Getting a complex!!!

Image from funnyanimalphotos.com

Those little voices in my head were saying things like "your blog really sucks", and "apparently NOBODY reads it" and "nobody even WANTS your smelly socks and yarn!" Fortunately, Dianne let me know that she had tried 3 times to post a comment this week... I had wondered why even SHE hadn't commented, especially after kindly mentioning the giveaway on her site.

Ya see, USUALLY Blogger sends me an email that I've received a comment... but they missed most of them! I had a backlog of comments in a folder that I'd never even seen and therefore hadn't published! SORRY if you're one of those commenters, I do hope you'll re-visit and keep commenting!

I've had a real love-hate relationship with computers lately... I lost the hard-drive on my HP laptop before the holidays, then found that Carbonite hadn't been doing my online backups as planned for the past year (gulp, I still can't even fully think about it). I bit the bullet and bought a MacBook and have mostly LOVED it.... but I'm also dealing with the learning curve of a whole new way of doing things AND the daily realization of something else that is lost from my old hard drive...

So, this little piece of blogosphere that connects us isn't perfect after all! But I do love it, the ability to express my thoughts and share some creations and a bit of my life... and I appreciate you letting me know that somebody out there is reading it from time to time. If you haven't already noticed, I've extended the sock and yarn giveaway until Friday at noon and will include 1 comment from each person in the drawing.

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Welcome, 2011!

I've been a bit more proactive this year than last in thinking of my Word of the Year in order to start on January 1. "ADAPT" was the word for 2009, and "EMBRACE" was quite fitting for 2010, with many of the intentions I expressed in this post fulfilled.

After reading this great post on photographer Kim Klassen's site and also this lovely site with thoughts about choosing your word, I had narrowed it down to three. They were Adventure (we have some awesome travels planned for this year), Patience (after all, we have two teenagers, LOL!), and Presence (to remember to breathe and stay in the moment). I was nearly sidetracked after a recent visit to Fallingwater and walking through the surroundings made me think of BEAUTY but then I decided that part of being in the present is observing the beauty all around.

I have a feeling that 2011 is going to bring some special times, and with greater awareness of the passing of time I want to stay present, to be in the moment and to not let my thoughts race ahead with busyness or dwell on past mistakes.

I mentioned the possibility of a giveaway a few weeks ago, and since so much of the country has had extremely cold weather already I am gifting a reader with pair of warm alpaca socks and two skeins of bulky weight alpaca yarn (your choice, either hand-dyed or natural. To win, leave a comment with your chosen Word of the Year or a resolution you've made for 2011. I'll pick a winner from those commenting by random generator on next Wednesday, January 5th at noon EST!

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Fall.... Festivals and FIBER!

Hand-dyed and homegrown alpaca yarn

Yesterday I started a day of working in my fiber studio early, having anticipated some quiet time in which I hoped to get a lot of felting and dyeing done (and I did!). I've got a few days to catch my breath during the week now, with the kids well back into the school groove, but weekends will be nuts for a while.

Hand-dyed and hand-felted silk and alpaca shawl

This coming weekend is the Midway Fall Festival and I always like to have a lot of handmade inventory ready. I'll have alpacas there, along with yarn and fiber, felted hats, woolly soaps, cat toys, nuno felt scarves and shawls, socks, purses, sweaters, blankets, etc. Please introduce yourself if we haven't yet met! In addition, next weekend (the 25th and 26th), Seldom Scene Farm will be at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill for Alpaca Farm Days. We'll be set up with about 15 other Kentucky alpaca breeders to celebrate Alpaca Harvest Weekend and National Alpaca Farm Days at Shaker Village. This is a beautiful setting and always a lot of fun, and I'll have lots of products and alpacas there as well.
Hand-dyed and hand-felted alpaca and silk scarf

As you can see, my colorways have a decidedly fall theme. I love fall for many of the reasons that my friend Dianne does! Hopefully there'll be a bit of crispiness in the air this weekend to get everyone in the fall spirit!

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Home, at last!

It feels strange to be showing yarn photos again so soon, when I've rarely been around to do any dyeing or have much studio time. Still, having those special moments to create is so important to me that I just have to share in my pleasure. It's not all for fun, as our busy festival season is coming up and I've got literally hundreds of skeins of yarn to work with that I had processed recently at Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works.

I've been on such a roller coaster, and am experiencing the back-to-school blues, which I can more easily recognize this year after going through a tough case of them last year around this time.

My mind starts whirling with all of the to-do's, and next thing I know I'm gazing into a dye pot as if it's a crystal ball or witch's cauldron in which I'm looking for help and answers.

I never actually find any answers to my questions of the universe, but I do find a lot of satisfaction with seeing freshly-dyed yarn from our own animals hanging to dry on the studio porch railing.

You'll find at least a few of my newly-dyed yarns (such as this baby alpaca/bamboo blend) in my Etsy store. Check back soon to see my new nuno felt creations from alpaca and silk! Pin It Now!

Time for creativity

This has been a good week so far, and I think I know why. First of all, it is feeling like spring will come around sometime soon.... I saw my first foals of the year this past weekend, and heard a tom turkey gobbling yesterday morning. It's a LOT warmer, and even our koi fish are visible in their pond after hiding out for weeks during the bitter cold. I got to have lunch yesterday with Marti and MB, the first time the three of us were together in months, and it felt so good to be laughing with them again.

Our new farm manager is back and getting into her routine, and best of all I've found a little bit of time to be creative! I got on a roll with some needle felting, and here are some of the results. I have lots of alpaca fiber dyed up to use for soaps and other projects, and it's so fun to pull out bits here and there for quick projects like these. Just for a few days, I'm trying to procrastinate without guilt... and not think about the billing, taxes, and other tasks that are always waiting in the wings.

All of the projects shown here can be found at Truly Bluegrass in downtown Versailles. I have taken new Seldom Scene alpaca yarn in, too, and will be adding more in the next week or so. I don't know about you, but having a chance to make things is great for my spirit at this gloomy time of year. What are you working on these days?

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Maine Mitts for Me!

Last weekend before heading off to my spinning retreat, I went through some of my fiber stash and discovered some lovely Bluefaced Leicester hand-dyed roving and some yarn I had already spun from it. I purchased the fiber at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival the only year I had the good fortune of attending, perhaps in 2005? The yarn was sold by Firesong, and I remember all of their colors being stunning.

I enjoy working with alpaca most of all, but it is nice to work with other fibers from time to time. BFL wool is relatively soft, hard-wearing, and has really pretty luster. The yarn that I had already spun was fairly bulky and uneven, but I felt that it would be good for that pattern I love, Maine Morning Mitts! I spun a skein last weekend that will perhaps become a hat or scarf, my spinning was so much better the second time around.

These mitts will be nice to wear tomorrow morning when we finish up on the alpaca's routine herd health (worming injections and trimming toenails)! It's nice to have warm wrists and hands but to have my fingers free for fine motor tasks.

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Spinning and Spiral Cowl

This past weekend's spinning retreat was a welcome break from lots of cold outdoor activities on the farm! Our local spinning guild has had an annual overnight get-together for as long as it's existed (over 25 years?), and I've now started to feel like one of the old-timers, having attended perhaps the past 15 years. We rented a lovely house on a lake, and I fully enjoyed the usual sharing of patterns, techniques, ideas, opinions, and wonderful home-cooked food. Our group is very diverse, but all are generous in their teaching and I have learned so much from these friends. It's fun to see the variety of projects and to learn about the different fibers that everyone enjoys. (The green fiber above is mohair that Sheri dyed and below is wool from Sylvia's sheep that she dyed for a coat).My goal was to spin my own alpaca yarn and knit a Spiral Cowl (the free pattern can be found here), and I completed all but the final touches over the weekend.
I wanted to make it for my new grey and red reversible alpaca coat, and it does look great with it (though that picture didn't turn out well). It was a very fun and fairly simply knit, and I have already cast on to do another in Noro silk garden yarn. The button (shown above) which gathers it closer for warmth is made from bone, and I'd been saving it for a special project since buying it in Alaska nearly 5 years ago. This was the first time I'd done a picot edging, and I loved it! Pin It Now!

New Knitting for a New Year

I haven't been without my knitting on this trip! Before we left, I picked up some yarn that I had processed at a new mill in our area, Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works. Sean and Lori are new suri alpaca breeders that recently moved their farm and mill from Maine to Kentucky, and I wanted to give them a try.I have to say I am VERY pleased with the quality of their work, and I enjoyed a tour they gave me of their mill as well. I will definitely be sending them much more fiber very soon, and you can watch for more details of my visit on my other blog.Above is some of the yarn I had spun that I couldn't wait to put in the dye pot. It is amazing how much the quality of the fiber translates into how well it takes dye- this yarn just glows and is as silky and lofty as any I have worked with! Although of course I have umpteen other projects going, I wanted to make something that combines the bright colors I dyed, and thumbing through one of my favorite knitting books, Mason-Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitters' Guide: Stories, Patterns, Advice, Opinions, Questions, Answers, Jokes, and Pictures, I remembered this project, the Nina Shawl, that I have been wanting to knit! I love the color combination shown in the book, but here and here and here are some others! The bright colors I'm working with reflect my optimism for a positive 2009. Happy New Year, friends, family, and fellow knitters! Pin It Now!

Busy, but organized!

My life has been continuing to feel less chaotic as I have gotten myself better organized, and although there are still some messy corners of my life I can honestly say that the spillover has helped me to feel more inspired and in control. Last week, I went to IKEA in Cincinnati and bought these shelves (found in the kid's section) for the studio. They fit in with the pine floors and trim beautifully, and hold tons of yarns, fibers and crafting supplies at my fingertips.

We had a super busy and enjoyable weekend. Saturday night we went to one of the funnest parties ever, at the country home of some artist friends. The weather was perfect, and we took a hike through a stunning gorge to which their home backs up. The best part of the evening was the coffee house type music that they, their friends and families shared on the makeshift stage of their back deck. We sat under a big tree full of white twinkling lights and were mesmerized by the bonfire and beautiful music of all varieties.
Yesterday, we hosted my stepson Jason, his fiancee Crystal (pictured above on a recent trip), and some of our combined families for Sunday dinner. Based on meeting Crystal's lovely family for the first time, we feel better than ever that Jason and Crystal are a great match and we are excited about their wedding next year!

Finally, I have actually been squeezing in some knitting and have a very nearly finished project to show off- a simple ribbed men's scarf (a future gift...) in some Seldom Scene Farm 100% alpaca yarn. It's a simple K2 P2 pattern with 38 stitches across. If I do it again from this yarn, I may go with 36 stitches to have slightly more length from the one skein.

While I was completing this post, I discovered that we have had a new cria! Read this post to hear more about it.

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Kentucky yarn and wine, a great combination!

The delivery I was expecting yesterday arrived, a Wine Club shipment from central Kentucky's Talon Winery and exquisite alpaca yarn from... Seldom Scene Farm! I won't elaborate, as I have decided to branch out with another blog more focused on alpacas and the farm (though I'll still mention them here from time to time, since they're such a big part of my loco life!) Be sure to check it out! Pin It Now!