Knitting Order

        I got a knitting order from one of my co-workers a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd do a post about it. It is a rather large order, and probably will take me just about as long as I have to get it done. I am hurrying. If you don't already know, knitting is not a profitable business, unless, that is, you are making elaborate rugs or coats or things that you can sell for a large amount of money. Large amount of money meaning like $100 or more. I knit in my free time. If I can make some money off of it, that is a bonus, but certainly not a big portion of my income. It is doing what I like to do, so, well, I do it!

        This order is four sets of dishcloths and towels. In each set, there is a double-thick dishcloth to use as a sponge, a larger and thinner dishcloth to wipe dishes with, and a towel (about 10" by 20"). The whole order, I am guessing, will take fourteen balls of cotton yarn, each costing, thankfully, only $1.99. 

        It takes me about an hour and a half to knit each small dishcloth, three hours for each large dishcloth, and five to six hours for each towel. Now you see why knitting is not a profitable business. That is ten hours for each little set, and nobody is going to pay you even close to minimum wage for that time. So you really have to like knitting to do this - and have another source of income!
        I have finished three sets, and am starting on the fourth now. Here are some pictures I snapped yesterday of my progress so far. They are outside on the bricks because we don't have good enough light to take pictures in the house, but they give you an idea of scale:

         Something exiting happened around here yarn/knitting related! A yarn store opened up within a two minutes walk from our house! I have been in there almost every other day since they opened, and am knitting swatches for them to hang up. It is so fun getting to play with fine yarns! The business is small and family run, and absolutely delightful, and I am so exited for the possibilities!

Blessings,

Reyna

New Chicks

        There is a horse ranch across the street and down some from our house, with some chickens as well. Our neighbor, who happens to board a horse there, brought home a few chicks that had hatched and had no food or water. It has been far too cold for chicks to be outside right now, as it has been getting below freezing every night, and chicks are supposed to be at 100 degrees for the first two weeks. Anyway, she brought them to us, and they are in our chick brooder in the laundry room.

        We are not going to name them because we will be eating the roosters and don't know which ones those are yet, but they are still fun to have for a while. Cute, aren't they?

Blessings,

Reyna

Our Farm

        Now, don't get me wrong, it's not an actual farm. But it's as close as we can get for the time being, so we make the most of what we have. Here are some pictures of around, starting with our inside animals and such:

The girls, Cookie (front) and Felicity (back)

Cookie:

And Felicity. This is when she was a lot younger. Isn't she adorable!

  

Then we have my mom's breeding tank of tilapia, which are actually the only ones left. Sorry for the bad pictures:

        Now moving to outside. We had eight chickens, but sent two to live at my Grammy's house so she could try out the whole poultry thing. Now we have Lavender, Chamomile (Millie), Larkspur, Willow, and the Terra Cotta twins (as we call the red sex-links), Honey and Sorghum. Here are some pictures:

Lavender:

Millie:

Lark:

Willow:

Honey:

Sorghum:

 

        Then we have my baby goatling, Eponine. She is a purebred registered Nigerian Dwarf, and she is beautiful and cute and silly and many other wonderful things. I bought her when she was five days old and she is quite a character now at seven months.  When she is a few months older we will breed her and then she will have baby goatlings! In case you were wondering, they are not actually called goatlings, but kids. We just call them goatlings because it is cute.

 

        We also have (or I have) two rescued pigeons. Actually one is a wedding dove that got lost on her way home, but they are both Columba Livia.

Allegro:

And Tendu (pronounced ton-doo):

 

        We also have a garden (of course), but we just had three days of frost and it's not doing so great. I'll post pictures later, I promise. That means in a couple of months when stuff is growing again.

         In the side yard we have the outdoor tilapia aquaponics system. my mom built this whole thing about a year ago. It even has a large-ish storage shed under the grow bed. I think there are a few cabbages and broccolis in the grow bed right now.

        Our farm is always growing in one way or another, not in boundary or square feet, but in other ways. Oh, and our neighbors goat Lily is going to be kidding, Lord willing, in mid to late January! So exiting! And if you want to see an amazing farm and family blog, I advise checking out www.shannonranch.net. The Shannons are amazing people, and their blog is a delight!

        I'll most likely elaborate on most of the things you saw later, so there will be more details.

Blesings,

Reyna