Alpaca Fun!

We had a fun Labor Day Weekend.  It started with a trip to Roanoke where we feasted at Abeulo's.  On our way home we spotted a sign for Otter Peaks Alpaca's and decided to check it out. 

We met John & Cindy Ferrante and their super friendly Alpaca's:

The alpaca's were all very lovable and seemed to like posing for pictures:

If you are in the area be sure to stop by to visit with John & Cindy and see their alpaca's.  They have a nice shop too with lot's of yarn and items made from alpaca fiber.

They also have two Great Pyrenees dog's that protect the herd of alpacas. 

Since we live in a subdivision farm animals are out of the question (for now heh).  Ive been training Roper to be a protector.  Here he is guarding my handspun yarn:

Leaving

Anne Hanson is one of my favorite pattern designers.  Her patterns patterns produce amazing results. 

This is Leaving and it's first sweater that I have knitted where I am completely happy with the fit. 

Knitting a something as large as a sweater and not knowing how it's going to look on your body is a little daunting.  If you look at the finished projects page for Leaving on Ravelry it looks wonderful on everyone.  It's light enough to wear in early fall with a shell under it and later on in winter would also look great with a blouse. 

The yarn is hand dyed BFL by Wits End Serenade.  It was a gift from Andy at the Montpellier Fall Fiber Festival last October. There is a skein and a half left over.  Enough for a shawl or perhaps a vest.  The nice thing about yarn is that it doesn't have an expiration date.

Seams?  What seams?  They don't really stand out, do they?  That is thanks to Ann McCauley, another fabulous designer, author and mentor.  She was here in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and was kind enough to teach a seaming class at our knit group.  While Ive done some seaming in the past I was never satisfied with the results.  After Ann's class my seaming has improved one hundred percent.  If you ever have an opportunity to take one of her classes, I highly recommend it.

Short & Sweet

I had a fantastic post written up and the blog ate it.  So for now and since it's getting really late a shawl for your entertainment.

Live Oak Shawlette by Romi Hill in Sanguine Gryphon Bugga Oak Timberworm

When it rains is pours, or when it's fleece it's yarn

It seems as though Im either completely caught up on things and wondering what I should be doing or literally up to my armpits in work:

These are the Love at the Opera Gloves that are finally finished. Pattern by Hannah Cuviello, yarn is Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Strawberry Crab.  My goal was to have them completed in time for the new Harry Potter movie and I made it.  While I did feel a bit awkward wearing them to the movie, I was really glad I did.  It was freezing in the theater and they worked great with my summertime shirt.  Andy and I went to the 3D version early on Sunday morning when there were only about five other people in the theater.  Perfect!

This is the Holden shawl that just came off the blocking wires. It's a very easy pattern and I really enjoyed knitting it.  Ive added several repeats to make the best use of the yarn.  It's my hand spun from roving purchased from Tintagel Farm at last years Montpelier Fall Fiber Festival.

Three more skeins for the Tour de Fleece.  I still have a couple of pounds of this Cotswold left to spin and Im seriously worried that I won't have it done by the end of the tour.  On the positive side so far Ive spun 1232 yards and there should be enough by the end of the week to complete a sweater.

Missy and I took a ride out to a quilt show at the Bedford Library.  There were so many amazing quilts. We drooled over all of them.  This one was my favorite and called Shibori Shimmers. 

Homemade Marina Sauce - now in the freezer.  Im hoping to make salsa today and possibly jam tomorrow. 

It's been a fantastic week!  Ive been spinning every day for the Tour de Fleece and making great progress.  Here is one of the skeins of Cotswold that have been spun, plied and then finished (washed).  500 yards so far plus one fully plied bobbin that needs to be skeined and measured.  The Cotswold has such an incredible luster and sheen.  It's really a joy to spin.  I'm looking forward to knitting a sweater with it later on this year when the temperatures cool down a bit.

Ive also been having some fun in the kitchen!  Last week Beth and I took another trip to Morris Orchard and this time picked black berries.  They are sweet and oh so good.  Hard to stop eating while we were picking!  Beth shared a recipe for Black Berry Liqueur and of course I had to try it.  It takes 10 days to process.  Andy and I anxiously awaiting the results.  I think this is a good excuse to find some cordial glasses!

Our garden is producing tomatoes almost faster than we can eat them.  I canned salsa on Sunday and it's really good!  I'm not much for using mixes for anything, but found this at the store and thought I would give it a try:  Mrs. Wages Salsa  It's very good and super easy to make.  I also made some seedless black berry jam.  Yum!

The Stripe Study Shawl for the Shalimar Yarns KAL is off the needles and blocked.  I changed the width of the stripes from the original pattern and love how it turned out.  It took one skein of Breathless in Cranberry and Black Truffle.  We are getting ready for our next Shalimar KAL and would love to hear your ideas!  Please join us on our Ravelry Group. 

The Fourth of July was fantastic for us this year.  My husband and I drove to Wintergreen Resort  for an  evening of fun and fireworks.  We got there late in the afternoon and staked out a place for our chairs and had funnel cake with ice cream and beer.  Believe it or not, these do go together pretty well.  Or maybe I was just really hungry....

As the afternoon went on, many more people came.  Several very good bands played throughout the day and into the evening.

I had to take a picture of this guy.  We called him the sneaky photographer.  No idea who or what he was photographing, but he was being quite sneaky about it.

Our little point and shoot digital camera did a pretty good job of catching some of the fireworks.

Bill, Andys dad, had a birthday last week.  We took a drive out to visit and got to meet the new additions to the family. Here Bo and Bella.  They are rescue boxer cross puppies and are about four months old.  They are so happy and wiggly that it was hard to get them to stay still for a picture.

Bill found this in the back yard, it's not alive (thank goodness).  It amazes me how large things grow here in Virginia.  The chapstick is for perspective.  As far as I know bugs don't wear chapstick, but you never know.

I signed up for the Tour de Fleece on Ravelry.  I'm on Team SuperFleece and spinning Cotswold that I had sent to Singleton Fiber Processing in Maryland this spring.  It's coming along nicely and I should have more than enough for a sweater and shawl. 

The past couple of weekends we have been taking our bikes to Percivals Island for early morning rides.  It's great fun and good exercise.  Most of the trail we ride on is shaded so we haven't gotten too terribly hot. I keep a knitting project in my basket and Andy has a telescoping fishing rod strapped to the rack on his bike.  There is a nice place to fish in one area and there happens to be a bench in the shade which is perfect for tranquil knitting.

Jam!

Yesterday Beth and I went blueberry picking at Morris Orchard in Amherst County.  We have had more rain this spring than past years and the blueberries are huge and so delicious.  Beth wound up with just over 5lbs and I was a bit under.  Ive frozen some, gave some to Angie, baked a cake and this morning made blueberry lime jam.

I wash the berries first and then measure them out.

The recipe called for crushing them in layers and then boiling.  I used a potato masher and it did a great job.

The finished product:

You can find the recipe I used here.  I added 2 packs of powdered pectin as mine wasn't setting well with one and only 4 cups of sugar.