So I sat there for a moment and took a deep breath of the musky straw of the goat stall and remembered that I am not the ‘wait to be saved’ type.  I go onto my knees – my poor unreliable angry knees – and crawled out of the stall trying not to hit my foot to hard on the floor below because every tap was agony.  I used bits of straw and fallen hay as knee pads as I crawled on my hands and knees down the cement hallway toward the door.  The whole time – and this is probably stupid – I was physically saying to myself “I can do this.” over and over again.  Every shuffle of the knee and hand was “I can do this.”  Oddly though I still wasn’t crying.

Pretty pathetic right? Yeah, well, I knew once I got to the door of the barn I had 20 feet of mud to the fence and a bunch of goats who wanted their grain more than anything so I decided I’d test it.  I pulled myself to my feet and with the aid of one of the Mr’s many 2×4′s I took my first tentative step.  It hurt like hell but I could move.  So I did.  I used that 2×4 as a bastardized cane and moved as quickly as I could through the barnyard and through the yard and into the house where I had enough thought to grab and icepack before falling onto the couch and reclining as far as I could to elevate the offending joint.  I went fast because I knew that I was working on adrenaline and that it would probably wear off at any moment.  And it did.  Just about the moment I heard my husband’s voice on the other end of the phone.

So yeah.  We had a lovely little ER trip to our local hospital where I was checked in by a woman too bored with me to stop looking at houses and who got snippy with me about my -completely abnormal for me - high blood pressure.  HA! You know, the only people who make a big deal out of that are people who’ve never been hurt so bad they needed to go to the ER before.  Unless you’ve felt that fear and pain you can shut your sweet ass up.  My blood pressure was high because I was in pain, because I was terrified I wasn’t going to make it out of the barn by myself, because I had already broken this ankle when I was 13 and have two screws in it, and I was terrified that I would be out of commission for 8 weeks.

People, I have stuff to do.  I’m too busy to be a cripple for that long.

So 4 hours later I was greeted with the news that it was NOT broken.  People, I felt like I had just won the lottery at that point.  Everything else didn’t matter, I was as good as gold.

So yeah. My wonderful husband took amazing care of me for the next 3 solid days.  I hobbled on crutches and scooted around the house on a rolly chair and did my best to keep completely off it for that time.  The swelling went down and the bruising came - omg it is SO bruised! – and I’m able to walk around pretty confidently now with aid of a brace.

To celebrate let’s have a contest!  Comment here with your worst injury and I’ll pick 5 random people (with help of the random number generator) to win 3 patterns of mine of their choice.  You have until Monday the 27th before I’ll pick my winners.

And though this has nothing to do with the post here are some goats.

That said, just because we don’t celebrate like a couple of competing teenagers doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it in other ways…

Do you know how hard it was to find a Valentines Day headband? Impossible I say

So we inprovised.

Can I tell you how much I love the dollar store?  Yeah, I do.

This picture cracks me up.  The turkey looks SO cranky compared to happy go lucky Dude.

Charlie is usually my diva and best posing goat but he was more interested in chewing on everyone else.

I’ll tell you, no one is a better goat wrangler than the Mr.  he’s good about keeping them from chewing on headbands, moving them in to the light just the right way and keeping them entertained.  These photos would be so much harder to take without his help.

Even Tank got into it for 5 seconds…

Hannah’s babies are doing great.  They are more mobile every day and galloping around in the most adorable ways.  Not only do I love these guys but it means that in a few months I’ll have milk for my family and start making cheese.  I’ve looked at an automatic butter churn and think I’ll add that to my kitchen arsenal too.  The Mr and I have had a goal for quite a while now to be as self sustained as possible.  Not because we are hippies, not because we don’t think groccery store food is good, but because it has become more important to us to be able to provide for ourselves.  I think that the more involved you get in growing your own food the more horrified you are when you discover what a lot of your food goes through to get to you.  Have you ever seen a milking plant for cows? Yeah, I’m not squeemish or a bleeding heart anything but damn, something about that doesn’t seem right ya know?

Our goats are for milk only but it goes a long way in adding that missing factor to our self sustainability.  We already got 99% of our meat this last fall from the 4H kids & FFA members when we bought animals at the fair so this year I’m going to focus on gardening and other forms of preserving food.  I’ve already got a large garden mapped out (around our small apple and plum orchard) and I’m excited to go to town.

Jet is our little buckling and he’s jet black (hense the name).  I haven’t really decided 100% what I’m doing with him.  He’s unrelated to my other doe but I already have a buck I can breed to both ladies.  He’s just so beautiful though.  I’d love to sell him as a buckling to someone who wanted to enhance their herd but I don’t know what the market is like.

His sister Rocket on the other hand is definitely staying.  She’s absolutely beautiful with her markings and will be added as a milker once she’s old enough.  I can’t even tell you how happy I am to have gotten a girl, I was just terrified that I’d end up with all boys.  I’m still hoping that DD (our pregnant La Mancha Doe that came with Hannah) has some girls.  Cross your fingers for me! Boys are kind of worthless. :/

We’ll be registering the kids soon and keeping a close eye on Rocket.  I’d be interested in showing her just to see what the experience is like.

So I started to think about the things I’d need to do before the babies come.  I needed to clean out the last stall in the barn and switch the goats around so that mama could be by herself when she gave birth, I’d need to have colostrum and bottles on hand in case a baby didn’t feed, and I’d be prepared, because you know, I’m kind of obsessive that way.

Well…when the goat books tell you that the goat’s udder swells you have a month they are lying.  You don’t.  I had a week. I didn’t know that though till yesterday morning.  That’s when I went out to the barn as my usual routine to let everyone out and feed them when I spied 2 tiny little forms in the stall and a THIN Hannah!

Someone had babies when my back was turned.

And my god they are beautiful! I know I squealed and ran around like an idiot.  I worried that they wouldn’t be taken care of if I didn’t do it, but that’s dumb.  By the time I moved goats around and got Hannah and her twins into the stall they will be staying in I noticed they were active, healthy, dry, and warm.  Hannah is a great mom.

I was blessed with one little girl (above) and one little boy (the black kid) and I’m pleased as punch.  I was terrified that I would get all boys.  No, they don’t have names yet because I can’t think of any but I’m sure we’ll get around to it.

they are so perfect and tiny that I can’t get enough of them!  Right now they are about the size of Chihuahuas!

(Excuse my terrible expression.  I was trying to deal with my camera in the low light of the barn).  They are sweet as punch and I can’t wait for DD (my other doe) to follow suite in a couple of weeks.  Then after that you know what? LAMBS!

Knit with 2 different colorways of MadelineTosh Sock.  I have to say, this lady really knows her color, though the two skeins didn’t have a lot in common they had enough of the same tones to be perfect together.

I used a non-traditional edging for this shawl that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.  Basically I didn’t want to interrupt the beauty and smoothness of the yarn and an applied i-cord was just the ticket.  The loops were an afterthought but I kind of love them.

1. My testers are JUST about done with my Coastal Waters Shawl which is turning out BEAUTIFULLY.  They have worked so hard and so completely that this will be such an easy shawl to knit when I publish it.  It is a study in slipped stitches and really fun and interesting!

2. I’ve just finished another shawl design that I’m pretty sure is one of the neatest things I’ve done because it was with out planning and just spur of the moment.  I just really dig it.

3.  I’m fairly certain that at least one of my goats is pregnant and that 3 of my sheep are which rocks my world.

4. I finally was able to string together 150 words for my Ariel synopsis to eventually put into an agent letter.  It took the help of my wonderfully honest cousin, my best friend, and the Mr who spent a half an hour alone re-writing the last line but I think it might actually be what I’m looking for.  If you’ve never tried to compress a book into 150 short words it’s pure torture.  The first few attempts I had sounded as if they were written by grade school kids.

Through the eyes of the casual observer Portland may seem like just another city but just below the eco-friendly surface it’s a hub for forgotten gods, mythical creatures, and things that go bump in the night.  Standing between these two worlds is the arch angel Ariel.  Ariel is divine justice and keeps the peace between pantheons, creatures, and humans for as long as such things have existed.  It is her job – and her job alone – to make sure that everyone who walks among humans follows the laws set down by the most powerful of her kind.  Now someone or something is changing the game and setting its sights directly on the peacekeeper herself.  Now not only is the lion of heaven in grave peril but the world itself.

Right now things are going pretty good and I’m pretty pleased with myself.  I have some knitting to show you but I thought goats might be just the ticket

Well I do.  The wife of the video gamer.  If the game is interesting enough it’s almost like a movie I’ve watched a lot of times.  That means I can knit and hang out with out actually paying attention.   I’ve watched my husband play his way through the Assassin’s Creed games and I’ve always loved the costuming.

So this probably wasn’t a huge stretch…

I tried to take the idea of the cloak (yes, even the beak) and incorporate it into a wearable sweater.  My goal was something different with out being costume-y.

I didn’t try to replicate the exact cloak but I did try to get the FEEL of it.  The mystery, the armor.  I have to tell you people, I am amazed by myself and excited about the finished sweater.

Right now I am furiously writing up the pattern for the sweater, then it will go to my amazing tech editor, then to testers.  I think with so many details I really want to get this tested.  I have to say, I was unsure of the shoulder flap, at first it reminded me of a cowboy’s duster but after I blocked it and seamed it to the sweater I have to tell you I love it.

The thing I think I love the most is that you can wear it as a regular sweater and it looks beautiful, but then you can throw up the hood and hide way back in it’s folds and it’s instant mystery.

I used twisted stitches to mimic gauntlets and an applied icord for the button band.  Right now I’m knitting up my own and tweaking the pattern as I go.  As soon as I’m done I’m sure it will be ready for testers.  Maybe another month.  If anyone here is interested in testing I’ll post up the link to join along, maybe I’ll even have this pattern free for a month for a knit along.  Anyone game?

Next up…Fabel 3 (Thanks Aimee!)

Well, I can begin so I will…with goats.

Who on earth can resist a goat smile?  No one I say, NO ONE.  It’s kryptonite, you know it is.  You see a little goat smirk and your insides go all squishy then try as you might a force bubbles up inside you till you just can’t contain it and you explode with an ‘awwww’.  You know you do.  I KNOW you do which is really all that matters right?

Running Prancer runs.  He also prances quite a lot.  He also side kicks and wiggles happily.  I swear La Mancas are the happiest goats on the face of the earth.

Sometimes I see him running and he’s running right at me and I won’t lie, I pucker a little when he doesn’t turn directions until the LAST second.  You will read a report one day that I am completely bowled over by this goat.  It might even be the way I die.  If it is that would be the most ridiculous thing ever and if the Mr posts a damn obituary saying “at least she died doing what she loved” I would haunt his ass so hard because no one loves getting run over by a goat.  But I digress. Back to the cuteness.

There aren’t a whole lot of hat wearing holidays are there?  I think we’ll have to make some up to be quite frank.

We had snow and the goats didn’t really know what to think.  It wasn’t bad like rain but it wasn’t awesome like sun either.

And as a special little extra tree here is a little video of goaty goodness!

Outlaw is a pullover sweater knit in Cascade 220 with a slipped stitch yoke and a similar rib hem.  A cozy slipped stitch hood and a high cowl neck makes this sweater a very comfortable and stylish option for those cold months.  Queue it here.

The specs:

***Gauge 20 sts = 4.5” in stockinette***
***Gauge in Slipped St Pattern 20 sts = 4”***

Yarn: Cascade 220 5(5, 6, 6, 6) {7, 7, 7, 8} (8, 8, 9, 9) {9, 10, 10, 10} skeins
Needles: US # 6 24” circular and DPNs, US # 8 24” circular and DPNs
Notions: stitch markers, tapestry needle, stitch holders or waste yarn

***Sizes available***
Finished Bust Size 28(30, 32, 34, 36) {38, 40, 42, 44} (46, 48, 50, 52) {54, 56, 58, 60}”

This sweater is just waiting for me to start the button band/edging and block it.  I think once it’s blocked the yarn will relax and bloom beautifully.  I want to start knitting one for me but I’m really trying to be good and knit on projects I’ve promised other people.

I put a lot more details into this knit than I usually would but I also tried to keep them subtle.  I really like the effect and I won’t lie, I’m a little bit proud of this sweater.

I have testers currently going through my Coastal Waters Shawl and picking apart all my mistakes. As much as I hate that I make mistakes they are a really fantastic group of knitters who don’t hesitate to point out that something isn’t working.  In the end I know I’ll have a flawless pattern

Then of course there’s this. I was published in Knit Magazine issue 45.  I can’t even tell you how excited I was to see my work in print!

I’ve submitted patterns to Knitty, Interweave, and Knitscene but this is the first time I’ve been accepted and you know what?  It’s a huge ego boost for sure.

I’ve got some more design ideas clinking around.  One for sure is my circle sweater I knit 2 years ago.

I actually knit this sweater, then I copied it for my friend Carol and never wrote up a pattern though it was fairly well received on Ravelry.  Honestly I think my pattern writing skills have just improved enough to finally do it.  Plus this sweater is so delish I think lots of knitters will want it.