Dear Ellen,
I surely have felt fenced in of late. The post-surgical complications (nothing too serious, dear readers) have been a figurative and literal pain in the……okay, okay, I won’t go there. I was going a bit stir crazy, but I’m very happy to report that in just the last few days I have seen a dramatic increase in my ability to sit upright without doing additional damage or suffering some very discrete yet powerful pain. This translates directly into my being able to do things with my hands like knitting, doing needlepoint, needlefelting, etc. One is far less likely to go insane more able to entertain oneself when not limited to lying about on one’s stomach. This has yielded a number of completed projects on which I’ll focus most of the rest of this blog post (assuming anyone who reads this blog also listens to the podcast so I don’t need to tell them about Thanksgiving or the chickens).
I will comment on one other item though — Dale, with some help from Allen, Heidi, one of our teenaged neighbors and me (on the very last short board so I could say I helped) has completed putting up the posts and rails for our first paddock. Isn’t it fabulous? (Okay, it’s a crappy picture from Dale’s very old phone, but at least you get the idea.) We (and by we, I mean Dale) still have to put in the gates and trim the posts to height, but the hardest work is finished. I’m now working on the shopping list for halters, water troughs, hay racks and medical supplies. I can’t wait to see alpaca inside that fence.
Now to those finished projects. I’m really pleased with my Spring Grove Tocque and Mitts. They’re knit from yarn produced by Spring Grove Alpaca Ranch — our intended source for our first alpaca. (But you can only see the tocque here, and not yet blocked at that — imagine very similar mitts till I post a picture some day.) Carl, the owner was so generous with his time and alpaca for the wedding that I wanted to knit him something to repay him. I think he will appreciate it doubly since they’re made from his yarn — a lovely sport weight in natural fawn and tan colors provided kindly by the alpacas Prediction and Ellamy. I do so love knitting with alpaca yarn — kitten belly soft (TM).
I also created a little menagerie of fiber friends to keep me company in my confinement. They are all needlefelted, most have a partial or complete pipecleaner armature. Each one only took a few hours to complete — pretty quick and I think they turned out really cute. Each is the representation of a well loved pet. Can you pick out Max and Ruby? These guys are destined to find themselves under a Christmas tree (or in a stocking). I’ll miss them, but by then I should be able to be out and about and talking to humans. (No, I haven’t been talking to these guys….much.)
I also knocked out a handful of felted ornaments — 2 sheep, a snowman and a whoopie pie. I gave the little Wensleydale to my friend Jeri who raises them. The little snowman went to our knit group ornament exchange. Dale will get the whoopie pie and I get the little white and black sheep (perhaps a Suffolk?) is for me. I think I need to add a ribbon to the whoopie pie to make sure Dale doesn’t think he can eat it.
And Show Me Your Larch Pack is finished!! Off the needles, pieced and photographed…though not blocked yet. I do think you can see it’s fantastic potential in these photos — just imagine what it will look like after a good wet blocking. I am so looking forward to wearing it.
I haven’t cast on Pretty Thing yet, but I hope to before the weekend is over. I’ve got some other things to get done, so I’d better get to it if I’m going to get this posted and pick out yarn!
Love, Jan
Jan and Ellen are identical twins who have always had an innate fashion sense. Crafting is an integral part of their lives and they stay stitched together sharing their love of knitting, family and community.