Sunset On The Iknitarod Trail

I've put together two pretty good [knitting] days in a row and I'm feeling a little less sick about not being able to finish the Maisie sweater before the Red Lantern is extinguished.  In looking up the link above, I found this one and it says...  "She's (Maisie's) fighting her way on through, doing the very best she can..."  I guess that's a pretty good motto for this year's race :-).

Gorgeous sunset this evening after a warm, sunny day, so warm I had to go sit on the shady porch. Blech!

My view from there wasn't too bad though - those are some happy sheeps :-).

I worked on the body for awhile and then decided to set it aside and go back to the sleeves so I could go back to the "mindless" body when I got too tired to think clearly tonight.  That was a good plan. It's a little after 9:00 p.m. and I'm hoping to knit for at least an hour after I get this posted.  Mindless will be good necessary.

Some of my favorite stitch markers, marking the twisted rib side panels.

I think the sleeves are pretty.  I knit 4 rows on one and then switch to the other, back and forth.  So far they match each other spot on :-).

I have a set of directions for each sleeve and I keep them straight by using two different stitch markers.  This one is a sheep.

Stopping for evening chores and a beautiful sunset.  At this point I have 8" done on both sleeves and 7 1/2" done on the body.

Mushing on!

Springing

So it finally stopped raining (for one day :-/) and the farm began showing signs of life.  You wouldn't have known we had sheep here for the last three weeks.  The horses stayed front and center, but the sheep had holed up in the barn and barn lot and only I knew they were still around.

First late winter/early spring nap.

Hank taking a lap.  This picture was taken only hours after the first shot.  The change in grass color is partly due to the fact that the sun was starting to come out and reflecting differently, as opposed to still cloudy with the first picture, but also, you really could see the grass starting to turn green throughout the day.  

And the sheep left the barn.

With Hank by their side.

Baaxter thought Woody was a little too close to Blossom's side and wedged them apart.

So he could have Blossom all to himself.  Short spring romance :-).

"Baaxter, you're silly.  She's not interested in you :-)."

Even the old guys came out.  I'm so proud of how well they came through the winter.  Those two old guys are tough!

It's been awhile since I could take golden evening pictures.  My favorite time of day.

Graham and Maisie.  The last pictures in full fleece.

And that's a lot of fleece!

Shearing went well.  I took a ton of pictures and some videos.  I'm way behind on the Iknitarod as I'm sure you can guess, but I'm going to keep plugging on in hope.  I can't say I'm "knitting on with confidence", but I refuse to give up.  It's the Maisie way!

Leftovers

While the snow is completely gone and the grass is already starting to green up, the shearers are in town (and shearing here today) so things are a little crazy. Here are some last, but not least pictures from last week. 

Burrnie

The snow had covered the standing sheep!

I love to see who is sleeping through the "looking glass" - the sheep I spot through the narrow door into the outer stall.  It's Spud :-).

It's going to be hard for me to say goodbye to all their fuzziness, especially the "lambs".  I know the sheep will be so much happier though...

Hank and I both miss the snow :-(.

Yarn Along - The 2015 Iknitarod Begins

Now to try to catch up with the Iknitarod.  I hate these rushed posts, but I don't know what else to do at this point.  I am beat!  Hopefully things will settle down.  HAHAHA!!!  Kentucky shearing starts tomorrow, so our sheep are soon on the list.  Seems odd following so quickly after all that snow and cold weather.  Whew!

I love skeins of yarn way more than balls of yarn so I'd left Maisie's yarn in skeins until the very last day.  This was the big rain that turned into the big snow.  

20's got me ready to go.  We picked the feed sack bag because it's big enough for all the big balls of fat yarn, but also because it features sheep feed, Maisie's second favorite thing in life after Cheerios :-).

The pattern I chose is the Hitch Pullover from the Fall Interweave Knits.

I cast on Saturday afternoon sitting out in the snow, toasty warm in the bright sun.

With plenty of good help.  My mascot this year is a tiny pink eared lamb from my kitchen collection.

I'm knitting both sleeves at the same time so I don't run the risk of knitting the first one tighter/looser than the second and having them not match.  I started with double pointed needles, but ended up switching to magic loop when I gave a new needle (Addi Natura) a try and loved them.  My typical slow start, but so far, so good and Maisie is behaving herself so far as well ;-).  

What am I reading/listening to?  A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.  This was one recommended a few weeks ago and I have loved it and only have about 45 minutes left and I'm going to be sad when it's done.  Highly recommend!

Joining in with Ginny and the Iknitarod.

Snow Melt

Hickory, T-Bone and Talk

Coolin' off :-).

The Three Musketeers

Burrnie and Blossom

I was sitting on the other side of the short barn lot fence (I know better than to try to knit with the boys around ;-).  I was so enjoying watching Maisie picking at hay and the chickens picking at whatever it is that chickens pick around at that I decided to take a short video.  The sound of the snow melting off the roof and the creek down the hill and the birds, so happy...mostly drowned out by wind noise.  Argh. Always something, eh?  You might want to turn your volume down.