Little Boys, Adventures and Alpacas!!!

Fall is in full force here at the Jersey Shore! The leaves are beautiful and the weather has been very fallish :) Sweater Weather!!!

It's been 2 years since Super Storm Sandy and at this time 2 years ago, we were still in the dark. The shore is still recovering and building and things look so much better for the most part. But this post has nothing to do with Sandy. Just a thought that was in my head this week.

Spent some time with Lizzie's boys this week and thought I would share some photos of the "little boys". (there are 7 boys between the three of us and these 3 little boys are the only ones not in school full time. So they get to play a lot)

So....lots of photos of little boys, adventures to one of our favorite spots (Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, NJ) and some farm shots of the alpacas.

Enjoy...

 The picture below is a girl walking two dogs and a guy walking a pig.

 Ladybugs

Arrow Acres in the fall...

 Bing

 New grass

Hi Peanut Butter Dickens :)

 

Happy Fall :)

-Leanne

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.

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!