Christmas is coming

Have had the pictures but not time to sneak in a post.

DH and friend decorated Mom's outside for her the day after Thanksgiving because she has always enjoyed her Christmas lights.  They tried to put up the inside trees for her but there was no room at the inn at that time.

 Mom got the angel years ago and last year it didn't light up.  It has the lights that when one burns out, the entire light doesn't light up.  It has four or five strings of lights on it.  Last year my sweet DH spent 6 hours sitting on my living room floor, testing bulbs one at a time.  Then in frustration he replaced every single bulb.  The angel shown for the entire Christmas season.  This year after being put out, the angel was all lit up the first day but then lost one string and now another.  Between what the bulbs cost us and my hubby's frustration, it was decided that it was up to Mom to fix or replace.  Sorry Mom.

 If you enlarge the picture you will see angels in the window above her door.  Each angel goes through a series of colors and together they are magnificent.  Fortunately for us, Mom leaves these up and lit all year.  There is nothing friendlier than walking past her house on a summer evening and seeing the angels all aglow.

For those of you who haven't been to visit Mom in person, this is her bridge with her name on it.  I think the lights should stay up all year but I was outvoted.  The bush on the picture's left is a rose that Mom planted as soon as her house was set.  I forget the name.  The plant on the right is the rose from her daughter-in-law Jo Ann.  Both roses were cut waaay back this summer when the bridge was resealed.  The left rose blooms all year with the prettiest pink roses. The rose on the right blooms for two days only.  It is a mass of white when it blooms but it only lasts for two days.

Here it is the first week of June.  I didn't think to take pictures until the third day when it was at the end of blooming.

 

 Mom's oldest son and daughter-in-law (Jo Ann again) sent the wreath to give an added Christmas spirit to Mom's house.  It hangs right by her doorbell so everyone who comes to visit can enjoy.

 Fritz couldn't decide which bed ZuZu wanted for Christmas but if you tell us which one, it will be out in the mail to ZuZu the next day.  As you know they are reversible.  These are shown with the more fuzzy side on the inside.  The pillows are also reversible.  Which one do you think ZuZu would like the best?  The very very best?  Beige with brown or brown with beige?

As you can see from this picture of cuteness, only one of these two beds is in use - the other is a toy box. 

Dena

Alpaca Test Shawls

First of all, let me say that these are not the best pictures I have ever taken.  We were in a hurry and some of them are blurry and I didn't look at them at the time, so we didn't know it.  There are also a lot where Girl's eyes are closed or her face is funny - again, I didn't look at them closely at the time.  The point is to show off the shawls.

The first shawl is the one made from the alpaca silk blends - the darker color is the 70% alpaca, 30% silk blend and the lighter is the 70% alpaca, 20% merino, 10% silk blend.  These were lovely yarns to knit with and this was a terrific pattern to knit.  I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this Arroyo shawl/scarf.

 

This is the Piper's Journey Shawl/Scarf.  This one was the model's favorite and she wore it for the rest of the day.  I might need more of all three of these yarns to make another one of these for her.

It turned out quite long because I just kept going until I pretty much ran out of yarn.   There were 200 yards of each of the black and brown and 300 yards of the white.  There is less than a yard of each of the black and brown but since there was more of the white, there is a bit of it left, but not a lot.  The black was the 80% Alpaca, 20% merino and the brown was the 70% Alpaca, 30% merino.  The white was the Fantasy Fibers 80% Alpaca, 20% merino.

Zuzu helped on all aspects of the knitting, blocking, modeling and posting of this entry.

Teresa

Yarn Notes Two

This only looks like the same post from a while ago.  I have added notes for Dena now that I have knit with most of the yarns.

Creekside Spun Umpqua Alpaca Blend
70% Alpaca 30% Silk
Sport 2 ply - 200 yards - 65 grams
This definitely felt softer than the lighter blend in the hank, but not as soft as the lighter silk blend when I was winding it into a ball or knitting with it.  It was delightful to work with and I would happily knit more.  It has a slight halo and is very soft and bouncy.

Creekside Spun Umpqua Alpaca Blend

70 % Alpaca 20 % Merino 10% Silk

Fingering 2 ply - 200 yards - 76 grams

Interestingly, the darker 70/30 blend felt softer in the hank, but the lighter 70/20/10 blend feels softer in the ball.  

This is loosely spun which makes long tail cast on a little more difficult as the tail unspins as you go.  Also, this is not as consistent as some mill spun yarns are - it is just a little thick and thin, not nearly as much as the Royal Fiber Spinnery crap that I used for that big shawl that I never got paid for knitting.  This is delightfully soft to knit with but it looks like the lace will show fine when blocked even though there is a bit of a halo.

I love both these yarns - a lot, a whole lot.

 Fantasy Fibers Inc.

80% Alpaca 20% Merino

Says Sport Weight, but definitely Fingering - 300 Yards - 105 grams

This yarn felt soft and seemed to have the tiniest bit of halo on the outside of the ball but I think that must have been from handling.  I started pulling from the center of the ball and it is much more like string inside.  It looks like string and sometimes feels like string - it is possible that it has spinning grease still in the yarn though it doesn't feel like it and most spineries don't produce greasy yarn anymore.   I am wondering if it is going to bloom when I wet it - I am betting that it will.  Also, it has a bit too much twist in the plying, it twists back on itself and kinks a fair amount but probably not enough to affect the knitting.

This one did bloom when soaked, but not nearly enough to actually make it a sport weight - I would still call it a fingering weight.  I didn't soak any of the unknit yarn, so I cannot quote wpi to be sure of size, but at the very least it is a light sport.

 Snow Peak Alpacas

85% Alpaca 15% Merino

Fingering - 200 yards - 55 grams

This yarn was noticeably less soft when I was winding it into a ball.  I didn't feel the difference in the hank.

I did not use this one in the shawl so can't say much about knitting it yet.  Any ideas?

  Snow Peak Alpacas

70% Alpaca 30% Merino

DK - 200 yards - 77 grams

 This is lovely and soft and very nice to knit with - not splitty, or lumpy bumpy or thick and thin. It did have a few spots where there were extra bits, but I think that's a function of the alpaca not being over processed like the folks at Royal Alpaca do.  I do think this was the thickest DK weight I've ever used in knitting and would probably call it a worsted.

 Snow Peak Alpacas

80% Alpaca 20% Merino

Probably DK (not on label) - 200 yards - 77 grams

I think this was softer than the brown but it was just as delightful to knit.  I would happily knit with either of these yarns anytime.  And think our alpaca would be lovely made into any of these.  Again, I think this is thick enough to be a worsted.

 This is the unknown 'bulky' yarn.  I will just knit it into a small square.

Still haven't knit this one . . . but it is lovely and soft and I really like it.

Teresa

Blocking Frenzy

 I have been blocking shawls,

And more shawls,

 And still more shawls.

I love what blocking does for lace.  It's a lump of knitted yarn before and something beautiful after.  (Yes, Dena, I did fix the left side of this as soon as I saw the picture and don't worry that girl doesn't read this blog.)

I must confess, though, that most of these shawls you see blocking were not knit by me.  Dena knit one and a friend knit the three lovely colorful ones.   I bartered blocking for other services . . . a win-win if you ask me.  

 This lovely is blooming in the SubT (subterranean) greenhouse.  This is a tuberous begonia that I bought in July.  I really love these guys - especially the doubles.

This is the sample that I made to test for Mom's hat.  I like the shape of the tardis - the bobble will be bigger and up one row on the real deal.  What do you think?  Can it be seen well enough?  

Teresa

Miss Him Every Day

Can you knit too much?

Can you knit too much?  Can you have too many knitted things?  Can you have too many of the same type of knitting thing?  Too many shawls?

Yes.  You can.  I do.

I'm Teresa and I have a problem.

So when DH was looking for something to give his mother for Christmas I said, Do you think she'd like one of my knitted shawls?  I knew I had a pile of them hanging out on the back of my knitting chair, blocked but with ends dangling cuz I don't weave those in until the very last minute.  Even I didn't know just how many there were up there.

 Quite a lot, it seems.  That is five finished shawls (well, one of them is completely finished with ends hidden), and two in progress - the yellow circle is the test I'm doing now and the brown/white is one of the alpaca tests for Dena.  (I have some more comments about the yarns, but that is another post for another day.)

And, since there wasn't enough floor space, here are five more finished shawls (all but one of these already have ends woven in) on the bed.  Hubby picked two - one for his Mom (the red triangle in the lower left corner) and one for his secretary (the pink estonian lace stole/scarf in the center).  I hope they love them.

The girls claimed several more . . . my girls will actually wear them, especially Girl Far From Home.  Some of these are earmarked for Christmas presents.

Alpaca Arroyo, Alpaca Piper's Journey, Tardis Shawl 2, Orchid Thief, Robin Hood Test, Shiny Trousseau, Spirit of Guernsey Test, Summer Flies, Estonian Lace, Tardis 1, Olivia for Mom, Alpaca Fenna, Gemma, Damask Rose, Sothia
That's 15 shawls this year - so far.  I have one more on the needles.

Zuzu and Casey in their kitchen beds, well two of their four kitchen beds.  Yes, Casey's bed is too small.  It is actually a cat bed but she loves it a lot.  Dad gave it to me when she was a puppy because his cat hated it (we have the cat and she still hates it).  The other cat loves it.  I think they love it because if they get all the way in it (and Casey can and does) it is like having a blanket wrapped around you.  We couldn't find one just like it for Zuzu - we tried hard because she loves it too.

Zuzu also loves playing in the leaves - she can actually swim in them.  She bounces in them and swims through and under them.  

And usually comes in the house with half a dozen or more attached to her fur.  It's amazing how they stick to her so well outside and the second she gets in the kitchen they fall off like they were repelled by the opposite end of a magnet.

And now, I need to go knit the two in progress shawls as fast as my little fingers will go . . .

Teresa

Christmas Baby

Here on the ranch it is winter.  And in Idaho High Desert winter means rain and cold.  And more rain and more cold.
But Teresa, being Teresa, bred one of her alpacas to be due right around Christmas so that she would have a Christmas baby.
I think this was because of the naming system we are using.  The very first baby was named Augusta (because she was born in August). 
And the second baby was named Baby LLama cause the Devine Miss M hasn't told us his name (he was born in October so we call him Llarry instead of Baby).
That means the next baby has to have a name beginning with C - like Christmas or Christina or Carol or Cinderella or Christmas.

Here are some pictures of alpaca.  One of these is the alpaca who we are kinda sorta pretty maybe sure is pregnant.

 In the far back is a littler white alpaca - that is Augusta.  She wouldn't come up to get her picture taken. One of the other three alpacas (Dirty White, Brown And Dark Brown) is the pregnant one.  Can you guess which one it is?

 Here is a shot from the rear of Dark Brown.

 And a head on shot of Dirty White

And a far away shot of Brown

And a shot of most of the alpacas and the reason we needed a hay feeder.  Alpaca and llamas will throw the hay all over the ground but WON'T eat it off the ground.

Here are Miss M's llamas.  The largest/tallest is Mama Llama Tanna, the  spotty one is Dai and the one with the brown eye is Baby.  Baby is as tall as the alpaca.

Can you see the amazing hay feeder DH and his buddy just finished for me.

Dena

 More cute fuzzy white creatures

Looking Forward . . .

First of all, forgive the fuzzy pictures - they were taken with my phone.

A while ago, Dena and I were looking at the books on sale on the Knit Picks site.  I can't remember what we were actually looking for, but I saw this little book and thought it was crazy cute.  I love little dolls - these are smaller than the "MaryLou" dolls that are a family tradition, but otherwise similar.  The  book has the pattern for the doll which is made of cloth and the patterns for the knitted outfits.

 These little doll costumes reminded me so much of the 'wild thing' costume that Max wears in Where the Wild Things Are.   Girl Far From Home loves the Maurice Sendak book, the movie and the characters and she always has.  She has a little stuffed Max and somewhere a Wild Thing too.

The pattern is full size in the book - you just copy it and cut it out.  The book tells you to just put the pattern pieces on the cloth and sew around them and cut the seam allowance after they are sewn.  The only problem with that is that the bodies are cut two pieces and the arms/legs are cut four.  So I copied the pattern several times to make four dolls.

The pieces all cut out and laid out on the fabric . . . I wonder if I should double the fabric like Mom used to do with the MaryLou dolls.  If so, I have to go buy more fabric.

I don't know when I will get time to sew them - I'm still working on a gigantic test knit.  And I suppose it will be even longer before I get to knit the clothes.  But they are so cute that it definitely won't be forever . . . 

Teresa