A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

Father & Son Chunky Cable Hats, started November 12th, 2007, finished November 30th?

Pattern: My own, will be online soon 
Yarn: Sugar Maple Merino’s Bulky Natural Brown
Needles:
Dimensions: Small is for 20 – 21 inch head; Large is for approx. 23 inch head
Would I knit it again? Definately!

I’ve finished both pairs of the Toddler mittens.  I finished the pair for Mimmo late last night and had them ready for this morning.  He was so happy to get outside and play in what is left of the frozen snow in the yard! He did take the mittens off after a while (he is only 2 afterall) and as I put them back on (hurray! for mitten strings!) I warned that if they came off again we’d be going in.  He played for something like 45 minutes before he took them off again and we did come in.

 I actually worked on finishing the thumbs on Megan’s mittens while sitting out in the back yard with him.  Snow under foot, wearing a down jacket and with fingerless mitts and knitting.  It probably looked pretty funny but it worked and her mittens were done before lunch. 

I’m going to make the little guy another pair since he really likes to be outside, regardless of the weather and nothing sucks when your a kid like putting back on a pair of wet mittens!

I’m planning to grab pictures of both pairs tomorrow if possible.

Chicken Update 

As of yesterday we now have 5 less chickens in the flock.  This has been planned for a while now and we only just got around to it.  We had ordered “straight run” White Rocks to round out our order to enough birds to have them shipped with the plan that what ever of them turned out to be Roosters would become chicken dinner.  We actually had 6 but gave 1 away to a neighbor who also keeps a laying flock and needed a new rooster. 

Yesterday, Dom had a friend from work who has some experience with dispatching chickens to the “Great Coop in the Sky”, come to the house and help with the process.  For his assistance, we sent him home with 2 chickens and we kept 3.  One of them became lunch today. 

I had a bit of trouble with the fact that this particular dinner spend Sunday running around our backyard and was in a roasting pan today.  I feel good about the fact that I know that while it was here it had a great life; Good foods, fresh air, sunshine etc.  But still, it went from the back yard to my oven . . .  I will say, it had a lot more flavor than the kind from the supermarket and I’m certain it had less junk in it and was waaay fresher! We also realized we probably should have done this about a month ago as the meat was a little on the tough side – but we’re learning.

So now we are down to the 21 birds that make up the laying flock and will be sticking around for the foreseeable future.   We’ve got 18 hens of various types, most will lay eggs in shades of brown, 4 will lay white eggs and 3 will lay eggs in shades of blue and green.  I expect they will start laying in another few weeks and gradually increase in production as the length of daylight increases.

Knitting progress

I’ve finished the Father/Son Cable Hats and the boys have been wearing them; someone even noticed that they had matching hats! As soon as I can catch enough free time to type up my notes I’ll have the pattern added to Inspirations Yarn as a freebie. 

I’ve been working on a Fan and Feather Triangle Shawl from Folk Shawls, I’ve modified the pattern for a lighter yarn and am making a slightly smaller version as a large triangular scarf.  It will be a holiday gift and so I hope to finish it soon.  I’m about 2/3 of the way finished though I’ve put it down for a few days . . .

I’ve been working on last minute mittens for our niece and for Mimmo.  She didn’t have any wool mittens that fit (her Mom got her some very thick Thinsulate mittens, but Auntie feels every kid should have handknit wool mittens   And Mimmo’s mittens on a string from last year were just a bit too small this year and have been passed to the younger niece (she also got her sister’s pair from last year and so is all set). 

Megan’s set is a Trio of handspun/hand-dyed mittens.  I’ve made a spare since her Mom said she doesn’t like them on a string and the odds of a 3 yo managing to not loose them . . .  They are a grape-punch purple and I think she is going to love them.  I just have 2 thumbs left and ends to weave and then I can get them off to her.

Mimmo’s mittens are in a pair and going on a string as he’s prone to dropping them in the yard and I’m not that into scavenger hunts   His are knit from leftover bits: some Patons Classic Merino in bright red and some grey fingering weight Alpaca which lost its label long ago.   The cuffs are knit in the Alpaca so they are soft and warm and the hands are knit at a tight gauge from the Patons Classic to keep the snow, cold and wet out.  I’m working now on the I-cord now and plan to have them finished in time for him to play outside tomorrow. 

And on that note . . . . I’ll sign off