Wednesday, October 29, 2014

New Girl and Some Knitting

There's a new girl at the farm!
Introducing MFI Out of This World. We're calling her Spacey for a nickname.
She is coowned by my parents and Emelise Alpacas.
She competed in the North American Show this past weekend in Syracuse and earned herself a blue ribbon.

(photo taken by my sister, Andee)


She's a pretty one with beautiful fiber.

And on to some knitting for this week....
A good friend of mine asked me to knit a sweater for her nephew's first birthday.
Her family had an old sweater that was passed down but was on the "girly" side. It had a hood with a zipper all the way up the back. She asked me to recreate it in gray alpaca.
I used this pattern as a guide. I knitted it with 1.5 skeins of Cascade Pure Alpaca yarn that we sell at the farm.






I worked on my Sheep Sweater (sorry alpacas!) I am loving it. It's super sheepy. But it's also very tough on my hands and wrists. It's nothing like knitting with alpaca. Alpacas, you totally win in that department. I am knitting this with Bartlett Yarn worsted weight that I got at Rhinebeck. Andee would be dead if she was knitting with this yarn (she's allergic to wool)
It's hard to photograph when it's all stuck on a circular. But you get the idea...It will eventually have a contrast color of a pretty plum purple at the seams.
Sweater Pattern: Monte Rosa by Isabell Kraemer



And one more little project that I am working on...
Fingerless mitts to go with my apple green alpaca coat.
Knitting with Dragonfly Fibers yarn that I got at Rhinebeck. It's the Falling Leaves colorway.
Pattern is an improvised version of the tincan knits mitts.



That's it for knitting this week. What are you working on? Please share with us!
-Leanne

Joining  Ginny and the weekly yarn along.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Green Mountain Alpaca Show

Winners!!!!! Last weekend my mom and dad took 5 alpacas to the Green Mountain Alpaca Show.
They did so well! 

Here are the results for the boys:
Bates- 1st Place Silver Gray Yearling Male (Beat out last year's National Champion)
Ono- 3rd Place Black Yearling Male
Stone- 3rd Place Rose Gray Yearling Male

Results for the Girls:
LE- 2nd Place Medium Brown Yearling Female (Close contender for Reserve Color Champion!)
Shooshi- 3rd Place Gray Yearling Female

They're off to Syracuse this weekend. Hoping for a banner!
 







And that's our shearer all fancy and dressed up! 

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Rhinebeck 2014

Once again, Rhinebeck did not disappoint!
Beautiful day spent with two of my boys and one of my sisters.
Beautiful knits, yarn, fun, food, PRETTY LEAVES, inspiration, friends, authors, contests, games and more. Sharing our experience through a gazillion pictures of the day....

Loaded up the car and headed out at 6am. Arrived 2 1/2 hours and ready to stand in the long line!
We had to wake Garrett up (my 10 year old) and we were trying to convince him that this would be FUN! He wasn't so sure at first!!


The Jennie the Potter line at 9am. Glad I already had a mug safely at home!




Yeah...my 10 year old was trying to read this and understand what this was all about.
We kept on walking.
 

Was so excited to see my artwork on back of the program! Wowzer!
2 years in a row of being in top 10. I want to win this thing sooooo badly!



Hay bale maze fun



 The leaves, the leaves, the leaves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 Fun for the kids, games and balloons.


 How "fall" is this table? Hot cocoa, leaves and cinnamon.
 Garrett kept spilling down the front of him. What a boy.
 The tortoise and the hare. Heehee







 This pretty girl was my favorite sheep of the day. The farmers were so nice and we had a really good time talking to them. Later on in the day we watched them compete and they won!

Caught a sheep trying to eat Andee's yarn bag.


 Saturday is crowded!!!! Eat early and shop during lunch time. That's my advice.
 One of the best parts of Rhinebeck is everyone wearing their hand knits. They're everywhere! From the jaw dropping beauty and skill to the fun and silly knits. It's the best :)

Starting to get a little punchy :)

Book signing events is one of my favorite things about Rhinebeck. Amazing knitters, spinners and craftsmen at their tables ready to meet you and sign a book. I heard an interview on the Knitmore Girls Podcast with this woman and I knew I had to go meet her and pick up a book. I don't spin, so this will be a gift. But I want to spin. I think...ahhh!

Visiting booths and feeling yarn from companies that are usually only available to me online.
This was the booth I was most excited to visit. And it didn't disappoint! I picked up some wooly goodness for a sweater. It was the only thing truly on my list of what I wanted to buy so I was very happy.

Sheep poop on the shoes...it's to be expected.
 

Andee saved my back by going to the car and getting Chase's little stroller.




People enjoying some down time on the hill. This woman was painting. 
 Knitting...



 I'm not the only person taking pictures of the leaves. This knitter was one of thousands to snap some foliage shots!



 That's the nice shepherd we chatted with and one of his rams.



 My Chase. I love this boy and how much he loves his animals.



 Waiting in lines is actually fun at Rhinebeck. You get to chat with knitters, ooh and ahhh over what everyone is wearing and also feel completely at home when the person in front of you has a cable hook in their braid.

 What are you making? What are you wearing? Ooh! Ahh! Pretty! Stalking, petting, complimenting. It's all par for the course at Rhinebeck.

Cider donuts to top of the day.


This booth wins my prize for the cutest booth. The woman in charge rocked her overalls and how cute is here helper? I'm assuming it's her son. He was so sweet and helpful. Booth name is Leah Stickle/Yarn Garage. She carried project bags, totes from Fringe and more. Andee bought me a circular needle case for Christmas and generously let me have it now! I love it so much.



 
How cool is this yarn tree stand?? And the owner of the booth was very cool.




 New pattern that looks like fun to knit. Fun yarn from Dragonfly Yarn
 My Bartlett Yarn purchase. It will be a Monte Rosa sweater for myself.
 These two looked like they walked off a movie set.








Lizzie's twin?

 6 hours of walking around enjoying the sights, it was time to go home. Thank you Rhinebeck for being amazing once again. See ya next year!