Introducing...

Señorita Orejas!

Common Ground Country Fair

We were at the fair this weekend.
Here's a photo essay of some of my special finds.

Fresh Maine Blueberries (which I had missed earlier in the season)













This Feta cheese from Long Fellow's Creamery was fabulous in my Chicken Feta Wonder





















And last but not least... meet Broodus.
He is my first angora bunny and will be my stud.
I got him from Beth at Akers Angora's

Crows Rise Farm and my favorite Angora Lady!

Karen, of Crows Rise Farm, is one of my favorite Angora breeders/growers/knitters in the state.

I visited her at the Common Ground Fair and then again at the Fryeburg Fair.

I adore her, her work, her calm peaceful nature, and her patience with me when I am bubbling over with questions and and prodding her to help me learn more.

Thank you Karen!

I recently bought an infant hat









from her for the birth of Jade, our good friends first child.
I am having one of Karen's felted hats made for my sister for Christmas. I will not tell you anything about it in case she actually sat down to read my blog, but it should look something like one of these fun creations:






















The best thing about Karen are her rabbits! They are English Angoras, and I am 98% sure these are the bunnies I want.







I recently bought some of Karen's yarn, and was pleasantly surprised that it is not all that slippery to knit with.

So now I know I CAN knit angora! SP just talked to the yarn lady in town and discovered that she is offering spinning classes. I think that's is my next and final step. If I can learn to spin, I can spin angora; if I can spin angora, I can have me some bunnies! YEA!!!!

Learning to knit!

Ah... the joys of learning something new! My mother in law just left and has spent the past two days teaching me to knit. I am learning a lot about letting go - starting something, getting somewhere, undoing it, and starting over. I am learning to relax and not get attached. This all started with the divine idea of making Christmas presents. Then I realized that as we move to a family farm, I can become involved in the fiber arts. So research I have. At my husbands bidding, I spent a day at the Fryeburg Fair investigating their Fiber barn. Oh me oh my how amazed was I! I learned so much and networked. I bought a drop spindle and some wool hoping to relearn a long lost skill from college. Did you know that angora is six times warmer than wool? Did you also know that Angora is not just a rabbit? The best part was learning that goats can be sheared for wool as well! Not only will I have milking goats but I will also have mohair goats and they can all live together in one happy herd! How perfect is that? The angora rabbits will make the perfect pet for the kids and where else would we want such a warm fiber than in Maine!

The pieces are all coming together and I can't be more excited. I wish the pieces of my knitting were all coming together, but this is the harder part. I can cast on like a pro. I prefer wooden sticks to the metal ones. I can knit, but somehow I keep adding stitches. How the heck am I doing that when I have never learned? Then there is the purling. They say it is so easy - then why is that the part I am consistently screwing up? Well this morning I have started and restarted three times so far. I am three rows in and it looks like I still have my intended 30 stitches. Wish me luck because it is getting colder out and I would really like to wear my new scarf!