Monday, January 11, 2010

Every Day - The Same but Different

Every day during lambing there are regular chores. First off, is to check for newborns and to make sure no ewes are having trouble delivering. Next, each lamb and mother is put into a pen for a bonding day or two. Every lamb's umbilical cord is dipped in iodine to prevent infection shortly after birth.

All day there is the feeding of hay, haylage, water, and some grain to help the mothers' milk prosper. Every day is the same but different. Our guard llama Jeremy and donkey Eeyore live amongst the sheep and lambs. I really think they love lambing season and are keeping watch over all the little ones. I bring them each an apple every time I visit the barn.



When I look back on my blog over the past few years, I see how regular our year is. The colors on the blog in the winter are very brown, ecru, and mud tinged. There isn't a lot of bright dyed color in any of my winter photos, with the exception of a blue sky once in a while or a bright yellow water bucket, numbers painted on the side of a lamb, or Julia's hot pink coat and her multi-colored mittens. It's no wonder I crave knitting with color in the winter... every thing looks so bleak. Lots of cuteness but lots of neutral tones.

Here's a pair of Slipper Socks I made for my sister Lynn as a Christmas gift. They are from the Family of Slipper Socks from my new book Color by Kristin. I added my own little festive touch to them for my very colorful sister with the addition of a bobbled edge. You will find complete instructions for customizing all of the projects in the book in the Glossary section of this book.

Linda Perman of the LindaMade blog is hosting a Color By Kristin Giveaway over on her blog. She did a wonderful review of the book and even went as far as to make a baby's pair of slipper socks from the same pattern as my sister's above. Linda is an extremely talented crochet and stitchery designer who has lots of fun and colorful projects on her blog. She is the author of a great crochet book called Crochet Adorned.

Check out the LindaMade contest if you are feeling lucky! The contest ends tomorrow - Tuesday, January 12th. If you aren't feeling lucky, you can order my book directly from me on my shop page here.

6 comments:

Emily said...

I love the color by seasons aspect of your blog! The muted tones of winter on your blog and outside my window makes me eager to use color in knitting and makes Spring so exciting. I am very lucky to have received Color By Kristin for Christmas - it is really wonderful!!

Virginia G said...

I'm a little envious of your farming life. When I lived in a super rural area in Virginia (the state) I loved living by the seasons. There was such a gentle rhythm to life.

Of course winter in a drafty 100-year-old farmhouse was a little brutal.

I like how you see it by color. That's so lovely.

Diana Troldahl said...

I just received your book this week. I am LOVING it and use it to offset the grey Michigan winter.

The Mom said...

I love reading about your farming adventures. The little animals are so sweet looking.
Thanks for giving me a glimpse into a life so different from my own!!

Anonymous said...

The slipper socks are fantastic. And the colours!!!!

Annegret

Moorecat said...

Funny, but our summer has brown undertones, especially with water restrictions in force. We've just come out of two days with temps over 100F, so I'm enjoying the cool pre-dawn and your blog.

Just one question: why is the Farmer hatless? Has Julia taken possession of all of the Quarters Caps? :)

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