Fiber Arts Friday: New Normal Socks, part 4

Last time I was finishing up the New Normal yarn.  

I have since finished the tubes and topped both with the supplemental black yarn and began working on the cuffs.

Both black balls are close to a full skein, so they were a bit challenging to work with at two-at-a-time.  Therefore I decided to put the socks on separate needles, which is allowing the cuffs to move more quickly.

I think such long socks need a good, long cuff, so I'm aiming for 3 inches of 2x2 rib.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Alpacamundo Monday: Improving Barn Access

Over the summer, we removed most of the dead and mostly-dead trees from our new property.

One in particular was near the door to the Alpaca Barn.

I still need to remove the stump, but having this tree gone improves access to the barn for our Hay Supplier.

I had been told by the previous owner that the barn could store 150 bales.  So I ordered 147 bales last winter, which did not leave the aisle accessible.

  

So this fall, we also removed one of the cabinets the previous owner had installed.  The first being just inside, so it prevented the door from being fully opened, which made it difficult to bring in hay bales.

Hay Delivery occurred over the weekend and my Hay Supplier agreed that access was much easier this time.

After picking up the spilled hay near the entrance, we have a full barn (126 bales) and an accessible aisle.

Fiber Arts Friday: Black Hat, part 3

At last posting, the Black Heel-Stich Hat was just about half-complete.

I took it to the Dog Show last weekend and had a lot of time to work on it.

The first day of the show was cold.  Fortunately I had woolies with me.

I also got a lot of time in at the hotel.

Given the color of my fingers, I plan to do a salt and vinegar bath when it's done.

You can see exactly where I wrap the yarn around my left finger to hold tension...

At the end of the weekend, I only have one row and then the Kitchner Stitch to close the top remaining.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Dog Shows: Southern Colorado Kennel Club, 2022

After our breakthroughs at the Buckhorn Kennel Club shows last month, Wilma and I have taken up Rally... the goal here is mostly about learning to focus and capture attention on each other... we've had two classes thus far, are having fun, and our Rally work appears to be paying off.

Last weekend was the Southern Colorado Kennel Club Shows at the State Fairgrounds in Pueblo, Colorado.

Wilma is a great car dog, and this was our longest car ride thus far at about 3 hours.  One day she'll decide to nap in the car, but that has not happened yet.

Since we drove down the day before, we were one of the first to set up in the Grooming Area.

We took the opportunity to walk around the grounds so she could start to get her bearings.

This was also her first experience with a Hotel Room.

As expected, neither of us got much sleep the first night.  With all of the different sounds and it being an entirely new location, she was on guard most of the night.

Fortunately, she did nap in her kennel in the grooming area.

Wilma also came into season again.... a split season.  Seriously, what a weird year.... So we did our best to stay away from the crowd and took the opportunity to sit in the bleachers.  Watching the action from above and away from other dogs, helped her to stay relaxed.

LGDs in general, and TMs especially, prefer to watch the world from above.

She also took a nap in the bleachers, which tells me that she is trusting me more to have her back while we are at a Dog Show.... though, you can see, she still has me behind her.  ;-)

She showed extremely well, in spite of being in season again.  She was awarded Winners Bitch all three days and Best of Winners (meaning she defeated the Winners Dog) two of the three days.... adding 6 points toward her Championship.

With 9 points now, she needs six points and two majors to complete her Championship Title.

We will continue to work on her holding her stack a bit longer as well as continue to focus on focus.

I'm so incredibly proud of the progress we have made over the last two months.

Fiber Arts Friday: Black Hat, part 2

Per my plan last time, I attempted to add an After-the-Fact Life Line on my Black Hat.

Given the color saturation and lack of stich definition I mentioned, coupled with my getting-older eyes, this was not going well... I did go further than this picture shows, but you can see how difficult it is to see what's what. sigh.

So I decided to switch yarns and start over.  After all... if I'm not enjoying making it, what sort of energy am I working into the object?

The new yarn is still black, but kettle-dyed with blue, which is very apparent in the above photo.  This yarn is a 4-ply, so it has excellent stich definition and better bounce.

I did some more TINKing... :-/  But I am now caught up to where I decided to change yarns.

I have missed my goal of getting this hat finished before the snow flies at the recipient's home.... they got about 6.5" last week, when we got about 1".

I have on the order of 10 hours of work remaining, and a busy couple of weeks ahead.  So I continue to move forward... and it will be finished when it's finished.  :-)

This new yarn was acquired at Yarn Fest earlier this year.  It is small-batch dyed by Teton Yarn Company.  The colorway is Black Magic.  The fiber is 100% Superwashed Merino.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Alpacamundo Monday: Winter Water

Keeping the water free from ice is always a concern for me, especially until we get past the first real test... which happened last week, Thursday-Friday.

We got both a little snow and a hard freeze.

In the morning, everyone's de-icer had worked.  Hooray!!

We have simple sinking de-icers for the alpacas and goats, that I put in place about a week earlier.  No one has pulled it out or messed with it, which often happens when I first put them in place.

Ruby, the barn cat, has an electric water bowl.  The dogs have access to everyone's water along with several buckets that are indoors.

The chickens got a completely new watering system.... I introduced this to them about 10 days earlier, using this method, in order to ensure they all understood how to get their water.

The six birds are drinking about a half-gallon daily, which is consistent with what they were consuming prior to the new waterer.

Hopefully this solution keeps the water both clean and flowing.

Happy Almost-Winter!!

Fiber Arts Friday: Too Many Projects?

The other day, Hubba said to me.... "So you have 6 knitting projects in work.  How do you decide which one to work on?"

I laughed and pulled each one out and told him about the purpose/benefit/challenge of each project... and then talked about a few of the others that are in the planning or waiting stage.

So yes, there are six active projects, and many more in the queue.  

• Some are simple so I can work on them when my brain is tired (which is most of the time) or when I only have a few minutes available.
• Some are small so I can work on them when I'm on the road, in a waiting situation, or when it's hot outside.
• Some are much larger so they provide warmth while working on them.
• Some are about commemorating something.
• Some are about doing something for someone else and therefore have a rough deadline.
• Some are about learning new skills or achieving a challenge.
• Some are crochet, or spinning, or weaving, so they use my hands/arms/body differently than knitting.
• Some have periods of intense focus, so they release my brain of clutter.
• Some are meditative, which allows my brain to rest, which then often leads to forming solutions to un-related, complex problems.

I choose which to work on based on my physical needs, personal goals, and time available in the moment.

This is a visual manifestation of how my brain works...  I am always thinking about and planning much more than what is physically in front of me.  Which means my ToDo List is always way too long.

My current Day Job has these benefits as well, but this has not been true for most of my career.  So making has been a way for me to be myself when the Day Job did not allow or value it... and all of it was put on hold while we were moving recently.

This whole conversation was sort of mind-blowing for Hubba.  He chooses a project and works on it 100% until it's complete, with little room for other things.

We know this about him.  We call it All-or-Nothing or All-in.  ;-)  But I think this is the first time he truly understood how my wiring works.

All that being said, I think 3-ish active projects is the sweet spot for me.  The good news is that most of these are past the half-way point, so this number should be coming down in the next few months.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!