High Meadow Alpaca Farm

My daughter and I had a wonderful visit to High Meadow Alpaca Farm last Saturday. 

They were having an open house and I jumped at the chance to visit.  I first learned about this local farm at the Franklin Farmer's Market a couple of years ago when I bought some yarn from their small booth.  I knitted the two precious skeins of creamy white and silky smooth alpaca into a cowl but decided that it wasn't a good enough use of the yarn.  So, I'm still waiting to find the perfect project to do it justice.

After my daughter's last soccer game of the season, we drove a few miles through the beautiful countryside to the farm.  We came around a bend in the very bendy road and there they were in the most idealistic setting possible.

The farm has about 400 alpaca divided amongst several fields.  And the fields were covered with tiny yellow flowers just adding to the beautiful seen.  The animals were sheared recently and it was nearing the end of "lambing" season, which I'm sure is not the correct word for alpaca.  But it gets the meaning across.  In fact there were two babies born just before they opened which was perfect timing for the lucky visitors.

This little guy looked just like Bambi.  The mothers were so calm and they sat there making the most lovely humming sound. 

We walked into the field that held the many mammas and their babies.  They didn't seem to mind all of the strangers but didn't let us get close enough to pet them either.  One of the curious babies did come up to me and nibble at my pant leg and sniff the bag of alpaca roving that I bought.

This little girl appears to be named "Nicole Kidman".  How funny is that.  I didn't even notice it until I looked at my pictures.  And then I realized that the real Nicole is probably a close neighbor of theirs.  This idealic little hamlet is a favorite location for country music stars.  I heard one of the farm hands telling someone that Tim McGraw's farm is nearby.  In fact, my daughter's 4th grade class (two years ago) did a two day 28 mile walk along the Natchez Trace and we started our walk near Tim's farm.  One of my friends is a long time band member and was on the walk with his son so that's how we knew it was Tim's farm. 

 We had such a great visit.

Well, I have started two new shawls.  The first is a triangle shawl out of Rowan Denim and Elann's Den-M-Nit indigo dyed cotton yarns.  I love this yarn and gathered up all of my bits and pieces and I hope to use it all for this shawl.  I made a similar shawl last year and just loved it but a friend talked me out of it.  She traded me some beautiful polymer clay jewelry that she made so it was a good trade.  But I knew I needed to make another one for myself.

And this shawl is called Different Lines.  I saw it on the "New and Popular" list on Ravelry and got sucked in (which happens to me quite often).  I bought the pattern, searched through my stash and found two very unlikely skeins of cotton that turned out to work great together (Araucania Lonco Multy and Schaffer Yarn Company's Susan).

I love the unusual shape, and the short-row stripes.  And the cotton yarns feel so good and drapey and I know this will be a perfect summer wrap.

And last week was my son's 10th birthday.  So happy birthday Ethan!

Log Cabin and Shetland Shorty

I finished my Lob Cabin blanket. 

It turned out great. 

Details:

Pattern:  Log Cabin Blanket inspired by Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale (100% Cotton)
Needles:  size 8
Size: 7 inch squares.  4 x 6 = 24 squares.    28 x 42 inches
Edging: 5 stitch applied I-cord

The recipient will be my 80 year old Mother-in-law who always seems to be cold.  And how lucky for me that Mother's Day is this Sunday.  So, this will make a wonderful Mother's Day gift for her.  My mother was visiting recently and I showed her the almost finished blanket and explained who it was for and why.  Her response was "Well, I get cold too."  So we will have to remedy that!


I also recently finished a pretty little cover up for my 12 year old daughter. 

It is the Shetland Shorty from Knitty.com.  I used some beautiful yarn from Knit Picks.  I love their yarns and needles.  This will be a great cover up and should hopefully fit her for many years to come. 


And I just cast on for the last of 24 squares for my Barn Raising blanket.  So, I will start sewing them together soon.  This is an early Christmas present and I never get gifts done this early so that makes me happy.