoke Ring was jumping and kicking. My mom held onto him for dear life and I leaped over the fence faster than I even knew I was capable of. I grabbed Harper and got him into the house.  Disaster averted. Well until we saw Smoke Ring limping. He had managed to hurt himself in the ordeal and was a sorry sight. My mom was leading him up the shoot hobbling along and we couldn't decided what to do with him.  Is the beast going to eat him alive in his weakened condition???? What if she isn't in the mood and doesn't want him in her pen???? 

 

We decided to press forward and bring him in and at least see how she reacted.  When we got him into her pen he was still hobbling. Since we didn't manage to filter out all the alpacas we now how Smoke Ring, Anna, Wdamo (pregnant), Francesca (pregnant?), and Swag (he was there to learn).  Well Anna wanted nothing to do with Smoke Ring. Francesca seemed to like the big guy. But she was supposed to be pregnant and spitting at him.  Wdamo was in the corner trying to stay far away from everyone (clearly pregnant a good sign). Swag was just in the way.  We decided we weren't making any progress and decided to take Smoke Ring back to his field. But then Anna jumped up on Smoke Ring. Oh dear this is all wrong. She was mounting him, he was hurt and Francesca we was supposed to be pregnant was flirting.  We got everyone back to where they were supposed to be and went back to chores.

 

A few days later we tried it again, but this time we went to the regular breeding spot and kept Harper (the dog) in the house. (Also I should note that Smoke Ring was all over his ordeal with is soar foot. He was putting full pressure back on his foot the next day.) We put Annaschea in the pen and brought in Smoke Ring. She wasn't too happy to see him and was trying to get out. Francesca however was on the other side of the gate cushed showing signs that she wanted to be bred. So after a few minutes of Anna trying to get out of the pen, but at least not mounting Smoke Ring this time we decided to let Anna out and Francesca in. They were more than happy to let themselves in and out of the pen. So that day we bred Francesca.

 

For the next round a few days (or maybe a week I don't know I just follow orders and forget what days) later we brought both girls into the pen and then brought Smoke Ring back in. Francesca greeted Smoke Ring with a HUGE green spit right in his face. Horray!!! That is a good sign. Then Smoke headed over to Anna and she dropped like a rock. This time she was in the mood.

 

A few days ago we brought both girls back into the pen with Smoke Ring and unfortunately for Smokey all he got that day was a lot of spit.

 

So as of now Annaschea and Francesca are pregnant!

 

Well that was a little detour. You see what happens when I take pictures of the girls. Way too much info I am sure you could live without, but well I have a lot more stories like that about daily farming nonsense that I don't share so feel lucky you've been spared.

 

Okay back to the cute guys.

Bo is so stinking adorable. If you are ever sad I recommend coming over to see Bo. He will greet you with a kiss and then go run around and do something funny to make you laugh.

 



 

Stone thinks he is so tough looking with that gray face, but he is so gentle and sweet. So don't let him fool you.

 

I was trying to get the four little guys together to get them in one picture.

Arrow didn't want to participate and kept back at the barn.

Wait get back here! I want to take your picture.

 

Ono the little black guy is the youngest of the bunch.

He is getting braver about playing with the other boys and he runs around the field so fast.

In person he is so dark it is hard to see his eyes.

He is one handsome alpaca.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a game of king of the hill with the alpacas.

Why Not

Last Friday.....

On Friday night I came home to my desk covered with yarn! Not full skeins of yarn, but a pile of misc skeins.  But it is enough to block my way to the keyboard.  My parents got their yarn back from the fiber mill on Sunday. I got my hands on it on Tuesday (well 1 skein of 200 yards). They got the yarn in cones and it needed to be broken down into skeins. My sister worked her skein winding magic and turned all the cones into beautiful skeins of yarn.  There were amounts left over that were not full skeins....those came to me on Friday. Just a day before our Open House at the farm.  So pizza was ordered and I casted on some hats. Clearly I couldn't cook a dinner with NEW farm yarn in my house and an open house the next day.

Earlier in the day I was at the farm and Spicy my parents SPECTACULAR rose gray female was looking very uncomfortable. I guess 11-1/2 months of pregnancy can do that to an alpaca.  In my professional alpaca option (let it be known my professional opinion is based on me spending lots of time in the field scooping poop, my mom and sister are the ones that glove up and inspect the alpacas) it looked like Spicy's labor had begun and we would be seeing a cria in the next 24 hours. 

If you are not familiar with alpacas let me tell you that most alpacas have their crias from 8:00 am - 1:00 pm.  In nature if they have their alpacas during these times it gives them time to dry off and learn to walk before night fall.  Smart right?! So Spicy hasn't gotten that memo.  Spicy is more of that great aunt that will give you bubble gum when you are two years old. She is so cool, but not the best mother figure.

I got a text around 4:00 pm that Spicy was in labor. Duh I could have told you that right?! So Spicy was in labor on a Friday night during cocktail hour. Just like last time she was in labor. Since Spicy's last time in labor was her first we weren't sure what to expect. Typically alpacas deliver in the same methods. For example: Star delivers in the morning usually around 8:30 and active labor is about 20 minutes (if you go inside to brush your teeth you'll miss the delivery). If Star lets another alpaca eat out of her feed bucket she will be having a baby within a few hours.  Melody is mid-morning Melody. She usually delivers around noon.  I get to the farm to watch for the cria and have to leave to give my kids lunch and Melody delivers just after I leave.  Spicy .....well. She makes the whole thing much more dramatic.

My parents participate in National Alpaca Farm Days. It is a nation wide event that encourages alpaca farms to open their farms to the public and welcome people in from the community in to learn about alpacas. Some farms have a dozen people through the weekend and others have a hundred. My parents farm have hundreds and hundreds of people. Each year we try to count. Typically we get to 500 on the first day and then stop counting.  It is a huge event for the farm. Not only does it give everyone the incredible close up experience to the alpacas it also brings in some revenue to help support the herd.  Some people just like to leave donations at the farm and it brings tears to my eyes to see how much money is in the donation bin at the end of the day.  There are so many generous people left in the world :) And we can't say thank you enough.

For us alpaca farming it is a daily thing. The maintenance and care that goes into these precious  animals and to have a day that welcomes strangers, neighbors, friends, relatives, and inspiring alpaca owners to come to the farm it brings us so much joy to see how much fun they have at the farm.  They love it as much as us! One of our visitors today was an inspiring photographer.  Today was her birthday and when her mother asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said to spend the morning at our farm taking pictures. Seriously can you handle how much fun is that! I wish I could have spent the day with her. Maybe she'll come back to hang out with me.  Especially since her mom hangs out at my favorite yarn shop.

Okay so back to National Alpaca Farm Days. So in the Summer we don't have our showroom open. We do however give knitting lessons, spinning lesson, welcome inspiring vets to come and help out for a day or two and all other alpaca farming stuff.  Also during the Summer we have lots of vendors coming to show us lots of alpaca apparel. We take orders for September. There is lots of ordering done and we ask for shipments in September.  The Summer goes by and September comes and so do alpaca due dates and delivery trucks. September is full of anticipated births and deliveries of alpaca apparel.  Since we don't really leave the farm during the Fall birthing season we get excited about the deliveries of both crias and Fall alpaca apparel.

So after the last delivery of alpaca apparel it was only fitting that Spicy needed to deliver her cria. Of course she didn't take the preferred 8 am - 1 pm slot.  Her last birth was in the Spring and she decided on her maiden run to take the pm slot. And holding to the alpaca repeat performance birth she decided not to disappoint in the PM slot. Oh did I mention that Spicy is the cool alpaca and doesn't like to feed her kids? She loves them, but the feeding things is another thing.  So at 11:30 pm just before midnight Spicy delivered a whooping 22 lb male cria. Gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe him.  His father is one spectacular herd sire and the anticipation of seeing what this pair would make was not disappointing. What was disappointing was Spicy's decision that she didn't want to feed her new baby. Ugg.

So at 4:00 am on Saturday morning Spicy and her cria were loaded up on the trailer and on their way to the vet clinic.  We learned last time with her first cria that after 4 days of trying to hold her and help the baby nurse wore us all out more than we can handle. This time we took her right to the clinic so they would have 24 hour care.  They began tube feeding him so he wouldn't be used to a bottle. After a lot of hard work lots of worrying and sleepless nights I am happy to report last night Spicy and her cria came back to the farm! Happy, healthy and nursing on their own! Woo Hoo.  As my mother says it is a glorious sight to see.  I think my parents and sister Liz are even over the all nighter they pulled before the Open House.

 

This little guy  is co-owned by my sister Liz and my parents. Which I think might be the best decision my parents have ever made. Liz paid for the outside breeding and used one of my parents female alpacas. Which means she gets to pay half the costs to the vet clinic. Hee hee. No Mom I don't want to co-own Spicy's baby next year.  I joke, but this guy just might turn out to make a way lot more money then that clinic could have ever cost it is something only time will tell. In the mean time we'll all be keeping our fingers crossed.

 

His fiber is so dense they couldn't get to his skin! I think this guy is going to have a very bright and successful future.

 

His fancy green bandage is protecting where he had to have some medicine administered and it will come off soon. But for now doesn't the green really bring out the gray in his face?!

 

Congrats to my parents and Liz for their new addition. Maybe next year Spicy will make things a little less dramatic. But really how can you blame her for not wanting to feed a 22 lb baby. That had to hurt!

 

Last night as I was taking a few pictures of the new guy and I kept calling him "Stone Cold Steve Austin". He reminds me of stone statue the way he was standing so still when I took pictures.  I knew the name "Stone" was floating around as a possible name.  And low and behold he will go by "Stone". I think Stone Cold Steve Austin is going to be my nickname for him. His official  name will be Dupayage, but that is another story. This one has gone on long enough.

 

In other news the other new kids were dying for some attention. It was too dark to take pictures so I took a few videos.  Here is one of Arrow and Bo being adorable. I really should hang out with them more often. I mean besides cleaning up after them.

 

 

Happenings

Is happenings a word? I guess so. Spell check didn't pick it up.  A lot has been happening around here and I've had little time to sit and reflect on it all.  Thankfully most of the things going on are all good things.  It has been hectic getting back to a schedule. I am missing my long wonderful days of Summer. I didn't have to rush to get the kids anywhere.  I could work all day and take breaks here and there for lunch and to run a quick errand. But now it is back to rushing around and squeezing in work and all the other things that need to get done.

 

I've been around visiting most of the blogs on my reading list, but I haven't been getting to comment as much as I would like.  I'll read a post and get to the comment and someone will need something and I get up and never leave my quick Hello or response, but I promise I have been by.

 

On top of work and school we seem to be running from appointment to appointment.  I was lucky enough to go to the dentist with the kids twice today. Tiny in the morning and Brady in the afternoon.  Thankfully my kids love the dentist. I just feel like a bad mom when I find out the amount of cavities they have. I swear we brush a lot!

 

I think Tiny just likes to go for the video games.

 

I got a phone call from my mom and she said it looked like one of the alpacas was going to have her baby today.  My mom had an appointment to go to so I said I'd swing by with Rudee and Tiny and keep an eye on her until she got back.  My other sister came to the farm too. She stayed close to the field and we decided to do some pumpkin picking. Or should I say gourd picking, since the deer and groundhogs ate all the pumpkins.

 

Rudee met the alpacas last night for the first time, but it was pretty dark out so I didn't get a picture.  But today I couldn't resist getting a shot with my cell phone.

 

"Yes Rudee your big brother Blue is in that field."

 

After a false alarm and calling my mom and dad and other sister we were all at the farm, but no baby.  So I headed home to get Brady at the bus stop.  I got the phone call that Melody had a boy.  But I had to head to the dentist again with Brady for his cleaning. (Yes it would be easier to take them at the same time, but it didn't work with their schedule).

 

I had to laugh at the boys watching the TV. It is in a much better spot when you are laying back in the chair.

 

 

So after the dentist it was off to the farm to meet the new baby alpaca.

We were greeted by Arrow.

 

 

This is the new guy! The one we spent the day wondering when he was going to come out. It was clear that the mother was in labor she just wasn't pushing. She is an experienced mother so we weren't too concerned, but as the day went on my sister and mother ended up having to glove up and make sure the baby was positioned right inside. He was and 15 minutes later he entered the world.

 

He's father Tka "Kigo" is also Arrow's father. I'd say for Kigo's first two offspring he did an outstanding job. 

There is nothing better than a healthy cria and an experienced momma.

 

Welcome to the farm new guy. You came just in time for the Open House this weekend.

 

Ah that felt good to sit down and write a post.  Now that I've let the kids stay up way too late I'm sure I'll pay for it tomorrow morning when they don't want to get up for school.  But I'll enjoy this moment for now. I hope you had a wonderful day.