We wish you a merry goat-mas…
We wish you a merry goat-mass,
We wish you a merry goat-mass!
And a happy Baaaah year!
It was the night before Christmas and we were dressing up a goat…
“What is finer than dressing up a goat in headbands so cheery?”
The only thing better is dressing up a wooly ram…clearly.
So jease, another week. I’ve been terrible at this blogging thing. Fact is I just don’t have much to say and frankly I’ve been struggling with exhaustion. So since I’m already tired it seems intuitive that I would be adding to my work load right? HA! Yes apparently because that is what I do.
Here is what I am up to…
1. I designed a new cowl with shaping. It reminds me of the Robin Hood cowls that are all drapy and perfect.
2. I designed a sweater but am waiting for my model to be free. Stupid holidays & life getting in the way 
3. Herman is still making funny faces and jumping all over ewes. I hope we’ll have some little red lambs this spring!
4. Milk Goats. I have em. Well, almost. We are picking them up next sunday. I have two girls and a buck because you need a buck and babies for milk goats to have milk! They are all pure La Manchas and yes, I am going to make cheese. And maybe butter.
5. It’s been cold here in the mornings which is colder than it was last year but still..it’s December and NO SNOW.
6. I am trying to finish writing up Frankenfine and then I might be back to the real world. I’ve been lost in the land of farming and writing and now it’s almost Christmas and I don’t know where the time went. Soon it will be time for reflection and new years resolutions!
I’ve been a downer and I’m sorry for that. I wanted to thank you for all your wonderful lovely encouraging comments. It’s been a little hard to pull myself out of this downward spiral. Maybe because Christmas is coming, maybe because I’m just super tired, or maybe because I really can’t take one more stupid thing happening. So in order to get past all that I have some photos that will make you smile. I giggled my butt off taking these…
Charlie is a super star. He can’t help it, he just has that charisma that makes everyone fall in love with him. Now? he likes to wear things on his head. Super star x 10. My cousin Rebecca thinks I should start a separate blog called “Stuff My Goat Wears” which I think might be funny. I kind of want to go to a party store and buy out their novelty headbands.
Charlie is not the only super star on the farm though…
Herman is our rent-a-ram that we will be buying at the end of this breeding season. He’s so damn sweet and gentle and a beautiful red the Mr and I don’t want to let him go. Also? He’s festive. This ram let me put on his crazy head band and then just stood there like a champion. Then! He struck a few more poses. He couldn’t have cared LESS about what I was doing as long as it got him a chin scratch. Dear Herman, I love you.
Aw My Mr. Dude. He does abide. You have to admit that anything along with his sweet bunny face is just adorable as can be!
Oops was not so happy about the adornment but I think that’s because it was a little big on him and kept slipping. In the end Charlie wanted it back and pulled it off everyone’s head until we put it back on him.
And since this went over so well I found another…
Charlie couldn’t smile anymore if he tried!
He loved it so much he wandered off to eat still wearing his tiara. Gotta love a goat that can accessorize!
Herman was not to be left out though.
In the end though I let them all get back to their dignified naked selves.
And Dude was merry!
Mr Wally knows he’ll probably never be subjected to such indignity because he doesn’t even like an ear scratch. He’s a sweetie face just the same though.
And the geese are always around, yelling at me and tattling on anyone breaking the rules.
Oh jease, I’m so behind on blogging. I know it’s probably been boring around here but I kind of lost my mojo after Minnesota. I seemed to get behind with one thing and then I was behind on everything. So here is a mass random update (There will be goats I promise!)
1. Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on my Ternion Shawl. I have to say that I was seriously surprised because frankly, I didn’t expect it. I got a whole bunch of comments on Ravelry and people seem to really like it. I can only say that I hope this means that Knitty’s winter issue should be badass. If people actually liked my shawl then the stuff they kept must be amazing.
2. We had one of our very own turkeys for Thanksgiving. It was amazing beyond words. This was a bird that I had raised since it was a day old and then it fed my family. It had the best life a turkey could have. It got to do pretty much as it wished, eat as much grass and bugs as it could stand, and even mate with the hens should the mood hit. Remember, just because you buy organic doesn’t mean that bird wasn’t raised with 20,000 other birds in a barn never to see the light of day. My birds are free range and the more I collect eggs the more birds I might have next year. So far I’m up to about 26 eggs but none have hatched out yet.
3. The Mr finally bottled his own home made Blackberry wine! It is amazing. It actually tastes really wonderful and I have to admit that I had my doubts. But it is really yummy. It’s not something that would ever win any snooty awards but it will be all drank to the last drop. I’m really proud of him. Now he’s in the middle of making some mead and then there is the quite whispers about a still (for perfume purposes only of course because we are NOT law breakers. HA!) We totally bought the industrial $70 corker because it is worth every single penny. Corking is hard otherwise.
He looks so happy doesn’t he? I know how he feels, I was like that with my jam. And yes, these are the same blackberries from our property.
4. I knit some socks and they are by far my favorite pair in the longest time. I have tried to knit these Meida socks by Nancy Bush two pervious times. It ended in sad too tight socks. Finally with the right yarn needle combo I came out with these.
Seriously. I absolutely love how these socks feel. They are Mountain Colors barefoot and I love the yarn SO MUCH! I’m all about having a little mohair in my yarn. It makes it so much more wooly and wears better I think.
5. Herman the ram. I can’t remember if I’ve talked about him or not. If not here we go. Herman is the ram we are renting to get with some of our ewes. He’s a beautiful red icelandic mouflon and I love him so much that I’m thinking we will have to buy him. He’s the most gentle mild mannered fella I’ve ever know. He’s my husband in sheep form! LOL And, the ladies are loving him. Also, he stinks like ass. Which is a good thing if you are a ram in rut.
I thought he was good natured before but this weekend I bought these festive headbands to embarrass the dogs. Then I got the crazy idea that these things would fit other animals too…
Yes, I did put a festive headband on a ram and you know what? He could have cared LESS. He snuffled the ladies, asked me for a chin scratch and posed for several pictures.
The goats were not as easy because they want to be RIGHT NEXT TO YOU.
You know what I love? Goats. I seriously just love them. I never would have known. My friends have sheep and alpacas and llamas. I never knew a single goat. But you know what? Goats totally trump all of those animals x a million. Not only are they sweet as sugar they enjoy your attention, are silly to be silly, and are so damn affectionate. Also, they let you humiliate them on the internet.
Some even enjoy it. Charlie is a super star after all. If you met Charlie in person (or in goat if you will), you’d understand. This goat has charisma to spare. After this little experiment I kind of…um…want to dress my goats up more. I know! It’s sick! I KNOW! But you guys, it was fun and cute and still makes me smile. This is better for a foul day than any amount of zoloft. Bummed? Dress up your goat. All better! So yeah. This might become a thing. It’s not like I’m going to knit them little fair isle sweaters and leave them out in the pasture like that but a little headband or scarf for pictures? Yes.
6. Lastly I met Monica in Portland the other week for coffee and pictures. She’s such a good sport for letting me harass her with a camera.
Another rejection by Knitty which really isn’t a surprise. I don’t think that I’m ever going to be what Knitty is looking for and I’m ok with that. So on that note here is the shawl I designed back this summer. This shawl is available free for a limited time!
This shawl is knit and joined modularity. It’s quite fun and really interesting to do! It has just enough to keep you interested while it isn’t too hard that you can’t watch tv at the same time.
I designed this shawl to take full advantage of varigated yarns, self striping yarns, and pooling yarns of doom. Get your pattern here! This would also be absolutely amazing with hand spun yarn!
On the smaller shawl I used Malabrigo sock yarn and a skein of Jager matchmaker. On the larger version I used almost 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Sock.
So since I was rejected from Knitty again I’m going to make this shawl available for free for a limited time only.
Make sure to get your pattern soon because this pattern won’t be free forever! 
Just dropping in to say I didn’t die in Minnesota – as much as I tried! I had an amazing time and ran myself absolutely ragged seeing friends and family. There was only one low point which didn’t come as a surprise – and it wasn’t even family related! Amazing! I’m just about back to normal and ready to post pictures, goat news, turkey egg progress, and sheep sex. You know you’ve been wondering about the sheep sex, I know you have, I can feel it from here.
So to tide you over I have a new free pattern. The Perfection Cowl was designed to be just that…Perfect. It adds ribbing and garter stitch to make a cowl that wont be too baggy up top while still leaving lots of wonderful drape at the bottom. This cowl is easy as pie to knit and is the perfect stash buster for that extra skein of yarn you have lying around. This would also be amazing in handspun!
What do you need?
200 yds of worsted weight yarn
1 us #8 16″ circular needle
Stich Marker
You need to be able to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off.
That’s it! Have fun and I hope you enjoy!
Because I know you guys are fiending for it.
Charlie is head goat and he always wants to be right up in your face.
I love the expression that Gordy is making in the background. He’s like that guy that walks into your vacation photo, ruins the shot, and you don’t notice till you get home and develop your film.
Tank and Charlie are good friends. It looks like Tank is being mean to Charlie but he’s only using his front little teeth to give Charlie a good scratch. They do this ALL THE TIME and it’s hilarious.
Mr Wally Waddles has neck waddles of course.
Blue Steel strikes a pose. I named this little man Blue Steel after the movie Zoolander because he always seems to be making the face! He’s also the least smart goat and has gotten tangled in blackberry vines (to the point where he’s literally trapped) more than once. He’s not smart but he’s pretty which I guess makes up for it.
“Bitch say what?” That’s what I expect the goats are saying with that expression.
So I have a problem, I knit a lot of designs but don’t model them (because lets be frank, the skinny girls sell the patterns). I didn’t really have a go-to model for when I finished a knit design which was becoming a sort of problem. Knits just look better when they are modeled. Well that problem has been solved. The Mr’s business partner’s wife is drop dead gorgeous and agreed to model some shawls for me. So today we went out to a local park and I drug out some old shawls to get some better photos. They turned out amazing.
Fall fields looks way better on her than it ever did on me.
Channel Islands Shawl. Still one of my most favorite designs ever and this is probably my most worn shawl I own.
Rough Seas Shawl which I have completely re-written and used my fancy chart software for.
Sweet Corn which looks way better on a body than it ever did on a branch.
She’s amazingly gorgeous right? Yeah, I find it a little intimidating but I worked through it. I had to hear the Mr’s voice and his parents in my head the whole time telling me that we are all good at different things. Hell, I played in Carnegie hall when I was 17 which a lot of people never do in their lives…EVER. So it’s not like I’m a looser but ya know, I might have made a complete ass out of myself talking too much and being a dork. Only time will tell.
All patterns are available through Ravelry (and the links are on my pattern page if your interested). I’m really excited about working with Shauna in the future because she’s so tiny (ie less yarn consumed for patterns, meaning more because they costs me less) so the sweaters I’ve wanted to do for quite a while will fly off the needles. I’ve already ordered yarn for one I’m going to be starting shortly. It’s Robin Hood inspired, but in a good way.
So I’ve been kinda behind on the blogging thing. We’ve had a lot going on here on the homestead and life has kind of gotten in the way. Frankly, our life has been centered around a lamb with a punctured trachea for the last week and now that we are confident that she’ll make it I’m finally starting to relax again. Farm animals aren’t pets but it doesn’t really matter when you have an animal in pain under your care.
First, we got a new truck. No it’s not a sheep, but it is a Ram!
The Mr is thrilled and I’m thrilled that I don’t have to worry about him breaking down in the suburban anymore.
So, Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival was awesome. We drove down (in the new truck!) and I promised myself I would not buy a sheep or a goat and I actually made good on that promise, but I’ll tell you, seeing those Angora goats made it hard!
We went to the animals first because that’s always my favorite part. I love seeing the goats and the sheep the best, and even at the fair this is my favorite part. It was nice seeing all the adult pygora goats so I know how big my boys will get, and I got some information on local goat dealers, and even might have a line on a boyfriend for my Icelandic gals.
This beautiful boy had blue eyes! He was by far my favorite.
The Jacobs are by far the Mr’s favorite sheep. He has a serious thing for those 4 horns and maybe this year I’ll find him a 4 horned lamb. We also bought fleeces. Romney and Jacobs which I’m pretty excited about. I was amazed at the deal on these fleeces, maybe because there were so many and they were all in one spot? This amount of fleece on the web (if I could find it) would usually cost about 80 bucks but the most we paid for anything was 20 and the lowest was 5!
One thing I didn’t know was that Carrie of Apenglow Yarns was going to be vending here. I met Carrie a few years back through my friends Tom & Mette at Ranch Of The Oaks. It was a lovely surprise to see her and her yarns are just amazing!
Like I said, we met an Icelandic breeder which was nice (because they aren’t a hugely popular sheep) and I’m arranging to see what boys she might have available for me to rent. We aren’t looking to have a ram on our property yet so we basically are looking to rent a gigilo ram during the breeding season.
I bought some yarn, a few fleeces and no animals. It was a sucessful trip even though it poured in the middle of the day and we had a blast!
I finished another knit! See, my best friend Shawna just moved back to Minnesota because her husband is now over seas in Afghanistan. She moved to be closer to family and friends and not so much in the country. Since I’m from Minnesota I’m going to visit her and my family at the end of October. Back in the day when I first learned to knit I knit her this horrible wide long garter stitch acrylic scarf. The thing was ugly and terrible and she LOVED it. Then her brother borrowed it a couple years ago and lost it.
I figured it was time to replace that scarf, and also, to maybe make it a grown up thing that a woman would be proud to wear.
Pattern: Spring Leaves
Yarn: Beaverslide Dry Goods Sport Weight
Needle: US #8
Specs: 5 repeats each side before binding off, it’s about 7 feet long.
I cast this scarf on last Friday and finished it the following Wednesday. It was such a fast knit! The pattern was great, it was simple to knit, easy to memorize, and yielded an amazing result! I did have a few false starts though because I am not always the best pattern follower. Basically there are some symbols in the chart that I associate with meaning other things so I was a little confused but after I really looked at the key I was good to go.
II love wooly lace. This is very sheepy and warm even though it’s light and airy and lace. It’s perfect to wrap about your shoulders or double up and use as a scarf. It’s wide enough that you can drape it over your head if you’ve forgotten your hat or bunch around your neck.
I like that it’s seamless and mirrors itself. I think the diamonds in the back are a pretty touch too.
I almost want to keep it for myself and why yes, I am wearing plaid flannel and I love it.
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