Busy Couple of Days

I've had a busy couple of days. That's a good thing...boredom sucks. But honestly? I am seldom bored...there's just too much living to do! It's been a fibery few days for me...I got to visit our newest yarn shop: Apple Yarns, right in Bellingham. This shop is a MUST VISIT if you're in the area! Unfortunately, I tend to spend a wee bit of money every time I go but I've not been too awfully naughty! (Just a wee bit, really)( Seriously) (Well...)
And then I got to meet these ladies. Allow me to introduce Dolly, Daisy, her daughter Daffodil, Sumatra and Kahlua...Shetland ewes from a local farm. I also got to meet their Shepherdess; Betty, and I can only hope that when I am her age that I'm half as spunky as she is! I got an absolute score on 7 fleeces total...for a song! (More or less-lol) Now all I need is the time to start skirting, picking, scouring and spinning. Sigh. Cloning time anyone?!?
I spread out a 10 X 20 foot tarp and laid out the fleeces. The cats, whom you can see at the top of the pic, are not the least bit interested. I am really glad for this but it baffles me too. I know if I was a cat, I'd be all over this fluffy smelly stuff! Not mine though. Well, Freaky Kitty does like Alpaca but she has incredibly high standards. Even for a cat.
This is a close-up of young Daffodil's fleece. The sun was just setting so there's a wee bit of reddish tint to the pics but oh my! This is some soft fleece...especially for Shetland. (No hate mails please...I've had both soft and scratchy Shetland and THIS stuff is soft!) It's all fairly full of lanolin and VM so it's gonna take a bit of effort to clean up but hey, it's all good!
In knitting news, this is the start of a toe-up sock for my dear daughter. Green is her favorite color and this is Happy Forest from Dream In Color Yarn. The basic socks I was tussling with earlier are in a time-out, as is the hemp/cashmere beret. Like the pattern but that yarn - Grrr. And yes, this yarn is some of my recently acquired treasure from Apple Yarns. Smooshy...it really IS smooshy! Love it love it love it!
And of course, a blog entry would not be complete without an update on the Secret of the Stole KAL.Although this bears a remarkable resemblence to a bowl of cat yak, it really is my stole so far. It's (We? It and I?) are about 3/4 of the way through Hint 3. A bummer since Hint 5 came out this morning. Can you call me a Turtle? I can - I happened to glance at a clock while working on this earlier and it took me 10 or 11 minutes to knit one pattern row and one rest row. Whoa. That's slow. But I'm steady and so might even be caught up by next week's hint. Maybe. Hopefully. If I can ignore the blackberries and stay away from ditches.
And in bloggy news...Mrs. H (of the Outlaw Knitters and the new I Like Yarn podcast) released a new episode of her podcast today...and she awarded me her "Yarn Ball of Bloggy Excellence"! Woohoo! I've got it up already...over there on the side panel. It links to her podcast and you really should go listen...she's a neat gal and not only do I enjoy hearing about what her fun kids have been up to but she does one of the best book and pattern reviews around. She also started the Outlaw Knitters blog and Ravelry group. I'm an Outlaw Knitter and soon I'll have my snazzy new hoodie to show the world! Are you an Outlaw Knitter? Come to the blog, read and laugh then think about sharing a bit...we love knowing there's lots of us out there!
Now...life is good - it can be short so go tell someone you love them, take care of yourself and then knit something!