I'm moving!

New beginning are always a little nervewracking

I've figured it out! Well, at least I think I did. We'll see when I try to complete the move.

I'll be moving this blog to a new address.

I really hope you'll join me and keep following my journey.

The new address is myzenitude.blogspot.com. Link here.

I'll be moving all WoolyKnitsNBits posts and comments to this new address without a hitch (in the next few days)...I hope!

I've enjoyed having you as readers and part of this new life adventure.

I'll see you there!

ZENITUDE

There is so much going on right now that I'm having a hard time to keep up with a few things such as blogging regularly.
We are in the middle of a major reno in our kitchen and while we were at it, we thought well, why not redo both bathroom floors and why not repaint most of the main floor and why not sew new curtains for the living room and why not get new mirrors for the entrance and bathroom...well you get the picture, I'm sure!!!
But there has been time to do a few other things.
I've open up a new shop on Etsy under a new name.
I've been using the name Zenitude for a while now and thought it was time to make the transition.

Zenitude better represent what this hand dyeing journey means to me.
 It basically is a combination of the words 'zen' and 'attitude'. Zénitude is a word more common in French as I see it often in the french magazines, books and blogs I read.
It could be defined as: A total state of relaxation and serenity. This is exactly what dyeing yarns and fiber, knitting and spinning can do to me.

A new name meant a new look so I had a logo made with the help of Brandland on Etsy.

My Zenitude shop is now open on Etsy. I have listed a few merino tops at the moment. I've sold three so far!  As soon as we get our reno work done, I'll be adding my hand dyed yarns as well. In the very near future, I will also be offering alpaca yarn and fiber from my very own herd.

The WoolyKnitsNBits shop will eventually be closed.

Now, what will be left to do is move this blog under the Zenitude name. I have no idea how this can be done, so if you can lead me to a tutorial or to someone that can do it with me...please, please, let me know!

My local yarn store, Stix and Stones is now selling Zenitude hand dyed yarns, tops and handmade soaps! Rae has been a wonderful confidence booster for this old gal venturing out in the fiber world!
In her last newsletter, Rae had this to say about Zenitude:
We also have an amazing local hand dyer/alpaca farmer who goes by the label "zenitude." She has an incredible talent for hand dying yarn in fantastic colourways and if you haven't check out her selection of sock and lace weights yet as well as her hand dyed rovings- be sure and do so on your next trip to the store!
 Thanks Rae!

Our new little grandson is doing very well. Big sister is very loving towards him. Their parents are sleep deprived, as all new parents are but so happy with their little family!
After posting the beginning of this project a few weeks ago, a few readers asked to see the completed mural on the baby's room wall.

It turned out very well. Our little grandson will surely enjoy it.

Have a good weekend, ours will be full of sunshine and family time!

Mother's Day

Well, this year, Mother's day plans were cancelled, undone and quickly reorganized.

You see, this little guy decided today was the best day to be born...and why not, it is called mother's day for a reason. 

His entry into the world was fast and furious but oh, so welcomed.

And to make this even more fabulous,

his dad was also born on a Mother's day, 29 years ago...how cool is that!!

Our daughter and baby are doing very well and this grandma just can't sleep, she's too excited!!!

Tomorrow, we will meet him and introduce him to his big sister.

Best Mother's Day ever!

FO shawl

This post was written a few months ago and I never got around to publishing it.

I saw this hand dyed yarn of Etsy and bought it right away. The colours are bright and fun.

As of today, on Ravelry, the Travelling woman shawl is on 7177 project pages! It might be one of the most popular patterns around! It was a free pattern when it first came out.

Now it's part of a whole series of Travelling pattens.

It turned out to be a small shawl. I could have repeated Chart A once more.

Pattern: Traveling Woman
Yarn: 100% Superwash Merino Wool in fingering weight from Lola Doodle's Etsy shop
Colour: An Evening in Tucson

Harvest time

When you think of harvest, it's usually a late summer to fall activity but for alpaca farmers, we harvest our 'produce' in the spring before the summer heat.

This past weekend I was participating in a two day course on skirting and preparing alpaca fleece...perfect timing to ensure that all the information I acquired was still fresh in my mind. But since this course was hands-on, I've spend two full days on my feet skirting and preparing fleece, drove home last night (a 4.5 hr drive) and got things ready for this morning. Doing all this while our kitchen is torn apart because of renovations happening in there!

My feet and knees are killing me but my heart is so happy.

Today was our havest day...an exciting day for us newbies in the alpaca farming world!

We got a few friends together along with a professionnal shearer and started bright and early this morning.

One by one, the alpacas were brought in.



 Once they were let out, they kept sniffing each other as if to say: Hey, who are you?

In this picture, you can see Ginger sniffing Coco who is sniffing Aurelia, who is sniffing Ginger!

Without their fleece, their coat is like velvet.



Look at baby Fiona...so tiny now.



 And Coco sporting her summer look!

Now the challenge of the day was to shear our llama, Frankie.

Frankie is a huge llama and he's not wimpy by any means.

Llamas are usually sheared every second year.

The shearer told us he would shear him on the ground...that's right...lie Frankie down and shear him!

Hubby was a little skeptical but Tom (the shearer) guided the crew step by step to get Frankie down safely.

Frankie cooperated quite well. But mind you, I was not the one on the ground holding him!

So one side was done.

Then he was flipped over to shear the other side. The towel was put on his head at one point to make him feel a little calmer.

And look at him now!

 Doesn't he look years younger?

And now, look at what is waiting for my attention.

I'll be preparing this fiber to send it to the mill for processing very soon.

All in all, a wonderful day's work.

Now how about someone to rub my feet and make my dinner? Any volunteers?

I dyed this superwash merino top yesterday and the colours mixed and blended to produce something wild and loud!

I doubted anyone would look twice at it and decided I should keep it and spin it for myself to see what it looks like. (well...maybe I liked the colours too much to part with it).

So yesterday afternoon, I sat by the window and spun this wild top. The more I spun, the more excited I got with it. I was worried the colours would look like mud once spun but I'm liking it.

I kept spinning into the evening and spun all of the 4 ounces of merino fleece.

I usually wait at least 24 hours before I ply, to give time for the singles to relax into their twist. But I was eager to see it plied.

So this afternoon, I decided to do a three ply with it and VOILÀ!

61 meters of Bulky yarn.

I think this yarn wants to become a hat...

Gone to the dogs!

A morning walk filled with clear blue skies, cool, crisp air, sunshine...what a great day to be outside.

Today, I took Anouk for a walk around the property.

Frankie was concerned about the 'loose' dog about so he came over to check things out.

Then I spent a little bit of time with the crew.

 A bit of talking and cuddling.

Bjorne is the gold one. He's the one guy with a whole bunch of cream girls.

The dogs are in great need of some serious grooming. They are loosing their winter coats and are shedding all over the place. One by one, they will be bathed and brushed and trimmed this week. By next weekend they should all have been done.

But for now, off I go to prepare food for Easter dinner.

Have a wonderful day!

Green everywhere

Are things greening up at our house too?

The green grass has brought the deer closer to the house. We had not seen them too much this winter.

Springtime also means asparagus.

Although these are not local asparagus, we enjoy eating them whenever we can since the season is so short.

Here is a wonderful recipe for

Roasted asparagus soup

Coarsely chop one bunch asparagus, one onion and 1 cup celery.



Toss with one tablespoon of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast uncovered in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Do stir the veggies at least once.

Transfer the vegetables to a medium pot along with 1 tablespoon of flour.

Add 1 carton of chicken broth and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Cool your soup and then use a stick blender, a blender or food processor to purée until smooth.

And voilà! a very green spring soup!

On the weekend I dyed this green yarn for myself.

I want to knit the Vitamin D after seeing it on a member of the knitters guild and at the LYS.

But then again, the Vodka lemonade looks real nice too.

But either way, this bunch is mine!

And last, but not least, I made a soap with a green top! This soap's fragrance is called Mountain Rain and smells so fresh!

 Can't wait to see what colour will show up next week!



Thankful

Certain days are just like that...simply perfect.

Nothing special happens but our hearts are light and joy can be felt in every cell of our bodies. Songs are constantly in our heads and our feet are dancing every step we take.

I try to be very conscious of those days and make reserves for the rainy days that are bound to come now and then.

Today was such a day.

I spent time with my yarns and dyes. I also made lots of soap...it smells good in the house. And I even baked.

A wonderful walk around our fields with the alpacas watching and following me.

 Coco and Fiona have grown so much over the winter. They are now 9 mths old.

I hope Coco keeps that curiousness as she matures.

I love these animals. They are calm and gentle.

A face everyone can love!

I'm so envious of those eyelashes.

Fiona

Fiona's mom, Alicia.

I love this shot.

Alpacas make the most of every day.

I'm so thankful for what they bring to my life.

On another note, I want to tell you about a new blog out in blogland. Dairy Free and Delicious is a cooking blog for those of us with dairy allergies.

Sara, the blog's author and cook by excellence, has posted several recipes that I will be trying in the next few weeks.

Tonight I made her Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes...mmm...delicious!

No icing on mine but the taste of raspberries with lemon and almond extract make the best tasting cupcakes ever!

I hope your weekend brought you joy!



Wild Sparkly Alpaca

No kidding! I heard about sparkly alpacas on Ellen!

I doubled plied Ginger's handspun cria fleece. It was given a bath in Eucalan no rinse delicate wash. The one I have is scented lavender oil. Smells sooo goood!

I thought I had spun thin enough for a fingering weight but it turns out that I have a DK weight. I have about 435 meters, 213 grams of sweet softness!

This WPI tool helped me identify the wraps per inch (wpi) and the number I got was 12. According to the chart that came with the kit, a DK weight has between 12 and 14 wpi.

I now have to decide if I will dye this yarn or knit it as is. I am not a big fan of browns but the natural colour might win me over. We'll see.

I see this skein as becoming a cuddly shawl.

Change of scenery

I have rarely seen snow disappear so fast...in a matter of days, it's almost all gone. The alpacas are once again exploring their pasture and looking happy to sun themselves.

Hubby is already talking about doing more fencing to add more pasture for the herd. If it's a dry spring, he might get started on post digging sooner than later.

I went over to my daughter's house to help her paint a mural on the walls of the nursery.

I love the woodland theme that she's going with.

We have a few more trees to paint and a few more coats of paint to add, but it's looking so good already.

There is some spring knitting getting done in a cotton / acrylic blend.

And what better way to enjoy this unexpected warm weather than to play outside on the deck.

More dyeing happenned.

This lot is a special order.

 On Fire

(Lollipop)