Hug Some Yarn And Hand Knitted Items - Part Five - And A Yarn Along

Because what else are you gonna do?  This will be the last (and extremely picture heavy) Hug a Sheep Day/Farm Party post.  Too much good stuff to share...and I missed a whole bunch!  However, I took some really pretty Hank and Keebler pictures in the fog yesterday and with tomorrow being Halloween, I'm sure there will be some crazy shenanigans up at the barn later, so it's time to wrap it up :-). 

I'm going to start with Ginny's Wednesday Yarn Along.  Several years ago someone came into my booth at the Wool Festival and in chatting like we do, gave me a book recommendation - Sylvia's Farm:  The Journal of an Improbable Shepherd.  I found it online and read it cover to cover...a couple times over the years.  When I saw Sylvia Jorrin had a new book out and was going to be at Rhinebeck, I couldn't wait!  Here's part of the blurb from the back cover.  You'll see why she's a favorite author :-).

"Sometimes I sit with the sheep on the stone stairs leading down into the barnyard.  They look at me.  And, one at a time, the ones who need to, come to be petted and fussed over.  Staring into my face.  Intently.  We are together in those moments.  And I am well aware of my place.  I am the one with less clarity.  I work for them.  They are because of me.   But I am the servant.  Willingly.  They give more than I, I only give my labor.  Every day of the year.  My heart, most times.  My strength.  Every day.  My determination.  My will.  Always.  They give me peace.  Theirs is the greater gift.  And they keep me in my place."

So that's what I'm reading right now.  And I have a new knitting project in the works, this one involving color!  The Bandana Cowl in the picture was knitted in the car on the way home from Rhinebeck.

I may come back later and try to annotate the following pictures, but either I'm just extremely slow or posting a blog just takes a lot of time, but it's after 11:00 and really need to get off the computer and get some other work done and I still have a ton of computer work to do(!).  I'm just not sure how to balance all the things I want and need to do and it's frustrating.  

For now, enjoy some gorgeous knitting, crocheting, spinning and a sweet sleeping baby (that we only uncovered long enough to take a quick picture ;-).

Karen can not only knit this gorgeous sweater, but also run the entire show including making the oldsters in the retirement home feel included in Feed a Sheep a Cookie Day.  Thanks, Karen, I couldn't have done it without you!

This pattern is going straight to my knitting queue.  Gorgeous showcase for beautiful handspun!

Petunia and her sweater - still a favorite :-).

A stunning Norwegian sweater.  I could do an entire post on the knitting and construction details!

Super interesting cable structure!

She made the legs extra long so they'd look like Ewen McTeagle.  'Nuff said.  And don't miss the sheep tucked in her arm and her hand knit sheep purse and...

The Always Amazing Aaron - that's Ewen in the bottle!  And the bottle is his ingenious way to ply from a center pull ball.  As always...

This is done with four threads and you keep changing one color out periodically to get the color change.  I think I've said that right.

Let's get a closer look. 

Casper Belly!  This is headed for a sweater :-).

Yeah, same lady... ;-)

More from AAA

First handspun hat!  Use. Your. First. Yarns.  They're GORGEOUS!!!

Now moving onto socks - Babydoll Southdown.

Headed straight for my knitting queue.  In fact, a Hershey vest maybe? 

If you click to biggify, you'll see some hay/straw chaff on her mitts.  Working wool!

This colorful handspun hand knit hat was very popular.

And this is some more first spinning and knitting work. 

And her first baby too.  Both super :-D.