Stillness

Alpaca in the fields

This image from the Chinquapin Festival delighted me, as an alpaca strolled casually down the path to my house from the festivities. What could be more charming?

I spent a quiet day yesterday working on computer web pages and catching up with laundry. I love these beautiful, breezy dry days! In the afternoon I wandered down to the bunny house and sheared my lilac Gem, a sweet little doe that was happy to have that heavy coat taken away. For her first shearing she had a nice harvest, over four ounces of lovely wool with just a little matting around her ears. She's been in with two other does because of cage space issues here so I was very happy with the quality of her coat for her first quarter. While I was shearing her I watched the breezes toss the ironweed across the field.


Angora, wool, alpaca and silk handspun yarns

The evening was spent washing yarn and plying a blend of wool, angora and silk that I've been working on. I'm hoping I have enough for a natural colored shawl. Although I enjoy dyeing, natural colors will always be my favorite. There's just something about the subtle variations in the yarn when I spin natural wool and angora. The angora for this shawl is chocolate, a silvery brown with a delightful softness. The wool was from a fleece Chris at Woolybuns and I split when we were at SAFF last year. And the alpaca is a blend of alpaca and silk in rich browns and silvery hues from Misty Mountain Farm (I think!) in Amissville, Virginia. I can't remember where the silk came from that I blended with the wool and angora for the lighter brown yarn. It's tussah, though, with that soft honey color.


Ironweed in the fields

The field by the creek is covered with the rich green stalks of ironweed, topped off with the brilliant purple of the flowers. I love the fall colors of ironweed and Joe Pye Weed, bold against the green grasses that are fading to gold and the clover turning brown. After a time of the subtle bloom of daisies and Queen Anne's Lace, ironweed is a riot of color ushering in the brilliance of fall.


Lily fights the sock

The breezy coolness of the morning delighted Lily as well, and she found her sock and invited me to romp with her in the bright sunshine. Half the time she won't let me have it to throw for her, preferring to toss it around herself and then tease me into trying to grab it away. The sock is looking a little ragged. Now she's lying by my feet after playing, softly snoring as she dreams.



Ironweed