Alpacas Taking a Walk

Halter training in progress....

These two little ones are learning how to walk on a lead.

Jatoba is going to show and this is how you take them into the ring.

Reno is her buddy.

Cute stuff.

Yarn Along

My Leaves of Grass is done. Guess what? I miss it.

I also finished the last disc of Downton Abbey.

I seriously have to wait an entire year to watch the next episode????

And the ending???!!!!! Really? Did that have to happen?

Sigh.

So, casted on a new project and started a new book.

Knitting this sleeveless top.

I would love to get some robin egg buttons for it. Similar to the blue of the book.

Knitting with Tosh Merino Light in Saffron

Skinny yarn and little needles. This may take a while......

Goal is to have it done and able to wear by Maryland Sheep & Wool.

Reading

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

 

Linking with Ginny

Happy Knitting

Sand

I have a gazillion things that need to be done and Chase didn't think taking a nap in his room should be one of them. So, we hopped in the car and drove to the beach. Instant nap.

Had my camera with me so I went up to check it out and take a few pictures of the progress since the hurricane. Not much has changed although you can now get on to the beach easier. They've cleared a path. Boardwalk planks are at the south end of Spring Lake, so that's exciting for us. That's where we go to the beach. 

The snow melted this morning and the sun peaked out for a little bit. I sure do wish warm weather would get here. I'm sick of this cold.

 Pilings where the boardwalk once was.

 Flower petals were scattered all over this part of the beach. I wonder what it was from. A wedding? A memorial? hmmmm....not sure but it was pretty.

 Crane in the distance rebuilding the north end pavilion.

A nice little escape from my busy day.

Now, back to my gazillion things.....

Leaves of Grass...a few more pictures

Yes....this is the same project I posted yesterday but this took me a long time to knit,
so still trying to get the perfect pictures.

Here are a few more to share.

My dad's truck and My Leaves of Grass

I love this darn thing. I don't know what it is. A shawl? A Blanket? A giant doiley? 

I don't know...but it's soft and it's pretty and I like it.

I'm Back...With Finished Projects to Share

Phew! I'm back. In the past two weeks, someone has been sick nearly every day, including myself.

The winter (ahem....SPRING) crud had us down. Colds, stomach bugs, etc. Fun times in the house.

The upside to all that down time was some time to knit, read and hang with the kids.

I managed to get some projects off the needles and wanted to share some recent pictures.

My Leaves of Grass

It's done. It's done! It's done!!!!

A beautiful knit that will be cherished. I kind of miss working on it already.

I knitted this as part of a KAL group. It was my first and now it won't be my last.

The beginning of this project had me stumped. I had SUCH a hard time getting this thing going!!!

But I'm so glad I continued. It was a dream to knit and I'm now a huge Jared Flood fan. Genius man.

I hope to take some better pictures, but here goes....

My Leaves

Knitted with 100% baby alpaca in a light fawn color.

Ravelry notes here: My Leaves 

 

 

A Hat for Chase and a good book.

Loving this book. And needed a mindless knit while I took care of the crew.

 

A little hat for Chase, knitted with a tan/grey wool. Simple and quick.

 This "baby" is growing up way too quickly.

 Pretending to blink. He's a funny one.

 My Capucine

Knitted with yarn that Liz spun. 

 

Check out this beautiful yarn. Liz spun this up with the navajo ply technique again.

It's a merino. It is gorgeous. 

 

 Here's Liz holding it up.

 Another Liz project. She's been making these triangle scarfs on her loom that Nick made.

 

Now back to my extremely complicated and exhausting sweater knit!!!!!

Have a great weekend.

Happy Knitting,

Leanne

Happy Birthday!

I want to wish my mom

(aka MomMom, The Bean Queen, That Alpaca Lady)
a very Happy Birthday! (sorry it's a day late on here. stomach bug...had me down)

Thank you for all you do for your herd and family.

We love you!!!

That's her up top, third from the right :)

This Moment

Joining in with SouleMama
. . . . . . . . . .
 

{this moment}

 A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Ready for Spring

I dropped my oldest boy off at baseball practice today. OUTSIDE. It is a windy freezing mere 40 degrees here. Poor kids. They have been training indoors all winter, but now they've headed out.

Makes me soooo ready for spring.

I also now have a much better appreciation for my mom and the cold.

While they were away last week my sister, Liz and I were on poop duty.

This is probably the least desirable chore I can think of. Even worse than the horse

stalls I was used to as a kid. You have to clean every single alpaca bean "piece of poop"

every day. It's exhausting. Here's one thing I know for sure.

You really need to love your herd to do that every day. Freezing cold, wind, snow, sleet...poop needs to go. So Mom, hats off to you. I also don't know why you don't weigh 100 pounds with the workout you get day in and day out.

Spring is a weird time of year here. It's not always nice, usually chilly and damp

but I get myself excited for flowers, gardens, prettier colored clothes.

I also get excited for Maryland Sheep and Wool.

I dream of this festival all year long. It's my heaven.

Yarn, sheep, my sisters and girlfriends, a hotel, knitting, gyros on the hill....ahhhh.

So after this very cold day, I'll remind myself that warmth is on it's way.

Here's what I look forward to.

Here's to warm days.....SOON PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

Yarn Along and A Birthday

Yarn Along....

It's almost done!!!!!!!!!! I have less than a 1/4 of the edging to do on my 

Leaves of Grass and then it's done. Holy Moly.

I am knitting this as part of a KAL, but I'm behind. Most are done.

I doubted myself that I would have my "Done" post. But alas, I'm almost there.

Knitted in 100% baby alpaca yarn from our farm,

this knit will be a much loved shawl, blanket, what ever it may be.

 

And then there is a certain little someone in my house that isn't so little anymore.

Our guy, Garrett, is 9 years old today.

A handsome blonde kid that can make you laugh but listen closely...

the jokes are quick and quiet. A smart kid, a musician in the making,

a bit of an artist (although he may deny it), an athlete,

a wonderful big brother and little brother.

Our middle child :)

We love you GMan. Happy Birthday kiddo. 

Joining in with Ginny and the other knitters out there.

A Handspun Yarn Along

Happy Wednesday! Yarn Along Day :)

Liz recently spun this amazing merino on her wheel.

 

After spinning the yarn, she used a technique called Navajo Plying.

It takes a single strand and turns it into a 3 ply. She figured it out and Tah Dah...awesome chunky yarn. I grabbed it and decided to knit up a fun silly hat.

Here it is so far...

Ends up looking like a hood with some tassels!

Capucine Hat Pattern

 

Reading The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan.

I just finished up the hat while Chase napped on me (he has a cold and wanted his mom)
Here's a picture.

I got news this morning that a childhood friend of mine had to deliver her

twin baby boys extremely early. Please pray for these babies, the mom, her husband and little boy at home. They weigh in at 2 lbs each. Every minute matters.

Happy Knitting

Joining in with Ginny.

A Simple Trick for Knitting Charts

I am on the edging of my Leaves of Grass! Woohoo!!

The whole pattern has been reading charts, but very manageable charts. 

Normally, I take my chart, a light colored highlighter and as I finish a row, I fill it in with my marker.

Or I make little dots....(you'll see how I started with that on the pattern. NOT working)

The edging is a small chart that is repeated 70 or so times.

So, I wasn't sure the best way to mark what row I was on.

I asked Andee what she did and she gave me this little tip.

Thought I would share.

It's beyond easy and sooooo very helpful.

Put your pattern into a plastic protector sheet and grab a Post-It note.

Every time you move up a row, move your sticky note!

How easy is that??? 

Easy Tip that will make your life easier.

Happy Knitting!

fleece and feathers