Monthly Archives: April 2014

Fountain With Tulips …

101_4566

- by Joan -

(mvobsession.com)


Powhatan Festival of Fiber

Booth number 92,
 near the sheep dog exhibition area.
 See you tomorrow!





Powhatan Festival of Fiber

Booth number 92,
 near the sheep dog exhibition area.
 See you tomorrow!





Powhatan Festival of Fiber

Booth number 92,
 near the sheep dog exhibition area.
 See you tomorrow!





Udder Checks

 

 

 

We’re just a few short weeks away from our lambing window, but I’m already keeping an eye on the ewes’ udders and hoo-has.  There shouldn’t be anyone lambing earlier than May 4, but I feel most comfortable when I can get a really good feel for how everyone looks and how they are acting leading up to the event. This helps better notice subtle changes that occur so I know when I should be out every two hours and when I can get some sleep.

 

Of course, Susan and I have been plenty surprised by sheep and goats alike that show zero sign of impending labor and then are nursing their babes next time we check them!

 

Right now udders and teats are easy to see since the ladies have been sheared, and though there’s no significant “bagging up” of their udders, they are becoming just the slightest big bigger every day.

04.25.14a

They are getting wider and wider every day, too!

Occasionally just after feeding time I can sit with Piper and rest my head or hands on her belly and feel a little kicking in there.

04.25.14b

Wren’s udder hasn’t enlarged very much, but her teats have been getting fatter and more pronounced.

04.25.14c

This lady has been looking wide, but there’s not much udder or teat development.  This could mean that either she was bred a lot later than some of the others, or it could just be that she won’t bag up at all until she lambs.  Sometimes they do that.

04.25.14d

Just like any other mammal, no two sheep are alike, no two pregnancies are alike, no two lambings are alike.  Some get all dramatic, some are quiet and reserved. Some bag up huge way ahead of time, others never bag up at all.

There is one way they are all alike, however.

04.25.14e

They don’t like me checking out their backsides.  They are very suspicious of this activity, and will quickly turn and sniff at my face (or camera).

It’s going to be an interesting mix of lambs this year: our ram was a white Border Leicester.  Some of the ewes are colored Border Leicester.  Some of the ewes are white Cormo.  And yet other ewes are a mix of Cormo and Southdown. I can’t wait to see how the babies turn out!

As for lambcam (which I know everyone is waiting for!) we are waiting on some new equipment, but it will absolutely be working before the lambs come. We’ll let y’all know when it’s back up.

Udder Checks

We’re just a few short weeks away from our lambing window, but I’m already keeping an eye on the ewes’ udders and hoo-has.  There shouldn’t be anyone lambing earlier than May 4, but I feel most comfortable when I can get a really good feel for how everyone looks and how they are acting leading up to the event. This helps better notice subtle changes that occur so I know when I should be out every two hours and when I can get some sleep.

Of course, Susan and I have been plenty surprised by sheep and goats alike that show zero sign of impending labor and then are nursing their babes next time we check them!

Right now udders and teats are easy to see since the ladies have been sheared, and though there’s no significant “bagging up” of their udders, they are becoming just the slightest big bigger every day.

04.25.14a

They are getting wider and wider every day, too!

Occasionally just after feeding time I can sit with Piper and rest my head or hands on her belly and feel a little kicking in there.

04.25.14b

Wren’s udder hasn’t enlarged very much, but her teats have been getting fatter and more pronounced.

04.25.14c

This lady has been looking wide, but there’s not much udder or teat development.  This could mean that either she was bred a lot later than some of the others, or it could just be that she won’t bag up at all until she lambs.  Sometimes they do that.

04.25.14d

Just like any other mammal, no two sheep are alike, no two pregnancies are alike, no two lambings are alike.  Some get all dramatic, some are quiet and reserved. Some bag up huge way ahead of time, others never bag up at all.

There is one way they are all alike, however.

04.25.14e

They don’t like me checking out their backsides.  They are very suspicious of this activity, and will quickly turn and sniff at my face (or camera).

It’s going to be an interesting mix of lambs this year: our ram was a white Border Leicester.  Some of the ewes are colored Border Leicester.  Some of the ewes are white Cormo.  And yet other ewes are a mix of Cormo and Southdown. I can’t wait to see how the babies turn out!

As for lambcam (which I know everyone is waiting for!) we are waiting on some new equipment, but it will absolutely be working before the lambs come. We’ll let y’all know when it’s back up.


Tagged: Farm, Pets

Single Patterns from Hitch

…are now available!

If you just wanted a single pattern out of Hitch, now’s your chance!  Accessories (gloves, hats, cowls, small scarves, etc) are $6, sweaters and shawls are $7.  You can get them on Ravelry now, and soon on Craftsy, Etsy, and Patternfish.

IMG_0008
Exakta Hat

On a sidenote, here’s a neat board on Pinterest with Saul Bass graphics.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the contest for The Wild West: CABLES here!  Make sure to read the rules.

Favorite?

btt button

Do you have a favorite book? What do you say when people ask you? (This question always flummoxes me because how can you pick just one, so I’m eager to hear what you folks have to say.)

And, has your favorite book changed over the years??


Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!


Favorite?

btt button

Do you have a favorite book? What do you say when people ask you? (This question always flummoxes me because how can you pick just one, so I’m eager to hear what you folks have to say.)

And, has your favorite book changed over the years??


Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!


Dyeing Yarn with Leftover Easter Egg Dye

easter rainbow

Sunday morning, Easter Sunday, Athrun and Brock and I had a morning full of Easter Eggs. We set up a hunt for Athrun in the yard, we opened them and filled a bag full of candy, and we boiled and dyed a dozen real eggs while the cat spread the plastic shells all about the house. (Seriously, these are her favorite toys. She almost didn’t let us get them filled, she was so excited when we got them out on Saturday night, she kept trying to jump in the bag.)

Every year I get a package or two of the little PAAS egg dyeing tablets, which is enough to do about a million eggs. I know we’ll only eat about a dozen hard boiled eggs in a week, so I try not to boil more than that, or it just seems wasteful. This means we always have a ton of leftover dye stock. This year, we did rainbow colors, at full brightness, and the leftovers got used on sock yarn.

I’ve been digging rainbows lately. Our baby quilt is rainbow, baby and Brock are going to have matching rainbow socks, and it seemed like the only thing to do with our rainbow of Easter egg dye turn it into some rainbow sock yarn.

In previous years, when using up the leftover Easter egg dye, I’ve watered it down, put it in squirt bottles and used it on about a pound of top. This year, since I was thinking yarn, I soaked 4 skeins of sock yarn, still about a pound, but instead of squirting it out, I just dumped the dye out of the cups we used to dye the eggs straight over the yarn in six cross-wise stripes. Since the yarn was wet, the color ran a little bit, which I wanted, then I wrapped it in saran wrap and microwaved it for about ten minutes. (I have a really old microwave that works at about half capacity. If you have a new one, it should probably only take three or four minutes. Also, I only use my microwave on food safe dyes, because I don’t have a dedicated dyeing microwave.) Gave it a quick wash and hung it up to dry.

easter<br />
rainbow sock yarn
I love the white showing through!

easter rainbow sock yarn reskeined

easter rainbow sock yarn reskeined 2
Reskeined, you can see how short the color repeats are and how each color will just flash a tad when knitted, and that there is a lot less white space than it looks like in the earlier pictures. As soon as I can scrounge up some sock needles, I am totally casting on a pair of socks for myself out of this!

The other three skeins will be available for sale sometime after the baby arrives, so be on the lookout! (If you’re interested now, let me know, and I’ll reserve them for you, but I’m getting close enough to delivery that I am not prepared to make any promises on shipping.)