Rocking at Rocking Horse Farm

Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday was Knitting Machine Camp at Rocking Horse Farm.   Yes, I went again.  Yes, the food was great again.  Yes, I learned new things again. 

One lesson this year was on dyeing sock blanks and knitting socks.  Though this yarn wasn’t dyed during camp, here are socks just off the knitting machine:

Ready to be sewn

Socks made on a flat bed knitting machine (as opposed to a circular sock knitting machine) need to have a seam. 

All sewn up

They look great after the seam is sewn and the seam is said to not be a problem when wearing.  I think I may have to try this.  I love my manufactured alpacas socks.  About time I made my own?

Knitted pillow

Another industrious camper was making pillows.  She made bunch of them during camp.  The outside is knit, stuffed with a pillow form and finished on the machine.  Very elegant. 

My projects?

Two more scarves

I made these two scarves for charity to continue to perfect my cast on and bind off.  The purple was first and the coral is a little improved, but not perfect yet. 

Shawlette

One of the class projects was to make these scarves / shawlettes.   We learned to do ‘short-rowing’ – a technique to create shaping.  Short-rowing is also used in the socks to shape the heel and toe. 

Purple shawl

I made a second shawl – this one for my favorite Red Hat Lady!  (that’s you, Mom!)  The fringe can either be unraveled – as on this purple one, or left connected to the edge, as on the coral one.  Which do you like better?

I also learned a very nifty (though rather time-consuming) way to make a lacy panel.   I have plans for using that.  You’ll have to wait to see it.

My tiny dancer

As feared, Pelasia did not survive last night. 

When she was born, we didn’t name her for the longest time.  We didn’t know if she would live.  So I called her Tiny Dancer.   Even with all her difficulties and defects, she was the happiest alpaca I’ve ever known.  And in the last 8 years, she has never ceased to make me smile when she would come bouncing through the door at feeding time.  She didn’t walk along like the others.  Nope.  She would come running and leap over the threshold.  I will miss that the most.  We’ve not had another alpaca that has shown that shear joy for living (or maybe it was just for food!)

Rest in peace, my Tiny Dancer.

Going down

Pelasia seems to have taken a turn for the worse.  This morning she seemed to be in distress, making little moaning sighs.  I gave her a shot of banamine to help her feel a little better.  Her belly seemed to be bloated, so I decided to try to do ‘purge’ as suggested by our vet.   I gave about a cup of mineral oil, squirted by a needleless syringe into her mouth.  She is a trooper and swallowed it without much fuss.  She was drinking water and unrinating, which gave me hope.  Later in the day, she was up and about.  She ate some green beans from the garden, but no grain and not much hay that I noticed.   I could hear her stomach growling, so gave her more mineral oil, hoping things would move through.  I think the root problem relates to her defects at birth.  We’ve always known that she would probably have a shortened life.

I’m sure the heat is not helping her .  All the alpacas are stressed by the heat.  They are eating less and not very active.  Tomorrow, the humidity is supposed to be less and the temperatures lower. 

When I went to do chores this evening, Pelasia was drinking, but was again making the moaning sighs.   Her stomach seems more swollen and she seemed to have hard time swallowing and even keeping the water down.  I gave her more banamine and that seemed to make her feel a bit better.   I fear she will not make it through the night.

The rollercoaster that is Pelasia

If you have been reading this blog or following our farm in any way, you have probably heard a bit of the life of Pelasia.   Truly, those first 8 months of her life were very trying for a couple of new alpaca owners.  Many times we wondered if we were doing the right thing by continuing to keep her alive with all sorts of procedures.  The winter of 2003-2004 was a very long one.  But summer came, and with her last surgery, things were good. 

Last winter was also a long one – long and cold and difficult on humans and animals alike.  But Pelasia came through with only minimal weight loss.  Spring brought some sort of stomach disorder – perhaps something or too much of something that she ate in the pasture.  My only clue was her breath was not normal, but was stinky.   I gave her probiotics twice daily for a couple weeks, then daily for another couple weeks.  And things were looking good again.

On Saturday the beginning of the heat wave arrived.  Saturday evening, Pelasia was laying down in front of the fan, did not want to get up and did not eat her grain.  All her life, food was always a priority for Pelasia.  I had never known her not to eat.  I was concerned.  Sunday morning, I felt she was close to the end.   She was laying down outside, flies were all over her, she didn’t want to get up.  I turned the fans on in the barn and coaxed her  inside so the fans could keep the flies away.  Again, she did not eat.  A little later, she did not seem any better, so I decided to give her an injection of banamine.  I am not the one who does injections, but my goal was only to ease her pain and Darryl was out of town.  I didn’t think she would make it.   I started checking on her every couple hours.   Sometimes she would have moved, but was usually still laying down most of the time.  She did eat a bit of grain Sunday night and drank some water. 

Monday I went to the barn expecting the worst, but Pelasia was sitting in the normal kushed position of alpacas.  She was on her feet for a bit, but mostly wanted to lay down.  I shut her in one area, so I could give her feed and hay that the others could not reach.  She was eating a little, so I gave her a little probiotics.  If she was eating, then her stomach would need to replenish the good bacteria again.  By afternoon, I opened the door, so she could outside and she walked around for a bit.  She had eaten some grain and hay.  I gave her another shot of banamine.  She was staying on her feet longer, sitting less and eating more.  I squirted a couple tablespoons of yoplait peach yogurt into her mouth.  She seemed to like it better than the gel probiotics, which I also squirted in her mouth.  She has always been a good one for taking meds – plenty of practise as a cria.

This morning she was even more alert.   She got a shot of banamine and  a squirt of probiotics.  I separated her again for a few hours so she could lay down and eat grain and hay undisturbed.  She is still not eating her normal ration of grain, but was up and about most of the day.  A big storm came close by and cooled us down for a couple hours.  Pelasia was outside eating from the hay bunks with the others.  I think I saw her chewing her cud this evening – a very good sign. 

Pelasia

I wouldn’t say it is clear sailing yet, but things are looking up.  Pelasia is one tough cookie!

What’s new?

Even with the alpaca breeding and the veggie and flower gardens keeping me busy, I’ve had a little time to knit a few things.  

Pretty in pinks

I’ve made a bunch of new wrist warmers.  I have three pair of each of these colors, two pair have the frilly edge, the third with a plain edge.  You can find these and lots more colors in my online store. 

I’ve also used up some smaller amounts of yarn to make headbands.

Bright colored headbands

These are like the one I made for myself and wore from last December until spring.  So warm and snug.   I will soon have these listed in the online shop.  I’m waiting for brighter weather to take the photos.  In the meantime, I will have the new headbands at the farmers markets.

For the over-achievers

Calling all over-achieving sock knitters!  This is for the sock knitter who wants totally unique socks. 

Sock Blanks

This is a 6 ounce skein of sock yarn (about 480 yards), made into a scarf-like piece that is knit with 2 strands held together.  It is knit very loosely and finished with some scrap yarn (the green that you can see) to keep the live stitches from raveling.  All this is done so the over-achieving sock knitter can dye this scarf-like thing in any way their heart desires.  Then when dry, unravel the knitting, winding as you go into two identical balls.  These balls of yarn will then become an identical pair of socks.

Ready to go

Other options could be a scarf that is mirrored in its colors from one end to the other, or a shawl that is mirrored or repeated from top to bottom.   Dyeing a blank such as this is an easy way to get long color transitions.   They will sell for $32 for the 6 oz blank.  What do you think?

Something new

During our church festival on July 4, Betty, a customer and friend showed me her new purchase.

(This image was taken from the Hansen Crafts site.)

This is an electric mini spinning wheel.  It is crazy compact.  The wheel, battery, extra bobbins and fiber all fit into a back pack.  We were sitting under a big canopy, watching the people at the festival, listening to the live music and spinning.  Let me tell you, that was life at its finest!   I was even able to spin a bit on it.  Once we got the speed and take up tension all set for me, it was spinning nirvana. 

While I really love my Louet wheel and it travels reasonably well, a wheel as small as this would be really handy to take places.  And with a battery pack, it can go anywhere.  Or it can plug into regular outlets.  A very nifty wheel.   Check out the Hansen Craft site – the reason this little wheel came to be is a story in itself.  

I’m working on something new.  I can’t wait to show it to you.  It will be soon.