Always Busy

Posted in Farming by 4theloveoffiber

I wish I could slow down time once in while so I could sit down and update here more often. I’m always on the go, only sitting down for meals, folding laundry, and reading a quick paragraph in a book before I fall asleep at night.

The garden has been keeping me busy, with the harvesting

And the canning

I have pickles, apple sauce, pie filling, stew starters, relish, and pasta sauce.

We’ve been talking about downsizing the garden, because it was really too much to handle and perhaps maybe having a small garden for us and not selling at farmers market is the way we need to do things right now.

We’ve also talked about downsizing on the amount of chickens we have, we sell to many different places but the stress of it all is getting to be a bit much (I displaced a rib last week). Maybe 30 backyard chickens instead of 200+ (anyone interested in buying some organic, pasture raised golden comets that just started laying?)

I am ready for winter, I am ready for slowing down, and I’m ready to spend more time playing with this little ball of fur.

I’m also ready for sheep 😂 I keep hearing my husband tell people that sheep will be next and I did find two FREE Icelandic sheep on Craigslist today.

Time will tell, I have the herding dog, so sheep are the next logical step right?!

Have a great day folks!

30Mar2018

The wheel isn’t turning

Posted in Fun on the farm, Fun with fiber, Gardening, Sharing is caring!, Uncategorized by 4theloveoffiber

And that is because my spinning wheel broke today, I am hoping that it is an easy fix because I was in the middle of plying this gorgeous romney I blended together.

I have been having so much fun blending batts lately, I wanted to finally spin some up to see how they turn out….I’m also trying to keep myself occupied spinning these batts while I impatiently await my recently purchased wool combs from Susan’s fiber…I won’t lie, the fact that she allows sheep to roam around her shop was the reason I choose to buy from her 😂

I have so much merino waiting in my basement to play with, but it does not turn out well when I run into through my drum carder….the one I spent almost two years researching…the one that claimed it was for fine fiber like merino (it was written right in the description!!!)

I am excited to try out these combs and see how well they work (Hopefully better than my handmade combs 😞 not very pretty & it’s just tetanus waiting to happen)

The snow is starting to melt, the chickens are laying over 80 eggs a day, we have 150 chicks arriving any day now (I hope) & seeds have been started for this years garden.

We have been making plans for when the snow melts. A wattle fence is on the list, more fruit trees & berry bushes (Elderberry Jam anyone?).

The fiber festival is happening soon, because of course the 60lbs in my basement just isn’t enough, one must try out all wool options before choosing a breed of sheep.

Another big trip will be to Fedco in Maine, for their annual tree sale, lots of fun planned for the year!

Have a great weekend folks!

25Mar2017

Things I miss

Posted in Uncategorized by 4theloveoffiber

I haven’t been able to do much this week, I ache all over, so sewing, knitting, crocheting, and spinning have not been an option.

Instead I’ve been binge watching tv shows, finishing books, & binge reading my favorite blogs. I’ve had a lot of time to think about things I miss.

We will have new babies next week

4Feb2016

A few rows short of a blanket

Posted in Fun with fiber, Uncategorized by 4theloveoffiber

Last time on ‘The Year I Made My Own Clothes’

I had an 8 year old
I was crocheting a mermaids tail blanket
I found some neat artwork
And we had a lot of snow.

Well, I now have a NINE year old 😳, the mermaids tail blanket is almost finished, turns out my girl had a bit of a growth spurt (I also apparently used the wrong size crochet hook for twelve rows 😭) so I am adding rows to the top

And I messed up the fin, go me. So while I have presented the mostly finished present to Lorelai (which is how we found that blanket to be too small), I still have a little ways to go.

However I have been enjoying every moment of it & I am excited to announce that I have joined the knitting group in town and I absolutely LOVE every minute of it. I haven’t been part of any group since the spinning guild two years ago, so I am happy to have been invited to join in and have made new friends!

I started a new project this week (because we all know how great I am at finishing old ones, maybe I have a fear of finishing things…is that a phobia some sort?, I’m attached to the project so much that I can’t bear to finish it?!)

Anywho (disclaimer for people who keep getting snarky with me, yes I meant to write anywho over anyhow, so simmer down!!)

I started the bluebell cardigan from Jane Austen Knits 2015 designed by Zsuzsa Kiss

(Picture curtesy of Intearweave’s Jane Austen knits 2015)

Lorelai, the budding fashionista she is, chose the colors for me

I’m using this Caron simply soft Harvest Red & the contrast color will be Caron simply soft Blue Mint.

I won’t lie, this pattern was a little confusing at first because it called for something I had never heard of before, but after frogging six rows I finally figured it out and now it’s coming along.

We are currently have strange weather here in New England, some people are getting hit with snow, while here in our part of NH we are having 50 degree days that is melting snow, today we had a mix of rain and snow, and sometime next week we will be getting snow again.

We are looking forward to spring however, we just got in the first order of seeds for our garden, with plans to place a second order sometime soon!

I’m also looking forward to fluffy animals and hopefully spending some quality time with my hand carders and the insane amounts of wool I have sitting in my craftroom. I’m ready to be spinning again!!

This was the last thing I spun, seasilk back in who knows when!!

Oh well, soon enough 😊

Have a great night folks!

7Jun2013

I should be sleeping

Posted in Uncategorized by 4theloveoffiber

Well folks, we’re into single days for my deadline, two days to be exact, and it seems as if tropical storm Andrea is coming to help out. We are due for rain tonight, which isn’t supposed to stop until Sunday. The chickens will probably stay inside their shed (which is about the size of my bedroom they’re spoiled), Carrick lives with them, the ducks will stay in the barn, and our chicks & keets will stay in the nice warm, dry house with us.

Here is where I am at currently with my bartók tunik

One arm hole left and then the sleeves wahoo!

My kids have been enjoying their knitting and working on it everyday.

And now I leave you with a bit of cuteness

Have a great night folks!!