You won't believe this............

I'm actually going to post some KNITTING!!! Shocking, I know. Hey, we can't ALL be Turtlegirls posting one FO after another - sheesh. Some people just make the rest of us slack knitters look bad, ya know?

I have been working on a simple drop stitch scarf - just to see how some of the alpaca knits up (it is dreamy by the way). Of course I realize 3/4 of the way into the scarf that I should have crocheted it because it would have gone a BUNCH faster!


Remember Mr. Snake that Mr. Man relocated yesterday? Yeah well, guess who's back? I just took this picture out of my office window. See his head sticking out of the water? I don't anticipate we will be having fish in our small pond much longer.


And we had a large toad visiting today on the deck for a while.


Then I guess she has some offspring running around because then Mr. Man found this teeny weenie toad - Sharpie added for size comparison - HEY we had to grab what we had close by ok?!?!



And, of course, obligatory kitten photos.

Slim loves him some baby kittehs!!

Summer Veggies

Check out what we picked out of the garden this morning - YUM!! Tonight is fresh caught trout with homemade pesto (hence the basil and parsley), mashed potatoes, garden picked green beans (from the Blue Ridge farmer's market) and squash. Who's coming over for dinner??? Please make your reservation by 4.


In other news - I think Slim is really starting to like the kittens! They are completely enamored of him. They think he walks on water........This is Goose with Slim and Willow off to the side.


Here's the snake Mr. Man caught this morning. He was in our little pond (trying to eat all of our little fish in there no doubt). He has been relocated to the larger pond where there are many more fish for him to eat and fish that we didn't pay for that he can eat more cheaply! He is a Northern Water Snake. The picture ain't great but we couldn't exactly ask the big guy to pose for a photo shoot now could we?


Here are some other random pictures I have taken around this place lately.



Happy Sunday!

I've been spinning.....................

See??? Look how fast I am.


Haha - RIGHT. Does anyone think that my yarn stash might be getting just a LITTLE out of control??? Nah..............

Actually, I just got a huge batch of yarn in for Amia Yarn Company so I was going through it this morning to get everything inventoried and put on the site. Hopefully, all of this will be up on the site by Monday. We have gotten tons of yarns in! Amazing. We are going to get a warehouse space at Georgia Mountain Fiber soon because this is getting crazy!

Right now we are running a Grand Opening special on the site so be sure to check it out! Also, I will be starting a contest next week so that you can actually win some of this yummy stuff! I will have more alpaca and some VERY nice llama up next week also.

A few new yarn bowls are up.

In other news - Mr. Man finished the base of the deck and we moved the hot tub out onto it this morning. Now he just has to build the railing and it will be all done! Whew! Moving the hot tub sure freed up some space on the patio! I can't wait to get this baby filled up. We sure have been missing it these past few months.

For Claudia

I wanted to post yesterday but I just couldn't. Claudia, I know we were not close friends by any means but I just haven't been able to stop thinking about you. Mine and Wayne's thoughts are with you as you travel this path we call life. Wayne took pictures last week of the morning sun and night moon. I thought they would be most fitting to post here together.

The sun and moon influence the winds of change..................

Weekend Fun

Yesterday we took a drive and we had a blast! We stopped by the Ocoee Whitewater Center and took some cool pictures. We will definitely be going back to this place for some hiking, kayaking and rafting - who wants to come?!?!?! These people looked like they were having so much fun!!!!

Then we took a drive on a forest service road. We got an amazing picture of this beautiful owl. He was really big and his wingspan was just huge!

And we saw this box turtle laying some eggs:

Then this morning there was some hanky panky going on in the pond:

All in all it was a great weekend with almost no knitting accomplished.

Goodies!!!!!!!

LOOK what I got in the mail!!

These are yummy merino rovings and the top one was especially dyed for me!! I love both of them - the bottom one is "Kermie". These are hand dyed and come to me from Germany via Heather. Her husband has kidnapped her unwillingly and is holding her hostage in Germany. Well, not really, he is in the US military so they are there because of that but don't you think the story about the kidnapping is much more interesting??? In fitting with some of my previous postings I suppose I should include that she was kidnapped drunk and naked in my driveway to make it even more entertaining but.....let's not go there.

I started some spinning in anticipation of the roving so that I could get in some practice. I'm a little rusty but stuff is coming out ok. I have to get my groove back a little before I start on the new stuff!

I can't wait to start spinning the new stuff!!! Also, if you are into cute kittehs with no hair you can send her a message. She breeds Sphynx cats - they really are so cute! So, whether you are into hand dyed merino or nekkid kittehs she can help!

Amazing Llamas

Yesterday we had the privilege of being invited to Pearson Pond to pick up some yarn and felt for Amia Yarn Company. All I can say is "WOW". These animals are truly beautiful and amazing. They were all so personable and came up to us (even the babies!) all wanting kisses. The fiber on these animals is incredible. I had no idea how soft and silky llama fleece can be. I'm really excited to see what the yarn looks like skeined up!

Pearson Pond has about 200 llamas and they are just as happy as they can be. The have beautiful pastures to play around in and plenty of natural water sources. Many of their llamas are champions and there were trophies and plaques and ribbons everywhere! They are bred for high standards and beautiful fiber. Tracy Pearson was very hospitable and took time to drive us around and let us meet many of the llamas. It was really an amazing and educational experience. I have to find a way to talk her out of some of the GORGEOUS silky black yarn she has - you wouldn't believe how beautiful, silky and soft it is!

Do I have pictures for you - well OF COURSE!!!




We had told Tracy that we would take whatever fiber she had back to Georgia Mountain Fiber for them to process it for us. She said "Are you SURE?" We of course said that it was no problem. She asked what we were driving and I told her a Ford Explorer. She said "Well, let's go look at it first" so we agreed. OMG - I couldn't believe how much fiber she had up there ready to go to the mill!!!! She must have had 75 bags of fiber up there AT LEAST!

Needless to say, there was no way all that fiber was going to fit in our car - she needs a Ryder truck to transport all that fiber!! But, I know she has more good stuff coming once that all gets through Georgia Mountain Fiber.

I'll put up some pictures of the yarn once I get it back. It is on cones right now and needs to go get skeined so I'll let you know when it is available.

This is dedicated...............

To Charlotte, NC superstar - Turtlegirl!

This does not really have anything to do with HER per se but it does involved turtles - and brand new ones at that.

Our neighbor frantically called us on Saturday and told us that we had to get over to her pond right away to witness something. OK - so we put on our shoes, grab the camera of course, and walk over. Lo and behold there was some Hawt Secks going on over there!! Check it out!


These are snapping turtles so I guess we will be having some new ones on the horizon. I tell ya, we see the coolest stuff out here!

On the knitting front..........remember this?



Yeah well it's totally going to the frog pond later this evening. I had Mr. Man try it on - NOPE - didn't fit. So, that's what I get for forgetting myself and starting a sock cuff down. This puppy will be toe up on the next go around!

Mr. Man is working on making some "cat proof" yarn bowls as suggested by the ladies at Strings and Sticks. These yarn bowls will have a lid to keep those pesky little kittens out of your yarn. I will be receiving the first one thankyouverymuch as these little destructo-kitties are getting into everything!!!

Happy Father's Day

Hey everyone! Don't forget your dad today! We are headed down to Alpharetta today to spend some time with the best dad in the world. Sorry to disappoint everyone but that just happens to be MY dad.

This guy is the best. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for us, he loves my husband (despite all his humerous nuttiness) and is just the best, most down to earth person I know.


Dad, I know you sneak a peak at the 'ol blog every now and again to see what is up with us. THANK YOU so much for everything you do for us, for being there and for being my rock when I needed it. I love you so much and you mean the world to me.

I LOVE YOU DAD!!!!!!

Dad and I opening night of Provino's in Cumming

Two of my favorite guys!

LYS Saturday

Mr. Man and I took a trip into the big town of Ellijay today just south of Blue Ridge to Strings and Sticks. That's what the door says even though my picture stinks. We met Vicky there who was having a yarn bowl personally delivered! Who says that Knit Witch does not offer great customer service?? I took a few extra bowls with me and everyone there loved them! The store owner, Karen, who was extreemly nice, bought 12 of them to put in her shop! Woo hoo - Knit Witch is in a shop!

Here's a yarn bowl in action:

If you are ever in Ellijay, GA be sure to check out this great little shop called Strings and Sticks. They were having classes there and had lots of yarn and books and other fun knitting stuff. Of course, I had to add to the stash. Here's what I had Mr. Man buy for me...........




I bought 4 skeins - pretty yummy color, eh? It is Hacho by Mirasol. I have never seen this yarn before and thought it looked like a fun knit.

Here are some other pictures from the store. Vicky is in blue and I am in the yellow top.

All in all it was a fun day. I love traveling around and seeing the local folk enjoying the LYS!!

Fibery Goodness

I had to share this with you - this is so yummy!!! We just got this in today.




It is SO SOFT. It is 100% alpaca (75% Suri and 25% Huacaya) and it is delicious! It can easily be dyed of you are interested in dying it. It is a fingering weight, a beautiful fawn color and comes from a small farm here in North Georgia. The couple have 4 alpacas and they are such nice people. They are very proud of their 4 little alpacas (Victoria, Lady Nancy, Diana and Elizabeth) as well they should be! They produce divine fiber!


So, if you want to help support some local fiber growers, take advantage of some delectable yarn and add to your stash - head on over to Amia Yarn Company where this is for sale under fingering weight yarns.


You will also find these (among others) under sport weight yarns - fun!

What to do with a large salad bowl

Well let the kittens play in it of course!!! These little rascals found this so I figured I better place it on the floor lest they turn over and crash it to the ground.


We had a little visitor on our porch today also. I think he is a squirrel tree frog. Any frog experts out there reading this???


I am swapping a yarn bowl for some yummy roving dyed JUST for me and I'm so excited about it! I have to get back on the wheel - maybe tonight I will play around with it. I need more bobbins - any suggestions for good places to buy them? I will post about the roving and the dye artist when I get it.

AND I have a fibery surprise for you tomorrow so stand by!!

Look Who's Learning to Spin!

Willow!

Check out this little spinning wheel that my awesome neighbor Liz GAVE me! Liz is a truly amazing person AND an amazing artist. She is going to start hand painting some yarn bowls for us so we are really excited about that! If you like Native American design be sure to keep checking the site for when they are available (or email me and I can put you on the notification list)

Isn't it cool? Kittens added only for size comparison - not for cuteness factor at all - no way - uh uh - not me.

It is obviously hand carved and the name carved into it is NEUN. I have no idea where it came from or why it is so small (child's spinning wheel perhaps?) but it is really neat looking. Any thoughts or information that might help me find information on such an antique??

Also, the geese payed us a visit today. Look how big they are getting!

It is really getting hot here - it was 96 yesterday! - so that does not really make me feel like knitting at all (or spinning for that matter) so I haven't done any of either in the past few days. I have been spending time working with the inventory for Amia Yarn Company and WOW some of this alpaca is SO SOFT you wouldn't believe it! It feels like cashmere!! Not to tempt you or anything but there is some new beautiful handpainted yarn that I just put up on the site yesterday. It is very limited in quantity though so if you like it - don't hesitate.

Also, of course, not to tempt you again, there are also new yarn bowls up as of this morning. I think we MAY actually be starting to get caught up! Woo hoo!

Totally Awesome Country Story

This post has absolutely nothing to do with knitting BUT - it is hilarious so read on............

We had a particularly unusual day yesterday. First off, the dogs start barking like crazy so I look outside to see what they are barking at. Turns out there is this woman and two kids walking on my property FROM the creek (which is the back of our property). I am of course wondering why these three people are coming out of the woods onto my property so we go out there to say "Uh, can we help you?". Turns out it is the woman and her two grandkids that live up the mountain from us who apparently think it is perfectly ok to just go wandering onto other folks property that you don't even know. So, she talked to us for about 45 minutes telling us how her husband owns all the land around us and he would never sell it and wanted to know if we were democrats or republicans and on and on and on. Kinda weird, right? OK - that wasn't even the funny or really unusual part of our day (no pictures of said random woman walking on our property, BTW).

Later, I see our neighbor drive by our house and assume she is driving over to our house as planned. But, we never see her come up the driveway so I walk down the driveway a little bit to see if she turned in. Boy am I glad I did. I see her parked sideways across our driveway near the bottom so I am of course wondering what is going on. She is at the bottom of our driveway talking to someone sitting in a car so I think "Oh, she must have seen someone she knows and stopped". I almost just turned around but on closer inspection, it appeared that the other car was in the ditch at the bottom of our driveway so I wander down to investigate, passing a rather odd loose tire in the middle of my driveway along the way.

Turns out she is talking to this kid (about 17 years old) who is drunk as a skunk and apparently just wrecked his car trying to FLY up our driveway (our driveway is gravel and steep so that didn't work out too well for him). The kid is so incoherent he can barely even talk to us - great, thanks for driving around on our street. Neighbor asks what we should do so I say "Well, I'm calling the police because this kid needs to go to jail". Before calling I have to just see what his plans were.

Me: So, where are you going?

Drunk Car Wrecker: Uh, down there.

Me: Why?

DCW: Uh, to fish.

Me: Oh really? I don't see a fishing pole and everything down here is private property.

DCW: Uh..........yeah..........I'm just gonna back up

Me: Oh no you aren't you are missing a tire.

DCW: No I ain't

Me: Oh yes you are (points to said missing tire lying in the middle of the driveway)

DCW: Oh that ain't MY tire

Me: That is TOTALLY your tire

So OK - police call.

By this time Mr. Man has also walked down the hill to join in the fun. Neighbor and I walk up the driveway together and I call the Blue Ridge police and start telling them the situation.

Me: Hey there! I have a REALLY drunk kid that has crashed his car into the ditch on my property, blown out a tire, etc.

BR Police: Whut's yer address m'am?

Me: (Gives address and other pertinents)

Neighbor (in background): AND HE'S NAKED

Me: {{WTF?!?!?!}}

Me: He's naked?

Neighbor: nods

Me: Ummm yeah and he is completely naked too so bring the COPS cameras for the show."

So what's more disturbing here? The fact that I have a completely naked drunk/high kid that has just crashed his car and blown off a tire in my driveway OR the fact that as I was talking to him I didn't even NOTICE that he was completely naked?!?! I'll let the blog decide.

Long story short, all the Blue Ridge cops in town show up because that is obviously the most exciting thing that has gone on in a while, the Sheriff shows up and the State police show up just for good measure. Mr. Man has to go in the house to get the kid a ratty pair of shorts so he can at least be arrested decently. Neighbor, Mr. Man and I went up on the deck to have a beer and watch the festivities in true country fashion. Did I take pictures you ask? Well OF COURSE I DID just for you guys!!

The moral of the story folks is "Get dressed BEFORE you start drinking, ok?"

Just in Case

Just in case you have forgotten how cute they are:

And big brother:

I swear the kittens think he is a total HERO. They watch him jump up on things and lounge around and drink from the faucet and you can just see that look of "WOWWWWWWW - I wish we could do all those cool things" on their faces. It is so cute!

Here is the sock progress (oh yeah, you bet your sweet patootie that is a yarn bowl that my yarn is in the background!)

Why we love Blue Ridge

This:

Is about an 8 minute drive from our house. This is Lake Blue Ridge and we went kayaking there this morning. It was beautiful!! There was almost no one else out on the water and it was nice and quiet. We don't like doing stuff like that on the weekends when there are tons of other folks around. AND we saw a bald eagle!!! I have never seen one in GA before so that was quite a treat. Unfortunatley, no picture of that though as there is no way I could have gotten my camera out of the ziploc baggie fast enough!

My son came this past weekend again so that was really fun! This is him and Tiana kayaking in our pond. We had a great time and they stayed until about 10:00 playing cards and Yahtzee - all of which I lost at.

I rescued the sock last night, got it all untangled and fixed the gosh darn mis-crossed cable. I also managed another repeat before the kittens started stalking it. It's in a yarn bowl this time though so that will help some.

Also, Amia Yarn Company is pretty much up and running! We have some alpaca yarn and roving on there now (great stuff) and I am expecting alpaca sock yarn and hand dyed yarn very soon. As soon as I get that I will be adding it to the site. I'm sure it will be evolving as we learn the site better and get suggestions from people (just like Knit Witch was). I shudder to think about what Knit Witch looked like when we first put it online - we've come a long way baby!

We have almost sold out of the first batch of Blue Ridge yarn bowls (that was FAST) and have two more batches in the works. We should have about 20-30 to put up by Monday or Tuesday.

BTW - the picture in the last post was of a very pudgy toad. I know, the picture kinda sucked but he wouldn't move out of the shadow!

Kitty Litter Crimes

The victims:

The perpetrators:

The crime:

Having kittens is so much fun. This is the sock I was supposed to frog back on and fix the silly cable mistwist on. Right after I posted about doing that - this is what I found. They had a total field day. I have salvaged about half of it - hopefully I can have enough patience to sit down and salvage the rest. Luckily they didn't pull out any needles of affect the actual sock at all - just the ball of yarn I was working from.

Can I just say that this is what I get for NOT having my yarn in a YARN BOWL like I am supposed to!!!! Lesson learned.

On another note - we had a visitor on our patio last night:

Think he is getting enough to eat around here? We just aren't sure........

Of Cutie Pies and Yarn Bowls

Check 'em out!

Also, we found these tree frogs hanging out on the side of our house yesterday. We have SO MANY frogs around here - it is amazing. In the evenings, it sounds like a loud nature chorus. The frogs were so loud the other night they were drowing out Mr. Man's guitar playing.

AND...........NEW YARN BOWLS ARE FINALLY UP! Go check them out HERE. We will be getting another batch up in probably a week or so but this is a good start anyways.

I still haven't frogged back on the sock. I only have like 18 stitches to frog back so I'm just being pathetic. Maybe updated pictures of the sock soon.