'Twas The Night Before Christmas

....and the sheep are all cozy in feed bunk and barn.

The friendlies are lined up, all begging for treats.

While Daisy peers out as it's starting to sleet.

Holly and Shadow Holly take a late walk in the snow.

Then it's off to our beds we gratefully go,
knowing that Christmas soon will be here
spreading wonder and joy over all we hold dear.

December: The Month of More, Part 2

December also features a couple of notable fiber-oriented gatherings for me.

First is Christmas On The Farm - a cozy group of vendors who kick off the holiday craft festival season at Stone Edge Fibers in Phelps, NY.  Fibergoddess Amy (and DH Fred) clear their garage to make a lovely venue for herself and five other vendors to offer goods to early Christmas shoppers. 

I made up more beginner drop spindle kits and packaged some yummy alpaca/silk, camel/silk and dyed waste silk roving.

Besides Amy's and my fiber and yarn (and Andy's fiber tools and 'gift items' like cutting boards), there are vendors with amazing soap and lotions, jewelry, turned wooden bowls, holiday decorations and jams.

 

Don't you love this sweater? I asked the lady if she had made it.  She did not, but I think it could be done reasonably simply by embroidering those flowers on a plain sweater with yarn.  Done by someone... probably not me.  Sigh.

Also at this event was a Guiding Eyes pup in training and an information booth about the organization which was selling baked goods and hot cider as a fundraiser. 

This is Vanguard.  He's actually a 'loner' pup from another family as a female pup in his household was coming into heat and the policy is to remove males from that distraction until it passes.  He was a very good boy and worked very hard at ignoring people and tempting items on the floor during his lessons and concentrated only on his handler.

But don't worry, he eventually went off duty and we all got to pet him and he had a good nap too.

The other fun gathering was my spinning guild's December meeting.  It features Christmas cookies and a 'secret Santa' style fiber gift exchange.  Participation is not mandatory but many people choose to join in. 

The cookie table (more came in later, too).

Look at these!  Almost too cute to eat!  (Almost).

And the table of gifts was full to overflowing.  Anne Marie presided over the drawing of names and gift choosing.

My name came up second!  I took one look at the box with this little guy on top and grabbed him up.  It's Dominic the Donkey!!

Alas, I didn't get to keep him very long as 'stealing' was allowed during the course of the gift game and he changed hands many times.

It's been such a busy month I didn't get a chance to give the crazy guild challenge roving much thought but I figured I better jump in and decide how to handle it.  I laid it out and stewed on the colors a while.  I could make them harmonize fairly well except for that white - it stuck out like a sore thumb to me.  I finally settled on laying them out in a dark/light/dark/light sequence and hoped it was random enough that the white would be spread out and quieted down when the finished yarn was eventually plied back on itself.

I started from the left, rolling the roving like a cinnamon bun and adding each length of roving in turn as I had laid it out.  I also sprinkled some Forest Blaze angelina on the roving as I rolled it up.  In for a penny, in for a pound.  It ended up looking rather appealing and I was eager to spin it.

I had to spin it a little chunkier than I had wanted.  Since the fiber came from lots of different sources the preparation varied a lot.  Some colors spun easily, some seemed to have been around the block a few times and were almost felted and didn't draft well.  All in all, it didn't turn out too badly.

Next was plying.  And measuring.  The plying went well in that the colors blended quite nicely and the only color that matched up to itself in one place was the white.  Wouldn't you know.  Happily it was only a few yards.  Then I measured it.  Ninety-nine yards.  In the immortal words of Scooby Doo... "Ruuh-rooh!"  The pattern we're to use calls for a minimum of over 200 yards.  It's adjustable in that you can make it shorter or narrower but I have a sneaking suspicion that to avoid looking like a choker I'm going to need more yarn.  At this point I turn to the vast stash of handspun samples I have from roving colors that are long gone.  I'm thinking I can alternate a few rows of the challenge yarn with something from the stash to stretch the total yardage.

I hemmed and hawed and held everything to the light of day and finally decided on using the mocha (moorit) in the middle.  At least, that's the thought right now.  I know I don't have time to get started until after Christmas so I'll look at it again then with fresh eyes.  So it's decided......kinda.

After Christmas

Since the storm last week it's never really stopped snowing.  Some days just a little, yesterday another 7 inches for us.  We now have an amount that proves it's actually winter.

 

There was a lot of wind with the snow yesterday and we have this funky snow stalactite hanging ominously off the eaves right by the side door.

 

 

Speaking of the side door, this little chrysalis appeared one day late last fall in the metal doorframe of the sliding screen door.  The picture doesn't do it justice - it's quite elegant and even ornate with little points and bumps on it - and the picture doesn't show it but there is the thinnest, finest strand of fiber you can barely see that's working like a guy wire or belt and helping hold it in place.  How the heck did he throw out a strand of something from INside the case?  Anyway, I've become quite protective of "him" and take care not to knock him off with a careless hand on the doorframe.  It's in kind of a dangerous place what with going in and out ten times a day, but there's no danger of using the screen door so if we can keep from being clumsy for a few more months I hope to see what kind of butterfly comes out in the spring.

 

 

And with Christmas past and gifts given I can post a couple of other things that went to new owners.

 

An alpaca scarf I spun and knit.  I looked through a book of stitches till I found one that was A. easy and B. I liked the look of.  I figured out how many pattern repeats would give me the width I wanted and just knit till the yarn was gone.

 

 

And then this scarf came from the guild's "stash stew" fiber and was the lot that I got back for what I put in.  The pattern is basically The False Entrelac pattern from Ravelry.

 

 

So I had two items to knit for Christmas and they both got done in time.  And since Christmas I've assimilated 90% of gifts received and. written. thank. you. notes.  This is a big one for me.  I'm always grateful for gifts, but usually hideously slow to send a written thank you.  Finally.....did it right.  There is still some clutter laying around.....I mean, how can you pick up bags when Dexter HAS to sit in them?

 

Holly says......

 

As long as we HAVE snow you should come out and play with me.



 Who can resist dog logic?

 











How Festive!

It wasn't seeming very Christmasy until today.  Having been above freezing everything was the brown and tired green of pre-winter, then we graduated to mud.  Today we woke to some real snow.

 

Everything is totally coated with a wet sticky snow which is very pretty.  Unfortunately, being the shortest day of the year and also under heavy clouds it's a dreary day otherwise.  There isn't any wind to speak of so the snow is all staying on the branches.

 

 





It's heavy enough to weigh down flexible branches and make graceful arches on a boring hedge.

 

Holly seems to be listening to the snow fall.  Being just a little wet and slushy it does make a faint hissing noise as it lands.

 

 

Dexter is happy to stay indoors and vulture from atop the grandfather clock.

 

  All this excitement over snow.  Meh.

 

I'm very close to being done with collecting presents for Christmas.  Just a few things yet to find.  I've made several things too, but can't blog most of them for fear the recipient will see them.  Here's one thing I painted which is going to someone who isn't likely to see it, so I'll risk it.

 

 

I can't claim originality - I copied it off an old Christmas card - but I do like the way it turned out.  After Christmas I'll post a few other things I did.  It takes me so long to complete a project that no one is in danger of finding constant homemade gifts tiresome!