Yarn Along

I feel like I haven't taken pictures of the alpacas lately. So today at the farm I brought my camera out of hibernation and took a few shots. Actually I took over 250 pictures :) So you can expect to see some upcoming posts staring the herd.  I picked just a few for this post.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't you just want to cuddle with them! I love those fuzzy faces.

 

As for knitting I have been working on my Postcard Cardigan. I have been making up the pattern as I go. I am not sure if I am going to be publishing the pattern. I think I am just going to wear it and enjoy it for myself. Unless enough people show interest in it (then it might be worth my time putting it all together on paper). I am making it out of Brooklyn Tweed Loft yarn. I am in love with the loft yarn. But I think I might be allergic to it. I have been sneezing the entire time I've been working on it. I am so sad because I love this yarn so much.

 

I designed this cardigan to have two lace panels that run up the front and then down the back. I added shaping on the sides.  I also added shaping on the back that gives the look of a razor back. I like razor backs and thought it would be fun to try on a lace cardigan to give it some Jazz.

 

I think this pattern would work great as a vest or a cardigan, so I wanted to get some pictures of it without the second sleeve. I'm still trying to decide what pattern I am going to do for the cuff so I left the right one unfinished. 

 

So that is what I've been knitting. We are expecting some more bad weather. I am not sure if we are going to get a lot of snow or rain. Either way hopefully it will keep me home long enough to get this cardigan finished up. I can't wait to wear it. Even if I have to take allergy medicine when I have to wear it. I know it will be worth it :)

 

Joining with Ginny's Yarn Along

 

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

Ono It's a Boy

When we were kids we loved living on a farm. When I was younger the farm across the street was mostly a horse farm. Before my time there was other livestock there and now it is a farm to miscellaneous farm critters such as cows, emus, goats and donkeys.  But when I was younger the fields were full of horses and a few ponies. There were some chickens, goats and donkeys running around the back as well.  There was one dog and lots of cats.  As kids my sisters and I spent countless hours trying to catch the kittens. They would run into one of the sheds that had an opening just big enough for them to sneak into, but too small for us to get through.  We would spend so much time trying to get our hands on the cuddly little kittens, but they never wanted anything to do with us.  Then one day we went over to the farm on our normal kitten hunt and to our surprise one of the kittens ran to us and jumped in our arms! He was a solid black kitten and we were instantly in love and of course we ran home begging our mom to let us keep him.

 

Most of the kittens at the farm were strays and it wasn't uncommon for someone to dump off a litter of kittens at the farm. So we knew this little guy had to come home with us.  I don't remember 100% the conversation of how we named our new kitten, but I know these lines were said many times that day. "Oh no a black cat." "Oh no not another cat." "Oh no you can't give him back!" When my father came home that night from work and walked onto the porch and saw us holding the kitten he said "Oh no not another cat." It was decided we had to name him Ono.

 

Ono was a great cat. I am not much of a cat person myself, but Ono was an awesome cat. He was playful like a puppy. He was an expert hunter. I think we declared him dead several times only to have him reappear a week after being gone. He lived a very long happy life with our family.

 

So the other day as I was in the alpaca field I was thinking about what Vauneese's baby was going to look like. She was bred to LMFI Peruvian Black Midnight who is an amazing black alpaca. I've heard he is amazing to see in person. Unfortunately he lives in Ohio so I haven't seen him in person.  My parents had 6 crias due in 2013. The first five were all males. In most breeding programs usually you want female crias, or males that are good enough to be herd sires. Good herd sires tend to be few and far between.  That is what makes the good males so valuable.

 

So as I was picturing Black Midnight in my head I thought if the 6th cria was a boy and was black we'd have to call him Ono. "Oh no not another boy." I laughed about it and then called over to my mother who was in the field next to me and I told her about my idea of calling the baby Ono if it was a boy and she loved it. So to tell you the truth I was actually hoping the cria would be a boy. And guess what she had a boy! Shocker right?!

He is jet black just like his father Black Midnight.

I don't have the words to describe how stunning he is to look at in person. He is breathtaking. The moment my parents knew he was a boy they knew his name was going to be Ono!

 

I have to share his birth story.

 

First off we weren't sure when Vauneese was due since she had been bred three times. We weren't sure of his due date. We weren't sure if she was due that day or in a few more weeks.

 

So my parents have started opening up their farm to the public more on the weekends. When they know they will be at the farm they put an open sign up out at the end of the street. They have two other signs as you approach the farm and they switch them from closed to open. So since they were at the farm yesterday they decided to open to the public. My mom was in the showroom spinning yarn and talking to customers while my father was out showing other customers around the farm.  He went inside and then came out and saw a baby coming out of Vauneese "OH NO!" He called my mother and with lots of onlookers they got the baby dried up and I arrived and helped get them into the barn and out of the wind.

 

I helped a few of the customers in the store and then I turned all the signs to closed and took down the open sign at the street and was back over to help with the baby. It was now about 3:00.  She had him around 2:15.

At 3:00 the Breeder's Choice Auction was about to start. My mom said "Oh no I can't watch the auction!" She was in the barn with a hairdryer warming the little guy up and I got the auction to load on my phone so I could watch it live. But the WiFi doesn't work out in the barn so I went over to the driveway. So I was watching that auction for Lot 7. Lot 7 was LMFI Peruvian Black Midnight. This new little guys father.  So Lot 7 came up and I had it going on my phone and I took my mom's phone and set it to video and recorded it.  I wanted her to be able to watch the auction and I figured this was the best way to record it.  The bidding started and "Oh no there was no sound!" So I ran into the house to get on the computer. My phone started to make sound and the bidding started $5,000.00, $10,000.00, $20,000.00, $30,000.00, $40,000.00... the bidding when on for another 8 minutes. The auction ended at $78,000.00! So in case you wonder how much an alpaca costs, this guys father cost a lot.  It was such an exciting auction and I was so glad I recorded it. My father and I were in the house watching it and I couldn't wait for my mom to watch it. She was still in the barn keeping an eye on the baby to make sure he could start nursing. 

 We all enjoyed watching the video of the auction again. We thought about his name and decided it would be fitting to call him "Arrow Acres Ono Oyes"! I hope this guy is going to be as successful as his father in the show ring and breeding. Time will tell. In the mean time I have to say his mother Vauneese has been amazing so far as a first time mother.  It is a such a joy to see how her natural mothering instincts have kicked in.  We were very concerned about her since she never seemed to enjoy having the other crias in the field by her. We wondered how she would be with her own and I can tell you she is doing an amazing job.  It was a very happy weekend at the farm.

 



Is This a Good Idea? I Think So?

Brady goes to two schools. He goes to one school five days a week for 2 hours and 20 minutes in the afternoon.  He goes to a Pre-K at another school twice a week in the morning.  If you ask him if he likes school he will tell you "I don't like going to two schools. I only want to go to one school."  Lately dropping him off at this Pre-K school has been like dropping off a two year old that doesn't want to leave his mom. Only he isn't two he is five.  He clings to me and cries. It has gotten worse every drop off since Easter. So today Freddy and I decided he doesn't have to go to two schools anymore. He only has to go to one school.  When I told him he was so happy I thought he was going to explode. So hopefully we made the right decision. 

 

My fear now is that Tiny is going to fight going since he and Brady get dropped off at the same time.  I have a feeling it is all going to work out fine, but man was I nervous about making that call about not sending him anymore.  Mostly because after I drop him off I know he does cheer up and join the class. But I know he is going to be so much happier.  Plus it will give us some one on one time twice a week. Which I know I won't get once he starts Kindergarten :(

 

 

Over the weekend we stopped by the farm.  My parents were putting in a new waterer for the alpacas and the grandkids put their handprints in the wet cement.

Even Harper the dog got his foot print in there.

 

 

My mom has been busy working on the fleeces in her basement. I got to take a look at Blue's.

 

 

Isn't it awesome! I love it. 

 

 

 

My mom has been getting some of the fleeces ready for spin-offs.  She takes a smaller sample of their entire fleece and she will send them into competitions and a person will judge the fleece from appearance and then spin it and it gets all different points for different qualities.

 

This is Lily's fleece. Doesn't it have a WOW factor.  Also in Lily news we didn't think she was pregnant, but now that she is sheared we keep seeing movement in her belly. Maybe she is pregnant. The vet is going to check her out.  Fingers crossed that she is (she was bred, but her blood work showed she wasn't pregnant).  If she is pregnant she will be due this Fall. 

If not she will be bred soon.

 

 

Lily

 

Here is Vauneese's fleece. I am thinking cardigan.

 

 

Vauneese is due to have her first baby in the Fall.

Vauneese

Reno's fleece is awesome. I love it.

 

 

Reno

 

Sweet little Jatoba's fleece is beautiful too.

 



Jatoba

 I love Maggie's gray fleece.

Maggie

 I love gray!

 

Francesca's fleece is so soft I wish you could feel it!

 



Francesca

 So there are a few samples. There are more to go, but I thought this was a good distraction from working and my decision from this morning about Brady.  I really hope the boys adjust to the new schedule without any major problems.  We'll see. It is only for another four weeks so I think we can make it.

 

SHEARING DAY!!!

 

Shearing Day at Arrow Acres Farm was a huge success!  It is a day that is much anticipated and brings with it a bundle of nerves, anxiety, excitement and exhaustion.  You never know what you might uncover under all that fleece.  But I have to say the herd looked great.

 

This is where we set up to shear. It is shed #1.  The girls were checking it out while we got set up.

 

I got up at 5:30 this morning so excited for today.  I tried to go back to bed, but I couldn't.  The boys woke up about ten minute after me so we stayed up. No snoozing today.  I got out of the house early and over to the farm to help clean and set up.  Thank you to my wonderful husband to taking care of the boys today so I could go do alpaca stuff.



 

Lily's fleece made the shear say WOW!  It is beautiful. I didn't have my camera handy at all times so I missed getting her sheared, but I'll be sure to snap a shot of it on the skirting table. It is fantastic.

Vauneese was so ready to have her hair cut.

Five day old Mr. Bates got his hair cut like a champ. He was so cooperative. I think my kids could take some lessons from him.



Some people who don't know the whole shearing process sometimes ask me: do they get hurt, why do you have to tie them down, they must suffer. No, No and No. If we don't shear them, they will get heat stroke and die. So it is in their best interest to shear.  We tie them down to make the process much faster. It only takes about 10 minutes per alpaca and they are so happy once their fleeces are off they will even come back into the room freely to check on who is getting sheared next.  Clearly they didn't suffer and are happy to watch.

Spicy's fleece!



 

Reno's neck. 

 

Reno is a show animal so he gets a fancy modified bobble.

 

Next up Blue!!! Oh I was so excited I can't even tell you. Here is a shot of his fleece from his side.

 

I have been dreaming about what I am going to use his fleece for.

The shearer was impressed with his fleece and recommended I show it. 

 I thought that was pretty awesome. Since our shearer knows what he is talking about I am going to put it in a fiber competition before I spin it. So rock on Blue!

 

Blue has gotten some blue ribbons before for his fleece.  He could be used for breeding. My parents have a high end breeding program and I am not sure if he is high end enough for the girls on the farm.  So either I have to buy a girl (Lily!) or he is just a fiber boy.  Maybe someday I'll have a little Blue running around. It is kind of hard to afford to get started in the alpaca business. But I'm going to figure something out for myself some day.

Look at Blue with his fancy new hair cut.

Look at how happy Kigo looks having his fleece off.

I can't tell you how excited I was to hear from the shearers that Blue's fleece looked great and that he didn't have any issues going on like skin stuff or lumps or bumps. Phew! It is like a good well visit at the docs office.  He deserves a lollipop.

 



 

Check out Bing before and after.

 

I was hoping to get more before and after shots, but that didn't work out. My parents had to go to help another alpaca farm shear their animals. I am so worn out I can't imagine how exhausted they are going to be. It is 8:35 pm and they are still shearing and we started at 8:30 this morning.  I can hardly walk.  I can't imagine how exhausted they are!

 

A huge thanks to Mariacher Shearing Services Jay Mariacher for the great shearing job today!

See you next year and best of luck for the rest of your shearing tour.