Dale of Norway Marihone

I've wanted to do a Norwegian sweater for as long as I can remember, so I took the plunge and ordered this kit from the US:

It will be a nice knit, I'm a bit unsure about the steeking (the sweater is knit in the round and then cut -- yes cut! -- and seamed) but it's something I'd love to try. Lots of patterning in bright colours which will keep me busy :)

I've ordered the 24 month old kit so it should fit M for next winter -- that's my deadline!

Hey there chickie babes

I've been thoroughly crook the past few days, to the point that *shock horror* the thought of knitting anything just makes me want to throw up (no I'm not preggers LOL)

So when Roy dragged me and M out for a drive on Saturday I wasn't as enthusiastic as I might have been.

But we came home with 7 little chicklets, they are Barnevelder breed. They were only a week old at the time. Only 3-4 days later and we can already see they've noticeably grown.

I call them Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Only we can't tell which is which yet. That is, apart from Sunday who's a bit redder than the rest and had an unfortunate scrape with the puppy on Sunday, losing a tail in the process :( :( But he's healed really well and is still the most boisterous of the bunch.

Well at least we hope he's a boy there's no way of knowing at this point (apparently chicken experts can sex chicks at a day old but I ain't no chicken expert!!) We hope to have mostly hens and only one rooster so might have to adopt out the other boys when the time comes.

It's gorgeous having chicks again. Once upon a time in the freezing Central Oregon early spring I was living in a caravan and was raising them in the caravan! Gosh did it stink. Not to mention we had to run the generator for long periods to power the heat lamp. Yes we were off the grid, and living on solar power. I think I was a little crazy back then...

She works hard for her money

(post written on non-internet laptop evening of June 7th)

I have been so slack at blogging, there's just so many other things that need to be done when I hop on the computer. So I thought I would write in the laptop in bed and then transfer it online when I get the time.

Being a WAHM isn't all fun and games! It's now almost midnight and I've just spent the last 14 hours dyeing up 4.25kg (yikes!) of wool. My back is killing me and my hands look ready to crack. My fingernails are coloured and hangnails are ouch.

It was interesting trying to dye so much wool without proper facilities. The dye studio is slowly being built (concrete pad poured, metal posts are up). I have this great stainless steel dyeing bench that Roy picked up at auction so that was moved slightly into the shed (it was raining hard today) and I used a camping stove in a pinch.

I'm pretty happy with the results though. Some of it has been slated for other projects, but most of it is destined for the shop. There's a great mix of wools in there -- Pandora 12ply Pear Tree Merino (drool), Tara worsted Targhee hot from the US (OMG I call this the Brawny wool it's soooo thick and thirsty), a few skeins of Achilles superwash merino sock yarn, Athena Aran BFL, supersoft Venus "singles" merino and some Lucinda 12ply for the budget conscious.

I've come up with lots of new colourways I hope you will enjoy. I think I will have a Wild Woolly Weekend soon :)

Smell the sheep in the wool

Some wools "smell" better than others. Take this new lot of BFL I just got... I just can't stop sniffing it! It seems less processed (and softer) than the last lot, which I had a bit of left to compare with. Same original source, just about six or more months apart! I'm glad I got 6kg of it (wish it had been more now LOL -- spoken like a true wool hoarder!)

It's funny how different batches of the same wool will vary. I have some Pear Tree Merino here that is not like the very first batch I got. It was steamed to bulk it up a bit, and still is creamy soft, but not as much IYKWIM? And not as lustrous either. Fortunately future lots won't be steamed. I look forward to them!

Enough waffling, one last sniff of the BFL and I'm off to bed!

xoxo

Oink oink!

Some pig snouts hot from the oven! :P

Sorry...

I haven't been very good at keeping up-to-date with my blog! We're in the midst of packing up boxes ready to go (ahhh it's good to see the Sold! sign outside the house -- especially as drivers go slightly nuts -- even more than usual! -- when it rains and we've been treated to several car crashes on this intersection lately).

Another thing that has been heavily taxing on my time is that I'm in the process of doing a four-week course in Small Business Management. I'd forgotten how tiring fulltime Mon-Fri can be. Thankfully mum is home (in Perth) now and able to look after Matilda on some days, and even better she is really enjoying daycare on the other days and actually taking naps too so phew! Only two more weeks to go but HEAPS of homework too. My business plan has never looked so good and I'm learning heaps about marketing and financials etc. When it all gets a bit hard I just think about where I want to go with Jolly Jumbuck, and that is to make it into a serious business capable of generating income so that I never have to leave M (and any future munchkins LOL) with someone else to go to work outside the house. While contributing to the household expenses in some way. You know what I mean?

On another note, as soon as this course finishes me and M will be taking part in an attachment parenting program called "Through The Looking Glass". This is only one day a week though. I can't wait!

Homeless artist -- needs dye studio

So I've been relegated to dyeing outside until we move and the much-anticipated dye studio is built.

It's a bit of a PITA actually; today I was meant to do all my custom dyeing (about 1.5kg worth) and ended up only doing three lots of 200g before the rain came. Arrrgh!

Anyway, it'll be nice to have an enclosed, lockable dedicated dyeing area. I'm scouring roadsides and freecycle for a double sink and have the stove all sorted. It will be well-lit so I can dye at night if need be. I can't wait to (a) get out of this house and (b) crack the whip on Roy to get a-building *WEG*

We've accepted an offer to sell the house and so it's all up to financing for the other guys now. Hopefully we'll be settled in the new place by May.