A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

So it turns out that when I did the “bed-check” tonight all 21 birds were there.  The hawk must have flown off with empty talons!  All present and accounted for.

Its a little tough to be sure yet as they are hard to count . . . but we’re pretty sure we lost another chicken to the hawk this morning.  I had just let them out for the day and they were enjoying their morning veggies . . . I had come in and put the eggs away and then looked out the kitchen window just in time to see the biggest Hawk I’ve ever seen flying off from the corner of the chicken yard. 

I ran out, but it was too late – the preditor was long gone and from what I can tell it took one of my Australorp hens with it.  Bummer!

Dom is going to work on putting some chicken wire or something over the top of their run to prevent this from happening again but it may be a few days before he is able to get to it.  Afterall, it is raining and very muddy and slick down there right now.  We’re just hoping the hawk doesn’t come back for seconds before he can get it done.

We’ve been getting 10 – 13 eggs a day lately – though I expect we just lost about a half dozen a week . . . and we’ve begun selling some to friends and co-workers in the hopes of covering the feed costs (grain is getting expensive!) and afterall – 3 people can only eat so many eggs in one week!

Knitting wise I’ve managed to finish the KP socks about 2 weeks ago but still haven’t taken a picture . . .  and I’m now 2/3 of the way done with the Minimalist Cardigan.  I finished the 2 fronts last night – I knit them both at the same time and realized as I was working on them that the back and front are shaped identically, just split in half.  This meant instead of trying to really follow the individual directions for the fronts I was able to just work the decreases as if I were working one piece and follow the directions for the back – which I found much easier than keeping the other straight.

Since I’m working this sweater at a different gauge than the original I had to take a few minutes to refigure the number of stitches I’ll need for the sleeves and I haven’t figured out how the sleeve cap shaping is going to work yet at the new gauge but I figure I’ve got a few inches of knitting to do on the sleeves before I have to figure it out . . .  and perhaps I’ll read Pam Allen’s article in Interweave Knits about shaping sleeve caps again before I try . . .

Now that I’m most of the way through the Minimalist my mind is racing ahead to planning the next project.  I posted a note in Ravelry to the Monday Night Knitting Group to see if anyone is interested in doing another knit-a-long as I’m finding it both fun and educational to be knitting the same sweater, in person, with a group of people.

I’m leaning in the direction of wanting to do a cardigan, knit in the round with steeks and perhaps a small amount of colorwork for interest . . . . which leads me to EZ’s Fair Isle Yoke Sweater from The opininated knitter but done as a cardigan with a steek up the front.  Someone on Ravelry had done one that way and I just loved how it worked out and that seems like a great pattern to do with a group . . . And I think I may even have yarn to do it in! Which is even better since my yarn budget is pretty tight right now though the stash is pretty flush

KP Ribbed Socks, started July 15th, 2006, finished January 30th, 2008
Pattern: Adapted from Vinatge Socks
Yarn: KP Sock Garden
Needles: Size 1 Bamboo DPN
Dimensions: Women’s medium
Pattern Notes: Ran out of yarn a few yards shy of enough to finish the 2nd toe!
Would I knit it again?  Yes, I like the pattern but wasn’t thrilled with the yarn.