Category: Fiber Arts

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Fiber Arts Friday – Crochet Bath Mat

Welcome Fiber Arts Friday and Craft Friday Folks

I have been home sick for most of the week which gave me some time to do a bigger project.  I had almost 2 pounds of Caron (Crap) yarn left over from my mom’s country flannel blanket project and decided to put them to use.  Since I really hate the feel of this yarn I didn’t want to make anything I had to wear.  It’s more of a blanket or rug yarn than a wearing yarn.  Hmmm… Rug yarn? Sounds like my kind of project!

I didn’t want to bore myself with a typical rug so I decided to learn a new stitch while making the center of this one. I figured I’d have enough yarn for a 2×3 foot rug so my ultimate goal was to have this one as a bathmat.  The best bathmats have a plush feel and that’s what I wanted this rug to be like. I looked around at a bunch of stitches and settled on the Cobble Stitch for the center.  The cobble stitch is really easy and goes like this  SC TR SC TR……..  That’s it.  Because I chose to use one of each color for the center you can’t really see the detail in the stitch but the treble areas puff up and make for a fluffy plush mat to step on.  The Single color boarders are just a SC all the way around.

2ft x 3ft bath mat with cobble stitch center

Lastly for FAF I want to introduce you to my next Wii game which I am now coveting.  Please Santa bring me this game for Xmas!  It is called… Kirby’s Epic Yarn.  Here’s the trailer for the video game.  Just check out that yarn knit world and all the buttons!

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Fiber Arts Friday – Flat Alpacas Don’t Spit

Hello again Fiber Arts Friday and Crafty Friday Folks.

Good weather and big crowds made our stay at DEC days great!  Day 1 I had both CoHo and CW with us but CoHo decided he no longer wanted to be at trade shows.  He hummed, squealed and when some rowdy teens started to provoke him he covered them in spit.  Normally I’d be upset and embarrassed at this but as I said, they were rowdy teens *grin*

Day 2 I left CoHo home and CW came with me.  He must have been tired from all the fuss the day before because he slept almost the entire time.  The alpaca that got the most attention is what I called our “flat alpaca.”  I brought my Miracle blanket and any time someone wanted to pet the boys I herded them over to Miracle who was kind enough to never run away, kick or spit. 

All in all, it was a great weekend for both answering alpaca questions and selling my wears.  Next trip will be to the GV Hunt Races on October 9th.

I have a new hydrant!  M. Finally finished the trenching and my new hydrant is in and looking oh so pretty next to our new barn.  Believe it or not I haven’t had a chance to use it yet because it’s been raining so much the boys are getting all their water intake from the grass.

I did manage to get one silly project done this week.  I was playing around on my knitting loom and worked up a small dog coat.  Since I don’t own a dog that small I opted to test it out on our new kitten Frito.  Well that turned out to be a good laugh since he couldn’t figure out how to walk with it on.  He figured out how to wiggle out of it in about an hour though.

Photos!  I got a call last night from a Photography student at SUNY Geneseo who’s looking to showcase local farms as her project.  She’ll be stopping over tomorrow morning to photograph our cute and fluffy herd, I’m sure the horses will get their moment too. 

 Speaking of photos here’s some of the girls I got this week.  Babies! Awe…..

 
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Fiber Arts Friday – Preparing for Shows

Welcome to Fiber Arts Friday and Crafty Friday!

What a crazy week!  I’ll try to keep things short and to the point and in some sort of order without too much babbling.  Hope you can keep up.

1. We have yet another new cria!  Last Friday I got a call around 4pm saying there was another cria bouncing around the pasture.  Sure enough I came home to a very strong 17lb fawn girl who was already dry, up, nursing, and running around with her half sister.  I present to you Dutch Hollow’s Fontia.

2. Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival.  I did manage to sneak over to the fiber show for only an hour.  Next year I want to take classes and stay for a whole day.  It was the first time I’ve ever been to a fiber show and WOW, I so wish I could spend more time. 

I went for the purpose of talking to my local mill which I did.  I’ve got about 30lbs of fiber heading their way to be made into rug yarn.  

While I was there I ended up finding another tannery that captured my interest.  They claim they can process sheep/alpaca hides and make them washable! I’ll have to contact them when I have more time and learn more.  I was under the impression that the chemicals needed to make a fleece washable were illegal in the US but apparently they have another way?

3. This weekend is not only National Alpaca Farm Days but is also National Hunting and Fishing Days.  Since my neighbor happens to be the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and hosts the oldest DEC Days in the country I piggy back off them.  My farm is not able to handle the thousands of people that come for the DEC show so I set up a booth and bring a couple of my boys over to them.  This will be me 2nd year participating in DEC Days and it is a whole bunch of fun with the exception of hunters constantly asking me if they can eat them.  I tell them no but they do give you great fiber to keep feet warm while in tree stands!

4. Inventory!  With vendor shows comes the need for inventory.  Here are some of the hats/scarfs that I’ve been making all week. 

That about wraps it up what did you do this week?