March 27, 2006

Pink Hats Rock!

Spring is almost here. Almost. It's enough that Hank can find the many gloves and rags that he has stolen from Gary over the past couple months, and recover them from whereever they have been hidden.
It's been a constant fight between Gary and Hank, and Gary's many gloves, boots and rags. Surely, Hank must think, Gary has plenty to go around.

Last weekend I decided I needed something. A pink spring hat. Yup I admit - it's fugly. I would not appear in public in this hat (although one could argue that this picture on this website qualifies as appearing in public). But it is pink and springlike unlike my brown winter hat and my navy hat. I put this hat on and I feel better - it's pink! even though the animals look at me funny and the turkeys and goats want to eat it.
And Gary? He hates this hat.
He hates this hat so much that he wished today Hank would find it and stash it with the many things he has tucked away over the winter months. But even Hank leaves this hat alone.

He should leave this hat alone - it's pink! and it's spring and I can be fugly if I want to!

So Gary left us alone and changed the oil on his truck. He has to use a ladder because his truck is so big. And his hat is brown.

Posted by roosterh at 9:10 PM | Comments (4)

October 1, 2005

Announcing a new site

Announcing KnIthaca!
My hope for KnIthaca is to have an online meeting place for fiber producers and their consumers. It seems that unless a farm has a website, or travels to fiber fests and the like, it can be hard to sell raw and processed fiber. So I hope to bring buyers and sellers together. Here they can also talk about turning fiber into a product using different methods ranging from spinning, dyeing, knitting, crochet, weaving and felting. It was just launched 3 weeks ago.
KnIthaca currently is an online newsletter about Finger Lakes Fiber events, and has an online community forum. In the future I hope to include an auction site as well where folks can post their fiber and fiber-related products for sale.
And another good thing about KnIthaca is that it takes my knitting-related journal entries out of here and into there, something that is sure to make my husband happy :-)

Posted by roosterh at 1:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2005

Got Yarn?

When the sheep got shorn last year, I saved their fleeces and sent them to Finger Lakes Woolen Mill to be washed and carded. At this point the fleeces are called roving, and from roving you can make yarn.
Or you can if you know how. I don't, soomeone did it for me!
Spinning is a tedious process but the results are wonderful. If only I had the room, time and inclination!
After spinning you use a ball winder to make a ball of yarn. Now I need to decide what to do with this year's fleeces... Stay tuned.

Posted by roosterh at 2:47 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2005

Of goats, socks, soap and spring

Was I ever wrong about Nala! She is still in the barn and looking ready to explode. She is so big. Cappy and Annie are still in the pasture, not looking too ready yet.

We have some bitter cold weather and lots of snow. It snows some every day. If I call off any of my paths I can get into snow up over my knees. We had a nor'easter blow through earlier this week. Even in the midst of a snowstorm, driving home one afternoon I saw a robin make his way across the road in the air with the snow. This morning walking into the office from the parking lot I could hear robins marking their territory. It won't be long now until the Red-winged blackbirds appear and really make it spring around here. The calendar says 11 more days until spring, but I won't believe it until the RWBB comes to the hills of Candor.
With spring comes chicks. I have my order ready, even before my seeds are done. I have enough seeds to get us started for this year, but want to try a couple new varieties that are supposed to be good for NY. Plus I have 2 new greenhouses to try.

I am up to the heel on my first sock. This is the hard part. I enjoy knitting at the end of the day. I can relax and let my mind go, and in a zen-like way it relieves stress. Usually it relieves stress so much I fall right to sleep!

I have a crafty in-law. (Actually I have a LOT of totally crafty and creative in-laws!) But my husband's Uncle Kenny is quite clever in his toolshop. We put out heads together and designed a system for displaying soap at shows. He made some handsome inserts that will hold lip balms, lotion bars and even tins! I love them and he did such a fantastic job. I need to get some soap made to show these beauties off!

Posted by roosterh at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2004

Fleece!

After an ordeal of getting my fleece washed and carded (with only 2 sheep you'd think I could do this myself but I didn't!) the fleece is now in the hands of a lady who will spin it for me. I can see lots of brown and white socks in our future :D

Posted by roosterh at 1:04 PM | Comments (0)