Green Eggs and Damn

It's like this.

We have these Araucana hens (they lay the greenish blue eggs) who have finally started laying. But I've only found 2 eggs in the nest box. My brother-in-law discovered their hiding place the other day:

Right there in the dirt, in the lower part of the shop barn (right under the dye studio, in fact). Damn chickens. There are disadvantages to free-ranging your chickens, that's all I'm saying. And I know for a fact that several of our other hens are hiding their eggs, too, but I'm not sure where.

We are such half-assed farmers. If we were serious, these girls would be incarcerated so we could have a decent supply of eggs in the fridge.

Damn chickens.

Knitting update: I have been knitting like a madwoman. I feel like I've been a prisoner of size 0 needles since I made the pledge to knit a pair of socks a month. I've thrown away the pledge (although I like it for summer) and have raced to needles that one can see with the naked eye.

My latest finished object: The Opus 2007 (ha) sheep-to-sweater project:

This is hardly my finest work. I stopped working on it last winter when it became clear that my yarn was going to run out. I couldn't bear to get it almost done and then have to give up, so I abandoned it instead. But it was taking up a lot of room in the knitting basket, so I decided to finish it for the husband's birthday on Friday.

I did.

As it turns out, I did have enough yarn to finish, but that was only because I resorted to using spare bits of sample yarns. The neck and shoulders are made with the super-chunky version, so they're huge. And I haven't blocked it yet, so maybe that will help with the bulging in the upper back.

If you want a trip down memory lane to see how this project began, you can check out the original brown fleece (the darker part of the ragg wool) in this post from September 2006(!). The carded fleece, in both brown and white, the white being from our own J.J., makes its appearance in a post from August 1, 2007. Most of the spinning took place late this winter. Then came the dyeing. And, after a few false starts I got knitting soon after that.

The sweater was based on the Seamless Hybrid pattern (Ravelry link here) by Elizabeth Zimmerman in Knitting Without Tears. I love the freedom of making a sweater with just a general idea of shaping, based on percentages of the body stitches. I just wish I hadn't taken such sloppy notes and put the project away for so many months. When I got around to finishing it last week, I was so panicked watching my yarn slip away without knowing if I'd have enough, I completely lost track of the big picture. If I do a similar sweater again, which I probably will, I'll make sure I have more yarn so I can concentrate more on the details. I'd also go with the shirt-yoke back, in which the saddle runs across the upper back and connects the sleeves. Very slick.

This important thing is that my husband does love it. Or, knowing what's good for him, he pretends really, really well.

And I finished another whole sweater this month, but it's blocking. You can see it in my next post.

Since I'm not knitting much in the way of socks lately, it's a good thing other people are. Today I got not one but two messages from knitters who have recently finished socks using yarn from A Piece of Vermont Yarn & Fiber. First, a customer named Tracey sent me pictures of her "Spritely" knee socks, made with my Long Trail sock yarn in the "Water Sprite" colorway. More details on Ravelry here.

Aren't they amazing?

Then, I got a Ravelry message from ZippyZinnia, showing off her own Long Trail socks, this time in the "Balsam" colorway. Details on Ravelry, here.

Beautiful!

Too bad I have hardly any yarn available online right now. I'm dyeing as fast as I can.

Now, you are probably wondering what a woman does when she has just finished two sweaters in a week. After celebrating with apple dumplings,

she looks around for a new project. Mine was going to be a simple neck-down hooded tunic (Ravelry link here, and why look, it's our own Jessalu modeling hers right on the pattern page!), but I've misplaced the pattern. Then there are some thrummed mittens, but I don't have the thrums made yet. So I'm starting the February Lady Sweater. Based on EZ's February Baby Sweater from The Knitter's Almanac. If you're on Ravelry, you must have heard of it. Over 2,000 people on Ravelry have made the adult version.

It won't keep me warm outside like the hoodie. But it's so cute. I've swatched, and now I'm off to my daughter's field hockey practice and my nephew's football game to get started. So excited.

One last picture. Young turkeys in the wood shop. I have no idea why.

Comments

[Cookie]

At least, the egg stash was found before they began to smell. Good luck on finding were the others are hiding.

[Carrie]

YAY for sweaters! Goofy chickens.

[Josiane]

The Opus 2007 sheep-to-sweater is a great accomplishment! Congrats on making it happen.
Your apple dumplings look really delicious! If ever you feel like sharing your recipe, I'd be happy to give it a try...

[jill]

Hey tell Mark he looks HOT in your sweater...sweet the turkies are just hanging where the bigger turkies hang...I like those knee socks xo

[AnnaMarie]

Okay, no free ranging the chickens, check...

Love learning from you!

[(formerly) no-blog-rachel]

Oh those crazy free-rangers!

[Sherri]

I'm so proud of you! You totally give me hope that some day the measly 186 yards I have spun will become a sweater.

You rock Jessie :-)

[missscurious]

I bet he really does love the sweater. It looks cozy and I don't think guys are as concerned about having clothing fit their figure. I am excited that you are casting on February Lady sweater. I am planning on casting this on next week. What yarn are you using?

[Caroline in NH]

Love the turkeys in the woodshop! I wanted a few this year but DH didn't. I hear they are, however, terminally curious.

As for the free-rangers, a couple of ideas -
1) Ours have a henhouse and get to free-range after noon or 1 pm, when most of the eggs have been laid.
2) You can try a bucket (or nest box, or whatever you're using for a nest) and put fake wooden eggs in there. The hens always seem to want to lay where some other hen laid an egg. I guess they figure if there are already eggs there, *that* must be the "good nest"!

[Kristen]

Nice sweater, very manly looking.
I knit my once in a blue moon socks on size 2's and somehow they always fit. If I had to use 0's I would never knit socks!
Hope the turkeys didn't mess with the power tools.

[Carole]

Your husband's sweater looks great. I finished Hannah's Feb. Lady Sweater about 10 minutes ago. yay!

[Marcia]

Leave pillows out for your hens. In Costa Rica I had a hen who come into my bedroom and laid an egg a day right in the middle of my pillow. It was a mind-bogglingly beautiful, but very primitive farm.

[JessaLu]

I hope your hubby appreciates all the work that went into that sweater! ;o)

ohmy I had forgotten about that picture...

...and now I want apple dumplings and can think of nothing else. ;o)

[gayle]

Woohoo for sheep-to-sweater!! What an accomplishment! (And remember, Blocking is Magic... All is well.)
I've got the cotswold spun up for a sweater, but won't start knitting it (it's going to be for me! me! me!) until after the holiday madness. In the meantime, I'm trying to finish seaming the sweater I knit my husband (from commercial yarn) for his birthday. And that would be his 2007 birthday...
Ooops.
Love the little turkeys.

[Norma]

Well, those hens sure are cagey, aren't they?

Oh, I kill myself. I really do.

Great job on the finished handknit. Rustic is where it's at, baby. It's a good farm sweater!

[Teyani]

despite being a tad bit big on him, the sweater looks fantastic. Congrats on finishing your first sheep-to-sweater project! It's so gratifying.
and happy belated birthday Jessie's husband :-)

[donna lee]

I am finishing up a pair of socks made with PoV yarn and they are beautiful. I'll send a photo when they're done. It's been beautiful to work with and has garnered quite a few compliments.

[Sylvia]

You'll often get an Ameraucana that will set -- they make excellent moms, very keen to teach the chicks how to forage.

Turkeys are odd. We had some neighbors with a troupe of them that would come visiting on a warm summer's day. They liked roosting up on the grand piano, but their favorite activity was to sit on the old turntable and spin slowly around and around and around...

[diane]

Great job on the hubby sweater! I've got a project near the finishing point, can't wait.

[trek]

Things with "w" belong in the "w"oodshop? "w"attles?

[Latoya]

I'm loving the socks!

I'm doing some research on having some chickens in my backyard. I just enjoy when you post about your animals. I can't wait to say I have fresh eggs to eat. Smile.

Knit on!