NYS Farm - updates

Look! 2 places at once!

2009-12-15T16:52:00.002-05:00

Well, not really. But I do have a new blog I want you to visit. It's all about the YARNZ.

http://www.holidayyarns.com/blog

So! Grab a cup of hot, caffinated beverage and enjoy the new blog post on the new blog site. I just love that new blog smell...

Friday the 13th - it's all about the sales.

2009-11-13T09:45:00.006-05:00

Specifically, this sale: You remember recently, the new Yarn of the Month colorway 'November', right?

http://fiberfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/yarn-o-month-november.html

On sale all month for $18.00...

but today only and until midnight PST, it's $14.00 when you purchase any sock kit on the website - no limits.

This means you can have as many skeins of 'November' at the sale price as you want with the purchase a single sock kit.

Sale prices will not reflect on paypal - I will refund it. (I like paypal but they still don't understand me. I work around our 'issues'.) If your in the Sock Club, your discount will also be applied!!

**This is your chance to do some Holiday Gift Shopping!! Get yourself a kit, and get your knitterly friend a skein of 'November'! Perfect for Holiday Swaps.

Imaginary Friends Come to Life

2009-11-08T09:48:00.002-05:00

Let's face it. I don't get out of the house to socialize very often. Don't get me wrong, I love to do it - but I also prefer the path of least resistance and going 'out' sometimes requires 'effort'. And I tend to fixate on the unfinished tasks & projects, so I have on occasion used those tasks as an excuse not to go somewhere or do something. (I know, I have some issues).

This past year though, I've been trying to make efforts to get out and do some much needed socializing. I enjoy it. I've been trying to get to the knitting meet-ups that the CNY Ravelry group has created, and the knit-in at my local LYS The Yarn Cupboard. I really enjoy my time when I go, and most times I seem to pack 20 projects (because you never know), and not knit on any of them. I find myself just enjoying the chatting with everyone so much that I don't want to be distracted with projects (what kind of knitter am I, anyways??). I find myself the last to want to leave, willing to drop the 'to do' list faster than a bag of scratchy, worsted acrylic yarn from 1972.

Recently, at a CNY group meeting, we got on the topic of food (no, really? food? Knitters who meet at a coffee shop?). We talked about our different favorites, international dishes - things our grandmothers' taught us, or great-grandmothers shared with us, or some other special person in our lives. Food that helped us connect with heritage, or with a community or with an individual by the time spent cooking together. We decided that as we were all quite hungry now, we should turn this into an actual dinner meeting.

Marcela graciously opened her home to us last night and the food was incredible. German Potato Salad and Butternut Squash Soup (chicken optional for the vegetarians who came), Mexican Bean Soup, Chili, Pepper Steak (vegetarian), A Serbian Meat Pie, Stuffed Grape Leaves (Lebanese, not Greek)... I know I'm forgetting something. There was also desert-! Strawberry cake, Apple Pie, Ice Cream, Whoopie Pies-! It was wonderful. We brought spouses and ate food and had a wonderful, social time. Nora got to spend the evening at her friend's house, so a good time was had by all ;-)

When's the next meeting? My calendar is wide open.

Yarn o' the Month: November.

2009-11-05T00:12:00.012-05:00

When the wind storm blew through recently, the remaining leaves that were worth looking at, danced away. The shades of reds, golds and browns in the leaves blowing about the yard, and the new winter colors of the now leaf-less hillside look like this:

Each skein is as unique as the leaves.

November Skein Sale Price: $18.00 (buy it now on the sidebar to the right)
In the classic FlockSock Sock Yarn; 400yds of luscious & lovely yarn in 75% superwash/ 25% nylon blend.

Learn Something New

2009-11-02T23:55:00.009-05:00

I love trivia. Little-known facts, seemingly useless bits of knowledge taking up space and brain cells and keeping me endlessly entertained. Suduko? Crossword Puzzles? No thanks. I'll take 'Jeopardy Questions for 1000' please!

So, we had a contest in the Sock Club this past weekend. I wanted trivia. Things that make you go huh?? Srsly?? Here's a collection of submissions for your enjoyment:

Mice live a couple of years but mole rats can reach the venerable age of 28. The long life is probably a consequence of their protected existence. Mice have a short life span because they have many predators. Better to breed fast and young than prepare for an old age none will never [sic] live to see. Gray squirrels, on the other hand, have fewer enemies and can live for more than 20 years.” (Don't tell the Yarn Harlot the squirrel thing. It's best to keep that one to ourselves.)

Mosquitos have teeth.

In Old English, "wife" was grammatically neuter, so it was normal to say, "I spake with thy wife and it said."

A certain well-known fairy tale features slippers of glass, which a moment of thought will reveal as absurd. However, the tale dates to medieval France, and the French for glass - verre - is pronounced the same as ermine - vair - a fashionable slipper material of the day.

Dimetradon (see image from http://www.vfxtalk.com/newsimages/fcfc_dimetrodon.jpg), were not dinosaurs. Despite being a dino look-a-like, these sail-backed creatures lived in the Permian, (299-251 Million years ago) and are actually more similar to mammals than dinosaurs. The difference lies in the skull. Mammals, Dimetrodon, and other "Mammal like reptiles" of the Permian are Synapsids (meaning there is a single hole in the skull behind the eye), dinosaurs, snakes, lizards and corocodiles are Diapsids (two holes in the skull behind the eye). Mososaurs, Pleisiosaurs, and Pterosaurs (which lived in the Mesozoic (think: Jurassic and Cretaceous), 251 to 65 Million years ago) were also diapsids although they are not dinosaurs. Also Birds evolved from dinosaurs!

Celery contains eugenol (the active ingrediant in clove oil and used intemporary dental fillings to numb the cavity) which will cause some people to get a numb feeling in their mouth when they eat it.

When Mozart was a little boy, he had a canary. Mozart was so smart that he could tell that his canary sang in the key of G major.

Did you know the placement of a donkey's eyes in its' head enables it to see all four feet at all times??

The length from your wrist to your elbow is same length of your foot. Your mouth produces 1 liter of spit/saliva a day.

There are some species of armadillos that only give birth to identical quadruplets.

In order to avoid predators when they're at sea, elephant seals sleep at a depth of 1,000 feet. They can do this because they don't breathe while they're asleep. While a typical dive lasts half an hour or so, they can stay underwater for up to two hours.

Gummibärchen were invented in 1922 by Hans Riegel, owner of Haribo. They are not only tasty little things, they are also subjects of art:

Check out the art: here
Or subjects of design: here
and literature: here

The dot over an "i" is called a tittle.

The can opener was invented about 50 years after the can.

If you get some of your own blood on something, your own saliva will remove it.

The most widely used form of mass transportation in the United States is the elevator.

So, who won the contest? Well around here, we're pretty concerned about predators. Specifically, Mosquitos. The fact that they have teeth... well, I can't slap fast enough now and I think I'll go munch on some garlic and stock up on bug spray for the coming summer - it's on sale right now you know! Here's what I found in detail when looking this one up:

Mosquitoes have four knife-like tools of serrated teeth that surround a pair of fine tubes — one for dripping a pain suppressor and one for sucking blood.
A common house mosquito (Culex sp.) stabs the skin with her sharp
snout and saws in with her four knife tools to draw blood. She shoots in saliva laced with anesthetic (to escape notice) and an anticoagulant (to keep blood flowing). Then she sucks blood.
In 90 seconds, she sucks enough blood to nourish 100 eggs or more — and is too heavy to fly. She makes a controlled descent to a close safe spot where she squeezes in on her abdomen. Water oozes out of the blood, filtered through the abdominal wall, and forms a large drop.
Light again, she takes off.
During her short adult life (two weeks to a month) she bites one to three times, says Larry Weber, naturalist and author of Spiders of the North Woods.
(quoted from usatoday.com 9/8/2005 'WonderQuest' by April
Holladay)

Ewwww.

(**But as a knitter... I want to know how many of you tested the length from your wrist to your elbow with your foot?)

So, Debby won the Club Contest and she's won some wonderful yarn I'll get in the mail here this week. Feel free to post your own trivia to the comments section, I love a good trivia-read ;-)

Get them while they're Hot!

2009-10-27T15:19:00.004-04:00

Golden West

Frozen Margarita

York & Lancaster (socks AND mitts)

Available now on the website! http://www.holidayyarns.com/

Next up on the to-do list... 2010 Tsock club. While you wait, go knit yourself a pair of Cowboy Boots ;-)

We have a Winner!

2009-10-26T22:42:00.004-04:00

Nora picked Rachel - tomorrow we'll mail out your Stitch Saver! Nora also said she wanted to pick more winners. She wanted to pick 20 winners. We made a deal; when 200 people enter the blog contest, she could pick 20 winners. Tell your friends, and we'll have more contests.

In the meantime, if you didn't win... you can have a stitch marker as well, but you need to go here to get them. I've used mine more than I care to admit ;-)

ETA - thanks Colleen for the heads-up. Fixed it!

What I do in my spare time.

2009-10-23T21:20:00.012-04:00

Recently, I had an appointment with an Occupational Therapist. I described in detail what I do with all this yarn. Then she asked me what I do in my 'Leisure Time'. I looked at her blankly for several long seconds. Leisure Time? I pulled my knitting out of my bag. She looked blankly at me for several long seconds. I took off my shoe and showed her my hand-dyed, hand-knit sock. She looked at me for another handful of seconds. I thought hard. Finally, I told her... in my 'Leisure Time' I dye yarn. And Fiber. And I knit. And weave. And sometimes felt. And spin... And I hang out with people who do these things and we do them together... She finally summed up for me "So, you do the same thing for Leisure time that you do for 'work time'?"

Finally. Someone who understands me.

So, here's some of my 'leisure time' items (please note that both woven items are Sock Yarn - delightful weaving yarn):

1.) Inkle Loom warped with 2 strands together of undyed Bamboo-Ewe and Car-Cozy in light blue.

2) Student project - doubleweave plaid blanket on the unknown/no-name loom. She's doing a wonderful job, and while it's slow-going changing colors, I am insanely jealous and want to weave it when she goes home. (Note: must resist urge to weave student's project.) Warp in white, light blue, and Midnight Blue used in Cleopatra - weft is the same.

Gifties: A gift from 5elementknitr - it's a stitch saver (not marker, SAVER). When you drop a stitch, it's the handiest little tool. In a previous life it was a crochet hook - now, it's my best friend. Perfect size to pick up drops on socks, and stays where I hook it on my project bag. (If this gives the impression that I pick up dropped stitches for my 'Leisure Time', let's just say, it's been known to happen.)

I think we should have a contest and give one away. Yours won't say 'Yarn Fairy' but will instead be adorned with a sweet little bead, making for an elegant looking tool for those 'delicate' moments when you swear like a sailor. It will look something like this, the bead may be different. So... how do you win? Comment, of course! I'll have Nora use her excellent 'choosing' skills (eeni meeni minee mo) to pick the winner. We'll give it a couple of days, plan to be the winner by Monday.So... what's coming next, you ask? So glad you did because I have new things to offer to you ;-) I'm updating the website with these Totally Tsuper Tsock Kits:
Stay tuned for web updates so you can haz them.

Also coming in the next day or so?
It's time folks; Time to sign up for the 2010 Tsock Club.

You ain't seen nuthin' yet.

where the H-E-double-hockey-sticks does the time go??

2009-10-19T13:49:00.009-04:00

This is the usual 'holy-crap I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged' statement. (It should prob. be the standard disclaimer or small print or something by now.)

I had a wonderful and amazing time at Rhinebeck, and I think I've brought home a delightful head cold that feels like pneumonia, but I digress.

Rhinebeck was as usual, amazing. I cannot do it justice here in this post, and will be shamelessly stealing pictures from others as I seem to have completely and totally neglected to TAKE A SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH all weekend. I didn't even take a picture of BrewerGnome changing out of his kilt into pants right in the middle of the booth. I know. Sad. I will instead post 2 pictures for you to enjoy:

Yarn that is NOT a Polar Bear in a Snow Storm:

And in other news, Nora turned 7. And a day later, another life-milestone:

And with that, I leave you now to go drink garlic & lemon juice, and put more Oil of Oregano under my tongue & go to bed.

What I did on my Vacation. Part 1

2009-09-09T21:40:00.007-04:00

When Sock Summit ended, and the boxes were packed up, the family did something rarely heard of: Vacation. We visited family on the west coast, spent time at the beach, and generally enjoyed ourselves - except for the couple of visits to Ready-Care/ER, it was great. (Ear Infection & headcolds just before take-off, anyone?)

Anyways, while packing for the vacation, I had to keep reminding myself that I only needed to pack light knitting for the flight to GET to Sock Summit. From there and for the rest of the trip, I would be able to choose from whatever was left from the almost 400lbs of product I had shipped out there. It was hard not to worry I'd run out of yarn, but since there was nothing but a few scraps left here... there wasn't much left to do but leave.

SO, you saw the socks I knit from the 'Sky's the Limit' colorway (which is now available on the website with the other Dye for Glory colorway entries), those were my 'fly to sock summit' knitting. When it came time to pack up for the vacation part, I packed a little more. I packed a 1/2 finished baby surprise in sock weight 2 strands held together. I packed a just-started baby surprise in worsted 'Fat Sheep' wool. I grabbed 2 skeins of Garnet for socks (2 because I planned to knit from the skein, and want to knit one at a time). I picked up a Yarn Fairy Grab Bag (500yds of different colored skeinletts). I took a 1/2 knit summer tank-top in sock yarn on size 6 needles, and I packed up some roving... and this: Borneo Rosewood, 30gms, crafted by Ed Jenkins:

Now you all should know by now that I'm happiest with fast projects. My dream project is one that finishes looking like a traditional Orenburg Lace Shawl at it's fanciest interpretation, but only takes 20 minutes to make. (I'll let you know when I find it.) Spinning is something I (usually) prefer on a wheel, as it's faster and more productive than it's Mother the spindle. But this has my attention. It spins. It spins FAST. It spins F O R E V E R and I lurves it. and it weighs just a dust-mote more than fairy spit. And also, it's 'Turkish' and this alone is fun to say. Try it: Turkish Spindle. (Actually, it's a 'Turkish Delight' Spindle.) Sounds exotic and romantic and conjurs images of women in 7 veils lounging by the pool in the harem, lazily spinning out silk or some such nonsense. (Usually, it's just me with an extra 15 pounds - you'd think I ATE the turkish delight - & wearing comfy sweats, wondering what the heck is for dinner.)

But I digress. We were talking of knitting. So, ironically, I finished the just-started Baby Surprise and only almost-finished the one that was further along. Here's the proof.

It was knit in worsted weight wool 'Fat Sheep' which is an 8oz skein of 3 ply wool in about 460 yds. (Look for it on the website soon, along with at Rhinebeck.) Knit on size 7 needles with wild disregard for guage. The small skeinlet in the middle is what's left, and I did icord on the shoulders after seaming. This yarn is lighter shades at one end of the skein than the other, and I cast on with the lighter edge. The next go-round I'll be casting on with the darker edge as I want the graduated shade to show up in the front (duh). I'd tell you what size it is, but I haven't got any 'small' children to test it on. I have a 6 year old the size of your average 3rd grader, but she modeled anyways. The pained look on her face is real - she tried to smile but the sleeves vexed her greatly being as how they 'smooshed' her shirt sleeve underneath.

She survived.

The color is a Yarn Fairy colorway (of which I think I have 3 more skeins), in a dusty blue and grape/purple. I can't decide what color to do another one in - I have 'Jen's Dragonfly' which also is a gradually darkening skein, or a 'Goth Valentine' skein ready to go. I'm leaning towards the Goth just to watch the colors change.

That's the Yarn Fairy in the middle & Goth on the left, Jenn's Dragonfly on the right. I actually have it in several other colors, but these are still speaking to me. Anyways, more about vacations in the next post. If you'll excuse me, I have to go to bed early as tomorrow is the First Day of School and she will be there birght and early and ready to go.

Oktoberfest is coming!

2009-09-08T23:52:00.005-04:00

Get your beer (socks) on!

Oktoberfest festivals are soon upon us. Quick! Get your Oktoberfest Tsock Kits and get your socks made in time! Irish Red, Amber Ale, or Chocolate Stout (it's a microbrew, afterall). Each hand-dyed for you, complete with a head of foam.

Free Shipping, don't wait! The kits are in stock and waiting for you.

Pressing on.

2009-09-06T22:25:00.006-04:00

Still sorting through the photos from Sock Summit...

Turns out, I dyed yarn to match Lucy Neatby - and when I saw her hair and remembered the yarn and put the 2 together... It seemed serendipitous. I was just so durn excited I didn't even realize who she was. There's a chance it was because I might have consumed about 6 oz more caffeine than the 3 nearest Starbucks had on hand combined... and there were 3 within a block of me. I might have been a little... hyper.

Still buzzing, I chased this gal down to beg for a photo op: Stunning.

Rare photo of the elusive Masked Lone-~~Cowgirl-Spinning-~~Ranger-ette who enjoys a little drop spindling when she's not out catching bad guys or drinking.

Syne Mitchell from weavezine & I took very Grown-Up and Serious pictures of each other, and I see Astrid of DamselflyYarns is giving me the Eeeevil Eye behind her ;-) Ann Budd carried on normal conversations with Denny & Abby despite the giggling, and I had a wonderful time with them all.

Denny, Abby, Sandi, Ann, Syne, Astrid, Lisa, Jasmine & Gigi and the friends they brought along (who's names my brain refuses to provide at this time)... I had the bestest time EVAR meeting you all, and hanging out during the weekend.

Oh yes, one more thing. Does this face look Innocent to you? I thought not. I'll just say that you should always beware of the hands if you see this particular smile.

And before I forget - it was excellent to finally get to meet more club members from the west coast, along with other long-time imaginary internetz friends! If I could just download my brain into the blog, there'd be pics of all of you.

Before, and After.

2009-09-03T22:19:00.007-04:00

Before SS09 (setting up the booth)

(the booth all pretty)

After SS09 (aftermath of the marketplace)

What happened in between?

What happens in Sock Summit, STAYS in Sock Summit. Just kidding, more in the next post because I met amazing people (real-live imaginary friends), saw amazing things, and was a part of an amazing group of people.

In the meantime, Look! Something pretty! I made a pair of socks from my Dye for Glory entry 'Sky's the Limit'.

Hand-painted preknit flat in my own FlockSock Sock Yarn, and knit 2 at once in toe-up turkish cast-on bliss.

The night (or day) the lights went out in Georgia (or my house).

2009-07-30T23:32:00.002-04:00

On Monday morning I had full power in the house, and apparently, was taking that for granted. After returning from a quick dash to the grocery store, I found 1/2 the house just.... off. This plug worked, but not that one over there. No fridge, no stove, no washing machine... but the lights in the laundry room worked. Short story, one of the 'live' wires coming into the house was, for lack of a better term, dead. They would need to re-run the wiring from the pole to the house (everything was fine at 'the pole' according to the power company).
Interesting.
In May, the same thing had happened. The power company said 'there is a pole down' and that it would be fixed by 10:30pm. Magically, at 10:30pm, everything came back on just fine.
This time, after making a call and getting the same exact answer except the fix time was now 2:30pm.... there was no magic. This has brought me to the conclusion that no mysterious poles are down. Ever. I mean think about it: How many times a day do you see poles randomly strewn about the city with black-outs in random sections of suburbia? Do you discuss this at work over the morning coffee? "Hey Bob, any poles down affecting you folks this weekend? We had 3!" "Lucky us not this time, but last weekend was a whopper!" "Poles falling all over the city and power on & off like a strobe light!"
No.
What I would really like to know, is if one of the power lines running into the house is 'dead', then why is it that every once in a while I get power back on those circuits? Not enough to turn on the burner, but enough to turn on the lights. Sometimes, they are very dim, and other times the lights are normal but it only lasts for a couple of minutes. And the OTHER power, the one that's working just fine... keeps tripping. And no, it's not because they're 'sharing'. According to the electric dude, each power line literally powers every other circuit on the board. So why is it that my microwave only runs on about 1/2 power?

Anyways, It is now Thursday night. Here's what we've done to deal with the problem until the Powers That Be can fix it.
We have rearranged the required electrical appliances that can be moved to working outlets (phone, internet, tv).
We have placed flashlights in the bathroom (and remind the 6yo that we don't play with the flashlight - we save the batteries). We have a couple of hurricane lamps - showers by hurricane lamp as there are no windows in the bathroom.
We have an extension cord (the big pretty 50ft orange one) sitting in the middle of the living room, that powers the tv OR the microwave. It snakes back & forth depending on what's going on at the moment.
Another one goes to the fridge.
There are 2 more orange extension cords, one for each of the freezers in the garage. One works via an outlet in the garage (ironic, no?), and the other goes into the basement to find a working outlet.
One more extension cord, this one green, goes from that same outlet to the laundry room so I can spin out yarn in the washer... but you have to unplug the extension cord if you want to plug in the light for the basement.

The joy of all this? Besides tripping over extension cords? Neither stove works in either kitchen (yes, there are 2 kitchens in this house). This means I can't cook, and I can't use a pot to dye yarn. I can paint yarn, but can't have my 'good' lights plugged in if the steamer is on, and I've had to snake more smaller and cheaper extension cords across the room to get my Ott light plugged in. I can't dye yarn if I can't turn on the lights. Needless to say, this has slowed me down a little in my last minute prep for Sock Summit 09.
We leave for Portland on Monday. I'm afraid to do laundry here (see question above regarding microwave & low power). The digging commences on the new conduit & electric lines on Tuesday. I have 2 freezers, 24cubic feet each in my garage with tenuous connections to power. So, we get to move everything into one freezer, move the empty one 2 doors down to a neighbor's garage, move all the frozen stuff from the full freezer to the empty one... clean a 1/2 lit house and pack to go on a 3 week 'vacation' while someone fixes my electric problems.
Oh, and the spouse would like to pack everything in carry-on luggage so we don't have to worry about checked baggage.

I don't know who's going to tell the 6yo she has to 'pack light'.

I dyed some yarn.

2009-07-23T00:08:00.004-04:00

UPDATE July 23rd : Go Vote! http://www.ravelry.com/socksummit Vote early, vote often ;-)

Big surprise there, eh? Well actually, if I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm a vendor at the upcoming Sock Summit 09 and have been dyeing quite a bit of yarn to get ready.
Part of that 'to do' list, were some new colorways to enter in the 'Dye for Glory' contest going on - started about 10 minutes ago I think. Anyways, here are my entries:
Dreams - self-striping and based on the colors of the Sock Summit website & general imagery.

Sky's the Limit - Similar colorway to Dreams but different striping length and pattern, dyed 2 strands of 200yds together for matching socks '2 at a time', in a center-pull ball.

Juana-Lei? Reminded me of Hibiscus flowers, and vivid Hawaiian flowers which ended up on a discussion about traditional Hawaiian Lei...

Last but not least,

Gecko - small repeats of shades of olive and gold that knits up in a mosaic patchwork.

These won't be available for a few days, they will be at the booth at Sock Summit! Booth Number 125, see you there!

Dream: 0 Reality: 1

2009-07-19T18:33:00.004-04:00

But in a good way... and then, Dream: 1

Once upon a time (about 7 years ago), we had a dream to open a fiber studio/store. It was a good dream, but we didn't find the right location, and began looking instead at farms to continue raising sheep but on a larger scale. Bought farm, bought sheep, life changed. you know how it goes.
After several years, we realized the farm did not quite meet our needs and we began looking for a new one. Something important happened on the farm though, and I began dyeing yarn in a more serious manner. It worked well with the farm dream, and so those dreams - farm & dyeing, became our reality. Then, I met Lisa, life changed, you know how it goes.
So, we hadn't found the farm we wanted, but sold ours and so we moved to Syracuse where hubby worked and the dyeing continued. You know how it goes.
Then, a supposed miracle. Remember 7 years ago when we'd been looking at storefront space? Well, early in the spring, it popped up in front of us. And so, life changed. You know how it goes.
So... we opened the Fiber Studio, our supposed dream. After several weeks, something amazing began to clarify for us. This didn't seem to be the dream we had any longer. Not only that, but the location and advertising plans both had 'issues' and the prospects were looking... dull.
I love teaching and I love dyeing. I was getting to teach a few classes here & there, but not much dyeing was happening at the store and I was finding myself still up until 1 am at home to dye yarn & fiber. This was not good. Basically, the time taken to keep the store open, was not paying off. Not to mention the toll on family & sanity.
Having reached this conclusion, decisions needed to be made. I want to be able to do everything, but as I get older I guess I've actually accumulated some wisdom (finally) and know that I cannot. The store is closing this month. I am vending at Sock Summit in Portland Oregon Aug. 6-9th, and then.... I'm taking something called a 'vacation'.
Supposedly, people stop working and do leisure things for several days in a different location, and spend money on things like restaurants and movies in real-life theaters. I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm already planning on the yarn & dye to take with me because my dream? My dream is to dye yarn & fibers, folks. This is what I do for fun AND for a living.

...and then it blew up.

2009-07-05T11:40:00.004-04:00

Acid trip gone bad.

This is my 2nd favorite dye pot, just after it's last acid trip. It was it's last, because as you'll note... it now has a hole in the bottom (...earworm - there's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza...) where it sort of 'blew up'. Scared the crap out of me. Poured the contents into a different pot (don't want to lose the angora that wasn't quite done dyeing there) and assessed the damage. The hole is about equal to a size 1 needle, and quite jagged. I couldn't figure out quite why it was so loud and rattling when it exploded until I looked at the burner. The force of the exploding small hole in the pan, went downward into the burner, giving it a matching crater. sniff. My favorite burner as well.

I have replaced the burner, but the dye pot! That dye pot survived the Kitri rush of '06, and was a solid support for me during the Great Vintage Crush of '08. If you would all give a moment of silence for my comrade in arms, I would appreciate it.

Please note I am also very pissed off because this happens less than a MONTH from shipping inventory to the Great Sock Summit '09 where I will be vending.

in which I learn I need a small vacation. and maybe strong drink. not in that order.

2009-06-19T00:55:00.009-04:00

There seems to be a trend happening. Open one Saturday, Closed the next. Apparently, the trend will be continuing this week as well... I cannot be in 2 places at once and the store will be closed on Saturday. I will be somewhere in roughly the 16th century where they frown on time/space manipulation or the creation of timeline paradoxical issues. I choose the 16th century this time around, and I've had my vaccines so I should be all set for a little time travel, because I have had a small nervous breakdown and need a little vacation.

I've suffered this week with a deadline for the website. A complete overhaul involving something called 'frames' and the purchase of new software... and the occasional sacrificial chicken & the lighting of a few candles (who is the patron saint of web design, anyways? I seem to have pissed him/her off somehow.)

I finished the site in the new software... and made the command decision that 'I knew what I was doing' and 'I've done this a dozen times' and so boldly (stupidly) uploaded the new & improved website... and overwrote the original without a backup. Or putting it in a test location. And then? Then I went to bed after patting myself on the back for a job well done. Then I made the mistake this morning of checking my email. After several frustrating hours learning that most images were missing from the domain, making the new pages pretty boring (as in, missing any images), I gave in and called the hosting company.

They saved me by restoring from a backup, and I, who (long ago) in a dazzling career path, went from pc helpdesk support tech all the way up the chain to IT Manager... listened to a speech from tech support about 'test environments' and 'backups'. (I think I wrote the speech he gave me when he was still in grade school.)

Moral of the story children, is to backup your original data, put your new data in a test directory, and have your friends test things on 4 different browsers before you overwrite ANYTHING. And go with a Linux server for your hosting service. The restore was free - a windows server would have cost me $150.00 for a restore. So after a stiff drink and a visit to the 16th century, I'll try again on the web stuff.

In the meantime, here are some of those updates. New yarn colors, anyone? Bunches. How about some Roving?

Yarn - Jen's Dragonfly

Roving - Empire Apple & Woodland Forest to start things off.

Go for it.

P.S. Please remember that the store is not open on Mondays!

Mass Festival & then some. (aka the post that just keeps going.)

2009-06-03T23:03:00.015-04:00

I said I'd get to it, didn't I? Well. Apparently, I had an imaginary booth at the Mass Sheep & Wool Festival, because I cannot find a single photograph of it on my camera. (warning - apparently, I make up for it elsewhere- this post is image-heavy.) Others did a better job of bringing my imagination to life, and so at this point I steal blatantly from Jesh: behold, The Booth.

I did have to stop this gal so I could take a picture of the socks - dig the toes on this kid:

This guy was hanging out at the hotel with us:

I love the teeny tiny bit of blue at the bottom inside of the wings.

It was the anniversary of our meeting Dan aka BrewerGnome, aka GnomeSpun, and he has come a long way in a a short year:

He's become a part of the family (so much that we make him stay and help break down the booth at the end of the show). Patrick was with us as well from West Elm Farm, and alas again, no camer-ic proof. So, all in all, not much in the way of picture-ness from Mass. Festival. I might have picked up some Sari Silk for the carder, as well as some dyed Banana fiber for same... and probably some Angora Mohair locks (I blame the carder for everything now). Moving on.

After Mass Festival, came another festival of sorts - you know, the one where you convince your husband to drive 5 hours each way to go visit the ~~local~~ yarn store? You know, the one where you call and have lunch delivered from the best Bar-B-Que joint in the country (Dinosaur Bar-B-Que) ? And get to dye some yarn, and hang out for the day? Wait, you haven't done that? Well give me a call because apparently, it's the thing to do this year. Club-Member-Extraordinaire & her Excellent Husband drove all the way from Connecticut to visit the shop and hang out for the day. It was AWESOME. I even have proof she was there (cuz I wouldn't have done this): 'Herding Cats' via last year's Tsock 6 of the 2008 Tsock Club - the 7 Chakrahs. all KINDS of crazy. This is the one that went out little bit at a time throughout last year as the Tsuspense Project. Can't wait to dye this one when it goes public (funny, we thought it was a great plan at the time...). Ok, really it's an awesome Tsock - Tsee for yourTself:

She also brought with her, the official 'Manly Beer' Oktoberfest Tsock. Lisa gave her an alternate Barley Corn stitch for the Oktoberfest Tsock - a more 'manly' version for her husband.

So, they came - they impressed - they dyed yarn (I have no proof, I know) - they went home.

Last Friday night we had our li'l ol' knit-in here at the store. From 4pm to 8pm, come hang out with us. Enter the drawing to win fiber or yarn... (and yes, this is a blatant pitch for you to join us this coming Friday night) a good time is had by all.

Laurie is modeling a lovely jean-jacket with custom crocheted and sewn-in cuffs she made herself. I think they're awesome.

On Sunday, I had 2 girls in the knitting class, who did some excellent & fine knitting. One of the gal's mother showed me this crochet hook that we're going to call 'vintage' in age for lack of an actual date. My apologies for the lack of a better photo. She was wondering if I could help give a purpose to this thing. It's a crochet hook at one end, and at the other, there's a red 'knob' and a silver wire folded into a tab for lack of a better description. If anyone has a clue, I'd like to pass it on to her - what the heck is this thing for??

So, the only thing left is under the category 'New Stuff'.

I was dyeing the other night (big surprise) when the urge to dye some of the Fat Sheep Worsted weight yarn came over me. (I dye other yarn, did you know that?) I had it in a ball, and so I dyed it as it was in a 2-tone colorway 'Jen's Dragonfly' (not on the website yet, I know - full of fail). The worsted is 4 ply, not nearly as tightly spun as the Sock Yarn, and is not superwash. The dyes take to it completely different. Because it was also wound up when I dyed it, the center of the ball did not dye as dark a shade as the outside of the skein, and so the variegation starts lighter and graduates darker through 2 colors (remember - this is a 2-shade colorway that would be self-striping in sock yarn). I absolutely love it and want to make a Baby Surprise with it starting with the lighter color to cast on. It's a little more than 460 yds and 8oz hanks of wonderful hand-dyed-ness, for $20.00. I have 2 left on the wall now. (If you want one or both, first to email me wins - club discounts apply, I'll invoice you appropriately.)

Also got these back in stock - very popular Circular Needle Keepers. Made from recycled blue jeans, and backed with flannel. They come with the hanger they're on for you to hang up just about anywhere. Help get that needle collection under control (stop laughing. it IS possible.) $20.00 - email me about one you see here, I'll let you know if it's still available and invoice you.

Into the Future (To Infinity - and Beyond! there's a line from a kids movie for every situation in life...)

This Saturday it's most likely that the store will be closed. I will be on my way to Squam Lake for the Ravelry meet-up, vending the wonderful items above and more. As mentioned before regarding Saturdays when I'm away.... "The sun is shining. We can't spend all that time indoors." So, come play with us at the store on Friday night, and in fact, come in at 11am and do a little dyeing with me! Then, on Saturday, go outside and play. (But watch out for my daughter on her bike, would you?)

Is it Thursday already?

2009-05-28T14:39:00.004-04:00

Well! How about that. Go away for the weekend to a fiber festival, and an entire week is gone in a blink.

As tomorrow is Friday, come hang out with us again! From 4pm until we close at 8pm. There's a drawing for something free... and if you came in last week you picked up a coupon - it expires this week, so bring it with you! And if you missed out on that one, come in and get next week's coupon.

Class list for June (so far - more being added):
Dye it Yourself Workshop: ~~Saturday June 6th from 12pm - 2pm.~~ I lied. I can't have a Dye workshop that Saturday.... schedule conflicts. Let's do this on the following Saturday the 13th from 12 - 2pm. 2 skeins of superwash FlockSock Sock Yarn for you to paint - all the dyes & equipment are here. $45.00
Sign up now for Kids (7-13) Learn to Knit class, and the adult Learn to Knit class starting soon. Needles & hand-dyed yarn, instructions and pattern, all included. You'll knit a hat, and start your 2nd by the end of class. $65.00 adult or kids.
2 start dates for kids & 2 start dates for adults:
May 31st: 1pm - 2:30pm, kids learn to knit - 1 of 4, meets 4 weeks.
June 1st: 6pm - 8pm, adult learn to knit - 1 of 3, meets 3 weeks.
June 2nd: 5pm - 6:30pm, kids learn to knit - 1 of 4, meets 4 weeks.
June 3rd: 1oam - 12pm, adult learn to knit - 1 of 3, meets 3 weeks.

Learn to Spin - Drop spindle, fiber & 3 weeks of classes all included, $75.00. Class scheduled for Thursday June 11th from 10-12pm.

I'd like to add toe-up socks on 1 circular needle - how does Friday the 12th from 12-2pm? 2 weeks, one for the toe & one for the heel. $45.00
Must have some sock experience. Bring with you one set of size one circs at least 29 inches, and sock yarn for your sock (fingering weight - at least 200 yds, for at least one sock). (*yarn and needles available for purchase here.)

That about sums it up for now. Updates from the Mass Sheep & Wool Festival are on the way.

Changing the Look of Things.

2009-05-19T16:38:00.003-04:00

First, a Store Update:

Classes! Sign up now for Kids (7-13) Learn to Knit class, and the adult Learn to Knit class starting soon. Needles & hand-dyed yarn, instructions and pattern, all included. You'll knit a hat, and start your 2nd by the end of class. $65.00 adult or kids.

May 31st: 1pm - 2:30pm, kids learn to knit - 1 of 4, meets 4 weeks.

June 1st: 6pm - 8pm, adult learn to knit - 1 of 3, meets 3 weeks.

June 2nd: 5pm - 6:30pm, kids learn to knit - 1 of 4, meets 4 weeks.

June 3rd: 1oam - 12pm, adult learn to knit - 1 of 3, meets 3 weeks.

Now. On to other Things.

So, last Friday night we invited folks to come hang out for a bit. While Laurie was here with us, knitting loverly socks, Nora was coloring with markers. She colored a sunset with neon yellow, and went over it with neon pink to get a brilliant and beautiful orange-red. I looked at that, and had an idea about Mint Mojito... Now I have this red dye that I swear has neon in it due to it's exceptional hot-pinked-ness. So with Laurie looking on, I took a skein of Mint Mojito off the peg and overdyed it in a good strong hot-pink.

What do you think of the Change?

Recently, I bought some 50/50 silk & cashmere for teh dye potz. This stuff is mighty purty in it's current state, I must say:

(More proof that I do know how to spin - and on a drop spindle no less.)

(Spindle by Jesh and we carry them in the store, dime by my pocket, spinning by my own wee little hands.)
The big 'Change' question here, is what color shall we dye some? In what amounts? 1/2oz? 1 whole oz? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Herder Extraordinaire:

So, though we are still sheepless here, we've added a new Border Collie of sorts to the store. Nora has named her Oscar in honor of our 'real' Border Collie no longer with us but without whom, we never could have moved 300 sheep and their lambs grazing across the farm.

dig the peppermint candy tucked into her collar ;-)

Hot Date in Syracuse

2009-05-14T13:34:00.003-04:00

(that subject header should up the hits from the crazies, eh?)

Are you busy Friday night (May 15th)? Come hang out with us! Bring your current project, your wheel, your spindle and join us for the evening. There's a drawing, and the obligatory prize associated with the drawing for those who come on out - yarn or fiber depending on your mood ;-)

(translation: come hang out with us, enter your name, and you may win yarn or spinny-stuff.)

Enter the drawing beginning at 4pm (we close from 3pm to 4pm). The drawing will be at 8pm (you don't need to be present to win), which is technically when we close. The mall closes later and I'll stay as long as you do, or until 9:30pm.

Eye Candy of the Day:

New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival.

2009-05-12T11:53:00.008-04:00

It all began the normal way... load van - the new van! Not vanagon... serious woot. Turns out, there's enough space for TONS more stuff in the new van (mental note for upcoming Mass Sheep & Wool Festival in a couple of weeks).

So, Friday I set off on the most direct route known to AAA. Used the AAA 'TripTick' which includes the most up-to-date construction and advisories (this part is important to the story). The new van scores serious points here because we get to take that most direct route that crosses Vermont to get from NY to NH. Couldn't do that last time as there was no possible chance the vanagon was going to make it over hill & dale for that long (yes, the long way is longer and less direct - by about 3 hours by way of Boston).
I would like to point out here that while AAA tries it's best I'm sure, they do not have the most up to date construction and advisory information. Like, when a bridge is under construction and NOT THERE. For a while it would seem from the debris - this wasn't thursday's new project, as evidenced by the detour directions taped to a barrier in a ziplock bag as you turned around to head back, bewildered. I obviously wasn't the first person to be unbelieving of signs saying 'bridge under construction' etc. oh well, mischief managed.

Ok, NOW the bad news. Bennington VT is a lovely place to visit, get rear-ended, and chat with the officer there. They were so nice! No one hurt, going next to no speed at all and the motorcycle behind me tapped the bumper. He did the most graceful handstand on the handlebars though, before coming down next to his bike... he hadn't noticed me stop. He's perfectly fine, offered to buy me lunch, even. Anyways.
The worst part of all of this is the car rental while they fix the bumper... it buckled slightly and the rear door won't lift properly - the 'buckle' of the bumper is in the way slightly. The car rental is something called a 'compact'. Evidently, this means 'absolutely nothing useful' by way of automation. Well, I'm not pedaling to go, but it's close. I would think that by now, power mirrors would be a safety requirement - making it easier to be a safe driver just seems logical somehow, but what do I know. At least it's a compact so it wasn't to far of a crawl to adjust the passenger mirror... 7 times. I'm also not clear about why the seat is also angled so that while my mid-section is sitting back, the chair curves as it goes upwards so that by the time it reaches my shoulders, I'm leaning forward in an almost hunched position... oh well again. Removed the headrest completely because it leaned forward enough with the shape of the chair to actually interfere. But who's complaining. (It's fine. Really. I'll just sit here in the dark....)

ANYWAYS again! We shall now move on past my car ''issues' and into better things. Like the Festival!

Couldn't make it? I took pictures of the important things for you.

Like the Booth (which they moved to a different space in the same building at the last minute but oh well):

And the most absolutely wonderfully cuddly baby Mohair goats EVER.

And also, this fellow who wanted nothing more than for someone to scratch his nose.

I made the mistake of asking these 2 for directions. They're still trying to decide which way to go.

Enigma (do you have a blog? I couldn't find one.) brought us homemade Ice Cream! The look on Lisa's face translates to 'ohmygawdthisisawesomesticecreamever'. The handsome gentleman giving he a moment to enjoy & savor that ice cream, is none other than BrewerGnome a.k.a. 'Naked Guy' in-fully-clothed-cognito. (I have some of his roving and handspun here in the store. Just lovely stuff.)

Enigma also brought us homebrewed beer! (which I may have forgotten to share when it came time to pack up & go home. Lisa, I'm so sorry. I will be unable to save one for you as you have previously met my husband.)

Liber brought us cookies! I have next to no proof but an almost empty container and I'm refusing to take a picture as that will show someone how many cookies were consumed.

We met lots of our imaginary friends from Ravelry and from the TsockClub - but they remain imaginary as I have no proof (picture = proof). I am a marginal blogger. mea culpa. Some of them may have been better and gotten evidence - if you are one of them, let me know, eh? I'd like to see :-)

I actually did a little shopping, which is rare. I got my mother her mother's day gift, from here as she's an avid hooker, this might be a new twist for her. (Mom, don't click, ok?) I also got a pound of the softest mohair locks, unwashed. Those are for the Build-a-Batt corner in the shop, so I'll dye the locks in lots of different colors, maybe an ounce or so per color for blending. I somehow found some cashmere when I unpacked, but I have no recollection of going to a cashmere booth. There are vague recollections of Brewer Gnome getting some amazing cashmere at an awesome price, and then there was some dizzyness, and then I blacked out for a moment. When I came around, I had vague recollections of dreams involving money being passed to Brewer and him heading back in the direction he'd come from with the cashmere... I dunno. It's all a blur. I need to finish putting things away now, and work on the website so Georg doesn't nagnagnag me to death and you all know what's going on for real around here.

What are you doing Friday Night?

2009-04-30T11:48:00.005-04:00

Come Dye with us! May 1st, from 6pm - 8pm you can come in to the Holiday Yarns Fiber Arts Center in Shoppingtown Mall and dye your own yarn. 2 (two) 400 yard skeins of superwash treated FlockSock Sock Yarn just for you to do as you please. You'll paint your yarn, and then we'll steam it, rinse it, and you take it home that evening. 2 skeins all your own, in your own colors, never to be repeated (unless you take notes).

RSVP by 4pm Friday the 1st - space is limited. Cost for the 2 skeins of yarn and access to all of the dyes: $45.00.
Questions? Just ask!
Want to set up a time for you and your friends? Let me know and we'll arrange it.

Open For Business

2009-04-28T12:23:00.014-04:00

Wait. First you have to take down the window covers.

Ok, NOW you can come in.

Check out the pottery!

Salt & Pepper Shakers in sheep and alpaca. Each curl on the sheep? Hand made and applied, one at a time.

A little yarn graffiti on the wall o' yarn...

and lots of dyed roving.

And there are handspun yarns, felted bags, purses and hats, Icelandic pelts, hand-carded batts, needles & notions (including The Knit Kit), hand-dyed worsted weight yarns and lace yarns, Tsock Kits by the Tsock Tsarina... and even a place you can pick your own fibers to be blended for you into custom spinning or felting batts.

So, Saturday the 25th we opened and it was a wonderful day. We met lots of invisible friends from Ravelry, and had tons of fun dyeing yarn. We had a couple from as far away as Ohio - Thank you Miss 'Cubed for making the trip, we were glad you made it - and I'm glad you brought Miss Swords with you. (her new hubby made no-bake cookies to take to the party. we love him.)

Special thanks go to Twiggi and Georg for helping out in getting things ready and running on Saturday.

I think all of those who dyed yarn can agree with me on the need for more 'containers' though - and so I've stopped by the dollar store for trusty measuring cups for the next go-round.

Thank you Enigma, Maker-of-Excellent-Beer for the Excellent Beer, Awesome Homeade Ice Cream AND toppings (cherries... chocolate... nomnomnom) and thank you for putting the dye-day idea in our heads.

I leave you with this important and thought-provoking question:

deadlines.

2009-04-18T21:25:00.002-04:00

So, I'v spent the day at the store with family, working out where to put everything. Big stuff was easy to figure out, and I felt like progress was being made every few minutes. Looms go there, yarns hang on that wall, kits go over there... easy-peasy.
Then things slowed down a little. Put up pegs, decide in what order to hang the yarn... by color family? by patterns? 'Donkey-on-the-tail' throw it on the wall version? What about the kits? Medium vs large? all the mediums on one side, and the larges on the opposite side? Would the customer understand it? In a couple of days, the basics had been established.
Then the little things. Where does the shelf of soap go? What about the Lavender Tea? Buttons? Does all this stuff have price tags yet? argh. Woven Scarves. Those should go by the looms... no rack by the looms. hmm. Rearrange fixtures... oh look! New fixtures we bought from another store! Swap fixtures, rearrange more... argh again. Where's the drill? Flat head screwdriver? Those are both at home. With the stapler. double-argh.

Anyways, things are progressing, pictures in the next day or so. Tomorrow I'm not at the store, I'll be here with Twiggi getting some multi-tasking dyeing done, so I'll have some pictures of that as well. There are several new yarn colorways ready to go, and tons of roving.

And, if you haven't heard... we're having a party for Ravelers at the store on Saturday the 25th which maks the 23rd my 'deadline' date for being ready to go. If you Ravel, and you'll be in the area of ShoppingTown Mall on April 25th after 2pm, stop in for a visit and say hello!

There have been Rumors...

2009-04-01T20:34:00.006-04:00

...and innuendo. I would like to take a moment and give some credence to those rumors. Some fire, with that smoke. Put on something a little more.... revealing.

How does this grab you?

That's the quick & dirty 'Coming Soon' window display in what will be a brand new Fiber Arts Center here in Syracuse, NY at Shoppingtown Mall.
Nora took my picture out in front. You know, she's always said that she wants to have a store next to mine because we're both dyers and that way we can visit each other...
But, it's a pretty big space. We've decided to share.

Monsters vs Aliens

2009-03-30T10:11:00.006-04:00

Top movie of the weekend. Did you see it? I didn't get a chance - we were busy working on what will be the next blog post I make when I'm done editing pics & figuring out how best to describe things.
In the meantime, I see it made it to #1 in the box office... I find it serendipitous (fun word to say) that I have yarn called Monster Mash. I think in honor of the movie, we'll put that one on sale 10% off.
Monster Mash was the brainchild of a good friend Twiggi who came over for a dye-day. I gave her color cards and roving, she gave me Monster Mash. More serendipity (still fun to say). Twiggi is also who gave me this 'Knitter's Treasure' box for Christmas. Very cool, with stitch markers, tape measure and ribbon be-decked chart keepers, all color coordinated to the tin (except maybe the tape measure) and she has some on her etsy site for sale. Great bonus gift for swap packages!
Well, I've got to get back to work. Pretty in Pink calleth, and miss woolybrains, that is a very good idea on the Pretty in Pink with the Cafe au Lait. I think we'll give that a go today as well.

Found the camera...

2009-03-25T21:59:00.005-04:00

Cafe au lait - 2 shades of a rich brown, knits up in stripes (I still like the stripes)

Monster Mash (Nora approved this one but is not the dyer - she says it looks just like 'Sully' in Monster's Inc.) Random bold 'spots' of bright green and briliant violet.

Also, not a new color but it makes me think of spring, and so it's 10% off right now until I get tired of dyeing it. It's sweet, simple, and spring in shades of pink tulips.
Pretty in Pink:

Go buy some! I'll wait here.

random list.

2009-03-23T09:21:00.006-04:00

20 skeins of bacon: check. (Faith! Incoming!)
dyed roving: check.
plum shadows in new bamboo to test: check. (Pat! Incoming!)
1 scarf woven, 2nd scarf started: check.
22 skeins of Claret: check.
36 skeins of cuff for 9 Tailors Kits: check.
150 bars of soap including 48 frogs in 2 shades of green and 6 dragonfly bars: check.
New colorway (picture as soon as I find the camera) designed by guest artist and approved by Nora, called Monster Mash: check.
Began sorting Yarn Fairy skeinletts (picture of some of the yarn somewhere on this post) into 4oz grab-bags to post on website: check.
1 out of 3 rugs felted: check.
2 loads of laundry: check.
today's 'to do' list written including Roxie, more roving, and felting 2nd rug): check.

sleep:
sleep:
hello, sleep? hmm. I knew I forgot something.
snore.

I've been busy, how 'bout you?

2009-03-06T21:09:00.007-05:00

Tsock #1 has left the building (ok, this announcement is a few days late, but better than no notice at all...)

There are actually still a few spaces left in the club. How do I know? I dyed some extra. Once those are gone, the spaces are full. Here's tsock #1 to intice you:

The shepherd had a birthday recently. When he asked me to pick up beer at the store, I couldn't help but laugh when I found these:

I am particularly fond of the one on the right - black wensleydale. Now if only they came with a 4 oz ball of roving.... guess you can't have everything perfect.

Roxie Breaks Out!

2009-02-15T12:30:00.005-05:00

Last Kit from the 2007 Tsock Club is finally on the loose!

Roxie: The jazz-baby with the smoking gun. The beauty of the cell-block. The sweet-faced little flapper you wanted to take home to mother - if only you could bust her out of the clink.
Yeah.
That Roxie.

Diagonal Mesh 'stockings' worked opposite directions to mirror each other.
Beaded 'skirts'.
Picot edged hem on her 'waistband'

She's in stock now, ready to go! This kit uses our Bamboo-Ewe sock yarn - a blend of merino, bamboo, and nylon at our regular 8st/inch guage. It is not superwash, so... just as you'd handle Roxie herself -- with plenty of care, we suggest you hand-wash these babies.

I smell Bacon!

2009-02-05T13:58:00.006-05:00

It took some time. It took some trials. There are skeins that didn't make the grade. Bacon has marbling. The fat runs through the meat and vice versa. I have quite a bit of bacon in the freezer from our own pastured porkers, so I have plenty of samples to compare against. (nomnomnom) Each skein is an individual, slightly different from all the others, just like packages of bacon.

So.... what do you think? Do you smell Bacon?

If so, you may now purchase your very own grass-fed bacon yarn here.

(**Disclaimer: Not responsible for drool in keyboards, cholesterol increases, or greasy yarn.)

Yarn Fairy Bliss

2009-01-24T23:06:00.021-05:00

Sometimes, things get very focused around here. (I like to think this makes us more productive. Don't ruin it for me.) Club kit to get ready, orders to fill etc. This was the last kit for the 2008 club (wow, that year went fast). and I almost feel like I can see a minute of free time coming... nope, sorry. that was just a dust bunny blocking my view. Don't like dust bunnies anyways - I'd only want to dye yarn if I had 'free time'...

Anyways! Part of the club membership includes yarn from the Yarn Fairy. When club members join, they get the chance to give me their top 3 favorite colors so the Yarn Fairy has a clue - because life is too short for ugly yarn. So, I had some Yarn Fairy deliveries to go out with this last kit. Some folks were very specific, some told me to pick for them, others chose not to answer at all. I went through the lists, checked them twice, and began 'assigning' yarn. Then I spent some quality time with my dye pots because I was itching to focus on some Yarn.

Now, I took about a dozen pictures similar to this during the packing process. Piles of a variety of yarns for the Yarn Fairy deliveries. Piles of complete one-of-a-kinders... Just lovely stuff. However, I might have had on about a dozen caffeine patches because these were the only 2 pictures that I could apparently stop the twitching long enough to make the camera take a clear picture.

I loved doing the dye days for these. LOVED. I decided I spend quite a bit of time 'focused' and not enough time 'unfocused'. I'd like to say that at least one day a week from here on out there will be similar 'unfocused' dye days (please remind me) because I enjoy being creative like this, and I hope you'll enjoy the yarns coming out of these days. (And also? These are totally the yarns Lisa is NOT supposed to look at. Lisa? Move along. Nothing to see. Go knit a sock or something.)

In the pictures above, all of the shades of purple come from extra dye from a batch of Neo, and one racy shade of red. (Here's Neo pictured below.)

All of the light green and all of the light blue skeins? Also from the left-over Neo.
The super-dark green? Cleopatra exhaust. (I like that one soooo much, I've named it 'Evergreen' and you can haz more, I just added it to the sockyarn page.)
The orange/red on the far left? Exhaust pot from 'Crimson Rioja' (Kitri) & a little spike of yellow.
The one on the far right? Pink & brown? Ya, the self-striping notion continues to entertain me. This one is called 'Chocolate Cherries' in honor of Valentine's Day approaching, and is also now available.

Glenna & I were talking about the approaching holiday, and got to thinking about some new colors to go with 'Chocolate Cherries'. We decided we needed something 'anti-valentine' and so have 'Bruised Ego' in black & blue painted (mostly) random in black and then overdyed in blue:

Then I decided we needed a little less pink in the world (shhh, don't tell Nora). Something closer to... 'Goth Valentine' painted in geometric designs with black, purple, and blue:

So, there are several new colors available, and I've done some upkeep work on the sock-yarn page, go look - I'll wait here. I hope this makes things a little easier to navigate (and shop).

In fact, let's have a sale on postage. A Valentine's Day Sale. Spend $60.00 and I'll refund your domestic postage, or half of your international postage. Sale applies to all of the yarn and kits, and runs through February 14th.
(HINT: If you are a club member, this means you get the postage sale AND the club discount refunded to you...)

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In Club news, for 2009 there are still spaces left, and joining now gets you entered in a drawing for a skein of yarn in your choice of colorway.

I'll be sending out an email to the folks who signed up prior to Jan 15th to get your colorway choice bonus skein for signing up early. That email will go out in the next day or so.

2008 Tsock #6 kits did indeed ship yesterday. (Waldmaus- commence with the stalking.) The post office here announced that I owe them brownies on Monday for all the extra work. Usually we can apply postage at our leisure here and drop off finished packages to them, because they are all in groups by same weight or international. This time around, every kit had to be weighed for differences because of Yarn Fairy yarns and bars of Sheep's Milk & Lanolin Soap etc. It made me a little homesick for Dave-the-Postmaster and our stamp system when we lived at the farm, sniff. I suppose it completed a circle though, since we began this year's club standing in the post office applying postage to each kit individually, cancelling each package, and packing in canvas postal bags. It was very deja-vu-ish. Especially when you consider I'm about to dye a bunch of yarn for not only the upcoming release of Roxie, Tsock 6 from 2007... but also a bunch of Hellfire skeins for the pending release of Tsock 1 from 2008 - Firebird.

I just love saying "I have to go make Hellfire now".

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Have Stitch Marker, Will Travel.

2009-01-17T23:57:00.005-05:00

So I've cast on (for the 3rd time) a mobius (in colorway Neo, with 3 strands together on size 11 needles). I finished casting on and was all set to start the first row when I realized I was without a stitch marker. Now, I was not at home but sitting in a waiting room of sorts without my knitting bag - it was in the car, it was a billion below zero (ok, it was 14F), and I am basically lazy.
Amazingly, I could not find any different colored string, piece of plastic anything, twist-tie... nothing. I did however, have my car keys. I could NOT however, get the blasted key off the ring, so I did this instead:

Now, this worked perfectly, until it was time to leave:
Get in car.
Look at knitting.
Look at steering column.
Look at knitting...
Drive home:

(I prefer to think of this as pure genius rather than any desperate attempt on my part to sit on a cold chair in a drafty room without knitting.)

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In other news, You missed the January 15th Deadline!! Woe to you, my friend. You missed the guaranteed free skein of yarn in the colorway of your choice for signing up for the TsockFlock Sock Club 2009 before Jan. 15th.

Bummed out? How about a chance at a skein of yarn anyways? There's still room in the ol' database of names for 2009 so if you sign up now, I'll have a drawing from the sign-ups (from the 15th until the club is full) for that free skein of yarn in your choice of colorway. No guarantees, but there's a good chance at 400 yds of free sock yarn just for signing up. I'll wait right here, you go take a look.

Recap

2009-01-02T12:39:00.017-05:00

So from the looks of things, my psychic link to the blog is STILL not functioning. That would explain the lack of 'real' posts verses all my obviously imaginary ones during the past month... sigh.

Well, I hope you all had a great holiday, we had a lovely one here.

Our first Gingerbread construction project ever. I think we did ok, considering the frosting hardens faster than crazy glue-!

What do you get the Pixie who has everything? Silk People (or in this case, styrofoam heads).
I worried a bit about what to get Glenna for christmas. I mean, I knew what her favorite colors were & all, but there isn't a fiber she hasn't tried or a spindle I could get her... and so I went the tricksie path instead. Asked her what fiber in my stash was the nicest. Since I had no cashmere roving anywhere about, she opted that the silk was the nicest. As I started pulling out silk, I found some silk bells/caps. "Caps?" She says, suddenly paying a ton more attention... ("ah-hah, says I...") And so I started babbling about a dye project request for someone else who's colors I didn't know, and the technical aspects of dyeing silk etc, and got her involved & making helpful suggestions cuz she loves her some silk... Finally asked her for color suggestions, feigned busy doing other projects and let her go at it on the silk.
Oh I checked on her now & then with a few tips & pointers, but this dye job was all hers. When she was finished, we pronounced it pretty good and she felt safe that she wasn't going to be fired for ruining the silk. Liked it pretty well, in fact. And so after it was steamed & rinsed, I turned it over to her as her Christmas present. I am so teh subtle. I'm pretty sure she didn't know it was hers... at least, she lets me think I got away with it ;-) (I would like to point out that the color inspiration was my tea-cup/mug. Hand thrown pottery from an artist in Portland OR I got several years ago. Those for the record, are Miss Pixie's favorite colors on record.)

Stand by for photo onslaught:

I think we did a pretty good job of matching colors and she did an excellent job of painting them!

Let's see, what else has been going on. Well, we made some soap. Ok, we made a LOT of soap. Ok, we made more than 240 bars of soap. Sheep's milk & Lanolin.

And just for the record? If you work at a hardware or plumbing supply store and someone calls looking for Lye, please verify the spelling.

We are not looking for Lime for the garden. I'm fairly certain that a 25lb bag for $4.75 is not granular LYE, it's granular L I M E, trust me.
No, lye is not illegal.
No, it is not going to 'damage the environment' or single-handidly destroy the earth or the ozone if I use it.
Yes, they still use it for things other than decomposing a body in a 55 gallon drum (??)
No, you do not have to report a purchase of Lye to any authority, and I can purchase it at any age.
Yes, people still make soap at home.

Moving on.

One word: Bacon! No, it's not breakfast time (not here anyways). There's this group of people out there (you know who you are) who for some reason (best not thought about), want Bacon yarn. Not bacon FLAVORED yarn (the majority anyways), but color/theme. And they've been clammoring for this for some time now. There would not be distracted, no "Look! Something Shiney! Over there!" ploy seemed to work on this mob. Heaven help me, I began thinking about bacon themed yarn. Now mind you, this is not the final product but I think I'm getting close to it.
Let's see, what else? Oh I know, Gift Certificates! Those are new! They're on the home page, and you can get $10.00, $20.00 or $50.00 and they do not require the recipient to use paypal to cash it in. You purchase the amount you want, and I get the details from you in a confirmation email. You can even do anonymous gifts for folks, which comes in handy for knitting group gift swaps etc.

The only other note of interest aroud here, is that the 15th of January is the last day to sign up for the 2009 TsockFlock Sock Club and get a free skein of yarn your choice of colorway as a bonus. Sign-ups will continue after that, but you'll miss out on the free skein. There has been talk of a drawing for a skein from the names of the late-comers after that, but do you really want to miss out on the guaranteed yarn? 6 kits, a visit from the yarn fairy AND a free 400 yard skein in your favorite colorway from the website? Basically a $20.00 bonus... hmm. Not to mention the other goodies. Tempus Fugit, my friend. Tick Tock. First kit goes out in February, and the database o' names doth fill quickly.

Snow Day...

2008-12-10T16:49:00.014-05:00

So.. my laptop hath bit the dust. Again. Data retrieved and on a cd, and now I am working on Nora's laptop (see: very old, outdated software and arguing over who's turn it is to either play elementary games or get some work done).

Look! Wintergreen Candy Cane Yarn, self-striping! (please excuse the photo quality. we're working on it but it's a different laptop... did I mention?) I'll get it on the website as soon as it's my turn with the laptop later today...

So it's a snow day today! You know, when we lived in the back of beyond, 4 inches of snow was no big deal. Plow trucks came by at the crack o' dawn and the bus was on time and the kids went to school as usual. Here? 4 inches and every school district gives up and stays home. Had to plow out our own road to get husband off to work, and still haven't seen a city plow truck. So, we're having a snow day. Now, if you'll excuse me, Nora & I have to go shovel some snow, look into building a snowman, and then watch 'Horton Hears a Who'.

...P.S. On a club update note, we're just about ready to ship out the 5th kit of the TsockFlock Tsock Club. Most kits this year have averaged at least 3 skeins of yarn (or skeinlets etc) giving me about 600 things to put in the pot, somehow or another. Somehow, we've wrangled this one into roughly 1400 skeins to go out this ol' round-up. (Love the cowboy-ish references or what?)

Holiday knitting progress:

The answer to my Christmas knitting list: Get the recipients to knit (or crochet) and give them yarn for Christmas. 2 down, 17 to go.

Random-esque and Denial

2008-12-02T22:54:00.024-05:00

Before I forget, and before those of you who asked for it THINK I forgot, here's the latest in self-striping colorway yarns. Let's call this one 'Promise', and it's already on the website here for you.

And also before I forget, Angie S., come on down! Your the next contestant - no wait, wrong game show. But Angie does win! She was the first correct answer in an email contest for the club members. The most recent Tsock being all Margarita-ish, I asked for the correct origin of 'the worm' in the bottle. Angie was first with the most complete answer, "...Technically, the worm originated in mescal, not tequila, and it is an agave worm. However, mescal can mean anything made with the agave plant including tequila. In 1950, Mexico City entrepreneur Jacobo Lozano Paez hit on the idea of putting a worm in each bottle as a marketing gimmick...."

I'm going to award an Honorary Mention to Waldmaus for her smarty-pants answer: "...I’ll tell you where the worm in the mescal originates. It hatches from an egg, because it is not a worm at all, but a caterpillar, and caterpillars hatch from eggs..."

There were so many of you that sent in an answer on this one, I'll draw a couple of names from the entries as winners as well. Thanks for playing!

So... did you all have a good Holiday (for those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving...)? We actually went to visit family and had a lovely time, and Nora & I had a wonderful head cold which we succeeded in sharing with family. Feel the Love. (Zicam, anyone?)

I would like to say here and now that I took a suitcase of knitting projects - or potential projects, along with a spinning wheel and even fiber. I am thrilled to report that I do indeed remember how to spin (it's been months), and that I can even manage to put sticks & strings together on occasion... though more often than not it's followed by much ripping and cussing. Actually, I've matured. I've grown past the cussing, and now ripp in subdued and sullen silence... oh well.

Take this for example. An exercise in simple cables, because lately it was as if my knitting had become just a way to get to ripping, as if the ripping was the intended purpose all along. Very frustrating. Anyhoo, I began casting on hats. Simple, basic, add a cable... still going ok, getting bored now... the urge to cast on for an aran sweater or something was getting to me but that way just leads to more ripping and so I cast on one more hat allowing myself 'more' cables to keep the boredom at bay. (And while we're at it, let's change the yarn, the guage, and needle size, eh?)

Now up until now, we had a nice run of hats with no ripping - a novelty around here and I was starting to breath a sigh of relief. I mean if baseball curses can be broken... anything could happen and I might break the run of ripping I'd been doing. (though sometimes denial wins and instead of ripping it would get felted as if another felted bowl was the intention all along...)

Denial is a strong thing. I have cast this hat off. It is complete. It has not a single error (we won't speak of the 2 cables I had to fix in row 3 cuz they are fixed now). It is technically, a hat. It does not fit. I knew it was 'snug' at the 1/2 way point. (That's what I called it. Snug.) My grandmother loved the color and kept telling me it was hers. I finished it and handed it over. She tried it on, I guess to see how it looked with her denial as well. Eventually, even she had to admit it did not fit. And so, I will rip it. Perhaps tomorrow, maybe the next day. I find it interesting to note that the yarn I used will indeed felt... oh well. (Does anyone need a felted bowl or three?)

I took a moment at home to show my grandmother the scarves that Stephanie was working on, and she thought that was a pretty good project... and so off to the yarn store we went. On the way home, we actually had to call the house and have someone dig through the stash for needles just in case we had to stop elsewhere - the yarn store was out of straights in that size and she prefers straights. I love that the overwhelming desire to cast on a new project immediately does not fade with age. Here's what she had later in the evening:

My mother was also 'knitting' with us, except she crochets. One minute she's digging through a bag looking for a hook, and then everything gets blurry for a while...

...and the next thing you know, this happens (or something similar anyways. She makes amazing felted purses, one-of-a-kinders):

Anyways, that's what I did on my vacation ;-) How 'bout you?

New, New, New.

2008-11-18T11:17:00.003-05:00

Sale! Let's have a postage sale, wanna? Any order over $60.00 placed by Friday night midnight EST (Nov 21st) I'll refund 100% of stateside postage - and up to $4.00 off (refunded) on all int'l postage. So, now's your chance for gift-shopping for other knitters, or to drop a huge hint to your family about your wish-list.

New Colors (finally) listed:

For Georg (Nora dyed this for Georg as a custom request - pics of the socks she made me are below.)

Burnt Orange - One of the Colors in the Change-Ringing colorwork in The Nine Tailors Tsock.

Key Lime - a 2-tone colorway that will self-stripe. Believe it or not, this color was an exhaust re-mix after dyeing the cuff for the Margarita club sock!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit? Try 'Candy Canes'! Self-striping yarn just for you and Santa.

Wanna make some Candy Canes decorations? We can help with that as well!

All of the new stuff can be found on the FlockSock Sock Yarn page here.

Similarities and a Sale...

2008-11-10T23:53:00.005-05:00

So... do you get the impression that what I dye has an effect on what Nora decides to wear, or is it just me?

For the record, she was disappointed that morning when she could not find any green socks to wear. The irony was not lost on me. It's not easy being green...

In other news, yes I'm older now, and hopefully wiser by one full year. I have a couple of wonderful things to show you that I received for my big day.... but I did not get any new batteries so the camera batteries are charging and I wanna do one post for it all and I'm short a couple of pictures.

I'd also like to remind everyone that tomorrow is Veteran's Day here in the US. See a serviceman? Thank them for their commitment. Know someone who is a Veteran? Thank them for their service.

**Sale Notice!
Are you a veteran or currently serving in the military?
I'd like to offer you 10% off your yarn or Tsock Kit purchase today. Go shop and I'll refund your 10%, mention your status in the comments of your order to qualify.

It's still Wednesday, I swear.

2008-10-23T10:55:00.008-04:00

I know I said Wednesday, I know. Let's pretend it's Wednesday now (couldn't we all use the extra day anyays?) and announce happily that more kits than you can shake a dpn at are now available.

The Nine Tailors with it's amazing Change-Ringing meets Color-Work and Cabling:
(btw, did you know we had a change-ringing sock coming out? Just kidding.)

Turandot poses her Riddles:
(our first kit released to the public in our Bamboo-Ewe yarn.)

And The Iceman Cometh:
It's Ice Cream - 3 scoops on a waffle cone and it's got ZERO calories!)

Want more? Okee dokee, I've got more:

Finally, due to popular demand... The Vintage Leaf.

Have you knit a leaf yet?

(*Please note: Club members! Your discounts will be refunded when I process your order to ship to you.)

And I would like to apologize to Caroline M of the comments. She not only did not get linked, but is feeling left out. She nicely sent me tea all the way from the other side of the world, and I somehow neglected to link to her, leaving her out of the link-love-fest. Please now go and visit her blog and say hello, would you? Oh and look! You can visit her flickr pictures as well!

(I like to think it was purely an accident, my forgetting her link. Subconciously though, I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm jealous that her blog has finished objects on it, and projects that actually show progress... I'm working on my issues.)

Get Ready, Get Set.... Oh wait - It's Over.

2008-10-21T14:07:00.032-04:00

Got your cup of tea and comfy seat? I'll wait, go get your tea.
I wanted to post before we went to Rhinebeck, about getting ready for Rhinebeck.... but it took every ounce of energy to Get. Ready. For. Rhinebeck.

New colors, new kits, new displays, new pixie... well, there were lots of new things going on. So, here are a few pics of the pre-party after the fact.

That's 'Teenage Romance' and 'Rose Garden' drying in the sun.

This is how we packed up kits this time around. It saved a ton of space over using the Rubbermaid containers. See that reddish-brown color under the gold for Oktoberfest? Those are for Oktoberfest... in an Irish Red, followed under that by Chocolate Stout, both new colors for that kit this year (and both expected up on the website this week). We seem to favor the alcoholic socks around here... go figure.

Yes Waldmaus, Christmas-Yarn does exist. This is 'Candy-Cane' and yes, it sold out and yes I'm making more.

At Rhinebeck, we found that all of our imaginary friends really DO exist! Here's a few pics for proof:

This would be BrewerGnome folks. In full Kilt-mode. And what's that in his hands, you ask?

Well that would be his brand new spindle. TsockTsarina a-spinnerated him in about 4 seconds flat. She handed him her spindle with a length of spun yarn to wind on and asked him to hold it for just a minute (subtle she ain't). A minute later & he'd wound it on and was spinning away. Her work finished, I'm sure she moved on to her next victim.

Kathe & Mardi debate the benefits of french fries verses fried dough or some such critical question.

Juno explains once again that she is not taking interviews and cannot be bothered with paparazzi or pepperoni or whatever famous people talk about on their cell phone... Kelley does some shopping... or not.

Stephanie & Cassie enjoy the sunshine... do either of these women look sleep or caffeine-deprived? I think not. The very picture of calm and poise. (We shall not be showing the picture of ME with them. I am the very picture of dazed and under-caffeinated. And it's my blog so I get to post only good pictures of me.)

This person here? This gal who calmly surveys her domain, sizing up any & all? This would be Jesh. Jesh is most formidable in her mad super-awesome spindle-making skillz. (btw, if the blue gloves on the hands next to Jesh look familiar, they should. Glenna borrowed them from Lisa as it was a bit chilly over the weekend. Even with the cold, I think Glenna had an awesome time meeting everyone - I know we're glad she came.)

Anyways, See what I mean about the spindles? (Jesh, I borrowed this pic from your blog.)

We had them in the booth for sale - if you missed them, cry for they are worthy.

This handsome young man is modeling a sweater made from handspun wool from our own Buddy... a beautiful natural colored Border Leicester ram we had on the farm a couple of years ago. Buddy has passed away, but his sweater lives on. And apparently, hangs out with famous folks because 'small-bob' gave in to be part of the photo-shoot.

Let's see... zuzusunshine brought us cupcakes - we adore her. Another raveler (who's name escaped my short-term memory short-circuit) stopped by with even more cupcakes that had creamcheese frosting and I dunno what else but they were cupcakes and we adore her as well.

Someone from Canada brought chocolates - very good but I wish I could remember WHO so I could ACTUALLY thank her... oh the lack of short term memory skills when sleep deprived! Anyone remember who that was?

The delightful dmcubed stopped by the booth for what could be the best 4 minutes of the entire festival and made me SIT DOWN for a backrub with something called 'nukkles'. If you ever get the chance to be nukkled.... drop whatever your doing and give yourself over to the dark side - or at least, to whoever is doing the nukkling.

The lovely knitterotica brought me tea... all the way from Hong Kong. How cool is that? Dragon Pearl. Awesome.

BrewerGnome brought me Pickles & Jam - very good I might ad.. as well as a delicate Jasmine Tea I am enjoying as I type this monster of a post...

And when I got up Monday morning after falling asleep around 1am (wicked drive home)... I found this on the counter waiting for me and I wept tears of joy and gratitude. Caroline in the UK has rescued me (again). She wondered in the comments of my recent tea-less post about how I'd come to miss the general order of things... in that you generally ORDER more tea before it's all gone. I say to her now so there is no question that I am the queen of de nile. Queen, I tell you. I refused to actually LOOK in the bag because that would have been proof that I'd consumed more than my fair share in the recent weeks and couldn't face the reality of the dwindling supply. (I'm the sort of gal who puts off procrastination. Honestly. I'll tell you all about it later when we have more time.)

Anyhoo, at Rhinebeck I also found these (the socks, not the feet) tucked inside a 6pack of home-brew:
Knit for me by Georg who is the beloved Tserf. The colorway is one of Nora's, and I have already been asked to ask Nora to dye more of it. They fit perfectly, and I love them. Thank you, Georg (and thank you for loaning me your jacket Saturday. I would have been hypothermic if not for you.)

Also at Rhinebeck, I bought this and think it is absolutely surreal.
Let's see... what else went on at Rhinebeck.... Anyone care to guess what these are?

Or this. Anyone want to guess what this is?

Well, if you guessed Turandot, and then Nine Tailors (you guys knew we had a change-ringing sock coming out, right?) and lastly The Iceman Cometh for the first picture, you'd be correct. If you are hoping that the small leaf-colored packet is the Vintage Leaf as a stand-alone kit.... your prayers have been answered. I expect to have all 4 up on the website tomorrow available, yea, they are ALL even in stock waiting to ship out to you as we speak. How about we all meet back here tomorrow to go over the details on those little rays of sunshine, hmm? Great. Now I'm off to bed because tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

Acts of Kindness

2008-10-11T16:49:00.013-04:00

I have about 7.2 minutes to make a blog post (about how long for the next round of dye pots to heat up), so let's cut to it, eh?

DING! We have a winner! A TsockFlock Club contest winner!
The question (asked via email): In the 1967 movie/musical of Camelot, what is Guinevere doing at the beginning of the song 'Take me to the Fair', and who was she doing it with (character name)?
The Answer, provided correctly first was Enjay: "She's winding a ball of yarn with sir Lionel." Wanna see? Here, let me show you:

See?

New Business:

Guess what this is:

Give up? It's the empty bag of this:

Ty-phoo tea sent to me from club member Caroline in the UK and it's downright awesome. I know, because we did taste tests. There were 160 teabags in this set, bundled in smaller groups... I thought surely it would take me longer to go through that much tea but I guess I underestimated myself (over-achiever that I am, apparently). It is, alas, completely empty and sniffing the tea dust does little to help. I must give in and order more as I am now drinking a runner-up in the taste tests and miss my OO greatly.

This does bring up a point of thanks I think I missed out on while a bit busy early on in the year. I wanted to thank several folks for sending me wonderful things during a sleepless period of dye pots earlier... I'd show you pictures of wonderful tea blossoms and German chocolate and Gummibärchen... but those wrappers are dust and the contents enjoyed and remembered happily. So, not only was I so busy I never quite got around to the public thank-you's but now that we've moved and had to pack up (and since lost track of) my squirreled-away notes... I've forgotten who sent which and don't want to get it all wrong. (except the Gummibärchen. That could only have been Waldmaus.)

I do have pictures of a non-edible that requires thanking and is worth talking about though! This came in the mail recently, and I was delighted.

This is a Scentsy Wickless Candle. The 'candle' is a ceramic pot and warming dish with a small lightbulb to melt the scented wax in the dish that sits on top. The pot is called 'Merino' and I wish I had a merino sheep this color! It came with 3 different scented wax bits for the candle, and the Nutmeg & Orange Zest is delightful. You can get yours from Jan here. Thank you very much for mine, Jan!

Now, I have not been sitting around sniffing wax & drinking tea as tempting an idea as that is. I've done a little dyeing, here & there as well. Who am I kidding, I've dyed A TON of yarn in the past couple of weeks, though once it's all neatly wound, labeled and hanging on a rack it doesn't look to me like much of a dent has been made in the 'to-dye' list. I guess we shall find out soon enough as it's 4 days to be done & ready for Rhinebeck... (Excuse me. I need to sit down for a moment, the room just spun.)
Random Yarn Sighting: Look! Bubble-Gum!

There's tons of other new colors, (below the Bubble-Gum is a hint of Chai...)but the dye pots have reached 'optimum dye the yarn temperature' so it looks like my 7.2 minutes are officially up and there's about 16 days' worth of yarn to finish today.

What's in a Name?

2008-09-25T11:44:00.011-04:00

I just checked, and I cannot believe it has been more than a month since my last post. And then I got to thinking about what's been going on for that month, and I guess I can see how time flew by.

In the beginning of the month, Glenna moved up from Texas to work here for us. We got her technically moved into an apartment, but I didn't give her time to actually unpack anything. The recent club kit York & Lancaster needed to get dyed, packed up & out the door. As soon as it flew, we took a look at the 'Rhinebeck Plan 2008'. We immediately realized that the most critical issue was not the 'how much yarn' question, the dyeing, the inventory, or (my favorite) what's for dinner. It was our name. What's in a name? Well, we're not exactly Vancalcar 'ACRES' at the moment. This pointed out the problem with naming a business after a specific location... we'd moved and hadn't taken the location with us.

We do plan to move back to a farm, and we've been looking to no avail. It felt as though we'd taken a holiday from farming that will last the winter here. And so, with that reference, this just seemed appropriate:

It's even been sighted in the wild, by a club member:

So! Now that it's official, Please note that Rhinebeck still knows us as Vancalcar Acres, but we'll have new 'signage' in the booth with the new name etc. and you can find us in our regular digs there in space 26D - Building 26 is closest to the 4-H entrance/gate.

Speaking of Rhinebeck, the Pixie has created this amazing techno-yarn 'thing' using some magic called 'MSProject' and more magic called 'Excel'. The magic tells her (and she cracks the whip) how much yarn I have to dye per day to get ready for Rhinebeck, and I find it suspiciously similar to the numbers I faced without Pixie Magic... no chickens this time at least. (You folks remember 'The Plan', don't you?) At least I've got ~~6 weeks~~ ~~4 weeks~~ ~~22 days~~ 20 days left (they make me stop dyeing to pack the truck and drive).

Plenty of time. I'll just dye a few extra skeins a day...

Out of Control.

2008-08-18T23:08:00.005-04:00

You know when you think things are going along AS THEY SHOULD, and someone throws a wrench into your machine, your plan, your whole stinkin' organization... ok, maybe it wasn't quite that bad. Maybe, I even finally stood back and allowed the door to be opened a crack - allowed a chink in the armor to become a gaping opening for the enemy to come blazing in.

Spinning. I speak of spinning. Specifically, the Tsarina and her Spindle (plural, actually cuz the girl went SHOPPING when she fell down the rabbit hole). Here we were, minding our own business, with a lovely little tsock business. My own little Tsock Tslave, as it were (she thinks I'm some Yarn Slave, but I've got her number... I think...) and then some upstart comes along and grabs that door and rips it RIGHT. OFF. THE. HINGES. Goes and sends the Tsarina a spindle and a WHACK of fiber. and not crap fiber, either.

This means war. I mean really. Club member and all. Did she think she'd get away with this? Without Repurcussions? I swore she'd get coal for her next club kit. Coal. And then, I did a little searching on 'coal' as it were, and found it... boring. Very. Boring.

It needed some fire. And so, Mistress 'I-can-make-the-tsarina-a-spinner', here's your Lump of Coal (though I think we're going to call it 'Embers' here).

What's New?

2008-08-17T12:27:00.003-04:00

Blog? I'd like to introduce you to the new Yarn Pixie (Ain't she purty?):

Yarn Pixie? I'd like you to meet the blog.

Yes, this means we've come across someone in Pixie-land who wants to come work here with the Yarn Fairy, and we're absolutely thrilled to have her. She knits, she weaves, she spins, she does voo-doo on a chakra wheel, and she knows how to 'make yarn go' around here. She brings with her some awesome ideas that I think you all will love in the coming months.
She is moving all the way from the grand country of Texas, and is looking forward to actually using all of the hand-knit woolen goods she's amassed while waiting for winter down there. She is expected here in early September, and we can't wait!
Take a minute and tell miss Glenna Chumbley congratulations in the comments, will ya?

And in other news, I recently had the chance to be in the right place at the right time. You see, there was a lady who wanted to learn to knit but missed our appointment. I had yarn on needles ready for her to start her first hat, in pink for her daughter. When she didn't arrive for our class, Nora & I headed off to Karate and that's when fate stepped in. There was a young girl there sitting next to me during Nora's class with a broken leg. I was working on a sock (big surprise, eh?) and she asked about it. She explained that she'd recently gotten a knitting kit, but neither her nor her mother knew how to knit and it was all greek to them.

hmmm. recipe:

yarn on needles ready to go with instructions in bag.

young lady wanting to learn to knit

person with teaching skills on just such a subject

By the time Karate class was finished, she was happily knitting away on row 2 when Nora came over. She took one look at the young lady knitting the yarn that was previously in mom's bag, with mom leaning over to help this 'other' girl, and announced loudly: "I'm learning to knit!" hmm. a little jealous maybe?

We have tried in the past but with little success. She refused to let me show her more than one time, she refused to sit still for more than 2 minutes, and was then wildly frustrated when she didn't produce any 'knitting'. This time? This was diferent. Over the next week, she told everyone we met she was learning to knit. She produced 2 needles and about 3 feet of sock yarn and told me she was going to knit. One needle was a 10dpn, the other a 5dpn. I feared the conversation regarding the needle choice and string length but started anyways... and she listened. She put the string in the trash. Gave me the needles and asked which ones she should go get from my bag. I explained we needed heavier yarn, like the hat yarn the girl at Karate had, and so she announced she wanted to dye the yarn for her hat. hmm. I gave it a couple of days, she persisted.

2 days ago, we dyed the yarn in purple and gold. She pestered me until it was dry and wound into a ball. She stood by patiently while I cast on for a hat. I faced with trepidation our first knitting lesson.

She sat next to me on the couch.
I showed her a knit stitch several times, and she watched quietly.
I put the needles in her hands and knit a couple of stitches with her.
She knit the next couple of stitches, and automatically her fingers held back the stitches on the left needle so they wouldn't slide off.

We worked on where to keep the stitches on each needle in relation to the tips so they don't fall off, I fixed a couple of drops as they happened. She knit almost the whole first row before we took a break. We've sat on the couch a couple of times today for short knitting sessions, a few stitches knit and then taking a break to play. She asked me once how far the girl at Karate had gotten on her first lesson. Interesting. She talks now about teaching dad to knit when she teaches a knitting class. Hear that? My daughter will be teaching knitting in her yarn store, and her store is going to be next door to mine so we can visit because we're both dyers (her words, not mine).

Saturday night - Somewhere Else.

2008-07-26T22:14:00.003-04:00

Emailed to me by a blog reader & friend in response to yesterday's blog post 'Friday Night'. She captioned it 'Jennifer's Backyard on Saturday Night':

Talk about yer 'Deer in the Headlight' looks. Geesh.

I would like to say that the animals in my backyard do tend to live a 'pre-hunter' bambi-esque lifestyle though. Today, the doe was joined by (and I kid you not), a pair of squirrels at the top of the tree, 2 rabbits and a groundhog, all hangin' out at the ol' pear tree. I wonder, what kind of quasi-wild/suburb gossip goes on out there? I dunno, but if a skunk starts showing up for the party, I'm calling Animal Planet. Or Disney.

On the yarn side of 'As the Forest Turns' here, Colleen has an excellent idea in the comments for that Bamboo-Ewe yarn... and call me Burger King, but you can have it your way. (and please, do NOT call me Burger King. Or Burgermeister-Meisterburger, or any Burger - I jest.) So, without further sleep-deprived commentary from teh dye potz, you can haz all 7 colors at once in tiny skeins if you want. Clickity: http://www.nysfarm.com/bamboo_ewe.htm

Friday night.

2008-07-25T20:42:00.005-04:00

Remember the pear trees I mentioned? Well this gal is eating my pears. 2nd night in a row.

Look! Something Shiney! It's Bamboo-Ewe, in spring pastel colors! (Hey, what can I say? In the spring, we were still a little busy with January Leaves. Someday I might even get around the Valentine's Day Sale I had been planning...)

This is a 40% Bamboo, 40% Wool, 20% Nylon blend 4ply sock yarn, non-superwash (it felts shiney as well). Ain't they purty?

Peach, Lavender, Pale-Blue, Spring Green, Yellow, White and Pink. They were a custom request but oh boy do I like them! I have plans for a tank-top in the Spring Green, a baby sweater in the pink & blue, a striped felted bag with all of them.... so many ideas, so little time.

Goldfish.

2008-07-19T16:45:00.004-04:00

I'd show you a picture, but by the time the batteries for the camera were charged.... it was time to pick a burial plot.

We went to the Carnival last night, Nora had a wonderful time. She rode rides, and played games... and won a goldfish. She threw the ball and got it in the bowl and won a decent sized goldfish. She named the wee sushi 'Pink-Rose' and off we went. Miss Rose made it through the night and part of the morning before she began gulping for air.... and started to list to one side. With the end in sight, we gave some tearful goodbyes, discussed burials and dad took her for a bike-ride. I buried Miss Rose. Moving on.

Cathy-Cate is awesome. Just sayin, cuz she came through with Tai-Chi info in abundance for me. While the style I learned was Yang, I'll go see how different it is from the Wu style taught there, thank you Cathy! It also helped me search out and find one other, who does teach Yang, and so I have 2 options now.

I've got better pictures of Plum Shadows now, and it's officially for sale:

And, Nora wanted to dye some yarn. She wanted to dye Red and Pink, but when she was almost finished with the skein, she decided it needed some blue, and so we've got shades of a Fuschia red, blue and purples. She drew a few hearts in Fuschia when she got started, which reminded me of valentines day, so I think we'll call this one 'Teenage Romance' cause it's so bright and shiney. You know? And yes, it's also now available for purchase.

I'm thrilled to say, that for those of you still waiting for 'Mint Mojito' (also a Nora yarn), I expect to have it available in a few days - Nora can't wait to dye more. Pictures when we're done here. And you know what she told me yesterday? That because we're both dyers, that she wants to have a shop right next door to me, so we can visit each other. I love this kid.

So confused.

2008-07-16T09:24:00.007-04:00

So thrilled last night to have found a Tai-Chi meet-up... Like you see in the movies, you know? A group of people in the park in the background dong Tai-Chi?

Well I'm here to tell you that it was absolutely, positively.... NOT like that. At all. To be completely fair, the instructor did say at the beginning that it was going to be some Tai-Chi, some Yoga, and a little Pilates. Ok thinks I, I can handle a little of this & that. A few Tai-Chi moves to help me get started again is good, even mixed in with some Yoga stuff - it can't hurt, right? Yes, it can. (Especially when the only Tai-Chi was 'Wave Hands Like Clouds 4 times in a row - good call Astrid). It was mentally difficult to stay focused on keeping my 'Leaning Tree' from tipping over when I was psyched for one thing and given another, and plus let's just say my body was not ready for Yoga. So, almost 70 minutes of Yoga, 2 minutes of Pilates, and a 30-count of Tai-Chi. I am not that limber, and my thighs doth protest. Earnestly.

ETA: Let me be clear: I do not want to do Yoga.

I think I like this though:
(don't tell anyone, but I have found that if you sign your child up for Karate, Kumon, and swimming lessons - you find yourself with time to actually KNIT in 30 minute increments more than once a WEEK.) This is a sock I've actually knit myself, toe-up turkish cast-on (thank you Lisa). The colorway is a very early attempt at a color for Firebird, (or click here for the finished Boid) but obviously has way more pink than any self-respecting flame would show the world. (Pay no attention to the white yarn at the top. I couldn't remember how to do the bind-off I wanted to do, and I was at Kumon with Nora and wanted to start the mate... well, I didn't have a crochet hook to thread a lifeline so I knit in a row of bulky for later.)

I'm also fond of this: Out of the imagination and into the dye-pot last night - it's been on the 'I want to dye' colorway now since Tsock #2.

I think we'll call it 'Plum Shadows'. And yes, it's fer sale... send me a note as I haven't gotten the site updated quite yet.

Lisa, this one is for you. It's in that yarn I didn't like before but now I'm liking, and it's in the color I showed you in the other pictures though this picture doesn't quite do it justice and yes I'm mailing it to you today along with other things but not everything blah blah blah and boy are you in trouble and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Waltraud, this is for you. I'd like you to know, that my nieghbors have more than one of these - and I don't mean 1/2 knit socks (I posted both views since I couldn't decide which was better):

One last thing. You folks remember Casey, right? Our most dedicated, handy, farm-hand-turned-yarn-slave? Well, she graduated from high school this year, and is getting ready to leave (::sob::) for college next month. She will be attending Bennington University in Vermont and studying music. She's planning on putting her next billion years of productive paychecks in hock to pay for college (see college=debt/loans) but is thrilled with the opportunity, as she's been accepted to the Music department in the College and if memory serves, it was her first choice.

Any-hoo, I'm reminded of the Secret Santa thang we had going on this past winter, and was thinking if anyone was interested, we could do something similar for the young budding college-student-soon-to-be-starving-artist. You can donate cold hard through paypal, in any amount, or if you want to purchase gift cards or other small items (not much room for stuff in her packing - small shared dorm room), I'd love to surprise her when I see her off in August. I'm going to miss her, she's become part of our family and while I miss her awesome, yarn-skeining skillz, I will miss her sense of humor and her company more.

You can mail things for her to me here, please email me for the mailing address at (jennifer at nysfarm dot com) replace the wrong stuff with the correct stuff as usual. For cash donations to the pot, I've had to use the limits of blogspot and put the donation option in the sidebar called 'Graduation Gift'. If your going to mail a gift card (target, wal-mart, bed bath & beyond type places etc), I'd like to have it by August 1st so I can get it all together in time for my meet-up with her before she leaves.

Well, it's almost time for swim class (woo hoo!!), and I've got a few things to do before we leave so I guess that's it.

Stuff and some other Stuff.

2008-07-15T14:52:00.007-04:00

So, I see I haven't posted often or recently. I do want to post more often, and I have lots of things I think about blogging... oh well, we're all here now so let's get on with it.

It's been a busy summer so far. Nora has started Karate, and is loving it. She's seen Disney's 'Mulan' perhaps a few times and was really looking forward to being 'like Mulan'. So much so, that in class when Sensei asked the students for examples of an appropriate time to use what they learn in class, other students made suggestions like "When someone bad tries to steal you" or "When someone is hitting your sister." Nora announced "When the Hun attack". Well, Sensei had to admit, that was a good time to use your Karate skills.

If I were the Hun, I'd be scared - wouldn't you?

Also, on a martial arts note, I would like to point out to anyone who may be confused, Tai Chi is NOT Yoga. I'm not certain how or why this is being confused, but I've lost count of how many times in the last 2 weeks when I have inquired at various dojo around the region about Tai Chi instruction/classes/etc, I've been pointed in the direction of a local Yoga group. Now, I've got nothing against yoga, and I'm sure it's wonderful, but I'm looking for TAI CHI.

Also, it turns out this small non-farm property has 3 pear trees, 1 apricot, 2 apple, blackberry and raspberry bushes, and in the front yard.... 2 Bing Cherries - my favorite (and I filled this several times):

In other news, Cleopatra is now available... and even better? IN STOCK.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get Nora to Karate and find the directions to what I hope is an actual Tai Chi meet-up tonite, and not a Yoga class.

Dear Diary:

2008-06-24T14:28:00.002-04:00

Dear Diary,

I dreamt last night about that thing called 'internetz' again. It's a magical place where you can communicate with your friends, offer wares for sale, and stay in almost constant communication with everyone, all over the world. In my dream, you could even do all this in your own home but alas, in my dream, something mysterious called 'The Cable Company' messed up something called the 'Installation Date' and I was left with no internetz OR phone. For more than a week. (In my dream... I twitched a LOT for some reason.)

Instead in my dream, I had to drive to something called a 'Panera's Restaurant' where something amazing called 'wi-fi' allows you to connect to the mystical 'world wide web'. The only drawback in my dream to this temporary solution, is the drive, and the only real way to entertain the 5 year old.... is with a chocolate brownie. In my dream, we did not stay long or get much done.

But the brownie was awesome.

Love,

Gwynivar

Club Update: Club sock 2 is going out the door this week. The kitchen, the bathroom, and the dye pots were unpacked immediately - everything else is still in boxes and obviously we can live without quite a bit of 'stuff'. An interesting experiment.

I should be back online the end of the week, I apologize if I have not responded to your emails - I really have no internetz and if I keep running to Panera's, there is no dye time and way to many brownies consumed. I have not been ignoring you! Kits ordered are also being dyed and shipped, I expect to be caught up with your orders by Saturday. If you have any questions.... well, you might want to wait a couple more days to email me ;-)

If you have a Sheep or Flock Rental, don't despair. The flock is in the care of friends, and still available for pictures and fleece for the Rental program, as part of the arrangement for their care. Newsletters did not make it out the door before the move, and as soon as I find the box their in, they will go out with all sorts of updates and information for you on your rental.

Sometimes, Life throws you a Curve.

2008-06-06T14:08:00.008-04:00

Your heading down the road, and you see this
(does anyone really go 25mph?):And then you see this one:

And you realize, that where you thought you were going to end up, and who you thought you were going to be, are not at all what really happens. Instead of being a shepherd who dyes some yarn and plays around with fiber, you find yourself turning into someone who defines herself as a dyer, who plays around at being a shepherd. And you realize a few things. A few very Important things:

Running a farm with 300 ewes and their occasionall 600 +/- lambs is a full time job for (occasionally) 3 adults (you are only 2 adults and a 5 year old).

Marketing said lambs (and pork and beef) is a full time job (unless you plan to run 750 +/- sheep the next year)

Dyeing and Marketing eleventy-billion pounds of yarn per year is also a full time job.

There is only 1 of you, and only 24 hours in a day, no matter what you do.

Something has to give, and while I do enjoy the farm and the flock.... let's do some comparisons.

Forcing 300 ewes and their offspring to walk through a scary chute system where their toes get wet, is not fun. In fact, it's hard labor and it sucks. When you can be thrilled it only took 6 hours to accomplish... well, that should say something. Comparison: Dyeing yarn, being creative, Earth Wind & Fire on the stereo and the internetz on the laptop? hmm. yarn dyeing wins that round.

Hoof-trimming 300 ewes is a messy business. (do you know what they've been standing in while waiting to get their pedicure?) Comparison: What's that you say? No manure on my clothes, gloves, or body while dyeing yarn? Imagine that. Yarn dyeing wins that round as well.

Healthcare for the sick, wounded, or injured animals. One word: Maggots. I think that says enough, don't you? Comparison: Any maggots in yarn? No? EXCELLENT.

Unrolling 2 (two) 600lb roundbales of hay every day, all winter long, is so entertaining when it's accompanied by gale-force winds bringing several inches of snow. You can't beat this kind of entertainment, really. Comparison: What's that you say? Stay INDOORS BY THE FIRE and dye more yarn? totally.

There are also some very good points about the farm. New born lambs, wild baby turkeys in the field, baby fawns grazing the hillside with their mums.

And also? A daughter who knows how to assist when a mommy sheep needs help giving birth (when she was 3, she figured out where human babies come from after watching a lamb being born). A daughter who loves to give city kids a tour of the barn, and introduce them to bottle lambs & the baby chicks. A daughter who wants to wear a pretty Minnie Mouse dress when she goes hunting for worms. Getting to spend hours and hours and hours with her, watching her grow and learn new things.

So. I asked you what you thought the picture of the truck in the last post might represent. My 2 favorite answers from the comments:

This is your new yarn truck with the build-in drying rack, that you bought after you found out that the Harlot posted about your yarn again. (It does look a lot like a livestock truck, though.

that is a truck for transporting live kindergartners... or what I'd be tempted to use as one;)

Frankly, I'm not sure which is the better idea.

The reality, is that this vehicle is a triple-decker livestock hauler. Capable of holding 276 sheep. How do I know it will hold that many? Because that's how many we were able to get on board. Yes, we have sold off the flock. This has taken me some time to come to grips with (see earlier definitions post) but it has been the best plan overall.

The Amish signs - and the Amish - have been popping up around here more and more as they have been moving up from Pennsylvania lately. (Please drive carefully. They have just as much right to the road as you do. An accident between a car and an Amish buggy is not good.) This nice gentleman is taking the draft-horses home after a busy day in the hayfields. They live down the road from us.

Recently, some Amish friends of ours suggested to a family looking to move that they stop by our farm. Yes, they do just stop in the driveway and ask if your farm is for sale. With the right offer and the flock already mostly gone (there is still a flock of about 20 here), it became apparent that selling the farm and moving really is the thing to do. We've been looking at smaller farms, closer to Syracuse but haven't found one yet. And so, we will be renting while we keep looking, waiting to see what's around the next curve in the road.

The house we've found to rent? Well, let's start by saying it has a finished apartment downstairs with it's own kitchen. IT'S OWN KITCHEN, PEOPLE! If moving to a house with a built-in dye studio isn't a Sign, then I don't know what is. It does not however, have land for the animals and they are being moved to a friend's farm until we find something for us all.

When does all this take place, you ask? How does 'next week' sound?

Oh, and in other less anxiety-ridden news, I had a concert to go to last night. My daughter is in Kindergarten, and the elementary school had their music concert. Now, Stephanie, as it seems the baton has been passed to me, could you please ask Joe how many more of these I have left to go? Everytime I tried to add it up I got dizzy and couldn't concentrate. Thanks!

Well, that's all for now folks. I really should go pack some boxes now... I've heard a rumor that I'm moving soon.

NOT NH Festival. Mass Festival. (also, I really do know where I was last weekend.)

2008-05-29T08:11:00.010-04:00

Went to the Mass Sheep & Wool Festival, not New Hampshire (thank you Lisa - I just show up, what do I know.) show as a vendor this past weekend, and had an excellent time. (I went to NH festival as a vendor as well and had a great time but took no pictures etc.)

Got to spend time with famous people:

BrewerGnome

Cassie

And a gaggle of fiber artists lounging about - Juno, Cate, Tsarina, Kellee, Cassie (again) and names I've forgotten - sorry.

There was fine music on Sunday - don't remember for sure if they were playing on Saturday...

This is Patrick of West Elm Farm, he was generous enough to share tent space with him, and we love him for it! If you've seen us at Rhinebeck, you know he's there as well, couldn't do it without him. He makes some fine soap and awesome hand balm with lanolin, go try some, it's at the bottom of this page here.

And of course, it wouldn't have been 'normal' if there wasn't a drying rack full of drying yarn in the hotel room...

So, not much of the actual festival but that's typical for me, as I've found it really is nicer to take home some of the money made in the booth rather than spend it all at the festival... the husband is way less cranky that way ;-)

In other news, and really way other news, can anyone guess what this is a picture of? (Hint: The smart-ass answer of 'truck' will not win anyone any prizes. Perhaps guessing what the truck represents, or what is on the truck would be a step in the right direction here.)

I get the weirdest emails.

2008-05-13T09:39:00.004-04:00

So, in this morning's email I find this:

Dear sir or madam:
We now need to purchase a large number of sheep scrap
purchase a large number of sheep wool.
We also need to purchase a large number of muskrat skin.
If you have, please tell me at once.

uh-huh. Muskrat skins... let me think... now where did I put that bin of muskrat skins? crap. Never can find something when I need it, cuz you know as soon as I tell them I'm fresh out of sheep scrap & muskrat skins, I'll totally find that bin.

eta: for those who've asked or are wondering, this is a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) :

For those of you not familiar with this here critter, I've gone ahead and found all you need to know about the beast, to give you good standing on most game shows. Read, learn, go win a whole row on 'aquatic pond beasts' for 1000 in Jeapordy:

Muskrats: gotta love Wikipedia.

It was on Fire when I laid down on it.

2008-04-28T14:12:00.013-04:00

Ok, so I've found (borrowed) a cable for the camera, and found some wonderful pictures. I don't have a bunch of time, so here's what I found on the camera (warning, tons of pics):

Mah couch on Fire, let me show u it:

FireBird that is, colorway: HellFire. plus the gold skeinlets to go with, and the orange in the corner is a byproduct. Every so often I would have to exhaust out a gold dye pot that gradually would go 'orange' after a few rounds of red skeins swimming around to gold-i-fy them. (that's a technical dye term, btw.)

So, how is HellFire made, you ask? My mess, let me show u it.

First we lay out the skeins and start adding red.

then we add WAY more red. (and a little more for good measure)

Then we do something arcane with a pot of gold, more red, and some steam to produce this:

After it set the couch (aka the packing department) on fire, it went to Dave-of-the-Post-Office, and I have proof he exists:

Mommy-Giraffe was a BIG help.

While I was dyeing Firebird (and vintage, and everything else) Nora got bored and wanted to dye some yarn. She wanted to dye green yarn, and so I give you Nora's favorite chewing gum, Mint-Mojito:

And also, more lambs were born:

and in fact more lambs born today but no pics yet.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to the dye pots. I know your still waiting on your kit or yarn or both and I appreciate your patience.

From under the debris

2008-04-18T00:12:00.003-04:00

I post this in a haze of migraine meds (no, it's not imitrex. no, I am not taking it, cannot take it, will never voluntarily endure take it again - giving birth was less painful).

Important facts:

All of the Firebird kits have shipped out, as of Tuesday the 15th. International kits were shipped out by the 12th. (except for Irene. Sorry. I'll be better next time now that your in the mailing label list.)
If you are concerned your kit is not the Large you expected, the skein should be tied with a black thread, and your gold lace skein should be a doubled small skeinlet, about 5-6 inches long. If instead it's a small button skeinlet, and your main color is tied with 2 white threads... well, you should get in touch with me before you cast on. Please note: this does not apply to all kits across the board. If you have questions on say, your Kitri kit, give me a shout.
I am dyeing and shipping out backorders (and have been all week) on a daily basis. I admit this week has not gone quite as well as I had hoped in really getting caught up. I blame the school systems for scheduling some insane thing called 'spring break'.
An extension of number 3 above, there is a 5 year old in the house. All Day.
I have amazing photos from the last week or so. I cannot find my camera cable. The amount of migraine meds leaves me in a state where I find myself putting the camera next to the computer and muttering 'make pictures go'. Osmosis is not working, but I'm hopeful.
There is a new set of twins, 2 girls - one white, the other black/white spots. I'd show you a picture... never mind.
If you've tried to reach me via phone or email in the last couple of days, things have not been working here. Spotty at best, our phone line from the pole to the house works but under the house things have degenerated into a state where 2 cans and some string would work better. Needless to say, my DSL rides the same string. As of now, in my desperation, (and probably to stop me from muttering 'make internetz go') my spouse has strung a phone line from the pole, into the living room window, and moved the dsl modem and phone directly to that outlet. I'd show you a picture... never mind.
I have a migraine. Have I mentioned this yet? The monitor has a lovely halo now, and I've had enough. I will catch up with the rest of things tomorrow, after several hours with an ice pack and more meds. I have a pile of packages ready to go to the post office tomorrow. I'd show you a picture... never mind.

Yarn Pron

2008-03-29T10:58:00.003-04:00

Look! Something Shiney! Over There!

To be Defined.

2008-03-22T22:15:00.008-04:00

The definition of the word 'Define', according to The Free Dictionary, gave me this:

Define: (v)
1. describe the nature or basic qualities of; explain.
It also offered this:
3. To give form or meaning to.

I've been pondering lately, what defines us. Or, perhaps more accurately, how do we define ourselves. How do I define myself? Describe myself? Sometimes it's hard to forget that who we were yesterday, is perhaps, not who we are today. At what point do you let go of previous job titles, career choices, life decisions and embrace the new ones? Nature abhors a vacuum (anyone for a Far Side Cartoon?) and so it is impossible to stop being one thing without becoming something else. The actual moment of switching can be faster than a blink of an eye I suppose, but the actual accepting of, believing in, claiming... well, that can take much longer.

I've defined myself as many things over the years. I find looking back, that I have enjoyed being able to define myself slightly outside the expected norms of the times. Veteran (Air Force - drove a forklift). Phone-Jockey (pc/computer helpdesk). Network Administrator (had an office and everything). Place Holder (they gave my office to someone else). Wife. Mother (best job ever). Shepherdess (midwife,vet, slayer of bugs). Some of these job titles overlapped. I was a network admin and a shepherd at the same time, but when did I stop telling folks I 'worked in computers' and start telling them I was a shepherd? Not for several years. It is understood that when someone asks what you 'do', they are asking how you make a living, not about your hobbies. This is because according to society's accepted definitions for and of ourselves, it is our ability to make money that defines us. (Ask a starving artist who is flipping burgers so he can buy more paint if he's an artist or a short-order cook to see how wrong this notion is.) So, why don't we define ourselves by what we enjoy? Why can't we define ourselves by what makes us feel complete?

A few months ago, I was introduced to someone somewhere, in a locale slightly out of my element. Whoever had the pleasure of meeting me asked me what I 'did'. They were asking for my definition - my 'label' in society. A way to neatly categorize me into their understanding of the world. In a flash, without thinking, I answered "I'm a dyer." You could see the poor man's brain processing this, and being unable to produce a suitable place to put this in his mental filing cabinet, he repeated "A dyer?" I explained what I did, he nodded knowingly and understandingly, and a little condescendingly, asked me politely if there was anything else I did (obviously I had not understood his original question). I answered him with yet another puzzle: "I'm a shepherd." He gave up, nodded as if this explained everything and I think we probably talked about the weather for a few minutes. I suppose I could have said something fancy like "I manage custom pigment-bonding with protein and cellulose-based materials for a niche segment of the art industry."

It's just easier and more fun to say "I'm a dyer." (And a wife, a mother, a veteran, and a shepherd.)

For those of you looking for help with your computers, I'm thrilled to say I've been 'out of it' for longer than moses, and am just as lost as you are with that new Vista laptop. (I'm sure there is a support group for us somewhere.)

For those of you looking for help with your forklift/flightline cargo handling needs, I frankly never want to strap down another pallet of cargo again - though driving onto a C-5 cargo plane IS pretty cool. I am however, proud of the military service I did, and am proud to be an American Veteran. (They work hard, no matter what branch or who's sitting in the Oval Office - never forget what the commitment they've made really means.)

For those of you who want to discuss office politics.... that's why I don't have the office anymore. If that office career is what's important to you, then I suggest you try sucking up to your boss. I did NOT and look where it got me. (though I'd love to wear my muck boots into the office again, just once.)

For those of you who want to discuss motherhood, I am all there. And by the way, please breastfeed your kids, it's good for them. (I mean REALLY people - what do you think is better: chemically re-constituted soy proteins simulating foodstuffs for the child you spent 9 months creating, or milk that your body is continuing to create, that is based on the needs of that child that only your body can know that your child needs? Read that sentence again.)

For those of you who are in need of an animal midwife etc, I've got some mad lambing skills and animal husbandry trivia here to pass on, just give me a shout.

For those of you in need of custom pigment-bonded protein and/or cellulose-based materials (a.k.a. hand-dyed yarns), I'm your gal. And oh look! Here's the 500lbs of yarn to prove it:

This was the 'small' box of just over 100lbs (that's 2 layers of cones there and yes, some are missing cause they've already been skeined for dyeing).

Each of these boxes are 200lbs. Please note they made a stencil to label the box just for us :-)

My New Look (aka 'thanks to the yarn mojo)

2008-03-20T14:46:00.005-04:00

Thanks to the awesome yarn mojo created by waiting club members on Ravelry, the yarn has left the mill and is winging it's way here pronto, scheduled for a Friday Delivery.

So, here's my new 'look' for probably about the next 3 weeks.
(Just a thought, but I wouldn't sneak up on me, if I were you.)

General Updates

2008-03-12T12:09:00.013-04:00

**If you are still waiting for your yarn or kit, I have not lost your order or dissapeared into the night with the money. I am expecting yarn from the mill in the next few business delivery days, and after that, and several sleepless days and nights, I'll mail out your packages. I appreciate your patience!
To entertain you until the yarn arrives, (Look! Something Shiney! Over There!) we'll use 'distraction technique number 32', labled 'Cute Animals' from the handy book of distractions. (These are the lambs that were born in February - a set of twins and a single. They are all doing great, even the one with the broken shoulder is now leaping & playing games with his mates.)

And here's another one...

And Look! Lambs!

And what's this? Ok, it's not a lamb but it was cute.

We'll follow that up with 'distraction technique number 17': yarn Pr0n. This is some of the yarn I dyed for a knitting class taught last saturday in Fonda. 4oz balls of worsted 4ply wool, I ~~assimilated~~ had 6 new/newish knitters! Fun was had by all, they are knitting hats.

Ok. You there! Back to work.

Winter 2008 Newsletter

2008-03-12T12:04:00.002-04:00

Vancalcar Acres - Winter 2008 Newsletter

It’s March now, and I like to imagine that winter is almost over, but when last week started out with a foot of new snow, and ended with another 8… well, it’s hard to imagine anything but snow. On the positive side of things, 3 lambs were born last Monday just before the storms – a set of twins and a single. The fact that all were born in the daytime, on dry hay bedding, in the sunshine with no wind means that 2 sheep have finally gotten their acts together on this farm, and we’re just hoping the rest follow suit. Or better yet, wait until spring like they’re supposed to, because we’re not supposed to be lambing in February. I say this every year, and every year we have at least one lamb born in February just so the fates can laugh at me.

On the fiber front, I wonder have you ever heard of the Yarn Harlot? Yes, I’m sure you have. In January, 3 days after I finally snuck my loom into the house and out of the freezing garage with big weav-ish plans… she blogged the Vintage sock kit. And by blog, I mean convince eleventy billion other knitters that they also needed to share in leaf-knitting. Life as we knew it around here ended. I called the mill to order more yarn, just in case. I mean, there wasn’t really a chance of running out of yarn, it was in the triple digits here in poundage but there were the new club kits coming up and it’s best to be prepared. And then in February, I realized, the poundage was now in the double digits and dwindling FAST. The Yarn Harlot officially broke the stash here, and we’ve run out of yarn. Oh, there are skeins here and I’m finishing off as many pending orders as possible, but for all intents & purposes, the cupboards are bare. I’ve called the mill, and begged and pleaded. They do not know who the Harlot is, and were not nearly as impressed with it all as I was. Barring my calling other companies and begging them to cancel their orders to move mine ahead in line, there is nothing to do but wait. I should have yarn the 2nd week in March and I’ll probably be heavily sedated by then with anxiety and frustration.
Besides that, there are several wonderful new things planned for when the yarn DOES arrive. Obviously, filling all the pending orders if the first priority. After that, the first club kit Firebird gets prettied up and sent out the door, and then Cleopatra is released on the world. She is the first club kit from last year, and a beauty. A pattern called ‘Afterthought’ is all but printed, Swan Lake is being tested out (felted boot – how cool), and there are several new colorways I’m dyeing to release (get it? Dyeing?). End of March for the new colors is the goal, we’ll see how it goes what with sleeping and eating interrupting me now & then.
On the family front, don’t tell anyone but we seem to have gotten a complete month’s worth free of colds. Husband is the one who broke the record by bringing home the flu the last Friday in February, and he was sequestered in his room, hibernating for a week. There is not enough hand sanitizer in the world to make me feel completely safe, it’s as if he’s got bubonic or something.
I think that sums things up for now. There are a couple of farm & family related issues that I’m not ready mentally to let loose on the world, some changes around here that have left me wondering a lot about priorities and choices. With everything else going on and as busy as I’ve been, I haven’t been able to concentrate on those things right now and so, we’ll let things ruminate in my mind as I come to grips with a new reality. A good one, to be sure, but different from what I had come to expect.

Thanks for sharing time with us,

Eric, Jennifer and Nora Vancalcar

NOT what I had planned for today.

2008-02-25T16:28:00.004-05:00

There were a ton of kits I had wanted to get mailed out today. A ton.

For some reason, I couldn't seem to get anything finished today. I didn't waste time knitting, I didn't watch tv, or read a book, or sleep in, or watch a movie....

But I DID take a walk through the pasture this morning. I'm not completely certain, but I think this is what caused my problems today. Yes, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that the pasture walk was definately the root of my lack of completed and mailed kits today.

First, I found these:

Then, when I went back out to bring them in the space in the barn I'd made for them, I found THIS:

Frankly, I'm afraid to go out again.

Out the Door.

2008-02-23T10:44:00.010-05:00

Both Roxie and myself, actually.

Roxie in all her infamous glory went out the door Thursday, along with goodies, as the last official 2007 FlockSock Sock Club.

I followed shortly after, for a brief visit to 'the city', staying on Lisa's proverbial couch as it were. I am here officially, to deliver awesome grassfed meats to equally awesome customers in the city. I brought the snow with me from upstate, and with about 3 inches of snow on everything here, at 8am Friday morning I was brought back to consciousness by the sound of a snowmobile. They are a bit desperate for snow here I guess, cause his tracks cleared what little of it there was off the road in his wake. By noon, the plow truck came by actually plowing water. Interesting. Oh well.

Friday marks the first day since the Yarn Harlot did this where I did not dye any yarn at all. Not for lack of trying mind you. As I added bin after container after bucket of stuff for the husband to load in the car, he began to have suspicions that I was not, as stated, 'done' putting stuff by the door when he was not looking. When he noticed the bags of undyed yarn and the bin with dye and spoon (rabbitch, please not the singular of this word).... well, he drew the line. After much discussion and debate about the remaining and pending orders, customers waiting, lives hanging in the balance (ok, maybe that was a bit extreme), he finally won the argument with this one:

"You know what will happen. You'll start dyeing yarn, the 2 of you will start yakking and giggling, you'll FORGET about the yarn and completely RUIN the color you were aiming for and you don't have time for mistakes... blah blah blah."

For the record? Lisa and I do NOT giggle. Cackle maybe, but NOT giggle.

Sniff.

I consoled myself with instead bringing all of the yarn that IS dyed and ready to mail out, which is going out today. So while I'm not actually dyeing any yarn for more consecutive hours than I can even think about (I get a little anxious when I think about it - kind of a precursor to withdrawal I think)... please note that I am being productive on ya'll's behalf. (Yes it's a word. Go visit Texas if you have any doubts.)

My daughter helped me pack, and she reminded me to bring my camera (what a good little blogger), and gave me this so that I would not be lonely and so I would have something to protect my suitcase and clothes from bad guys. (Don't let the pansy colors or the strawberry tattoo fool you. This is really one wicked guard-pony.)

She also gave me a picture of her from the fridge collection, so I would "not forget what she looks like" she says.

The forced moratorium on dyeing any yarn is giving me the time to update the info on club members for the 2008 FlockSock Sock Club, and some other paperwork-ish duties I've been neglecting.

I DID bring knitting, but for some reason, can't bring myself to do more than look at it. I like the project (scarf in a simple wave stitch), I like the yarn (undyed bulky aran-style wool), I am PLANNING the color (it's undyed as I plan to dye it after it's knit), but I think that I feel like it's for 'when everything else is caught up' and so I keep leaving it upstairs. Of course, with this bizarre thought process it will never be finished... oh well. Off to pack up kits to take over to Lisa's post office, which also seems rather bizarre to me. (She mailed me the patterns from this post office, I drove them back here and assembled kits, and mailed them AGAIN from the same post office... weird.)

We interrupt this broadcast....

2008-02-11T00:20:00.000-05:00

"...for a critical 'where's waldo' type scenario - especially if you live in Augusta Georga:"

Florie R. in Augusta GA - - Please call me back!!

Florie is a wonderful knitter in Augusta GA who meets with other wondeful knitters at the local library. They told her all about us over here at chez Vintage and we had a wonderful phone chat when she called me. Now, she says she's not online and so I'm looking for other knitters in Augusta to help me find her. If you'd please have her give me a call ASAP, that would be WONDERFUL. Otherwise, you'll find me calling every library in Augusta, and I don't even know when they meet.

"And now, back to your regularly scheduled broadcast"

It's almost to late!

... to get in on the club, that is.

Here's a hint:

If you haven't heard from me yet regarding your club membership and you've paid for a spot - your in like Flynn. (Bet you didn't know Flynn was a knitter, eh?) I'll have a welcome note out to you in a couple of days.

If you mailed in payment via check/money order, please email me to make sure I have a way to contact you other than just dropping kits out of the blue on you, via the USPS. There are contests & stuff and I'd hate to see you miss them! If your PLANNING to mail me payment via check/money order, let me know asap so I can pin a name to the board for you here.

Yes, I'm still mailing out kits that you wonderful knitters have ordered. Yes (Colleen) I'm still spinning 'the yarn' as it's known by around here.

Talk about your black hole...

2008-02-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

Stephanie mentioned a time loop phenomenon happening with her totally AWESOME Vintage socks. Most knitters have experienced the Black Hole of Knitting during a project where you knit forever and accomplish NOTHING. And then there's that hidey spot in the universe, where the dpns and tape measures go, and sometimes they show up in interesting places giving rise to many theories like elves, gnomes, fairies, and (my favorite) matter-transport as seen in Star Trek (oh I'm waitin' for the day).

A similar thing is going on here, having to do with packages. I dye the yarn, I skein the yarn, I address envelopes and pack the kits, I stuff the envelopes, I take BAGS of packages to the post office (hi Dave the postmaster!), and I deliver them into the waiting hands of the Post Office, U.S. style. I mail between 15 and 25 packages a day on most days. The phenomenon? You still don't have your kit/yarn/package!

If your still waiting, I'm still packing/shipping packages. I appreciate your patience. Yarn for the 101Kits and the Fiber Festival came in, and I've been catching up those.

Some Updates:

Roxie, the last kit of the 2007 FlockSock Sock Club (please refrain from looking at your datebook) is getting ready to ship, along with goodies.
The first kit of the 2008 club is in the works.
Cleopatra is on the horizon as the first kit released this year from last year's club kits.
I think the new-for-Valentine's Day colorway is going to have to wait until March :-)
As soon as they get that matter-transport thing working, your packages will arrive WAY faster. Tell your congressman to get crackin on funding that one, eh?
On March 10th, after all the kits are gone, and I've dyed a whack of that new Valentine-in-March colorway... I'm planning on taking a nap. I'm a little tired so mark your calendars cause I'm taking the phone off the hook for an hour or so.

So Close...

2008-01-27T00:28:00.000-05:00

So Eric & I have been pretty focused lately on numbers. Specifically, the number of skeins of yarn yet to be dyed. We talk about it quite a bit I guess, because this morning before running off with dad to the Library, Nora left me this 'note'.
She told me "this is the number of yarns to dye while I'm gone."
"If you forget, you can look at it until I get home."

Here's the note:

Here's the couch:

She told me when she got home, that I didn't quite get enough done. Taskmaster, that one.

**If you are still waiting for your kit, I appreciate your patience! This past few days (and the current weekend), have been all about dyeing everything needed for the outstanding orders.

Assembly is the name of the game.

I know there's a title here somewhere...

2008-01-20T23:21:00.000-05:00

Hi! I dyed almost 80 skeins of yarn today, how 'bout you? Yesterday's batch(es) are being (re)-skeined, and tomorrow's skeins are prepped & ready to hit the dye pots. Do you know that moment when you feel everything come together, and for one brief shining moment (I feel a show-tune coming on - Camelot here I come) you are one with the universe? Ya, it was a good day.

Tomorrow is a holiday at the post office, so I'll be packing up some eleventy-billion kits to go out bright & early Tuesday morning. I love hitting the post office with more packages than will fit in the building. The post office here is so small, that until the recent postage increase requiring weight AND measurements.... all he had was a scale. Nora loves that post office because she gets to put the stamps on - this place is so small they do not have anything automated. Once or twice I've sent out some hefty boxes. They looked like some old lady who'd been saving stamps finally mailed out that fruit cake she'd baked a billion years ago. Nothing says crazy lady like $17.00 in self-stick stamps covering 1/3rd of the package. (way to use up those .03 cent stamps, small-town postmaster.) If that was your package please know I'm not crazy. The postmaster is.

Good news on the Tsocks 101 Kit and the Fiber Festival Kit: New Base Yarn has been found! After much searching, swatching and testing, a new base yarn to replace the discontinued yarn has been ordered. If you've ordered either (or both) of those kits, the yarn will be here next week, and as soon as the paint's dry, so to speak, your kit will wing it's way to your door.

And look! The latest batch of sheep's milk soap is just about cured.

Ok, the last batch of yarn is done, and my 'break' is over!

update

2008-01-13T14:01:00.000-05:00

I was all set to take pics of yarn today.... and the batteries are dead. For once, we can't blame Nora's Disney Princess Phone... They're in the charger now, but they take a few hours to charge (and I have GOT to remember to turn the camera off after downloading pics).
So in the meantime, just a quick update.

If you've purchased a sock kit or yarn, I'm working on it. It's going to take a few days to get all caught up, but since the dye pots & I live in the same house.... well, let's just say it's more than a 9:00 to 5:00 job around here.

If you've joined the Club (all the cool kids are doing it ya know), expect to hear from me in a few days... still catching up and getting everyone in the database. There's still room... come sign up!

On the health front, we're still suffering a bit from lingering bronchitis & head colds here, and last night I almost had a bit of a panic attack because people, Nora SNEEZED. Twice. Never has such a small reaction to (hopefully) dust or other minor allergens caused such a reaction in me. Quick! Everyone have a zinc swab & some echinacea. Have a couple, and a glass of orange juice while your at it.

I have big plans to log on again tonite with pictures, when I take my next break from the dye pots and knock back another Emergen-C drink, we'll see (film at 11, don't ya know).

4.2 seconds allotted for blog post.

2008-01-10T22:30:00.001-05:00

Ready? Go!

First, for those of you who participated in the recent Secret Santa Project, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I do, but she does it better:

"OMG! Thank you soooo much to anyone who may have contributed!
I am so excited and happy and CRYING!
You have no idea how much this just made my day!
You tell those folks that I LOVE THEM TOO!!! Thank you all so much, I can hardly take it all in!"

I think she's happy, don't you? Here's what we gave her:

There's just a WHACK of yarn there, from STR to alpaca, from lace to worsted. A lovely collection of Avon goodies. Gift cards from Target, Home Depot, and Meijer (that's a midwest grocery/everything chain. Those of you who've never been in one, don't know what your missing). Movies for the kids (and family) to enjoy, and what's that in the background? A digital camera! (I feel just like Bob Barker.)
For those of you who contributed via check or paypal, you helped purchase the grocery card at Meijer, as well as these items she'd been doing without (they shipped directly to her):
You guys are the best!

Now! On to new 'news'. Just as I begin to recover from bronchitis... Barely recovered enough to get up off the floor... but in time to hit the ground running:

In case you hadn't already heard, the Yarn Harlot is a leaf-lover. (No, that's not a new term for tree-hugger.) She picked up a Vintage Kit at Rhinebeck and has begun knitting.... leaves. Go see the wee things, I'll wait here.
Aren't they great? They are great. They are also the reason why I only have 4.2 seconds to blog this evening. I have to go dye leaf-yarn! Lots and lots of leaf-yarn. To go with lots and lots of Vintage Kits. So, the dye pots are dyeing, the skeins are drying, and the dyer is well... dyeing.

And it's a multi-tasking party over here:

**Note to Colleen: 2/3rds of the way through your yarn ma'm.
**Note to Holly: almost finished carding your fleece!
**Knittingfiddler: I have NOT forgotten your 'best socks ever' project that languishes here.
**Tsarina: 'hand' yarn, navy blue yarn, flames & stuff. ya, ya. It's on the list.
**Susan: Yarn Party custom colorway: Got it, you'll have it.
**JanetK: Your replacement contest winnings have not been forgotten, and we hates that they were lost. (To whoever at the post office has some lovely yarnz now, give em' back - they are not yurz.)

Anybody need anything else? Bring it on. I've got cold medicine and caffiene: I can take the pressure. (now if you'll excuse me, I need to go collapse in a heap and has anyone seen mommy's bottle of wine?)

Someone asked...

2008-01-02T23:37:00.000-05:00

I was trying to tell someone recently about this picture, it used to be on the website a long time ago (in a galaxy... well, nevermind). Anyways, I found it stashed on the ol' desktop in the bedroom, so for a walk down memory lane... I give you the rams. Not the brightest, ok, well one of them is obviously smarter than the other, but rams none the less.

'the box' (and some yarn stuff)

2007-12-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

Colleen has asked for an update - and while I WAS collating email addresses and putting together an email to the folks interested.... this is way easier. (DUH moment)

So, 'the box' has made huge progress here. A couple of Target gift cards have arrived to be stuffed in the box, and emails from 3 people that packages of goodies are on their way to me for the box, mailed out to me either yesterday or today.

Some of the cash donations thru paypal went to good use yesterday. Santa found out about a couple of things that had been long on a waiting list for her (score 1 for ebay) and they are on their way to her today, ahead of 'the box'. I don't want to spoil it for Santa and tell you what was purchased so you'll have to wait until after 'the box' and the wishlist items are received.

A check came in the mail that I've combined with other cash donated towards a gift card at the local grocery chain for the family. I grew up with this grocery chain and I'm here to tell you that it's not just food - it's pharmacy, clothing, housewares, you name it - it's there. And it's not wal-mart... This chain has had everything in their stores since before I was born (and we will not discuss that date any further). Anyways, a dollar goes a long way there and I'd love to see this amount doubled... right now it's at $75.00. You can paypal me funds at gwynivar @ hotmail dot com and put 'secret santa' in the comment/note/subject line.

Still waiting on some things coming in the mail that folks have emailed me they were sending. If you've mailed it to me, please let me know so I can anticipate things here. If you have not mailed it but still want to, get your keester to the Post Office asap. I'd like to get this box on it's way Jan. 2nd at the latest - depending on who emails me with cries of "It's on it's way!!".

**Very Important: If you commented that you wanted to participate but have not had a chat with me via email or Ravelry mail, you need to get in touch with me asap at jennifer @ nysfarm dot com. I have not ignored anyone, I simply could not find your email address thanks to the blogger system. There is still time to play your part as Santa for a family making ends meet - out of the string in her stash. Give me a shout!

********************

Yarn Stuff:

For xmas, I knit my MIL a scarf. Nora announced she wanted to dye it. And so, the scarf:

And then here's Nora getting ready to dye it....

And, the finished scarf (we won't discuss what time christmas eve this photo was taken):

Pat, Lisa, you'll please take note of a couple important things here. First and foremost, I FINISHED A PROJECT. Second, it even has design 'features' (not mistakes or 'bugs').

Big deal you say, it's a scarf! Ya, well, Pat & Lisa know that knitting hasn't EXACTLY been my forte lately. I've knit circular lace shawls on the fly in the past, but recently haven't been able to knit, well, anything without completely screwing it up so we're pretty pleased with the basics right now. So, if you'll excuse me, I've got an appt with an ice pack for the migraine. Ta for now!

The other side of the black hole.

2007-12-26T15:04:00.001-05:00

Apparently, my house is the other side of the knitter's blackhole.

Could someone let The Harlot know that I found her tape measure? Thanks.

Pics (found the camera cable)

2007-12-20T13:08:00.001-05:00

So, if my daughter were made of money, this is how she would look:

***********************************

I don't know how they do things where you live when it snows like a new ice age is starting, but here... folks get to work just like any other day, just using different modes of transportation.

This is Casey, who works here on the farm for me. The storm closed the schools but didn't keep her from coming to work! I must say, excellent work ethics out here in farm country. And no, she is not looking for work. She's mine. All mine. (dudes, she even gets to work here EARLY.)

******************************

These are some of the skeinlets/balls of colors ready to go into colorwork for The Nine Tailors:

I missed something in my 'in progress list' on my last post... Colleen - I am spinning as fast as I can!!

*************************

Ok, about this secret santa thing. It's not going to be in time for christmas, but perhaps that makes it all the better. I met someone the other day. No not THAT kind of someone - I already got me one of those!

This was a someone who touched my heart. There's this family see, with not much in the pocket so to speak, but plenty in the heart. There is a spirit here that deserves to be preserved, lifted up, and promoted to continue. Without this kind of person in the world, it would be a darker, quieter, bleak world. She supports her family with things you and I take for granted. And she has dreams, people. Go to school sort of Big dreams. And you know what? They really have very little to do with herself until you realize that the most important thing to her.... is helping others. She has nothing, and the most important thing to her is getting things in order so that she can give to others.
I don't think she reads my blog, and she doesn't know I'm doing this. I would like to ask those of you with a little extra, to help me out here. I've got a box. I am filling the box. She is a knitter. You see where I'm going with this maybe? Maybe not. Sure, I want to fill the box with yarn, but I also want to fill the box with the things she needs. Family to support, husband who works very hard and 3 beautiful children to raise with strong values. So, I'd like to add some gift cards. Wal-mart, Target, the local grocery chain. If you'd like to help in that way, and can pretend for a moment that you have another person on your christmas shopping list, then send me an email at jennifer @ symbol nysfarm dot com and we'll put something together. If you'd like to send on some stash that needs a good home where her knitting literally clothes the family, email me for that as well and we'll work that out.
I leave you with this thought. Take a look at what you spend on 'required' items each month. Now, take a look at your grocery bill. Could you support a family of 5 on half of that? on a quarter of that?

Added afterthought: Folks, thank you for pitching in. For those of you who've left comments wanting to do your part.... if you haven't heard from me it's because blogspot has not given me your email address or you forgot to fill it in. I've tried all day to send you psychic vibes, but obviously sunspots are getting in the way or something.
You really need to email me for best results here at jennifer @ nysfarm dot com.

Quickly!

2007-12-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

So Eric & I both have terrible head colds (again)... have simply slogged through life here, moving from room to room (or, kleenex box to kleenex box if you look at it from my point of view) forcing myself to at least keep going because some progress is at least SOME progress.
So, until I find the camera cable, this post is pictureless but here's the finished list:

The Nine Tailors: Mailed out, every single lovin' one of them. And this should have way more to it, because what it really means that I've finished is this:

dyed what felt like hundreds of skeins of what someone on Lisa's blog titled 'floodwater gray'
dyed and divided smaller skeins of cuff gold
dyed really only a couple each of the 8 colors for the color patternwork cause each sock only needs a couple of yards each.....
and then wound those all into balls and divided them into smaller balls for each kit (you'll be thrilled to know I pulled them all at the same time saving myself from winding each color individually, wound them into a center-pull ball, put each one in a small ziplock with the center-pull ready to knit. No work for you :) I have pictures, but can't find the cable.
Remembered to put one of each (main color, cuff color, packet of colorwork colors, AND emerald bead packet) and a pattern book into it's own little ziplock (love ziplock) and mail them.

One Rosy Hat: Finished - it's slated for a spot in a store on Thursday

Christmas packages mailed to (most) family members.

Still on the to-do:

Make soap - that's what I'm doing right now, this blogging is just a figment of your imagination.

mail the REST of the xmas stuff today.

start brown hat to be finished by I would say the 23rd at the latest...

order cousin Austin's 'stuff' for them to mail today.

order Grandma's 'stuff' for them to mail today.

Finish project for MIL coming for xmas. (feel free to re-read that last one, it's a whopper, since I just cast on last night and Nora wants to dye it when it's done so it's in boring white right now)

Finish mystery gift

If anyone has any ideas for Eric that do not involve knitting a sweater in record time, or moving to the beach cause he's sick of snow, please let me know. So far I have one of those Toblerone Chocolate Oranges you 'whack' to break into slices. Not much for christmas presents, ya know?

Find camera cable.

So, that's the to-do list for today. All bets are off.

Oh, and remind me to tell you all about my 'secret santa' idea cause I'm going to need your help to make it really good.

It snowed here...

2007-12-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

Am I not the cutest?

Belated B

2007-11-27T23:58:00.003-05:00

They definately do not ever never, go in these:

Or these, the summer version:

Or even in the 'dress-up' summer version. (If you see these at TSC, do NOT buy them. The sun won't heat your feet up as in the regular summer boots above, but they will also not last more than 2 weeks. These must be the Martha Stewart version, meant to look good but have someone else do the actual work.)

No, no. These go here with butt in chair and feet up on stool, being admired by passerbys forced to stop yet again and admire them.

Want a closer look?

When Lisa was last with us here at chez critters, she pulled a sample out she'd been busily knitting on to show me. I was really liking the color, thought it knit up really cool in such & such pattern she was using. She looked at me as if I'd grown another head, and told me "well YOU dyed it!!". Hmm. thinks I. Really? But it looks so... awesome! I did THAT? I'm still surprised when I knit something I've dyed and it not only actually works like regular ol' yarn when 2 sticks are applied, but looks good doing it (the project, not my ass), I'm surprised.

So anyways, when I opened the package from Lisa and saw the socks, I turned to Eric and told him "if Lisa tells me that I dyed that, I'm making a dr's appt for myself because something is seriously wrong with my brain to not remember the absolute most amazing colors." And plus, it's REALLY shiny.

Well, thankfully, my brain cells such as they are, are not failing me. I do not remember it, because I did not dye it (score one for the brain). Astrid did!! How cool is this, that the dyer dyes yarn for the knitter making socks for her OTHER dyer friend. You need to totally check out her etsy shop. Run, don't walk - er, type asap because she is all about the awesome, bold colors. Not only that, but the shiney part? This is bamboo blend yarn. The colorway is Bamboo Forest and the pattern is being called 'You Jane'. So we have my yarn, off to Astrid, dyed and snatched away by Lisa, back to me where it originated. Wickedly awesome circle, I must say. She has more of it there for sale, you should clean her out of stock. (How many of you are there, anyways?)

So anyways, these totally awesome socks are mine as part of a belated birthday present that also included 2 of the totally new Harmony needles from knitpicks in size 1's. Lisa has a gift coming from me as well, and no I didn't go to another designer and ask for a sock pattern for Lisa. I xxxxxxxx and xxxx some lovely xxxxx in very nice colors of xxxx xxxxx and xxxx. It's interesting to xxxx the xxxx because I don't get time to do that much anymore. It's part of a small xxxx that got started on xxxxxxxx, though it's been a few, I hope she remembers that! Because of the 'when are you coming' question, I put off sending her gift longer than she held off on mine, and so it's here.

If there's a fire here, I'm going back for my hand-knit socks.

Oh, and btw. Please note there are indeed 2, count em' 2 socks in the picture. 2 feet, 2 socks. Lisa can indeed finish a PAIR of socks.

Hey, whatcha looking for?

2007-11-24T17:47:00.000-05:00

Have you found my contact lense yet? Keep looking!

"Jennifer has potential, but has problems following directions...."

2007-11-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

.... says more teacher comment/report cards than I care to discuss from my stay in public institutions.

(Pat, thank you for the positive thoughts on my knitting. This post, is dedicated to you. Enjoy.)

So I have a friend in Michigan who has the loveliest Icelandic sheep in 48 states and 3 countries. And the best smelling as well, she has a lavender farm. Go look, I'll wait. See what I mean? Anyways, she knits these wonderful felted hats, large brim, fancy shmancy - she puts great buttons or effects on them etc. Anyways, I wanted to be that talented and so she graciously shared the directions. They were straightforward. I could so do this. I got yarn, I got needles, and I started following directions. Well, sorta. You see, I had the same yarn she used with awesome results but just wanted to knit a 'test hat' so I got guage using 3 strands of 'Car Cozy' (which still needs a new name chosen - I haven't forgotten). No problem.

Now, I've knit felted hats in the past, lots actually (but just your basic rolled brim hat felted with not much brim or shaping) with no problems. So, when I started reading the cast/on number I was stunned. It was way more than I expected. It couldn't possibly be right. I cast on the smallest number for the smallest size, and started knitting. This was huge. I looked ahead in the pattern and saw all sorts of directions that made no sense including increases and decreases in places that really shouldn't matter. Obviously I was going to have to edit things. My friend must have misunderstood what pattern I was wanting. So, on about row 15, I started decreasing down to the largest size of MY pattern I usuually made, hoping to salvage this hat. I have also in the past started my decrease point a bit to early, so I used the pattern direction for 'guidance' on how many rows to knit before beginning the decreases for the crown. I noted that the decrease/crown rows in the pattern were also sadly bizarre and obviously not going to produce the desired hat shape and so I skipped that as well, and used my own good judgement on that section as well.

So without further ado Pat, I give you my felted hat.

Here it is after knitting. The marker is for scale, it's a regular ol' whiteboard marker. The color changes look better felted, that's expected.

It seems a bit big to me, but the hat was supposed to have more brim than the ones I normally knit, and felting solves a lot of problems... right?

I somehow couldn't find the next picture this morning, (lost to the laptop crash) but suffice it to say that it came out of the wash flat. Like a frisbee, flat. No 'hat' shaping at all. Pancake. So, I took some of the gray yarn used to knit it, and pinched in four corners and felted it again.

It does look a little better in person, I felted it again and used it at Rhinebeck to display cobweb weight yarn skeins. That picture is missing as well... oh well.

Search Words

2007-11-20T11:19:00.000-05:00

So thankfully, not much in the way of folks finding this blog looking for beautiful ice land ic gi rls anymore (sorry for the spaces but we don't want to start those searches again, now do we).

However, a consistant number of folks search and find this blog by way of children and medicine, so here goes.

"four year old taking cough medicne"
"tylenol or motrin for fever in kids"
"four year old can't keep cough medicine down"

you get the picture.

Here's my advice for those of you searching. Robitussin cough syrup works. Triaminic night time cold and cough really isn't just for nighttime, nor does it make my daughter sleepy since they changed out the old pseudoephedrine for phenylephrine. It seems to counteract the diphenhydramine HCI (benadryl) in the med. It is prob. the easiest for her to drink straight. Try bribing with a half stick of kit kat (for pete's sake don't give them the whole stick or the whole package - they don't need it.
If they can't keep the ~~vile tasting and revolting~~ medicine down, try spiking their O.J. however, don't lie. They know it's in there, so just put it in with a couple of oz not a whole glass. No sense prolonging the torture by forcing a whole glass of 'wrong' tasting O.J. Do not mix it with jello, it's gross. period.
If they can't keep it down, it could be the gag reflex from the amount of sugar/sweetener combined with the revolting flavor, try the O.J.
If it's coming back up several min. later, get them to eat first. Risk of more to clean up, but less risk overall if their stomach isn't shocked by the sweetener/meds. Crackers. Maybe some peanut butter on them.

Tylenol vs. Motrin. Motrin. Definately. It lasts 6 hours, tylenol only goes the distance for 4. If you want to swap them out, use the motrin at night.

Keep notes. jot down the fever temp, the time and the meds you give out. you may need it if you go to the doctor, because you may be short on brain cells/sleep by then.

Questions in the middle of the night? Some local hospitals have an ask-a-nurse, some insurance companies have them. Find out who does before kids get sick so you already know who you might call for advice including dosing advice when multiple meds are needed.

Good Luck!

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program. If you'll excuse me, it's Thanksgiving in a couple of days and I really ought to plan something or we'll be having hotdogs.

Update/Ammendment:

Colleen makes an excellent point about homeopathic remedies and their use. In fact, I totally forgot to mention my love for a product called zicam. Even my daughter will use the nasal swabs, because they don't smell AT ALL, and face it. Kids like to stick things in their noses. At least this one is supervised, and it stops a cold and the symptoms pretty durn fast. Love me some zicam nasal swabs! See some on sale? Pick me up a box.
Also, husband swears by the Airborne product, I picked them up for him a few weeks ago. He's feeling like they work, and he's pretty dubious of such hocus pocus things. My daughter will not take that product though, even the childs version Pixie something. We tried one, she ate some of it, but then said it was 'spicy'. And wouldn't touch it. It's not meant for water though, it's just a powder you pour on your tongue. She opted to 'dip' her spoon in it instead. Oh well. Off to drink my echinacea tea (DUH- another one) made by Traditional Medicinals. I've used several of their teas with great success for other things.

Thanks Colleen!

Answers etc.

2007-11-19T10:54:00.000-05:00

Gretchen - this post is for you, I cannot reply to your comment regarding the sheep's milk soap, please email me directly at jennifer at nysfarm dot com and I'll answer all your quesitons, because it is slightly different than making goat's milk soap.

Thank you miss Tsarina, I was hoping to avoid the obvious 'I'm a dork' thing with the truck... it was low on water/antifreeze 'stuff'. That's what happens when you overheat. I was so focused on the fact that the vehicle leaks oil and that problem = oil, I neglected to actually apply a brain cell to the actual problem. Overheating = radiator, not oil.. Now, I wonder if there are any problems from having more than the required amount of oil in a vehicle?

Still recovering (ever the optimist) from the strep/bronchitis thing. Taking WAY less cold meds & codiene... not sure what I'm going to use for an excuse now for my dork attacks though.

Have attempted knitting something again, it's a bit chilly for a dip in the frog pond but you can't leave crap on the needles forever so I'm back to staring at balls of yarn. Am I the only one here who finds it ironic to have basically, a stash registering in the triple digits in POUNDAGE (even if most of it is undyed) but who is unable to knit a single project successfully, other than knit hats that are NOT felted (that's another blog post all by itself.)? And, on a slightly different thought on the knitting idea, what do you call it when there are so many things you want to knit that you do not cast on any of them at all but instead have anxiety issues because of all the things you want to knit?
I want to have some of that 'mindless knitting' to do while waiting for the water to boil etc. I seem to be the black hole of mindless though (let's think about THAT one for a moment, shall we?). All those times your knitting and you feel like you've measured, gotten 11 inches of knitting, knit a bazillion rows in 3 hours and still have only 11 inches, it's my fault. All of the stitches you've knit got sucked into the black hole, and ended up here to be part of a frogged project. You knit them, I try to knit anything and end up frogging your stitches. Sorry.
The knitting issue here is getting pretty sad really. Recently I've even managed to screw up knitting in the round on round 1. C/O 12 stitches, divide onto dpn, knit 1 row. At the end of row 1, I had 13 stitches. And I didn't just carry the yarn over the needle at one of the 'corners', and yes I started with 4 stitches each on 3 needles I counted them twice, and I could not find an increase stitch. I'm just lucky this way. Being as how casting on dpn's is annoying, I knit the next round and k2tog. I've made it half way through that pattern now, and it resembles the picture in no way shape or form. pictures later when batteries are charged.

Stranded.

2007-11-17T23:31:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I had several errands to run. Post office, Bank, feed-mill... basic run of the mill (get it? mill?) stuff. Anyways, I'm driving 'old blue' right now, the farm truck. In every sense of the phrase 'farm truck'. Ol' Blue is a chevy, she's old, and she's ugly. I've had other farmers get a ride in ol blue and exclaim "wow! this really IS a farm truck!"
The passenger side door does not open from the inside, and the purty blue vinyl covering is gone, leaving the polite but obviously cardboard frame cover of the door exposed. The window also is stuck, thankfully mostly up but leaving year-round fresh air (and rain, and snow) through the 1/2 inch gap at the top.
The driver side door, not only is missing the vinyl cover as well, but is also missing the polite cover the passenger door still maintains. The only way the driver side door opens from the inside, is to give a practiced downward tug on the heavy guage wire that's been knotted around the door jimmie-thing as an anchor. The window is the bane of my driving existance. It falls. straight down with a thump if you hit a bump just right. It no longer startles me onto the shoulder of the road, but it's annoying. In the rain and the snow. Thankfully, that purty cover is missing, so you can actually LIFT the window back into position and put the complex holding mechanism back in place. The mechanism? 2 x 4 cut at an angle and wedged between the bottom of the window and the bottom of the door. Oh, and if the bump in the road doesn't bring the window down, it will jar the door loose, leaving it in that 1/2 closed place car doors go to when you don't close them with enough 'oomph'. So, you do occasionally find yourself performing the following maneuver:
hit bump, jar door (see new draft, rain and snow).
practiced twist and pull of opening lever to open door slightly, and slam closed in an upwards motion to attempt to FINALLY get it tight enough to stay closed.
Pull over to fix window because you slammed the door hard enough to drop the window.
Repeat at next bump in the road.
The tailgate closes VERY tightly. Probably because it's bent. To get it open, my hubby can give it a swift tug, but he's taller and strong than I am. I have to climb into the back of the truck via the hitch (bumper? what bumper?) and kick it open, coincidentally making my muck boots really and true, 'shxx-kickers'.
The plow on the front end works just fine though. And if you need to go somewhere and the plow is attached, please remember to lift it back UP into place periodically as the hydrolics don't quite hold anymore, and you'll eventually be plowing the state roads for the county.
The radio works, and the heater works, and with those 2 things (and the complex holding mechanism for the window), I can go anywhere in my farm truck.

Except apparently, to the post office, bank, and feed mill. You see, I have to be back in time for the school bus. The truck overheated on the side of the road, roughly 4 miles from home... and 4 miles from town. Take your pick. I opted for town because there was a propane company 1/2 way there and I could at least use the phone. I had 2 hours, no problem.
Did I mention the 36 degree day with blowing snow occasionally? Anyways, thankfully a neighbor I knew (ok, I recognized the truck better than I recognized him) stopped and picked me up. Took me to town, I bought oil (the truck leaks oil - did I mention that? Husband says "any problems, add oil.") and he took me back to the truck. Dropped me off. I could not get the hood open. Did I mention, that to get the hood to open, you need to pull on the cord attached to the latch under the hood that kinda hangs out from under the hood? Made of telephone cable?
Couldn't open hood. 1 1/2 hours left. Took the chance, truck engine had cooled off and I drove home slowly. Stopped at a friend's farm, no one home. Stopped at another friend's farm, no one home. 2 more farms? oh ya, no one home. Where the heck are all the freakin' farmers who farm for a living?? Oh ya... deer season.
Now as I pulled back in the driveway having accomplished none of my tasks, but in time for the bus (which was all that really mattered to me), I reflected on our reliance on these machines. I was talking to a friend about it later that evening who commented on all of the new Amish families in the region who've moved up from Pennsylvania and how they have it much easier in that respect because they just hook up the ol' horse & buggy. Of course, I drove by an Amish farm a few weeks ago to see in dismay a horse in the pasture.... 4 legs in the air. I guess at least he wasn't stranded on the side of the road 4 miles from home!!

Now's Your Chance!

2007-11-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

FlockSock Club 2008 is OPEN - Sign-up now!

2007 isn't over yet, and the club has seen some awesome socks already this year , with a couple still to come.

2008 looks to be just as amazing as Lisa takes Art for Your Feet to new levels of design, fit, fashion, comfort and fun.

And, even though the club doesn't officially start until next year, there is already a contest running - why wait until next year for the fun to start? Sign up before Dec. 15th to be entered in a drawing for a Bag o' Goodies from the Tsarina of Tsocks and the Yarn Fairy. Heck, the Chocolate Fairy might even smack her wand into things a few times. (You do know there's such a thing as a Chocolate Fairy, right?)

So, visit the website today for full details and feel free to email me with any questions.

And, btw, thank you so much for the Birthday Wishes last week!

(more) Things I've learned from the child.

2007-11-05T12:36:00.000-05:00

She's now 5, and I learn something new all the time from her. Like most recently...

Rule # 64 Always keep an extra toothbrush on hand. You never know when the current toothbrush may be used for something other than teeth.
Associated Tip: When you send her in to wash her hands, and she comes out with dry hands, and her toothpaste to tell you it's almost gone, you should get up and go see WHY.

I was in denial and instead simply sent her back in to actually wash her hands. It wasn't until I realized that the noises were not the right 'noises' that I went to investigate. And found her vigorously scrubbing the entire sink basin with her toothbrush. Now for someone out there, that might not be a super huge issue, but dudes. We work in the barn on a farm. With the animals, and the things animals DO, and then come in and WASH OUR HANDS in THAT sink. No harm, new toothbrush at the ready, and the sink smells refreshingly of strawberry now.

In other news, Nora & I are home sick - have been all weekend with a nasty head-cold. No new laptop, and not much else really.

Today is November 5th.
Notably today, FDR was re-elected for the 3rd time.
Susan B Anthony was fined $100.00 for attempting to vote for Ulysses S. Grant (you go girl) and she was arrested on this day a couple years later for attempting to vote.
Guy Fawkes attempted treason,

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

And Art Garfunkel & I share a Birthday. Now I know why I like his music. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for our cold medicine.

2007-10-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

Vancalcar Acres
www.nysfarm.com
518-993-4326

Summer 2007 Newsletter

It’s fascinating to listen to the good ol’ boys talk about the weather. This year was dry. Last year was wet. Winter was harder than usual. Crops don’t like the heat. After several years of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that there never is a really good weather year. There’s always something that goes wrong, and for someone, it will. Dry heat is good for the alfalfa. Lots of rains are good for the grass hay. There’s nothing to be done about any situation, and I think that’s why we spend so much time discussing it. Because we have no control over the ‘acts of God’ issues in our environment, it makes our entire career of farming a bit of a crap shoot. A critical piece of the puzzle and you have no control. It’s no wonder we tend to fixate on it around here.

As summer winds down, and the geese begin migrating, I realize how fast and far we’ve come around here this past year. Last summer, we struggled to maintain the health of both ewes and lambs who were fighting strong parasite loads and foot problems. It was a very hard year. This summer, we’ve had a drought to fight with. Ponds are low, and the wells are at critical levels. We’ve tried to be very gentle with water consumption, so the animals get what they need, but perhaps the garden could have done better.

This year we started out by lambing more than we’ve ever done. We exposed almost 300 ewes on Christmas Day last year, giving us a scheduled lambing of mid-May. After swearing we wouldn’t have lambs earlier, we actually managed to almost meet that goal, and only a couple of ewes lambed in the winter months. Pollinated. Then in April, we thought we’d give a try to adding milking to the farm, and picked up a flock of 40 or so milking ewes from a nearby dairy. Then the purchase of the equipment for that project fell through, leaving us with productive ewes but no milking equipment. We lambed them out a month before the main flock, and got almost 100 lambs out of those girls. Never saw so many triplets! A week after they finished, the main group began. We did not combine the 2 groups, because of several issues, but this meant that we now had 2 separate groups to maintain. The workload grew. By the end of summer, there was the dairy flock, the main flock, the lamb group, and a temporary adoption of some Rambouillet who needed a home, as well as the group of culls recovering in the barn yard… oh ya, and some pigs & cows J

Once lambing began in earnest, we were flat out around here for some time. We had hired on a high-school student to help out with lambing, chores, yarn, you name it – Casey did it. She’s still with us, and very helpful. After careful tagging of lambs up over the 250 lamb mark (not counting the first 90 some from the dairy flock), I admit we got a little tired. The lambing pasture was quite large, the girls were quite spread out, and it was almost impossible to move them to tighter pastures because of the number of lambs. We stopped counting/tagging lambs, and simply began walking the pasture to assist with problem births, or pick up ‘donated’ lambs to be added to the bottle-lamb group.

The farm had over 400 lambs born this spring. We were exhausted, and the summer was just beginning. Because of our decision to lamb later in the spring (warmer weather, better feed, easier on the shepherd) with a mild winter (until February when we got 9 feet of snow that is), we had more singles than expected…. and heavier lambs. Heavier lambs translated politely into difficult and sometimes traumatic lambing episodes. Typical newborn lamb weights should be around 7-8lbs here. We were seeing singles pushing 11-14 lbs. Moms were unhappy, and so were we. There were several new bottle lambs because of difficult and long labors – the ewe just gave up and had no energy to accept lambs, or walked away in shock. Some came into the barn and were penned with their lambs, recovered, and were fine. Others were lambs found in the pasture, with no idea who the mother was. Occasionally, I was even able to graft or force an adoption of one found lamb to a ewe who was lambing and now thinks she has twins. All in all, it was a hard lambing session on everyone.

Learning from the previous year’s parasite struggle and chronic foot problems, we began culling for repeat offenders in both categories. We started semi-regular foot baths through the chute to get ahead of foot problems and stop them before they started, and added several worming sessions to the flock over the summer. Costly all of them, but worth it in the long-run. As a very dry summer progressed, Eric was able to make all of the hay we would need for the winter himself and for the first time, we were not going to need to buy in hay. Usually, we would have grazed those hay fields a few weeks later as the grass grew back, but this summer was so dry that we were unable to come back to them until just a couple of weeks ago. This meant we leased a few extra acres from a farm behind ours, and grazed there instead. More than a mile’s walk at some points to go feed the dog out there! We definitely get our exercise around here.

The yarn business has continued to grow. Last fall, I had no idea we would be doing this, the sock kits were almost a last-minute idea for Rhinebeck and I had a whopping 13lbs of sock yarn in stock. This year, we’ve just over half way through a year-long Sock Club, have new sock kits, a shawl kit, and 2 new sock yarns. In stock now? Sock yarn in the triple digits. What a difference! And what a struggle. Both sheep and yarn are a full-time job, when you add in the household and my daughter Nora. I began doing the dyeing at night after she would go to bed, dyeing yarn until midnight, and managing farm ‘stuff’ during the day. Although, I must say that occasionally when we’d dye during the day, she would often dye her own yarn and she really produced some lovely painted yarns! Some folks say that Nora should have her own line of yarns, but every time I think of putting them up for sale… I falter. Forgive me for wanting my daughter’s yarn in my own stash for a while J Maybe someday.

Some things that were in the plan for this year, never came into being. Farmer’s markets were one. We had plans of being vendors with at least one market, and we did apply… and I’m grateful now that they put us on a waiting list. As the salesman of the family, I think I might have had a meltdown adding this to the weekly chore list. I try to put out four newsletters per year, and I know we’re short on that this year. Milking sheep? Quite relieved that never happened. We would have started milking just about the same time lambing was in full swing for the main group of sheep. Nothing like 4am to slave in the barn for 3 hours to start an already sleep-deprived day! We still need to pick up several bottle calves to raise for beef, and I’m afraid we are already 6 months behind on that project. Knowing it will take 2 years to raise them out on grass means we are really behind the curve on that one… The dye-day on the farm weekend almost happened. The dates that looked good conflicted with to many interested folks, and so it’s on the drawing board for next spring, depending on lambing dates which have not been decided yet.

All in all, this was a long and difficult summer. We learned our limits and ways to cope with those limits. We learned that the proper equipment makes all the difference because we finally purchased critical chute equipment rather than spend another summer jerry-rigging things together. That helped quite a bit and without that, I’m sure you’d have found us trampled under the mob at some point. I’ve also learned that it’s getting a little harder to recover from long days, followed by long nights dyeing yarn! We will not speak of how the realization of my actual age came to me one night, and that I’m not a teenager anymore, and that’s all we’ll say!

We sacrificed a lot of ourselves this summer. There wasn’t any time to really enjoy what we have here as a farm, to do the things we wanted to, to take any time off… But wait. Perhaps you didn’t know either what we’ve just really realized: This is the life of the farmer. Not the hobby farmer, who can have the neighbor feed the 6 pet sheep in the barn for a 3 day weekend get-away, but the farmer who worries when he hears the coyotes singing and the guard dog barking. Who learns that if at that point, even though they are a mile away, if you don’t hear sheep also baa-ing at the same time, then everything is as it should be. If you suddenly hear the sheep as well… then you’d better get your pants on and find the flashlights because something bad is going on and it’s your job to take care of it or lose stock. Perhaps even a guard dog doing their job. There’s no sleeping in. There’s no vacation. There’s no time off. There’s hay because the rains are coming, and bottle lambs depending on you twice a day to survive. And there’s a four year old who gets to feed ‘her’ bottle lamb, and help it escape from the pen to run up & down the barn with her, following behind like Mary in the Nursery Rhyme. And then having to explain to her why he got sick.

Well, I didn’t realize quite what a book I’d be writing here, or how mildly stressful it may seem. We have had a busy summer. It wasn’t all good, and it wasn’t all bad either. There were beautiful sunsets, and there were lighting storms and rainbows. There were lambs, and helping lambs being born, and four year olds who show the visiting customers’ children the baby pigs and just-hatched chicks. And there is even the four year old who one day, crouched behind her horse stuffed animal named ‘mommy horse’. I asked her what she was doing, and she shushed me and whispered that she was “helping this mommy”. She reached under the mommy horse’s tail, and said “I feel a foot”, and then proceeded to pull out the smaller horse (named ‘baby horse’) she’d hidden under the mommy. Don’t ask my daughter where babies come from, she figured it out for herself when she was three. I am amazed and awed by this life, wouldn’t trade this past busy year for anything. I’m sure some changes will occur so we are not quite so flat out next year, but that’s what you do when you learn and grow; you change.

Thank you for sharing this year with us, even if at some times you might have felt like we’d forgotten about you… we didn’t.

Sincerely,

Jennifer, Eric, Nora, Oscar the sheepdog, Mia the Guard dog, and to many sheep to count.

Last Call for Carnivores

2007-10-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

If you've kept up, you know that I've offered to bring 'the package' to you at Rhinebeck.

This is your last chance to get on the list, and get your goods. I'm invoicing those interested tonight - that's the ~~plan~~ vague idea, anyways! So email me, remember I cannot reply to the comments - blogger doesn't see fit to provide me with your email address (and for heaven's sake don't put it in the comment).

I'm bringing 'goods' Friday night for saturday pick-ups by you at my booth 26D at Rhinebeck, as early as possible please... and please please please - bring your cooler - I do not have a spare for you! There is a chance for deliveries late saturday evening or Sunday morning if I can't get it all in the truck or you can't make it on Saturday when my husband comes down (darn day-tripper) - he can bring a cooler full as well.

Don't miss out!

The Plan.

2007-10-12T22:35:00.000-04:00

(by the way, if any of you know me at all, you know that even making a plan was my first mistake. Our slogan/motto around here is 'we don't have plans... only vague ideas'. There should be t-shirts.)

So. Here's the plan, in mid-september:

Plan: No problem. Rhinebeck is weeks away. I'll just dye an extra 5 or 6 skeins a day until then, and I'll have tons of yarn for the show.

(insert vague wondering feeling.... 'how much yarn does one BRING to a show this size?')

Reality: What's that? The sheep need to be wormed and husband has injured his hand? no problem. Trusty farm hand Casey (a.k.a. jack of all trades, a.k.a. yarn slave) & I can handle that. 250 ewes and their 290 offspring: wormed.

*******

Plan: No problem. Rhinebeck is weeks away. I'll just dye an extra... oh, 10 skeins a day until then, and I'll be ready for the show.

(insert vague wondering feeling... 'how many of each kit should we take to this shin-dig?')

Reality: What's that you say? The chickens are ready for butchering, the flock needs to be moved to new pasture across the road, across the creek, up the hill and behind the back 40? No problem... , say honey, how's the hand? hmm, still sore. okee dokee, if we work together...

*******

Plan: No problem. Rhinebeck is weeks away. I'll just dye an extra... oh, dozen skeins a day until then, and I'll be ready for the show.

(insert vague wondering feeling... 'how the heck are we going to get this stuf to the show? The guy fixing the van hasn't called back in weeks - hope we still OWN a van... mental note to call him tomorrow.)

Reality: Oh right! Butcher chickens. Totally slipped my mind. No problem. Get up at butt-crack of dawn, start setup for butchering, get daughter out of the area.... 4 hours later, still several birds to go, vultures are starting to gather and my work table is in the sun. Pack it in, we're done for the day.

*******

Plan: No problem. Rhinebeck is weeks away. I'll just dye an extra... oh, 20 skeins a day until then, and I'll be ready for the show.

(insert vague wondering feeling...'are those our sheep outside the fences?' crap.)

Reality: Round up sheep. Put up temporary fences in new location, move sheep to that spot. What's that? Finish with the chickens you say? Well no, not yet, I thought I'd dye some yarn... well yes, they are getting quite large... took on the barn cat and won you say? Ok. Set up, butcher chickens... slice open knuckle. Quality time in the ER.

*******

Plan: No problem. Rhinebeck is weeks away. I'll just dye an extra... oh, 40 skeins a day until then, and I'll be ready for the show.

(insert vague worrying feeling...)

Reality: Ok, I'll wait until I can take the bandages off, and move my finger again. and squeeze out the yarn. and stir the pot. What's that? the freakin' sheep need to move again?? But my hand! Ok, if we work together...

*******

Plan: No problem. (note twitch under left eye) Rhinebeck is ~~not so many~~ weeks away. I'll just dye an extra... oh, 60 skeins a day until then, and I'll be ready for the show. One handed.

(insert vague sleepless look, forgetfulness and worrying feeling...)

Reality: What's that? Help load the pigs to go to butcher, 5 lambs and a cow? Chickens?? I DID the - oh, the next and now ready group... here, call this guy and pay him to do it. Hey, speaking of calling the guy... where the H**L is our VAN??? Mental note: call around for rental vehicle. Ok, CSA customers? Why yes, we do have several wonderful.... you mean it's the first of the month already?? Okee dokee, baking bread & packing the coolers. No problem (twitch). Hey look! An 18 wheeler double-decker livestock trailer! Looks like the one the guy uses who buys lambs from us... and he's pulling in our driveway. Is that today?? Ok, nothing like sorting 170 lambs out of the mob and loading them on the truck to kill some time...

*******

Plan: No problem. (twitch.) Rhinebeck is ~~weeks~~ ... when?? (insert panic attack here) I'll just dye an extra... oh, 90 skeins a day until then, and I'll be ready for the show.

(insert anxiety twitches at random, and I wonder how to display the yarns at the show...)

Happy Columbus Day, America.

2007-10-08T22:36:00.000-04:00

Today most folks in this country take note that the post office is closed (Happy Thanksgiving Day to you Canadian folk, btw). The reason? Well, let's just see what my daughter learned in Kindergarten on Friday...

me: "Nora, there's no school on Monday."

her: "I know!"

me: "Do you know why?"

her: "Yes. There was this man. He crashed into Florida... and someplace else. He had 3 boats, and we saw it on the globe in class. He got dead, I think from an animal."

me: "Was his name 'Columbus', by chance?"

her: "Oh! Yes!! That's who it was who had 3 boats and got dead."

me: "Close enough!"

Happy Columbus Day, everyone.

And, on another note, it was also my daughter's 5th Birthday today. We celebrated in style by giving the school district here, and postal workers the whole country over, the day off.
Then we went to Toys R Us and got a balloon, and a few new toys. Came home and made cake with sprinkles in the cake, pink frosting, more sprinkles, some candy letters, and a conservative number of flames. I took control of the candle situation by reminding her that if she kept adding candles, her cake might catch on fire and then what would we eat? Then we topped it off by playing with the new toys for a bit.

I would like to point out the food coloring at the top of the cake picture. Apparently, dyeing runs in the family because we buy white frosting so she can decide what color to paint it when it's time to frost the cake. (FYI: purple frosting is NOT appetizing. Neither is green. Trust me and learn from our mistakes.)

Please note the exhausted Dad in the background. It's hard work going to Toys R Us with a 5 year old.

Wishes were made, candles blown out.

Happy 5th Birthday, Nora!

**BTW - if you are looking for your Sheep or Flock Rental update, I'm finishing up the edits on pics, newsletter, your animal's info, and the like. I expect most to go out the door this week.

What's for Dinner?

2007-09-22T22:02:00.000-04:00

Dig the bumper sticker!! And while we're at it, let's not forget the grassfed beef or pork! Did you know pigs eat grass? Oh ya. Plow right through it. Literally.

Anyways, this fall it's been tough getting a date with the butcher, what with one facility burning down, and another less than reputable... let's just say the best game in town has gotten much busier. They called yesterday to give me some good news! They had a cancelation and she thought of me :)

I'm in such a good mood about it, that if you and a few close friends (neighbors, carpool buddies, complete strangers, etc) would like to order together, I'll deliver here in NY. I'd like to say at least 3 packages ordered to deliver. Ordering by yourself? Send me an email, we'll talk about where you are and negotiate a 'transportation fee'. Single-handedly convince the entire neighborhood (or at least yourself and 4 others to place an order? I'll gift ~~the ringleader~~ you with an extra 5lbs of ground beef.

Here's the package:

15lbs of grassfed ground beef in one pound packages. We send the whole steer, so this isn't trim - it's prime cuts. And it's naturally lean. When I fry up a pound, there's no grease left in the pan.

15lbs of pastured pork cuts. You'll get a variety of cuts from bacon & breakfast sausage, to chops & ham steaks. Excellent flavor, like nothing you'll get in the grocery store. Please note there is no small print on our packages saying anything about '2-3% liquid added for flavoring' on this pork. This is actually GOOD for you!

15lbs of grassfed lamb cuts. Again, a variety of cuts including ground and sausage (awesome in spaghetti sauce).

Total: $280.00 for the whole thing. At just over $6.00/lb, you'll be getting cuts normally selling for $8.00 - $11.00/lb. Going to Rhinebeck in October? Able to fit a cooler in your transport amongst the fleeces? I can bring a limited number of Package Deals with me, so let me know now.

Are you a vegetarian?
While the carnivores dream of lamb shank braised with tomato and frenched green beans in a Balslamic Vinagrette reduction, (we reccomend Paul Newman's Salad Dressing for both Carnivores and Vegetarians), please don't feel left out:

Very Quickly.

2007-09-19T23:51:00.000-04:00

SO, if you remember way back when, our fearless yarn fairy posted a picture of some yarn (duh). The question was, what was so special about it?

Astrid guessed it with self-striping yarn. Now, if Lord Zorg ever attacks planet earth and has a guessing challenge for the prize that is our planet, we want Astrid to be on our team of official guessers. That girl has got GAME. If you don't believe me, check out her comments over at the TsockTsarina.

Anyways, I'd like to post now for your viewing pleasure, MORE self-striping yarn. This time in a heavy Aran weight (read: 8oz to some 400 yards or something heavy), in a muted version of the Gryffindor-style colors.

This is just over 7 yards per color, self-striping. I'm liking it ok, but what I'm REALLY liking is the fact that I think I've finally come up with a way to do self-striping yarn. To quote yet another Kids Movie (a subject for another time), "I think... I have a plan. Using mainly spoons...."

Wanna see something else new?

Look what you can get at Cafepress! A new purty mousepad or wall clock! Yours will be the envy of every cubicle. Click on the image to go check it out. And more stuff in this 'other' cafepress store:

Garage/Yard/Tag Sale Etiquitte

2007-09-18T11:11:00.000-04:00

I stopped at a garage sale this past week. It's a never-ending garage sale, I've driven by it for 2 years ignoring it out of principle. Then I saw a small table I'd been looking for, and so I stopped and gave in. While I looked around, I overheard a conversation the 2 women running the 'garage' were having.

Woman #1: "So what are you going to do with the stuff that hasn't sold here?"

Woman #2: "I'm going to have a garage sale next weekend. I'll put it in the paper. Do you know what the deadline is for the paper?"

A garage sale. to sell the leftover stuff that didn't sell at.... a garage sale. Now why didn't I think of that? Brilliant! The masses will never see it coming!

...stepping onto soapbox...
I've lived on both coasts and places in the middle, and they all have one thing in common: Yard Sales. No matter what you call them, the goal is the same. Convert your 'stuff' into money, and empty space. (Though that can be dangerous combination.)

So, after several years of stopping every 300 yards or so on a saturday afternoon in hundreds of little neighborhoods, I offer up this small checklist, should you be planning a yard sale in the future. Please review prior to, and AFTER your little enterprise, and we'll all be happier.

Before The Event

If it ain't for sale, don't leave it out. This should be self-explanitory, but if you don't want to sell that lovely ol' crocheted toilet roll cover, than please don't leave it on the table in the garage next to the things for sale. Collect all that stuff you must hang on to, and put it away. Out of sight. Cover with a sheet (also not for sale).

If you have things for sale that are inside the house, like large pieces of furniture, please clean up a bit. Let's pretend a couple hundred people might traipse through the house and perhaps put the dirty dishes away, clothes on the children (and spouse), and hide the dirty laundry. Just sayin' is all. And you might want to slap a sign on the piece for sale. If you send me wondering through your house to see 'the dresser in the spare bedroom' and there are 3 of them in there....

Pricing tips:
*You might consider actually putting prices on things you want to sell. Some of us are shy, and don't want to ask how much every coffee mug might cost. You also may not remember.

*You may think you want to haggle, and that's fine but please put THAT on a sign so we have a clue how to buy things. Remember, folks in this country are not used to haggling over price.

*(Pay attention, this one is critical)Pricing. Hey, just because Star Wars made a comback does NOT mean the glass you got with your Happy Meal in 1978 with Luke Skywalker's face on it that's chipped and looks like you used it to mix paint last year does NOT mean you can sell it for $7.00 or something. Reality Check: We're not stupid. Just because you CALL it a collectors item, does not MAKE it a collectors item. Because don't think I won't use my cellphone to check ebay for current prices of crappy condition happy meal paraphenalia. Let's be honest here. If you had the 'Rare Sherriff Woody' doll sitting on a table in the basement, you'd head to ebay with it, not the garage sale.

*Please use common sense. No one will buy the macaroni art your cousin's-best-friend's-daughter made you in 1984. If it holds no $ value, and holds no sentimental value.... throw it away.
Moving on.

Signage:
If you put up a sign or 2 on a telephone pole or something, here are some thoughts:

it really ought to face oncoming traffic. If it is stapled to the pole facing the road and the neighbor across the street, I cannot read it at 35mph no matter how bright the paper you use, so angle it like a billboard, would ya?.
Please don't write in pencil. No one can read your sign, unless your looking to catch pedestrians. Remember, I'm at least 10 feet from your sign, and still going 35mph. Look through the junk drawer in the kitchen for something called a SHARPIE or raid your kids' coloring box for markers. And stick with black or blue. Your not trying to win the 5th grade art contest, your trying to help me find your ~~junk~~ stuff for sale.
Please write in BIG PEOPLE print. Writing small was great when there was a paper shortage. However, I can't read it (see problems with #2 above).
Date the darn thing! Please for the love of sales, don't just put "Garage Sale Today". I can't tell you how frustrating it is to those of us who actually believe the sign, how frustrating it is to never find the sale that is happening 'today'. We're left with a feeling of having missed out on some wonderful find.
If I have to go left at the next corner to find you, and go more than a block, better put up another sign. I have a short attention span, may think I'm lost, or might find ANOTHER garage sale to stop at and miss going further to yours. This is especially important if there is another turn involved anywhere further down the road. I'm sorry but your not as well known as you think, and we don't know where you live.

During The Event

As my friend Jamie used to say, 'Practice your Monster Smile.' That means smile big folks. If you can't do that, at least make eye contact and say hello. Please do not look at me as if I am an interloper pawing through your things. Your the one who dragged it all out on the front lawn, try not to scare away the buyers.

Turn on the lights if it's dark in the garage. I know, I know. Electricity costs money, but if you can't see what it is than neither can I and I won't buy it. Here's a tip: If folks keep taking something back outside to get a good look at it, you need lights on. Lights not working? Drag out a lamp or stick a bulb in the lamp that's for sale and plug it in. At least you won't have to answer the "Does the lamp work" question a billion times...

Change. I know this sounds like a no-brainer, and I certainly don't want you to think that I think you have... well, no brain, but your selling stuff. I just went to the bank and have a roll of 20's. Your high ticket item on the kiddie toy table is $1.50, you do the math. If you have no change, you have no sale. And no, please don't ask me to check my center console in my car for correct change. I'll get in to check but I won't get back out to buy.

After The Event.

So, your broo-ha-ha is over, you've made your ~~pennies~~ millions. Just a couple of little things that will make life nicer for the rest of us...

Put it away. If it didn't sell and your not repeating the shin-dig next weekend, do something with it. That's why God made the Salvation Army, it's there for a reason. But before you go there, please check the $ value of what's left. Was it priced high or should it be thrown away?

And last but not least, and I can't stress this enough. This one is critical. TAKE DOWN THE SIGN. If you paid attention to #5 regarding signage, take down ALL of the signs. If you do not, and we find your house where there is no garage sale after driving all over looking for it (weeks late for the Event), don't be surprised if you find yourself toilet papered or something.

And one littel post script. If you find that after having the neighborhood's longest running garage sale, going on for it's 17th straight week and no one is showing up.... get the point. It's a garage sale, not a dollar store. Close up shop and wait until next year to try again. This is illegal in most towns, something about running a business in a residental district. And, if I get to your 'garage sale' and find things for sale that are new, still in packages, and more than 20 of that same item on the table, I'll be sorely tempted to use that cellphone again because I will not be your next mark (Slang A person who is the intended victim of a swindler; a dupe.)

...stepping off of soapbox...

Well it's about durn time!

2007-09-15T17:23:00.000-04:00

As many of you may know, we have been in dire need of the nice delivery truck to deliver the yarn here. The first attempt brought us yarn, but the WRONG yarn. Well, wrong in the sense that it wasn't the correct base yarn for the FlockSock Sock Yarn, but hey, it was GOOD yarn anyways. Fun things are in the works for what is affectionately known as 'car-cozy' yarn. (By the way, we've been calling it that because unlike FlockSock, this stuff is not superwash, and so it will felt. Upon the discovery of this, I told Lisa she'd have to come up with a pattern for a felted car-cozy, because I had a couple hundred pounds of this stuff sitting here now. It seems to be sticking, pun intended, though I may shorten it to 'cozy' yarn.) More on the coming projects for Cozy Yarn later.

ANYWAYS! Yesterday, Astrid helped immensely by sending out 'find the right house' vibes to the driver, and it worked. I am now the proud owner of a whole whack of boxes of yarn. In the triple digits now folks. I DARE you to order more than I have in stock, I DARE you. Triple digits FlockSock, Triple digits Cozy Yarn, and Triple digits of Bamboo-Ewe, a blend of bamboo/wool/nylon. Dudes. Don't anyone plan on coming for a visit, cause there ain't no room for ya!

Now that my hand has recovered enough to handle the dye pots & yarn again, I've been dyeing the Bamboo-Ewe yarn for the current club kit, Turandot. It's a lengthy process, dyeing 2 different fibers in shades of blue to get a unique 'look' to the yarn. Needless to say, it leaves me with some 'hurry up & wait' time while yarn just sits in the pots absorbing color. I've been experimenting for future projects Lisa has on the drawing board, along with some other colors I've been wanting to create.

I think I may be in love with this one. 'Copper Pennies' is what it says to me, and that's what we're calling it. It's the newest color available in the finally-arrived FlockSock Sock Yarn. Monitors being what they are, this is a mildly varigated 'shade-dyed' color in a brick/copper with gold undertones. It ain't on the website yet, give me a few minutes. In the meantime, I've already had a couple of customers I've shown it to just up & email me a payment using paypal, and you can do that if you like. Toss in a couple dollars for shipping, and I'll get it out to you. Let's say, an introductory price of $18.00 per skein.

But, whatever you do... Don't show it to Lisa!!

Next on the list? Limes. In (Car)-Cozy Yarn. This is actually a base-color to be over-dyed for something else, but I really like it as it is! Makes me want to sit on the beach and eat a papaya or something. This will be added to the website with the Rosetta in this yarn.

And I almost forgot Pistachio! Dyed for in the shell Pistachio nuts, a custom request, on FlockSock.

Now, I need to go eat my Pizza and dye more yarn. WAYYYYY more yarn.

Worth more than a minute.

2007-09-11T15:05:00.000-04:00

Today is a day for remembering.

If you are a veteran of the armed forces, thank you for all that you've done.
Everyone else, go find a veteran to thank. Freedom isn't free.

If you are a fireman (woman), policeman (woman), emt, or a good samaritan, thank you for your past bravery, and your willingness to be brave in the future.

We've had visitors!

2007-08-25T14:39:00.000-04:00

So yesterday, our friend Katherine came over for a visit. She's here for the summer in the area working with the Glimmerglass Opera down the road here (we're hoping some culture will rub off on us ). I was thrilled when she agreed to bring along her instument of choice to play a ditty or 2 for Nora. She's never heard a violin in person before, and for a few minutes was overwhelmed by the volume it produced in our humble abode.

Later in the day, she played again and Nora decided it was definately good. Dance music, even.

Katherine knits as well (can it get any better?) and is working on a pair of single repeat 'Afterthought' colorway. Just for Lisa, we got pics. I have also been promised pics of the completed pair.

Some friends of hers came with, and we toured the farm. Ann-Marie, also in the orchestra, and her boys Eric and Christophe. They saw the sheep, the piggers, baby chicks, the works. Christophe the younger brother has the makings of a great spinner, and scored a skein of the slightly heavier SuperStrong sock yarn for a scarf.

It was a great afternoon and I'm SOOO glad they all came!

On another note, check out what Nora drew and then TAPED to her door:

Please note that if you read it from right to left, it says "No mom dad" below a circle with drawings of mom and dad and an X over the circle (note how sad we look), with Nora at the bottom corner (note the smile on her face). Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this type of signage supposed to start when she was well, a little older??

And thanks, the hand is doing better. Still hen-pecking it, but recovering.

I'll get right on that.

2007-08-22T15:51:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed that when you have to endure some periods of forced inactivity, that you find yourself wanting to be the most productive? You suddenly seem to be inspired to even clean something, and procrastination is a thing of the past.
That would be me. Well, actually, (to quote some good '80's slang) that would be me on drugs. Antibiotcs & pain pills, really. You see, I was 1/2 way through butchering some chickens yesterday... and I'll bet you can see where this is going. In one masterful stroke, I managed to NOT remove the neck bone I had decided needed to be removed, while simultaneously slicing open an inch gash across my knuckle bone. With a boning knife no less. Excellent emergency skills, and a babysitter already on site made the afternoon as painless as it could be, all things being what they were. Thankfully, while she said I could see tendon, I didn't do any damage to anything except soft tissue. And, as it was a very thin knife, she used this wicked cool skin glue called dura-blast (I think) so no stitches. Did get the tetnus shot though. The skin glue doesn't hurt at all, while the alcohol/jet fuel based commercially available product 'nu skin' stings like (insert very bad word here). Go figure. Anyways, I'm hen-pecking for typing and it's stoopidly slow for me & my usual 45wpm so don't expect gobs of email from me. Any typing done here is likely via dictation to my handy farm-help Kacey.
The yarn for the next club kit is skeined & ready to go, but as I can't get the bandages wet for 7 days, I don't have many dye-slaves of my own here, and while Nora dyes some beautiful stuff, she's just not up for club projects just yet.
In the meantime, I'm mulling over names for the new/wrong yarn here. We're keeping it (EZ says you never know when a mistake may be a design feature). It's 75% wool/25% nylon, sock-yarn weight 4 ply and it does felt. A couple of suggestions so far:
Car-Cozy Yarn
Versitae (pronounced versit-i) because it's...well, versitile.
Lemonade
I know there were a couple of others but I've misplaced those brain cells right now.
So, if you have a suggestion, leave it in the comments. If you like one of the couple here, leave it in the comments.

Comment Responses:

Lynne, Pat & others:
Several have suggested the car cozy yarn for lace shawls - I like this idea immensely, and I've got a 600 yard skein and a 1200 yard skein right here waiting for 'the hand' to recover to see how those quantities work in the dye pot and what needs to be adjusted to handle that size to cater to that market.

Trainlady, re postscript. No lambs were harmed this time. Tragedy has touched us in this manner in the past with no respect to age (lambs and ewes have bit the fence, so to speak). Most times, they survive the ordeal.

Food for Thought:
Do you know where your food comes from?

(taken from eatwild.com news page)

Corn Prices Too High? Feed the Animals Candy Instead

The growing use of corn for fuel has doubled the price of corn for animal feed. Typically, corn comprises about 70 percent of the diet of animals raised in confinement. To offset the spiking cost of corn, many feedlot managers are replacing some of the corn with candy and other “junk food” that has been declared unfit for human consumption.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, this sugary, fatty fare includes banana chips, yogurt-covered raisin, cookies, licorice, cheese curls, frosted wheat cereal, Tater Tots, Kit Kat bars, uncooked French fries, pretzels and chocolate bars. One feedlot operator from Idaho confesses that he feeds his cattle a 100 percent “by-product” meal.
Grass, the native diet of grazing animals, is a rich source of protein, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids. Has anyone measured the nutritional value of meat from junk-food-fed cows? Candy may be cheap, but it’s cheating consumers out of meat’s natural nutrition. Consider grass-fed, instead.
(“With Corn Prices Rising, Pigs Switch to Fatty Snacks” Lauren Etter, Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2007.)

The Knitting Goddess is Cruel.

2007-08-15T22:10:00.000-04:00

You know, here I thought that because I wasn't really working on a knitting project, that the knitting goddess couldn't 'mess' with me, ya know?
I mean, what was she going to do to me? Dust my knitting needles? Move the pink yarn over to the box with the orange yarn? Not much going on in the knitting front around here, just a couple of rolled-brim hats for upcoming fall craft shows. I was safe from mischief, or so I thought.
Enter the next order of base yarn for me to dye for OTHER knitters.

Ordered: Serious poundage (in the triple digits) of our FlockSock base yarn 75%superwash/25% nylon blend pristine in it's undye-ed-ness.

Delivered to my door: Serious poundage (now mocking me with it's triple digits) of a 75% wool/25% nylon NOT superwash yarn. Which definately felts.

"What's that?" Says the Knitting Goddess. "I can't mess with you?" She giggles madly while waving her magic needles in my direction. "Hang on."

I may as well cast on for that Harlot Bohus now, cause what could go wrong?

So, if you'll excuse me, I must go make some lemon-ade. And a pattern/kit for a felted car cozy...

Post Script

2007-08-14T22:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Sheep:

Please consider this a post-script addition to our little chat earlier this year.

I'm sure I mentioned the 'don't drop dead' part as being very important, even critical to all our survival so to speak.
Please if you would be so kind, pass on to your offspring, and feel free to remind each other while out grazing 'round the ol' water hole.... electricity kills. Let's avoid sticking our heads THROUGH the electric fence for that one little bite of grass, shall we?
You know the fence is on, you know it's going to hurt when you get zapped, it shouldn't be very difficult to figure out what's going to happen when you begin dancing wildly because you're getting zapped and you've wrapped the fence round your wee little hoof, neck or entire body for goodness sake.
And, if your plan is to sacrifice yourself and 'bring down' the entire fence so the flock can run free across 2 counties.... stop now. Your flock mates seem a bit smarter than you, because if you succeed in bringing down a portion of the fence, they usually do not take advantage of this BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO CROSS THE ELECTRIC FENCE LAYING ON THE GROUND ~~and your twitching self~~. And, to add insult to your injury and possible death, the few who brave the zap & head for greener pastures STOP TO GRAZE the nearest green pasture. That's right, no one runs free, or escapes the farm. They stop right next door in the very pasture I would have moved you tomorrow.

Thank you for your attention, feel free to go back to grazing. Away from the fences.

All our love,

The Shepherds

I've got new socks!

2007-07-29T22:42:00.001-04:00

Years ago, I read or heard about this psych professor who would have his students go out and give a try to a list of 'stunts' designed to study social responses blah blah blah. Anyways, my 2 favorites from the list of things to do, were for crowded elevators.

Be the last person to board a crowded elevator. Face the crowd and grin. That's all, just smile. Really big & happy-like. Now, I don't know about you, but that's just disturbing and kinda scary.
Be the last person to board a crowded elvator. (I sense a lack of creativity on the part of the professor.) Face the crowd and announce boldly and with much enthusiasm: "I've got new socks!"

My brother once thought this was absolutely the best hands-down way to greet and freak out complete strangers. He was right. Now, I would like to chime in with him and announce proudly:

I'VE GOT NEW SOCKS!!

Just LOOK at what one of the club members made for ME!! Dudes. I am totally thrilled. As I sat here staring at the 1/4 knit lonely sock cast on in the wee hours more weeks ago than I care to count up, I might have mentioned the lack of hand-knit socks and the irony of it all, what with all the SOCK YARN that goes out the door here. And then these show up on my doorstep. Snug as a bug in a rug are my toes :) A billion thankyouthankyouthankyous to you Pat, thank you.

Please note for the record: The right foot looks a little... well, 'off kilter'. This is because of the 6 or 7 foot surgeries on that foot, it is NOT the socks!! They fit perfect.

Now, just when things couldn't get any better, ON THE SAME DAY, these also arrived:
Let's get a close up, shall we?

Helen has made me 2 of the most lovely potholders I've ever used to pick a pip'in pot off the stove with. They are double-knit, with colors different on each side, wickedly cool. She's a mighty creative gal, thanks Helen - I love them!

My daughter was not quite as pleased that none of the packages had her name on them, but she did enjoy wearing my new socks and using the potholders as blankets for her Barbies that afternoon.

Addendum to the Numbers.

2007-07-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

First and foremost, my husband says I am to point out that the picture of the shearer is not of him shearing a sheep, but of the shearer who was also here shearing that weekend. The shearer sheared just over 200 sheep in 2 days, and we're very glad he did!

We caught that racoon the night we purchased the trap and were very pleased with ourselves... And then the next night lost 3 more hens to his big brother. We caught him as well. So far, the trap sits bated but empty and the hen house is down to 11 hens & a rooster. I find myself on the hunt so to speak, for new laying hens to replace the missing crew. No easy task, as folks who have hens for sale seem to want to convince me that the 3 year old scrawny bird sitting sullen in the back of the coop is really a 'good layer'. At that age and condition, the term 'good layer' translates to 'good at laying around all day eating and producing NOTHING'. The search continues.

The 5 little chicks are learning to fly I discovered, as I found mom and chicks roosting last night on the counter of the milk room they are currently staying in. They now share their home with 26 chicks. I'll try to get pics tomorrow of the mob of yellow fluff out there.

Eric has injured his neck leaving me in charge of EVERYTHING. I am exhausted, and pretty darn tired of farm chores (for more on that, see Lisa's latest post here. She came to visit, a wonderful time was had by all but I am to darn tired to go into more detail.

It did finally rain, and everything looks nice & green, but I worry about hay for the winter here. I don't know if we'll get another cutting from our farm. Price of winter could be high, we'll see.

Comments on the comments:

Let me say, I am sorry if I have not replied or responded to questions in the blog. First of all, blogger won't LET me reply directly. Secondly, well, I've been off my game lately (see spring=exhaustion).

So here goes:

Woolgirl: time to knit? time to KNIT?? Uh huh. You mean, like, with needles? I understand 'startitis' but what do you call it when you have so many projects you want to start that you stand in the middle of the fiber room and just stare in a daze with a handful of needles in one hand and an inhaler in the other for the minor panic attack in the other? time to knit she mumbles.

Andrea: Your welcome! The yarn fairy grins with glee :)

Colleen: We *try* to shear the sheep before they lamb. It's easier on everyone, even the lamb because they no longer recognize their mum after she's been sheared, I kid you not. Not to mention trying to sort sheep with lambs in the pens. No way to find the pair & keep them together through the whole day/ordeal. And, for the wool, it's better because lambing can cause a 'break' in the fleece (where the wool stops and starts growing again literally making a break or weak spot in that section of the wool fiber/strand). Very good question.

Jo at Celtic Memory, how'd that Imbas sock turn out?? and did I hear you mention Slytherin for House Socks? You should check out the House colors here...

Colleen: Rental Sheep have had lambs (a good portion of them anyways). Pictures were delayed due to well... more than 340 ewes giving birth and only 2 shepherds. I'm working on them, and the fleece from the rentals! Don't despair :)

Sorry, not much in the way of pictures. I'll leave you with this: Anyone want to guess what this is?

It's all about the Numbers.

2007-07-16T14:29:00.000-04:00

Hi, remember me? Here's a quick, brief run-down (run into the ground, run-down) of what we've been up to around here. There's way more by the way, these were just the highlights of spring and lambing.

More than 200 sheep sheared in 2 days.... and 5 stitches for spouse in a shearing accident.

More than 80 fleeces to skirt - this is just a few of them...

The rest went into the wool-pool bags.

More than 280 lambs (we were just to tired to keep counting by that time).

More than 16 bottle lambs total, with 7 still on the bottle (not bad considering the total lambs born is probably about 350-375-ish).

11 lambs who would have been bottle lambs grafted onto other mothers. (major happy about that one!!)

2 emergency c-sections to save the lambs.

7 animals treated for fly-strike (you do NOT want details on that)

8 new pigs on the farm.

1 steer off to butcher.

What felt like a bazillion-teen skeins of yarn for Cookie's Garden, the spring sock kit for the club.

1 set of double rainbows.

Deja-vu with another astronomical number of skeins of yarn for The Summer sock kit for the club... (pick your own 3 out of 5 ice cream flavors - what was I thinking??)

10 broiler chicks (round 1 - round 2 would be 25 to be delivered next week)

21 hens laying an amazing number of eggs (quiche, anyone?) , down to 13 - see the next 'number'.

1 raccoon who lightened the hen-pen by 8 hens in 4 days... followed by the purchase of a trap.

200 bales of hay at about 600lbs each (that's 1/2 of what we need for the coming winter, folks).

2 1/2 inches of rain in almost 6 weeks (very bad).
5 brand new baby chicks with mommy-hen (2 peeking out here).