Quick fly-by

hi there. it’s me. remember me? i’m the blogger that has been neglecting you lately…

this is just a quick stop-by to let you know that i just made a HUGE update to my etsy shop- http://www.etsy.com/shop/puffthemagicrabbit. there are 7 colorways of superwash sport weight merino yarn.

superwash sportweight

there are more than 10 colors in kid mohair baby boucle yarn- here are a few of the colors-

justine baby boucle

Elphie’s This Year’s Pink baby boucle

Rosie’s Shadows baby boucle

each hank is app. 8 oz and app. 1000 yards, and will knit this sweater-

baby boucle hoodie (and baby Claire!)

the pattern is free with a purchase of the yarn, just leave me a note. eventually i will have it for sale at etsy for 5.00.

the little black baby goats are doing well. Claire has just come through a bout of listeriosis, which is pretty serious and often fatal, but i was able to catch it quickly and with some instructions from more experienced breeders, we were able to treat her right away. i have to tell you, boyfriend has been an incredible help with all of this- he has jumped right in and done anything my crazy little farm has needed. when we were bottle feeding the she devils, Tess claimed him as hers!

new additions- rescues!! a small herd was rescued out of a bad situation by a wonderful breeder in KY. we adopted a mother/daughter pair- Dixie is the mom and Stevie is the daughter- beautiful red does!

Dixie and Stevie

can’t wait until their first shearing!

annnnd,  come february- the kids will start coming! 4 of my girls spent time at Kid Hollow farm being bred- so things will be very exciting around here, soon.

so that’s the short update- hope you all are great, and i’ll be back here soon!

one last picture- my blue-eyed boy Aidan.

Aidan

New Farm!!!!!!!!

I know I’ve been quiet for a good long time. I’ve been searching for a new farm. It’s been a long, stressful road. Finally, the right place came along. It’s an 8 acre piece of land w/ a small house built in the 60′s. Truthfully, I took this place for the land. The poor house needs some help- but we are looking forward to prettying it up (i don’t think it’s had anything cosmetic done to it since it was built!)

yup- that’s some oooollllldddd carpet

street view

For the field, the corner post holes are dug, I’ve placed all the inner posts, and as soon as we get water out there (original owner replacing well-pump) we can set the corner posts, string the fence, and move the goats! (not to mention clean the house and move the people). The kids (human variety) are thrilled.

This means that I am able to expand my farm, which means I can expand Puff the Magic Rabbit. In a few weeks I expect to be in full dyeing, carding, spinning, designing, and knitting production. Also, this weekend I will be taking a few of my does down to Kid Hollow farm to be bred- so we’ll have babies this spring. Ohhhh, and I forgot to tell you about the new arrivals- bottle babies Claire and Tess!

Tess on the left, Claire on the right

They’re weaned now, but I will give you a post on just them. There is also this little guy…

Aidan

This is Aidan. I finally got another little blue-eyed black. (I still miss Morpheous). This was just after shearing last month- I think he was happy with his new haircut.

In honor of this new move, I am offering 15% off all rovings in my etsy shop. Just enter NEWFARM as the coupon code. Here are just a few of the goodies you will find there:

claire and tess’ playtime

Justine

Jewel

All a super-soft blend of kid mohair from my goats, shetland lambswool from a virginia farm, and silk. Several more colors.

I think that is enough excitement for one night. So I will leave you with one last picture of Claire and Tess. Goodnight!

“whatcha doin’?”

And now it’s 17 years.

17 years since my brother died. since AIDS took him. 18 and a half years since AIDS took his partner, Jeff. and around 18 years since Eric found Randal- who saw it through til the end. 17 years since a devoted pit bull named Justice laid down on Eric’s legs while he was sleeping, and stayed there beyond Eric’s last breath. (Eric and Randal got him from a shelter, and named him Justice “cuz there ain’t no Justice”)

17 years. a long time. yet just a few days ago. my mother said that when i talked to her earlier. and i guess that’s how it should be. how i want it to be. it has been a long time, but i want it to feel like just a few days ago. to never forget. i never will. it may sound dramatic, but truly, there is not a day that goes by where he does not cross my mind. but i don’t really know what to say today. it’s going to be a really hectic month here at Puff the Magic Rabbit, and i’m stressed to the point of wanting to shut down. i almost would have liked for today to go by without my remembering the significance of it. but the day is here, and it’s one of the days in my life that marks the passing of time.

if i was speaking to him today, what would he say and what would i say? i think what i am missing the most right now is the positive influence he would be in my daughter’s life. my 14 year old, brave, strong, sensitive girl is quite openly a lesbian- and i think that having Eric around might help her with some of the issues she will face- issues he faced many years ago. i’d like to talk to him about those issues then- i was really too young to help at the time, but i’d like to know what he faced through my older eyes. offer whatever i could even though it’s way too late.

so i try to strike a balance between wanting all the things we all missed out on, regretting all that i was not able to be while he was still here, and knowing that really what we had is just what we had. there will always be missing, and wishing, and regretting, and imagining.

this is where it is at 17 years.

same request as always- tell your siblings you love them, and if you must pick on them or call them names- do it with as much love and kindness as you can.

it’s a good thing i like to knit

and spin. and dye. and card. cuz there will be a whole lot of that going on.

currently on the needles- a little toddler cardigan for the gallery to sell here in town- but i couldn’t possibly get a good picture now (that’s what happens when you decide at midnight that you should write a blog post). so when it’s done, you’ll see it. also on the needles is a design for Persimmon Tree Farm’s brushed mohair. this will be very similar to my brushed mock-neck for Kid Hollow Farm with a few updates. i’m working up the sample for Persimmon Tree- the pattern will be available from her and from me, once i work up a sample in my brushed. but i have other ideas for my brushed, too…

just OFF the needles is a swatch in this:

love this yarn!

i think i shall knit in no other color but this for the next forever. it’s a hard color to capture but there is black, dark purple, light purple, dark green, light green, and spots of cream (note to self, do not tie the skeins so tightly before i dye them. while i might like the cream dots, not everyone will). this is my This Year’s Pink colorway on the superwash merino sport weight i will have for sale soon. this will get the first pattern. it will be quite similar to this:

floppy!

oh wait. i’m supposed to be showing you a sweater…

tada!

and just in case you didn’t see it clearly:

fluff loves me!

ok. so none of these ended up being really good pictures of the sweater. it’s kind of a prototype- i had an idea and i wanted to see if it would work. i had this wonderful yarn hanging out in the stash (tahki sedona. it’s been discontinued. feh). i wanted an open, swingy, comfy to wear cardigan with no closure. i don’t like restrictive jackets or heavy layers. so i did what i thought i wanted to see how it would go. i wore this out to dinner and visiting the other night, and it was cozy, warm, yet very easy to wear (i didn’t want to take it off when we got home). there are a few things i will change, and this will be redone and written for the sport weight.

i dyed some mohair today for the “fruit n cream” batts. mohair and creamy angora bunny.

strawberries n cream

there will also be blackberries n cream, blueberries n cream, and peaches n cream.

i sent about 20 lbs of mohair, shetland, and silk off to Zeilinger’s mill that should be back early april as fluffy, lofty roving all ready for me to hand paint.

it seems to me there was something else i wanted to tell you all, but bed-time is creeping up on me and i just can’t think of it. so, until i do…

i can't tell you how many times i have asked fluff and stuff not to talk with their mouths full...

spreading my wings

remember all the pretty undyed yarns i showed you? well, have a look at this-

bits and pieces

puff the magic rabbit will now be carrying hand dyed yarns. this is new- baby loop kid mohair boucle. most skeins are 9+ ounces w/ a generous 1100+ yards- you can do anything with that. (and pattern support will be coming soon. i’m knitting just as fast as i can!).

baby evan's baby blue

i also have brushed kid mohair- same weight and yardage as the baby boucle.

seeing double- baby evan's baby blue

and in case you wondered about the name of the color…

how could you not name a baby blue yarn after him?

i will also carry a super-wash merino dk, and many, many more. i’ve begun playing with the dk, it takes dye very differently than the mohair does, but i think i’m going to like it, and it may get the first pattern. photos of that, you ask? well, i think some things shall remain a mystery…

for marri, yes, stuff does have his own color.

stuff's midori punch

these yarns and others are listed in my etsy shop. there are also some of these yarns live and in person at Coordinated Colors Yarn Shop- so if you happen to be in the Williamsburg, Yorktown, Norfolk area, pay them a visit. their variety is fantastic, and the owners are very nice people- a great LYS.

hope you guys are all doing well. the goaties are mischievous, as always. if i could just get them to stop stealing my coffee. oh well…

cookies being pretty

say hi and tell me what you’ve been up to- i’ll be back soon.

finding my wings

big changes are coming…

Happy Birthday Steve… or… you’re still on facebook

Hey you,

On Sundays, Facebook sends you an email list of all of your “friends” who have birthdays coming up that week. I knew it was coming up- I’m good with birthdays- but there was still a jolt of sad when I saw your picture. I’m glad they’ve kept your profile up, I’m not sure if it is your son or daughter- I know it will be nice for your friends to have a place to stop and send you birthday greetings.

Tonight I’m thinking about all of the cold Saturdays at the downtown market in Charlottesville. The morning always started with you fussing at me for being late (like you were surprised at that?). I’d usually get the morning coffee cuz I just hated setting up my booth. I remember passing off pecan pie as your birthday cake. I remember you trying to sneak Splenda into my coffee once (and I did SO notice it sucked, I just didn’t want to sound ungrateful). There was always a moment of you fussing at Pat and me to get to work. There was the decision of where lunch would come from, and who would go get it. There was the point in the late morning/early afternoon when Pat would send you home to nap (yes, you did get grumpy). And then there was you coming back to pack up- and Pat and I never getting it right.

I’m thinking of those weekends now, because it’s that time of year and I will always associate those Saturdays with your birthday. But it’s not just now that I think of you. You and Pat became such an important part of my life- you both come to my mind all the time. I’d only known you 6 years, but the sense of belonging I felt with you guys will last forever.

I’m hoping that Pat, your kids, your family, all your friends- everyone who is remembering your birthday today is able to do it with a sense of peace and a smile. I don’t doubt there will be tears- I know I’m smiling through mine, cuz I’m so glad today was your day. (now feel free to fuss away, cuz there ain’t no way I’m getting up early enough to do that downtown market ever. again.)

happy birthday. miss and love you,

mindy