A Bunny Dreams And The Blog Saves The Day

Our worst Christmas present this year was a water leak on the farm so bad that the water company actually called us.  As Tim said, "When their number shows up on the caller ID, you know nothing good is coming."  

We spent an entire day looking for the leak.  We've had lots of practice in the last 20 years and are pretty good at it...unfortunately.  Where 35,000 gallons of water has disappeared to we do not know.  We even had professional help come in and they were stumped as well.  

Fortunately it's between the house and barn and we have a cut off at the house that we can turn off and on to keep the waterers filled.  It's a hassle, but it could be so much worse.  And at this point, with no clue where to dig to fix the break...we're finally running all new water lines.

The power and water companies have been out to mark the lines that they are aware of.  The other myriad of lines running throughout the front half of the farm over the last 50+ years are a bit sketchy.  As our water guy started digging in the front field yesterday, the mystery deepened.  

Where we thought the line he wanted to tie on to was, was not.  He found an old septic line...in a random spot.  The water company came back out.  Dig some more places.  Everyone still stumped.  Tim remembered fixing a leak a long time ago down in the creek bank.  If we could just remember where that was, that would probably be the clue we need.

You know...I wonder if I put that on the blog...

I did!  In 2008.  And with a picture that we could use to line up with a tree and the neighbor's house and Bingo!  Blog for the win :-D.

So what's Pinot up to?  Pinot now wants to run around the yard and barn and refuses to stay in his outdoor pen.  He can dig under his wooden fence in less than 5 minutes, but I bet he's thinking if he could just use that digger...

Here's a short video of Pinot out exploring in the yard on Christmas Day.

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Also Rans

Here are a few more pictures I liked from the Solstice shots.  It was really nice "having" to take my camera out to the barn.   Thanks for playing along :-).

Ellie

Murphy

Maisie

Mini Moose and Big Moose.  Big Moose is not so big compared to Mini Moose.

Kaala

Levi, Big Moose and Ellie in the back.

Muffin

Biscuit

Tavia

Krista

A Sweet Little Sweater And A Sad But Sweet Story And Our Solstice Winner

A special friend asked for a tiny memento of Jared so I spun a little yarn and knit a tiny sweater ornament for her.  I enjoyed spending a little time with Big J and wasn't as sad as I thought I might be.  I was happy to be sharing a little of him and enjoyed knowing I wasn't the only one who loved him so much.

Here is the pattern I used.  Tiny sweaters are fun and not really that fiddly and are a great way to use up small amounts of leftover yarn or handspun samples.  This probably works best with a DK or worsted weight yarn.  A heavier or lighter weight yarn would maybe need the stitch counts adjusted.

Tiny Sweater Pattern

Cast on 20 stitches and decide what sort of collar you want.

For a rolled collar, knit all stitches around.  A ribbed collar works best with K1P1 rib and you can make it short for a plain collar or tall for a fold over turtleneck. Knit as many rows as you need. For a fold over collar you should knit one more row than you think.

I knit using Magic Loop so I'm setting my rows up that way. Double points are perfectly fine. You'll just need to adjust your stitches around the needles to make it make sense.

Needle 1. K2 (sleeve), PM (place marker), K6 (front), PM, K2 (10 stitches)

Needle 2. K2, PM (place marker), K6 (back), PM, K2 (10 stitches)

Knit to one stitch before each marker, KFB (knit one front and back), slip marker, KFB, knit to end. Repeat increases until you have 6 sleeve stitches (left), 14 front or back stitches (body), and 6 more sleeve stitches on each needle (26 stitches each side). 

Knit one round plain.

Knit 6 sleeve stitches and 14 body stitches and then cast on 3 stitches (I use the backward loop method). Put next 12 stitches on waste yarn. Knit the next 14 body stitches and cast on 3 more stitches. Put next 12 sleeve stitches on waste yarn. You now have 17 body stitches on each needle and two sleeves on waste yarn.

Knit a few rows for the body and decide how you want to finish the hem. K1P1 ribbing works well, but you could also just continue in stockinette stitch for a rolled bottom. You might want to add an extra row to account for the roll up. Bind off in pattern.

Pick up the 12 sleeve stitches and then pick up and knit the three cast on stitches (15 stitches total). Knit 3 rounds and then do a K2TOG (knit two together) on the bottom side of the sleeve. Knit 2-3 rounds and K2TOG and knit 2-3 more rounds and decrease one more time. Finish sleeve to suit. Repeat for second sleeve.

Weave in your ends and use that yarn to tighten up any holes under the sleeves.

Add a strand of yarn or ribbon at the back of the collar for a hanger loop.

Give it a little steam to "finish" it, especially if you chose a rolled bottom.

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Jared didn't just join me on my needles, but also found me in the driveway one last time.  I wanted to post a reminder on IG about the Christmas Eve flock walk and thought I'd re-use the picture we took of Short Round with the holiday lights last year as my photo.

I was speed scrolling down through my phone archives with the photos flying by.  When I picked my finger up the pictures stopped spinning...at the driveway picture I'd been searching for since Jared died.  

When you miss someone as much as I miss him you can't help but think that was a message and I'm just going to tuck that into my heart and leave it at that.

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Random.org selected Far Side of Fifty for the blog drawing.   

Christmas Eve Barn Visit

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We wrap up the Solstice sheep series with a fun quiz during the Christmas Eve flock walk.  Maybe it's easier to pick out who's who now that you know them a bit better?

Leave me a comment here or on Instagram or both places for an extra entry and tell me who your favorite Sheep of the Day was and on the 26th I'll draw a winner here and on IG and send out a small prize.

Merry Christmas!

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Burrnie

It was cold this morning, but the sun was warm and the light was nice.  I wasn't super happy with the picture I had of Burrnie so I grabbed my camera for a re-do.  I love the light in these early morning shots and I love that Burrnie is resting in "his" spot, right in the middle of the inside stall, surrounded by friends.  It's important to be surrounded by friends, especially if you are Burrnie.  

I took this picture just 15 minutes later.  He hasn't moved, but the sun had.  The shadows are coming from the slats on the top of the wall in front of him.  

I call Burrnie my Sesame Street character because his wool is sort of yellow and his face and legs and ears definitely are and even his eye membranes are a yellow color.  You look at their eyes to check for anemia from parasites.  It's a system called FAMACHA and we check that throughout the year, more frequently during the summer months.  His are always fun to check.

Burrnie loves treats of all kinds, but especially loves Vanilla Wafers.  You have to watch your hands because he grabs them so fast that you could lose a finger.  Burrnie is another sheep who'd love to be relaxed and friendly, but is just too scared.  He had an awful start to life and that's never left him.  We don't mind watching our fingers.

Burrnie finishes up our Solstice sheep party.  This has been fun.  Several people have mentioned that they think they can identify the sheep better now which gave me the idea to do a fun challenge tomorrow night during our traditional Christmas Eve live video.

We'll still do our normal "take a deep breath and enjoy relaxing in the barn for a few minutes" visit, but I'm also going to focus on each sheep for several seconds and then say their name so you can quiz yourself.

I'll probably set up a giveaway of some sort tomorrow so check back :-).