twine.

While I like knitting, I lately have been trying to re-learn crochet. Crochet is something I grew up with - my grandmother was always knitting afghans or table runners, and I learned a lot from her. After many (many) years away from it though, I have been in need of practice, beginner patterns, and...more practice. A local blogger friend made some book recommendations not long ago for learning crochet and this week I picked them up from the library. Two of the books had patterns and samples using kitchen and/or butcher's twine. You probably have all seen this before, but it was new to me! Of course I had to go out and get some immediately. And I must say I have had a great time crocheting with it. I have been doing simple crochet squares for coasters, and I love how easy it is for me to see my stitches with the twine, how much more even my not-so-nimble-with-the-crochet-hook-yet stitches are, and how I am not worried about ruining it doing the crochet/tear out of learning. I also like that it looks very modern, clean, simple and stylish. Yes, twine.

I'm using the coasters to get my fingers going and everything figured out and even/straight, and then I want to try a pattern for folding baskets using thicker butcher's twine. Very cool!

the new 'do'

(before)

Ms. Bianca the angora rabbit has a new 'do'. Today was the day. I first brushed and then plucked her fur (she starts to shed easily when she has a full coat) until it was brushing out pretty clean, and then using embroidery scissors I trimmed the rest of her fur as short as I could, keeping all of the fibers as long as possible. I save the plucking 'wool' in one bag, and the long trim 'wool' all facing the same direction in another bag.

plucked

trimmed

Angora rabbits can be plucked/trimmed about 4 times a year...she was getting pretty full for warmer days, and I'm sure she feels much cooler now. I managed to finish about 85% of her, and she has a little skirt for the day. Tomorrow I will trim the belly, which is more of a challenge, as rabbits don't really like being flipped over ... so all that is left can be done quickly after a little break so it doesn't stress her out.

(after)

She looks about half her size now - the cat isn't quite so intimidated! ;)

sheep & birthdays.

Last weekend we headed to the Sheep & Wool Festival. The boys were so excited to see the animals! We first wandered the animal buildings, checking out the amazing diverse breeds of sheep. So much variety. When we sat down for the sheep shearing demonstration we got lucky and sat next to a little boy (above) whose family owned most of the sheep being shorn. He chatted with my boys for a long time, telling them about his farm, his animals, lambing, and of course shearing. The shearer doing the demonstration shears pretty much all of the sheep for that farm. The man was a whiz - lightning fast - and the boys watched in awe as he gently and expertly removed their wool one after the other.


The boy then took A & G over to the other side of the building to show them the lambs. He climbed the fence and expertly grabbed one lamb at a time - holding it up for everyone to see (he had drawn quite a crowd by then), telling the boys all about them.


After a stop for a snow-cone (hot day!) we wandered the vendor buildings together - with a looooong stop by the angora rabbits. The boys pet them, asked questions and looked them over. From there we split up so I could wander and shop while the guys had lunch. While I am allergic to the lanolin in sheep wool, I am just fine with alpaca and angora, and I found so many yummy yarns that I couldn't even choose. I ended up with a little of this, a little of that.


I think there is a theme with this fall and winter, though. I managed to pick all warm browns. Raw alpaca, alpaca roving, alpaca yarn, and a few ounces of angora fur to see how I do spinning it into yarn. And of course a lighter spindle for the more delicate fur.

At the end I accidentally found out that A & G had bought me a *very* special birthday gift while I was off shopping. An angora rabbit (yep, the rabbit!)!


She is a gorgeous and fluffy girl and will come home with us in a few weeks when we have her home setup. We plan to use her lovely fur to spin yarn, and of course the boys are super excited to take care of her. What a great birthday gift! And a fun day. :)