Our New Crochet Member

This is our newest Three Rivers Crochet Member

This is Amelia Rose. This is Rebecca's baby, only two weeks old. She is so tiny and was so good at the group yesterday. The sweater was made by another group member Lisa Valentino.

Yesterday I took a trip with some of my crochet friends to Stramba Mini Mill in Wampun PA. Terri Stramba just opened her mini mill and was kind enough to take us on a tour of how animal fiber goes from the animal to yarn.

There pictures are not in correct order, but this will give you an idea of the process.

The picture below is the machine that is spinning the roving into a strand of yarn. It runs really fast and sometimes you can't see the strand of yarn as it's running through the machine.


This machine is the carder. It separates the good fiber from the bad. The bad fiber would be coarse hair and any object that is attached to the fiber.

This is the yarn drying after being made into yarn.


This is the fiber being skirted. All the debris is picked out before being washed.

This is the fiber drying after being washed. It takes about 24 hours to dry. It all depends on the humidity. The fiber takes longer in high humidity.

My Newest Baby Lady Guenevere

This is my newest baby Lady Guenevere. Hopefully I spelled that correctly. My husband Jim wanted to name her that. It is my first girl to be born. She is the princess of my little herd. She has a ton of fiber that is thick and soft. Her Mom is Boudica. Boudica's tail is wrapped so it doesn't get all gooky when the baby comes out. Lady G. is less than an hour old in this picture. Ain't she a cutie pie!

Suffering for a Sweater

Dang sweater! I keep muttering that beneath my breath. These are the sleeves to the sweater that had to be ripped out because patterns never seem to work for me. I made the back and I had to rip that out once also. Why do I have this funny feeling that once I put this together I am going to look like the Michelan tire man? The pattern on the sleeve is a mistake rib. Should have known from the beginning. It might end up in some fiber shows at Alpaca shows. It may be destined to look better on a hanger.

The yarn is my favorite so far. I sent the Alpaca fiber to a mini mill for processing last year. It is a blend of Alpaca, merino, hemp and nylon. It is beautiful to look and work with.

Oh boy.......

Isn't this the cutest picture! Rebecca, from my crochet group, thought of the pattern for this hat. Our group makes preemie hats for Save the Children. They send them to Africa to give out to new Moms. So this one will be added to our collection of hats to send in December.

My New Baby Coal

This is my new baby Coal. He was born July 4th. This picture was taken less than 24 hours after he was born. How sweet is this little baby boy. This is Ebony's first baby. So far she is a great Mom and is taking good care of her little boy.

Ebony and her little boy Coal.

Coal in the pasture.

Some Beautiful Things

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. To me it is an awakening of Mother Nature. The buds are so beautiful and everything is so green. Plus the green is so fresh and new. Above is a picture of my Redbud tree. The blossoms are so pretty in the Spring and the leaves are heart shaped and purple. I always smile when I look at it.

Below are my lilacs. They are by the garage and when I drive in I catch their scent. Some years they are plentiful and some not. This year the weren't so plentiful. I have to work on more blums this year. So much to do outside this year. With all the rain we have received everything has grown very fast.
I have been working really hard on my Alpaca sweater so I am finished by the Yarn Ball. The Yarn Ball is a party my crochet group puts on in the Fall to raise money for two charities. I have until November to finish it. I hop I can make it. I am almost finished with the back and am currently working on the sleeves. I like working on the sleeves two at a time. Below is a picture of the back. This sweater and yarn were meant to be with each other. This yarn just looks perfect with the pattern.