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…but plenty of squirrels.  I hope you notice that we are a full service squirrel restaurant, ensuring plenty to drink with those dry seeds.  I have now installed new squirrel baffles, we’ll see if they’re actually baffled by them.

Dear Ellen,

Nature was in full roar at the farm this weekend.  At least it was as loud as a roar.  The birds were flitting about in pairs cheeping and peeping and tweeting all over the place.  And at night the peepers joined in with their songs.  It was delightful!

We spent some time on flora while the fauna was cavorting.  Dale finished building two raised beds for me and got a load of mushroom mulch to mix in with the topsoil in the boxes and to spread over the rest of the garden.  Man, oh man, that stuff is rich!  I expect good results from it — of course, I’ll have to get some plants and seeds in there first!

I did get violas and primroses planted here and there around the house.  They joined in with the rhododendrons, crocuses and daffodils to add some lovely color.  Spring is definitely here.

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And doesn’t Dale look great in Manly?  He’s very pleased with the outcome — he even said he kind of wish winter would have one last go so he could wear it a bit.  At least it will be waiting for next fall!

Love, Jan

Dear Ellen,

I guess being put on notice that it was expected to hang around for 6 more weeks made winter finally get serious about showing up here.  It’s very cold for this part of the state (this part of the year), but fortunately I have hand knits to keep me warm on my walks.

And our birds are happy to have lots of bird seed and suet.

I finished up some pleasing 3-ply 70% BFL and 30% Tussah Silk yesterday.  By this morning it was dry from its bath to set the twist and I skeined it up.  I’m rather pleased with it.  It has a little bit of a halo, but not much.  The silk makes it feel very, very…well, silky.  And the colors are wonderful.  The colorway was called Redwood Forest and you can see it.  It spun very nicely.  If you see any Frabjous Fibers around, you might want to grab it.

In other spinning news, I scored a collection of ounce to ounce and a half samples  of 24 different sheep breeds.  I’m going to try to do 2 a month for the next few months.  Once I retire I can do more.  Fun!

I’m making headway on the shawl for my friend Ann.  I did find an error in the pattern, but I worked it out pretty directly.  The start of the shawls from Alison’s book is new for me.  I rather like it for this kind of circular shawl.  I think Ann will like it too.

I also cast on for my Pipeliner’s Journey as part of the KAL over on The Knitting Pipeline.  I am LOVING this Quince and Co. yarn!

Short, but sweet this week.

Love, Jan

Dear Ellen,

It seems like we take turns hitting slowdowns in our web posting.  This time it was my turn.  I am barely caught up with my personal e-mail much less anything extra.  I think the new spinning wheel may be to blame.  As you can see, I have now produced some plied product.  This is DesignKnit fiber — a beautiful colorway in 100% corriedale.  I am satisfied with it, but not overwhelmed.  I do know I will get better. 

And it looks far better than it did!  This is how it appeared before I re-plied it.  Classic newbie error — I plied in the same direction as I spun.  To make it better, I sent it back through the wheel in the opposite direction, unplying and then replying each section as I went.  I also think it would have benefited from my not trying to 3-ply as my first wheel plying experience.

The singles weren’t that bad, but they were victims of two things –

1. I overspin.  I try not too, but I do.  I can go for short stretches where I manage to keep my feet from pumping away like crazy, but it doesn’t last…yet.  As a result my singles have lots of energy.
2. Erica had warned me that this fiber might have some felty bits in it and offered to refund my money.  I examined it (at the time) and couldn’t see anything I thought was felty.  When I actually opened the braid and got into it, I understood what she meant.  It does have a few felty bits.  I consider it a great way to learn and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve also been busy with the farm…especially the wandering about admiring nature.  Here is our fungus tree with a new addition.  It is cool how absolutely round that hole is!  We have very accurate woodpeckers here.  And below is a shot of geese flying south for the remainder of winter.  I love listening to them call to each other and imagine the guy in the back is letting the guy in front know that he’s keeping up.  Either that or the guy in front is calling for someone else to spell him so he can take advantage of some drafting for a bit.  Look closely and you can see how hard they are flapping their wings!

All of Saturday was pretty much consumed by the Pennsylvania State Farm Show — the largest farm show in the country!

 We don’t just do princess torsos in butter…we do a whole cow…okay, calf.

There are many sheep…some in very cool outfits.

There are rabbits of many colors and varieties…though these will look pretty much alike on the dinner plate.  (Sorry, K & J, but these are the same breed your mom and I used to raise!)

Dale found a combine he wanted.  At least he wanted to go for a ride in it.

We decided to let sleeping hogs lie.

The youthful intensity of those entered in the poultry event was fun to watch.

I particularly appreciated the “stare ‘em in the eyeballs” method of inspiring greatness.  (No chickens were harmed during this competion despite the eery similarity to the way our special operations forces have been reputed to have killed goats.)

Finally, no good farm show could be without…alpacas.  I made several new friends — both four legged and two legged.  And came away with some beautiful rovings. 

Dale sized up the competition in the fiber arts and baking categories and says we can take them.  I can hardly wait.

Love, Jan

P.S. If you were wondering about the title of this post — that’s a goal of losing 55 pounds this year.  I want to be healthy for retirement!  Five down, fifty to go, so now I’m at 50 in 50!  I’m still 53 though.

Dear Ellen,

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I am sitting here typing with chilly fingers thinking I should have been knitting gloves this month instead of socks.  It has been snowing or sleeting all day.   We’ve only gotten a few inches of accumulation, but it is wet and heavy — and the trees are straining under the weight.  From my vantage point in my studio I am hearing the cracks and pops of a limb falling every half hour or so…several are kinda near the house, so enough to get nerves on edge!

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I did accomplish a good bit in the aforementioned sock knitting.  I’m almost done with my Hot Feet socks.  They’re based on the flame rib pattern and they are hug the foot very nicely as a result.  I knit them from this flame-like colorway to add to the thought of nice warm feet.  The heals are in eye of partridge — I love how it works so nicely with this colorway that has longer dark repeats and shorter bright repeats.

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I also got started on a pair of socks in Neighborhood Fiber Company’s Eastern Market colorway.  They’ll be for a young lady who lived in that neighborhood for a few years.  I don’t think she reads our blog that much, so I believe I’m safe to mention it here.  The pattern is the candle flame lace pattern.  I hope that’s not foreshadowing a need for candles if a tree limb takes out our power!

Finally, I blocked the  Spring Lace socks that I cast on during Sock Summit…oh, the memories! The lace pattern is supposedly a floral design and if you look closely you can imagine the stacked rosettes working their way up the leg.  Let me offer that it is not worth it — It is one of those little lace patterns with many centered decreases and a really evil way of making you think you are on a row other than the one you’re supposed to be knitting.  I spent the entire first sock getting it into my head solidly enough to make the second sock easy.  Of course, the fact that I kept putting it down and working on something else may have had something to do with it.

I proved once again that I am a shameless book whore strong supporter of the publishing industry and our fellow designers and picked up both Coastal Knits  and The Best of Knitscene.  As there are many reviews out there right now for the former, I thought I’d offer a quick review on the latter.  This is a really nice little book!  Not only does it have 20 patterns, all of which I’d be willing to knit (and several which I feel I must knit), but it also includes extra articles on the designers and on a number of very useful tips and descriptions to help even the seasoned knitter be more successful.  Two of the patterns have been in my mental queue forever — Connie Chang Chinchio’s Geodesic Cardigan and Cecily Glowik Macdonald’s Michaelmas Mitts.  The first is an open front cardi with a lovely horizontal pleat detail on the front vertical bands and the second are long mitts trimmed with buttons and knit in some wonderful fuzziness.  It’s nice to know that the book includes updates to these (and all 20) to correct all errata found since their original publication in the original magazines.  At least three other patterns are shouting at me to dig out yarn and cast on.  Get this book and I guarantee a case of startitis!

I’m looking forward to drawing our winners from our birthday party celebration.  Till then,

Love, Jan