Breezy Hill Farm- Woodbine, MD

 Breezy Family Fun

Memorial Day weekend means the beginning of summer for many people. It’s the start of the pool season in Virginia which usually goes hand and hand with a barbeque or two. The family was out of town and Alpha worked, so firing up the grill for me, myself and I was a little pointless. And the sun and I don’t have a great relationship (I, being the pale variety of human.) so the pool wasn’t particularly enticing. What is a girl suppose to do?

When she hears about an Alpaca Farm open house.. well, the situation becomes obvious right? I hightailed myself out an hour to visit the animals.

The trip was somewhat boring. An hour with no one to talk to and and a “300 greatest rock songs” countdown is not an ideal journey, but the scenery past the beltway was beautiful. Next time when I am not so worried about missing my turns, I’ll appreciate it more.

The farm was small and there didn’t seem to be anyone else there. I was worried that I had come at the wrong time. Luckily, the owner Alex, was near his bird pen and saw me drive up. He greeted me kindly and we immediately saw the animals.

Alpacas are beautiful. At least, Alex’s alpacas are beautiful. Graceful, lithe and fuzzy. Alex gave me some feed and I was slightly bombarded with animal affection, though once my resource was gone I was no longer popular. Fickle beasts!

Alex answered all of my questions and upon hearing that I was a spinner he offered to sell one of his fleeces that had a stress fracture. When alpacas are stressed the hair becomes weaker and tends to break at that point. It’s makes a crackle sound that isn’t usual for fleece. Since I am relatively new at spinning and I figure I couldn’t hurt the fleece anymore with my own spinning stupidity, I accepted. Would it be a tragedy if I had bought a perfect fleece and mucked it up badly?  I’ll reserve the ‘perfect’ for when I am more experienced.

Alex tried to sell me on buying an alpaca and while I was not averse to the idea, my pocketbook is prohibitive to any such costs at this time. It was very sad. After meeting the animals, Alex had to meet up with a gentlemen installing a pond in the back and I was introduced to co-owner and wife Heather.

Heather led me into their shop, very chic and filled with Alpaca knick-knacks. They had the furry little animals made from Alpaca fuzz which are nearly irresistible. Again the pocketbook made me resist. I had an excellent time with speaking with Heather about alpacas and their farm and what life was like. She was initially afire for horses, but an riding accident put those plans on hold and then they discovered alpacas. Serendipity!

I purchased the fleece. It’s a beautiful caramel color from a yearling named Lilia. I shall clean and spin it soon. Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll take up a skein or two while visiting the new cria (baby alpaca).

Fibre Space- Alexandria, VA

 Space Age Sensibilities

This is a really fun little store in Alexandria, VA. I love the allusion to 1950’s decor inside, though to be honest, I spent more time deliberating on what wool to buy and less on critiquing the store’s chosen decor. Though a 50’s theme goes well with the idea of “space”. It’s a well-thought out design approach.

Getting there from my house was surprisingly easy. I was on one road most of the way and it didn’t take too long until I got into downtown Alexandria. Then traffic was a little bad. Also, parking. I had to park a couple blocks away, but that wasn’t what made it bad. It was all parallel parking. I spent an absurdly long time trying to get it right. I thought I was okay at parallel parking, but evidently, I can’t do it for crap. Maybe it was the van I was in... hopefully? I am sure that there was someone watching my efforts and laughing at me. I would have.

Upon entering the store, I was immediately asked if I needed help, which was nice, but for me unnecessary. I knew what I wanted (comb top or roving) and I found it easily enough in the small space. Had I needed yarn for a project I would have availed myself of the offer.

The yarn selection is good and their fiber section is nicely developed for a yarn store. It’s about a 6X6 section of cubbies with painted comb top and some bags of carded roving. I would have been happy to see a bit more, but I did spend too much on the selection available. I shudder to think what I would have spent had there been an even greater selection.

There was a fun ambiance (read: knitting group gossip) and the workers were very nice. I waited for about a minute to purchase because people were in the back room, but that’s forgivable given the low-key atmosphere and small business approach.

Their classes have a fun rating system with words like “Hip” for the uninitiated and “funky” for basic skills. They also provide children’s classes! Sadly they only offer spinning classes one day of the week on Sunday.

A note about their bags... They are very cute. I like the Zombie apocalypse vibe from some of the project bags and the knitting knickknacks were fun. And I spent enough money to get a fibre space bag (if you read through their website, you'll realize the mininum I had to have spent.) I love it. It’s a drawstring tote and quite cute.

Spinning wheel love

Whoa! Hold the phone! I’ve posted twice in two days? Wow, I am amazingly productive right now or maybe I am just trying to keep myself busy until dinner. That is an option. You see, I could go downstairs and put my clothes away, or lay down and read, or blog. Examining the options, blogging seems like the best choice. I don’t have to move away from the computer and I don’t have to exhaust myself doing all the chores that I can think of to avoid putting my clothes away. Case in point, earlier this week I scrubbed the bathroom clean instead of putting the clothes away.

Today I got to show off my spinning wheel. It was delightful and I am so excited that my smile is a rictus of delight every time I am near it. Are other people so excited to spin? I don’t even know. Most of the other bloggers have been spinners for a while and “Oh my goodness, This is the first time” joy isn’t there. But it is possible that I am just a little too excitable.

So, I didn’t give you the stats on my wheel. It’s a Roadbug made by The Merlin Tree. Momar went ahead and got the double treadle.  It’s not painted, but eventually when I don’t have anymore money to buy fiber, I’ll put a design on it. I’m thinking a celtic tree of life... something a little more elegant.

Also, last night I partially filled two bobbins with white carded wool. Lady, the spinning wheel, and I were getting acquainted. If we get along famously I have some combed Corriedale, or painted BFL (Blue-Face Leicester) and then after that I have a date with some Merino/silk blend. I’m gradually moving it up. Or maybe not so gradually. I see beautifully painted wool and I couldn’t help myself...  Also, a really good reason why I am not allowed to work in a fiber store EVER. I would spend all my paycheck in the store.

Sorry for the lack of posting

Blogger was acting a little weird and I couldn't see any of my posts. Instead of trying to fix it I got lazy and just didn't post anything for several months. BUT! I will begin posting again soon, even if I have to move heaven and the place below to do so. Or if it means copying and pasting my post from whatever Word/ google doc that it comes from. I will be heard!

It's been a great several months though in life. Alpha was accepted into grad school. So we will e living with the family for another year or two before we move on. I realized what a bummer my life was going to school. I love school. Love learning and education, do not love the stress.  All in all life has been very kind.

You know what the last few months haven’t been good for? Not so great for knitting. Being a nanny means that I can't take my knitting with me because the little wee ones think it's a game to unravel all my hard work and I can't blame them. It is fun to frog, unless you've been working on a shawl and that was the 4th time you tried to knit it.

I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival at the beginning of May. I took Momar and Mei-Mei with me. Momar decided that she wanted a spinning wheel and I didn't gainsay her in the least. We now have a little Roadbug, who will tentatively be named 'Lady' since she fits into my ladybug tesco bag from England. Pictures will be forthcoming.

I've visited an Alpaca farm. I want one... an alpaca, mayb a farm. Now I have fleece to clean and wool to spin.

P.S. Alexandria- Fibre Space will take your money and take it well. Very well.

P.P.S. Will anyone be interested in the excess yarn that will be spilling forth from the bowels of my house?

In the interim

Oh, I didn’t mention because I am super busy/ lazy. I got a job as a nanny. I work with some amazing families over the week and it has made me a better, more friendly person. Sadly, watching active little kids doesn’t leave a great deal of time for knitting and I am often exhausted when I get home.

With Spring making it’s merry way though, my thoughts have turned to being more productive. I finished another baby blanket (No intended recipient) have started, stopped and started a shawl for myself, and lately I’ve been working on little projects. Maybe you’ll see an etsy shop soon with the accumulation of my work... maybe not. Hopefully so. That means I need to get better at the taking of the pictures.

Lost Days

Those three hexagons were done the next day. I had been on a good diurnal schedule, then suddenly I could see the end of the project tunnel regarding the blanket. I started it sometime last year and worked on it a little here and there. I decided to make it a Christmas gift and when that date flew by, just decided I wanted it done sometime in the new year.  I could see that my diurnal schedule was going to be shot.

I sewed the edges and it was much easier than I thought it would be. I started to crochet a mint border as a contrast. Since this blanket was a gift for Alpha, it had to be equally masculine. No fringe.

I went to bed sometime around 6 in the morning... and it wasn’t done yet. I had also taken it into my perfectionist head to weave in all the ends I have previously ignored. That’s 32 times... 4-6. It was a long process.

After 2 days.. or nights really since I went nocturnal, the reconstruction was finally done. And I tried starting another project right afterwards.

I’ve learned I need a little downtime between each project. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to gather my weary mind together. This time it was one day and then I decided to ignore my little list of crafting tasks and start a simple knit baby blanket.
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I refer to my long nights and comatose days as my lost days. I lose track of a lot of things during the night. I had been writing in my journal and establishing a relationship with the sun, but that went out the window. These days aren’t necessarily bad though. I enjoy them frequently.

Update: Head down in the Reconstruction!

Time for an update while I continue work on the reconstruction. I may or may not post instructions for the rest of the world to see, since I am definitely certain that while it is very similar to the design, it is not the same.

Currently? Almost all done with the dark green. I have three more hexagons to finish and then I have the joy of binding them all together. yay. As in, I’ve been thinking about it for months since I started and am not enthused. Not at all.

 This is a picture of me and Alpha dressed in our Whovian best for Christmas. I have worn my nerdiness on my sleeve before.  Alpha didn’t want to wear the scarf initially, then when he saw how the massive scarf hid the prominence of his belly, he was fine with it. I have to say, given the fact that these are our normal clothes, we are pretty smashing.

P.S.- Purists don’t hate me. I created a super-long scarf from a stash of free yarn. And my 15+ foot scarf has pockets.