The Birthday Parties

Maisie got two birthday parties yesterday! We tried to do her party at 2:00 thinking that might be the warmest part of the day.  Turns out this is more of a Happy Hour crowd and that party sort of flopped.  Not to fear, Reg "baked" another cake and we had a birthday party re-do around 4:30 and a good time was had by all.  

The first party wasn't a complete bust.  Maisie enjoyed eating some birthday cake, but most of her friends didn't realize it was party time so they were heading out to graze the front field and she wanted to go with them.  If you are the birthday girl (or pretty much any time), you get to make the rules.

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A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

I had technical difficulties with the live and recorded video with the first party, so I didn't even try to use my phone for the second party...and that may have been the best gift of the day.  I dusted off the Big Girl Camera and took actual pictures just like in the olden times.  

Love her little pink nose.  That's Andy in the front.

I love sweet Baba on the right, politely waiting her turn.

Walking out into the middle of this crowd carrying a box of "cake" is not for the faint of heart.   I always forget how big Murphy (at Reg's left elbow) is.  Jared, in front of her, is not small.  Muffin, in the background, is not small either, but she's doesn't like to get bounced around in the mosh pit so I snuck her a cookie later.

Reg shared with everyone, but made sure the birthday girl got the biggest share ;-).

Baaxter loves Auntie Reg.  Liddy's just there for the "cake" ;-).

Now that was a party!

Happy Birthday, silly Maisie :-)

The Fourth Picture

The first picture was good, but the fourth picture was better ;-).  Less distracting sunburst and better composition.

 

Evening light is my favorite.  Evening in general is my favorite.  Everything seems to take a deep breath and slowly exhale.  Some days it's the nice end to a good day.  Some days it's just a we made it to the end.  Or maybe this it's just a summer thing.  

The trick to these pictures is waiting until the sunlight is perfect.  Or noticing the sun is perfect and grabbing your camera and running out.  It doesn't stay perfect for long.  The Golden Hour doesn't last quite an hour I've found.

Once the sunlight is perfect, you still need to work a bit.  It helps to filter the bright light through some trees.  Move around and watch how your camera reacts.  If it's too blown out, change your angle just a little.  Too dark?  Again, move around.  

If you want to get more technical, read up on metering so you'll better understand how your camera is thinking.  I also set my white balance to cloudy.  White balance and exposure compensation are two very basic camera tools everyone should learn to use.  Read your manual or look online.

The always photogenic Count Chocula.

This is too sunset-y, but I like the composition.  Daniel, Liddy, Kaala.

Muuufin :-)

This is Baaxter with the sun shining from the side...

...and now shining from behind.  I like the little bit more definition of the first picture, but the soft light of the second picture.  The background of the second picture is more interesting as well.  

And this was my favorite picture of the evening.  Kaala with the light balanced just right behind the filtering trees.  It's also a new puzzle :-).

Lamb Camp Legacy...The Outtakes

My plan was to do the official post for the new Lamb Camp Legacy yarn this evening, but the  photo outtakes were so funny I couldn't help posting them first.  For all you Baaxter fans... :-D.

I'd been walking around trying to take some nice pictures of the yarn and noticed the sheep were in the side field with a lovely sunset behind them.  I set the basket of yarn down in there thinking it would be nice if I could take a picture with Rocky and Jared in the background.  Rocky and Baaxter walked right up.

Baaxter in the lead.

I couldn't believe my luck and started shooting.

I moved over a bit to get out of the sun glare...

...and that's where things headed south.

"You sure you're supposed to eat that, son?"

"Yeah, I get to do whatever I want..."

...because I'm yarn worthy!  And I know my Auntie Reg will bail me out ;-)."

He ate the tag.  I tried to take it away from him, but all I could get back was the yarn.  Hope his Auntie Reg makes him something nice with it ;-D.

I'll post the "real" pictures tomorrow and if anyone would like to buy some really nice yarn with only a little bit of sheep spit on it...

Because...

...there's obviously a shortage of grass in this field.  Boys...

There is obviously plenty of grass here.  So much so that I have spent much of this week sitting on a tractor or mower, trying to get back on top of it.  I am So Excited by the thought of another inch or two of rain forecast for this weekend :-o.  The obvious answer is I need more sheep, right?  Right.

I have no idea why Daniel and Baaxter are trying to eat the same piece of grass, but I love the dark gray stripe down Baaxter's back. I haven't skirted his fleece yet to see if the stripe shows through. To be honest I haven't skirted any fleeces yet...and the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is Next Weekend.

So guess what I'll be doing this weekend ;-).

Resting During The Heat Of The Day

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Resting my “dogs” during the “heat” of the day. We’ve had a couple chilly nights, but the sheep are warm and comfy once the sun comes up. #iknitarod2019

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Mar 19, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

I've got the body basically finished (still deciding on final length and what sort of bottom edging I want) and both sleeves started, so I can almost see the lights of Nome off in the distance. Once I get finished, I'll get the official shearing post up and also some other fun pictures from before shearing.

In the meantime, enjoy sitting in the sun with everyone for a few minutes :-).

At The Ceremonial Start

This is my seventh Iknitarod!  I always have to like to go back and count - Marcel/Woolliam, Keebler, Maisie, Baaxter, Liddy/Buddy, Baaxter and now Muffin/Biscuit/Mrs. Pepperpot.  

Each race has been different, but they've all been fun.  I've learned a lot about knitting each year.  I've learned a lot about mushing.  I've made some great new friends and we've enjoyed challenging ourselves and cheering each other on. 

I treat the Iknitarod very seriously.  Well, not like life and death seriously, but definitely seriously as in embracing the spirit of the Iditarod race itself.  I enjoy thinking about it throughout the year, planning my race.  I push myself to do something hard.  I choose my team carefully.  I get as prepared as possible.  

And on race day eve, I pack my sled.

My race map this year is the Dreyma sweater by knit.love.wool.  I took a bunch of pictures of the yarn and the color gradients (yes, there are colors if you look closely) and thought I'd already downloaded them to post here...but I haven't.  I'll include those in a future post.  

Before each Iditarod race, for a fundraiser they auction off the sleds for each musher and the winners  (IditaRiders) gets to ride in their musher's sled for the 11 mile Ceremonial Start. For the last several years I've carried a mascot in my sled throughout the race. My IknitaRider this year is that sweet little sheep I picked up off the road last summer.  

I didn't think sending a sheep to Nome wearing acrylic was a good idea, so I knit her a little wool poncho featuring some pattern colors and thereby getting to practice the increase stitch I was going to need to use for the sweater pattern.  I think she'll be toasty warm :-).

Muffin and Pepperpot came to watch the sled packing, but they won't be riding along.  The trail can be messy and dangerous (Oh, Graham, how we miss you!) and I would hate for something to go wrong.

Packed and ready...and without further ado...

This might be my favorite ravatar to date.  Like a Dreyma (dream), Biscuit and Muffin and I are at the Iknitarod, watching the Northern Lights and staring up at a bright shining star (Mrs. Pepperpot).  I have my hand on their backs to let Mrs. P. know I'm taking good care of her babies.

My project is too big, my hands are too sore.  Still, the pattern with it's bright shining star yoke is perfect and the ravatar is so sweet I just want to stand there forever...and so we once again hit the trail.  

*      *      *      *      *

The Ceremonial Start begins at 2:00 p.m. EST today.  I believe you can watch live for free on Iditarod.com .  If you enjoy that coverage and want to watch video updates throughout the race (these are so fun!), I encourage you to sign up for one of the Insider packages.

Good Company

The sunshine this morning was lovely. Everyone stayed out (and laid out) and enjoyed it for a good while.  It's gone now and guess what?  We have 2-4" of rain predicted for this week, starting this afternoon.  Unbelievable.  

Being locked out of the front field has created a "desperate situation" with the "hungry" flock.  Luckily the old timers have Rocky and Jared to lead them back to greener pastures.  It's great to see them grazing less trafficked areas.

I have some more good Hank pictures for tomorrow and there are two new puzzles from this group :-).  Enjoy!

Aw, Come On...

Gold Christmas

No white Christmas this year, but the golden sunlight was a pretty good trade.  A couple new puzzles for you :-).

Merry Christmas!

Steamy Sunday

Abby's Week Two Recap

Abby's having a much better second week at Equinox Farm :-).  She's feeling much better, much to the cat's dismay.  Still hasn't figured out the grazing/eating thing, but she's working on it.  Here is a fun recap.


Life is starting to settle down some.  Not to jinx anything...

How About A Farm Pond And A Chicken?

When Kate Davies released her Carbeth sweater pattern a couple months ago, she posted it to her blog with pictures taken posed alongside a snowy loch...complete with a swan gliding past.  When Mason-Dixon Knitting posted the Bang Out A Carbeth Knitalong, they specifically commented on the swan as well.  It really was a stunning picture!

As Carbeth sweaters were banged out around the world and pictures started appearing on Instagram they soon became known as the Carbeth Swan Dance.  Well, I don't have a frozen loch...or a swan...but I do have a cool sheep (who also happened to provide the yarn for my Carbeth), a farm pond...and an Adventure Chicken.  Let's do it!

Baaxter walked out there pretty darn willingly considering it had been at least two years, maybe three, since he'd had a collar and leash on.  This is the Frog Pond, not the Ice Skating Pond.  It's the small pond/group of trees/native plants you see in front of the bigger pond at the back of the farm.

Tim took a bunch of pictures in various locations and positions and...

...like most pictures of me, the less of me showing, the better ;-).

These are my favorites, even though they don't really show much of the sweater.

"You're doing a good job, Baaxter.  And your sweater is very nice.  Cozy and comfy."

While the sweater was designed to be a stylish crop top, since mostly where I wear my sweaters is to work out in the barn in the winter, I decided to add a few extra inches to the body length.  

Can you believe this is that cute little brat who terrorized 20 and Auntie Reg (yikes!) four years ago?

I'm not sure if B. Willard is noticing the new hand knit sweater (being a Sheep of Impeccable Character, this would not be...out of character) or is just amazed that I was wearing something relatively clean for a change ;-).

"Yep, that's not a swan."

Nope, that's the Sheep Chicken.  She was ready to go to bed so she was easy to catch ;-).

I give the Carbeth two thumbs up.  I think it's going to be perfect warm winter barn sweater.  The Bang Out A Carbeth knitalong was great fun and the Iknitarod (the re-knit) continues to be my all time favorite winter event.  As always, I was in great company and that makes it all worth it.