NY Sheep and Wool

Warning! Tons of pictures!

We just got back from the NY Sheep and Wool Festival. I didn't buy any yarn this year, but The Llama got to see a ton of his namesakes, and pet tons of sheep and goats.

It was a beautiful ride down (and back) but The Llama missed most of it because he fell asleep both ways.






We arrived just in time for the llama parade. We couldn’t really get close enough to pet any of them, but The Llama enjoyed pointing at them, and there was much squealing and giggling.



After a break for a snack and some time to run around we headed over to the sheep barn. The Llama LOVED petting the sheep, and kept trying to rub his face against them (we have a cat and he has learned from her how to show affection) he was fascinated when they Baa-ed and kept baa-ing back.















Then it was over to the goats. We started to watch an angora goat getting its first shearing, but it was a bit distressed and The Llama started to get upset so we moved on. The Llama enjoyed petting the goats too, but was startled when a few decided to ram at their neighbors. One nice lady let him feed her goats, which was really fun. After that he kept trying to give all the animals bits of hay.







On our way out of the barn we spotted some mini sheep (Shetlands) and we had to stop and pet them too!



After that we wandered around some more, went through the Llama barn (the Llamas weren't very sociable, so no pictures), tasted and bought some cheese, and sat down to eat another snack and have another run around, then it was time to head home. Now we are relaxing after a very fun filled day!

Zentangle

I think I have a new obsession.



Zentangle its a type of doodling using a step by step process to create complicated looking 'tangles' combined together to create a 'zentangle' only using a simple pen, and no erasing. The step by step and black and white nature is supposed to be very meditative and calming, hence the 'zen'. I had an amazon gift card to spend, so I got Sandy Bartholomew's Totally Tangled, and I LOVE IT! There are so many tangles and ideas, I really want to get her other books now too.



I have gone through pages and pages in my sketchbook already and its only been about a week and a half since I discovered it. I find them so fun, and yes, meditative. I know it sounds kinda woo, but making these drawings really is so meditative and relaxing. and the result is always so nifty. If I'm having a hard or stressful day with TW, I find if I take a few minutes (while he is eating lunch or dinner) to draw, that I feel not necessarily refreshed, but more mellow, and better able to cope whatever frustrations come my way.



I've cut up a sheet of watercolor paper and am working on a bunch of bookmarks now. I think that I will be adding a tangled bookmark to the holiday gifts this year, so much of our family are readers that I know they will be appreciated.



I only just received Sandy's book on Thursday, most of my tangling so far has been done using resources from the internet, so it is totally doable even without all the official accoutrement! Heck you don't even need any of the fancy little squares or expensive pens if you can't get them, a lot of my tangles have been on regular printer paper using a sharpie ultra fine! (Although I do admit that the Sakura pens make a much finer line, with no bleeding like you can get with the sharpie pens.)



For more info in zentangles check out the zentangle blog or thezentangle patterns website and my favorite zentangle teacher/blogger/author Sandy Bartholomew at her blog (seriously, buy her books if you are interested in Zentangle, she is really awesome)

Star Wars geeks will get this

A little while ago io9 had a little contest to give away a tauntaun sleeping bag they wanted to see some tauntaun related art. This is what I came up with:



I didn't win, but I'm pretty happy with it and felt like showing off.

recabled

Wow, where does the time go?

No FOs yet.

But I do have a few things in the works, and there is something to show today.

A little while ago while I was working on my toe up Bayerichies I noticed a miss crossed cable!



Oh the horror!

But it's ok! I just dropped back...



And re-knit!



All better!

I have some other things to write about, but no time today, hopefully the next update will come a little sooner than this one did!

Toddler sox

We somehow managed to loose one of TW's stripy sox at my last doctors appointment, bummer.

But it was a good excuse to make him some new ones!


Pair the first:



Needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm)
Yarn: Knitpicks Felici in Aurora and Knipicks Stroll in Purple







Pair the second:



Same needles
Yarn: Knitpicks Stroll in Pumpkin and Dorchester Farms Handpainted in oranges and black







and a cute sock story:

The other day I had put TW's socks on, and he had quickly thereafter taken them off again.
A bit later I needed to leave for a while and when I came back Bill reported that as soon as TW had realized I was gone, he had gotten his socks and made Bill put them on him. He then left them on until I returned, at which point they quickly came back off again.

I'm not quite sure what to make of that! :D

hoo, hoo!

Remember this from the last post?



Well, now it is this!


owlie mittens for my husband. He's been wearing the squirrel and oak mittens I made him a while ago, but since they are colorwork he sees them as 'special' and has been reluctant to wear them when he needs to do anything potentially messy or that could ruin them, so I decided to make him a pair of rougher, tougher mittens for everyday wear. But you know, I couldn’t jus let them be plain.


Pattern: give a hoot + cuffs from girls and ladies mittens
Yarn: handspun Jacob
Needles: US size 7 (4.5mm)
Notes: this pattern runs SMALL, I mean I should have notices from the schematic, but I was knitting slightly above gauge and I still needed to ass a few extra stitches around, and ended up needing to add a TON of rows after the owl to make them long enough.


Also I've been trying to get back into drawing and painting again, here is a really rough sketch of TW napping that I later filled in with watercolor:

Whew!

It's amazing how busy life can be with a toddler. Yep I said Toddler, TW is walking like crazy, and it's a full time job keeping up with him.

I've managed to squeeze in quite a bit of knitting and sewing during naps and while wearing him, but I never seem to be able to find a moment to sit down and write a blog post, when I have a free moment I usually would rather be relaxing and knitting rather than typing, but I'm making an effort to get a post our today since I have such a backlog of things to write about.

I finally got around to sewing the last buttons on TW's baby surprise jacked, which I finished months ago. Thankfully it still fins him, and will for a while; all I will need to do is lengthen the sleeves occasionally, which should be no problem since I still have some yarn leftover.








TW outgrew the hat his grandmother made him, so I had to make another.



Stella pixie hat
Lion brand wool ease
US Size 6 (4mm) needles







The original pattern called for a normal cast on with a thin neck band sewn on later, but I wanted something that would cover his neck while we were out walking. I did a provisional cast on and then once the min hat was finished I picked up the bottom stitches, knit a few rows, then cast on 8 more stitches and joined it in the round and ribbed for 2 more inches. I threw in a few short rows along the front for a bit more coverage.

It works beautifully and is so stretchy that it will probably fit him next year too, and he looks so adorable!



I also knit TW a pair of socks, he was outgrowing his old socks, and they were all cotton anyways and I wanted him to have something warmer for the wintertime.



It's just my usually sock patter sized way down. They keep his feet warm, but as little ones are known to do, he keeps pulling them off. I need to make some more, he's already beginning to outgrow them.





Besides things for The Boy I've also been making a few things for me and Bill,

First off I have been sewing some new project bags, my old ones were made way back when I first started sewing and weren't very well put together. It was getting time for some fresh new ones.



the kitty bag on the left has socks waiting to be darned, the big red bag in the middle holds all my hand knit socks, and the purple bag on the right had my latest WIP





toe up bayerische
knitpicks essential (now stroll) in kettle dyed Jay
US size 1.5 (2.5mm) needles
although I think I'm probably just going to do my normal short row heel.

And finally on the spinning front, remember this?


I started spinning this Jacob fiber way back before TW was boon, and only just finally got the time to finish it up.



I plan on starting a pair of plain mittens for Bill out of it. The last two years he's only had his squirrel and oak mittens and he's been worried about ruining them, so he needs a plain 'working' pair of mittens



whew!