Open House Today and Saturday!!!

Our farm will be open for the last time this holiday season. We will be open Friday, Dec. 16th and Saturday Dec. 17th from 10-4. Last weekend was very busy so if you have something in mind that you want to buy come early! If there is something specific you were looking for that sold out, let us know and we can try to re-order it in time for Christmas.

The alpacas are ready and waiting, wood stove is already on, coffee is brewing, hot apple cider is ready and the girls are on hand to help with knitting, crocheting and spinning questions.

Happy Holidays!

For more information, directions and updates of our 2012 hours, please visit our website.

www.arrowacresfarm.com

-Leanne

Anything Hazardous, Perishable or Fragile?

I have to share a quick story with you.

My mom and dad live next door. So while riding down the road, we often are passing each other, stop, roll down the window and say a quick hello, what's up, where you off to? etc. So a few weeks ago, when I rolled down my window to say hi to my mom, she said, "I'm on my way to the post office to mail poop!"

She was referring to the poop samples that she has to send to Oregon to get tested to see if the alpacas have parasites. Lovely huh?

Today, I went to the post office to mail a Christmas gift to my grandparents down in Florida. When the nice mail man asked me, does this package have anything hazardous, perishable or fragile in it, I couldn't help but laugh and think about how my mother answered that question when sending the poop.

Ahhh....farm life at it's finest.

Wednesday Yarn Along

Howdy All.

Thanks for joining us for the Wednesday Yarn Along.

I'm posting a bit late, but as I told my dad, I took my pictures early this morning. Doesn't that count? Guess not unless you post! He called me earlier to ask me if  I knew what day it was :)

I took this picture the other day. There was a rainbow over the alpaca field. Not the greatest picture, but you get the hint. I always think of MomMom when I see rainbows...and one over the alpaca field, well...that brought tears to my eyes. (I'm the emotional  daughter by the way. I cry at everything)

 Leanne's Knits this week:

I started this hat last night after my husband demanded that I knit HIM something. Ok dear...a hat it will be. This is with our farm blend alpaca yarn and some Cascade alpaca. Shortly after I took this photo, I ripped it out. I didn't like the stripes for a grown man. So I think it's just going to be dark brown. For the book, I'm giving this to my 11 year old niece for Christmas and I'm getting a kick out of it. It's The Guide Book to Being a Goddess. She's going to love it!

 Chase's Christmas Sweater is getting there. The back panel is done. Now onto the front. Can it be done in time? Ugh. Not a fan of deadline knitting. Starts to feel like a job.

 This cowl is so comfy. Not sure who it's going to yet, but I'm going to sew up the cables and add little sparkly pearl beads to it. Again, deadline knitting.......

 And this ball of yarn...oh this poor ball of yarn. Hand dyed by me...began it's life as a herringbone cowl but got ripped out. It was WAY too thick and I need much bigger needles. I DON'T normally rip anything out. And here in this post, I've ripped twice. Odd.

Andee:

Andee has her own blog going and I know that a lot of readers have popped over to her lately. She didn't have time to resize her pictures and send to me for this week's yarn along, so I want to give you a link to her blog. She has amazing knits over there and lots of great posts about her family.

So check her out over at Match the Pictures.

In totally unrelated news, my fourth grade boy came home from school and told me that the classes have been divided into their volleyball tournament teams. He was out sick yesterday and was not involved in the team naming process. So, he is now on the "Magenta Flying Squirrels" team. And the other team is named "Uncle Frank". Gotta love little kids. 

Happy Holidays all! And Happy Knitting!

Leanne

A little bit of this...and a little bit of that

I'm a bit scatter brained these days (well, every day if I am honest with you) so this post might feel a bit scattered as well. I just wanted to share a few pictures from the past weekend open house and a few knitting pictures.

Liz sat with this nice woman on Friday morning and taught her how to do the broomstick crochet scarf. She got the hang of it by the time she left, so I wonder how she did when she got home!

 Making skeins......

 

 Dalton asked if he could play Christmas songs on his violin. He did a great job for just starting two months ago. At the end of the day, he told me that he was hoping people would put money in his case so he can buy a pair of alpaca mittens. Little did he know that MomMom put his favorite aside for him.

 Random yes, but Chase had his first taste of real food today. Sweet Potato to be exact. He loved it.

 Some knitting pictures....

I made a few more hats for gifts.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/leannecoppola/autumn-in-garrison-2

 Madelinetosh Chunk. Yum.

 I also picked this sweater back up last night. Seemed like such a GREAT idea in August!! I thought for sure I would have it done for Chase to wear on Christmas. Oh dare to dream.....If I keep going, maybe it will be done. I can do it! Making this with Quince & Co. Lark in Green color. I need to order another skein. I think I'm cutting it too close with only 3.

I hope you're enjoying your day and have some time to knit!

-Leanne

Wow

Once again I want to thank everyone that made it out to our farm this weekend. 

Saturday was our busiest and we had a lot of first time visitors along with some familiar faces. 

It's been fun meeting people at our events and creating relationships with other alpaca lovers, knitters and fans of alpaca gear!

We sold so many beautiful things this weekend so I'm SURE there will be some very happy people when they open their gifts this holiday season!

We will be open again next Friday, Dec 16th and Saturday, Dec 17th from 10-4

The alpacas thank you all for visiting too. They get LOTS of carrots when the visitors come out to meet them! The Bean Queen keeps them happy with her magic bag of carrots.

I have two knitting projects blocking right now, so I should have some new pictures to share tomorrow. Andee made a very cute new baby hat with some hand dyed alpaca and white baby alpaca. So cute! I'll get a picture from her to post. So check back on Monday and we'll have some new posts.

-Leanne

Farm Store Open Today and Tomorrow!

If you are in the area, we are open again today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) from 10-4.

We will once again have eager curious alpacas to meet, a store stocked with goodies for all, yarn, free coffee and cookies and we promise to have the wood stove cranked up. It's chilly today!!!

For pictures and a post about last weekend's Open House, see here.

Star and Wea waiting to meet you!

It is a pleasure to meet all the wonderful people that stop by our farm.

I'm hoping to see more happy faces today.

-Leanne

Wednesday Yarn Along

Happy Wednesday!

I haven't had time to knit as much as I would like this week. This baby of mine is getting very busy and the knitting time just escapes me! But I did manage to get a few more rows done on the blanket (that clearly will be ready NEXT Xmas)!!!! I didn't find time to read a book this week, but I did enjoy my new Whole Living Magazine. I just subscribed to that and Everyday Food and I'm enjoying both very much. I also pulled the sewing machine...dusted it off and cranked it up. I decided to make a recycled or is Upcycled these days....cowl out of old sweaters. It was fun to sew again but I quickly remembered why I don't do it very often. 1. I make a MESS!!! and 2. I don't have a sewing room to make a mess in! Anyway, it came out nicely and I'm happy with it. It will be for sale this weekend at the Open House.

So here goes for this week......

Leanne

Andee

I made two hats that have yarn I hand spun with a drop spindle.  The yarn is made with Awan's fiber.

1. Hexagon Hat
The brim and hexagon pattern are made with my Awan yarn.  I designed the pattern.
Ravelry link - http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AndeeKF/andeekf-awan-hexagon-hat

2. Awan Pom Pom Hat
The brim and pom pom are make with my hand spun Awan yarn.  I desinged the pattern.
Ravelry link -
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AndeeKF/andeekf-awan-pom-pom-hat

 

3. Brady Hat

The brim is a Merino / Silk blend and the black is alpaca yarn I hand spun.

 

4. Lens Cap Holder

This is alpaca yarn I hand spun. 

It's a rainy yucky day here. I hope it's nicer where you are!

Just had to share a photo I took of Chase this morning at the Christmas tree. It's the reason I didn't have more to show for my knitting this week!

Happy Knitting

-Leanne