Making yarn...

My boyfriend says that making yarn is like making paint before you paint a picture. I kinda liked that.

LC

Trinity Ridge Alpaca's Open Farm Day/Spin In

Saturday, Trinity Ridge Alpaca's had an Open Farm Day/ Spin In. My boyfriend and I took the afternoon and visited the farm. What a wonderful day! Steve and Janet Hancock were delightful hosts! Steve took us for a tour of the farm and introduced us to the animals.

We met a few funny characters...
... the two-headed alpaca...

... the "happy" alpaca...

... and the alpaca hand puppet....

These animals are too funny! We learned tons of stuff about alpaca's. About their eating and breeding habits and so on. They are very interesting animals.
This was my personal favorite. Her name is Showtime. I got to walk her on a halter. It took me back to the days of showing Santa Gertrudis Cattle. Only this girl was a bit easier to handle. And soft as a bunny!

Over all these guys are pretty laid back. I like their style!

And to top it all off... I took home some (favorite ever) fiber! I want to figure out a way to be able to wrap my body in this! Oooh! I guess I can spin it and knit it up! How about that?

Oh my, my heads-a-spinnin!

Don't worry... my zest for all things fiber has not diminished! I have just been so busy stuffing my face with information I haven't had time to spit it back out! I find something new EVERY day either on the internet, in books or just by trial and error. It is absolutely fascinating! I have been to my LYS (aka Local Yarn Store... that took a while for me to figure out) The Woolie Ewe. It is delicious. I have joined a small knitting circle (there are only three of us). I have also been knitting a bit with my sister... who I found out knits totally different from me. It is so crazy! We get the same end result but the process seems so strange. Maybe I will get her to do some videos for you too. Speaking of videos... I don't have the technology to do videos at this time... my sister has a camera that does though. So, all videos will be at her convenience (and she has a new baby).

I have BIG fibery plans for the next few weeks! This weekend I am *crossing fingers* going to Trinity Ridge Alpaca's Open Farm Day/ Spin In! How fun does that sound? And it is just a hop, skip and a jump from the casa! Then of coarse we have Memorial Day on Monday. I might just spin up a little something red, white, and blue! And then... next Friday night... The fantabulous Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, is going to be in Plano, Texas! My sister and I are so there! I must make something small and fibery to wear that night... has to be springy... any suggestions?

Anyway, I just wanted to check in and let you know everything is OK. I am having tons of fun!

I will definitely be posting pictures soon.

LC

ps. I had a dream that I curled up into a yarn ball! It was orange!

One row too far...

Last night, after a completely unproductive day with a migraine, I decided to do a little knitting. Yesterday was the one week one day marker in my knitting story. I have been practicing stitches like a mad woman. I even did a little swatch to check out the pattern I wanted to try on my first project... a scarf. I had it down... knit, knit, knit through the back, purl, knit, knit, knit through the back, purl, etc. I finally felt like a knitter! I had found my rythem! And then it happended... I knew I was feeling sleepy. I told myself, "One more row!" And then I did it. I dropped a stitch. At the end of the row I had 29 instead of 30! I dragged myself off to bed where I proceeded to beat myself up for at least 30 minutes before I finally fell asleep. Guess what my first thought was when I got up this morning? What will I do? I have heard that fixing knitting mistakes is almost impossible. Well, I am going to give it a shot. I think I can see where the accident happened. I am going to fix the problem. I will not let myself give up and start another project. I will not unravel the whole thing. I will figure it out!

Wish me luck!

LC

ps. Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated!!!

*Cast on* this!

Today's lesson is Learning to Knit: Part One-- Casting On

Step 1: Start with a slip knot on the needle in your right hand.

Step 2: Hold the end of the yarn away from you. Wrap the yarn around your pointer finger. The ball of yarn should be the strand closest to you.

Step 3: Take the needle over the strand closest to you and point away to the other strand.

Step 4: Go over the strand furthest from you.

Step 5: Point the needle down.

Step 6: Point needle back toward you and pull through pointer finger and middle finger.

Step 7: Let strand on pointer finger go.

Step 8: Pull tight...

tighter...

Step 9: There is no step 9... if you have done it right (if I have taught it right) you will be ready to repeat the steps until you have enough rows for your pattern (or your ugly practice square... like me).